monarchist Pakistan?

Hyperbolus

How plausible is Malaysia-style, semi elective monarchy in newly independent Pakistan?
I realize Jinnah had originally supported the Congress party and so might be weary of monarchism, but perhaps influential generals or aristocratic, right-wing politicians would support a monarch chosen by Salute State princes to foster unity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salute_state
 

Buddha1942

The mughal empire ahd been pretty much disbanded since the mutiny/first war of independence. So its a very slim chance of it coming to power even fi the British or other forces do agree to revive it.
 

Buddha1942

The mughal empire ahd been pretty much disbanded since the mutiny/first war of independence. So its a very slim chance of it coming to power even fi the British or other forces do agree to revive it.
 

Francisco Cojuanco

Hyperbolus said:
How plausible is Malaysia-style, semi elective monarchy in newly independent Pakistan?
I realize Jinnah had originally supported the Congress party and so might be weary of monarchism, but perhaps influential generals or aristocratic, right-wing politicians would support a monarch chosen by Salute State princes to foster unity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salute_state
Click to expand...

ASB. The only likely candidate for the Pakistani monarchy is the British monarch.
 

Kishan

There were no large princely states in the Pakistan portion of the subcontinent after independence who could claim the title of monarch of Pakistan. The largest Muslim princely state, Hyderabad was in South India, far away from Pakistan. Hence there were no claimants for a Pakistani crown, and I think such an idea too never arose in the brain of any one of the Pakistani leaders.
 

BigWillyG

Any way to get one of Pakistan's dictators to make themselves a monarch or at least have a de facto monarchy a la North Korea?
 

Flocculencio

Donor
BigWillyG said:
Any way to get one of Pakistan's dictators to make themselves a monarch or at least have a de facto monarchy a la North Korea?
Click to expand...

Highly, highly doubtful- no one person could have got enough of the various factions within the Pakistani state behind him to do something like this.
 

SunilTanna

Francisco Cojuanco said:
ASB. The only likely candidate for the Pakistani monarchy is the British monarch.
Click to expand...

What about the Aga Khan, from the right region for starters?

Maybe Pakistan, or some variant of it gets setup in say 1920, combining territories from otl's Pakistan plus bits of Afghanistan (which the British conquer in a different ww1). The ak is made ruler of this difficult to govern territory, intended by the British to be their puppet. Whether he stays a puppet for long, or even in power for long (his religion is a minority within the Shia minority), is another question.
 

HeavyWeaponsGuy

Banned
Wolfpaw said:
It would probably just end up like Iraq.
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Unlikely. Iraq at least had the benefit of having a monarch from an established regional family that would not have been greatly objected to by any of the major power-brokers. Pakistan's numerous, wealthy landowning families are unlikely to ever agree to allowing one the supreme honor of being the founder of a royal dynasty. Oddly the best thing for a Pakistan that seeks to become a monarchy might be to have royals that are not, themselves, Pakistani, yet are not objected to by anyone. An outsider is a potential compromise choice because said outsider is not from any one of the big, feudal families.

Iraq had plenty of precedent as some kind of independent state. Pakistan was an invention of religious nationalism, in all likelihood a monarchical state in Pakistan would claim itself as some sort of spiritual, or actual successor to the Mughal Empire. Whether this would be accepted or not would depend on its performance as a nation and its abilities to fulfill its promises.
 

Bee

Kishan said:
There were no large princely states in the Pakistan portion of the subcontinent after independence who could claim the title of monarch of Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Bahawalpur was a decent-sized princely state located on the eastern border of (West) Pakistan, but it's the only one I'm aware of that was located inside Pakistan's borders. Without a more states to rotate the kingship between, I don't see how the Malaysian model could work.
 

Kishan

Bahawalpur was the largest princely state included in Pakistan in 1947. It had a population of 13 41 000 in 1941. Kalat in Baluchistan had a population of 3 14 000 in 1931. Khayrpur had a population of 3 05 000 in 1947. Swat in NWFP had a population of 2 16 000 in 1931. Chitral(1 07 000) and Dir(1 07 000) also had populations above 100 000 in 1951. Other princely states like Makran, Las Bela, Kharan, Amb(Tanewal), Hunza, Nagar, Jandol, Phulra, Yasin etc. all had less than 1 00 000 population. All these princely states were far less populous when compared to the total population of Pakistan.
 
Milites

Milites

For that matter, what if both OTL India and Pakistan (incl. Bangladesh) were turned into a single Dominion of India?
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This is the only way I see India/Pakistan retaining a monarchy. Have Britain win the WWI and then don't go **** up the goodwill they've achieved in India during the war (Rowlatt Act and Amritsar) and grant some kind of home rule to the Raj. India was pretty united behind Britain and its king-emperor in 1914 and it was generally hoped for that given the casualties which the Indian Army had taken in the sands of the Middle-east and on the fields of France, Home Rule would be India's reward for being "true to its salt". Could be interesteing to have Jinnah stay with Annie Besant's movement and wind up prime minister of an undivided Dominion of India :D

Iraq had plenty of precedent as some kind of independent state. Pakistan was an invention of religious nationalism, in all likelihood a monarchical state in Pakistan would claim itself as some sort of spiritual, or actual successor to the Mughal Empire. Whether this would be accepted or not would depend on its performance as a nation and its abilities to fulfill its promises.
Click to expand...
Fun thing you mentioned, Iraq - during the first world war, a minority within the Indian government actually advocated the annexation of the Ottoman Mesopotamian provinces directly into the Raj as a colony for emigrating Indians. Well, anyways, any larger monarchist government trying to claim some sort of authority over a larger part of India, would pretty much have to adapt some kind of connection to Mughal rule. The Company did this when they brought Pax Brittanica to the continent and Disraeli did it when he made Victoria empress of India. A somewhat reasonable analogue would be the way the Ottomans tried to paint themselves as the legal/logical successors to the Roman Empire after 1453.
 
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Kishan

Pakistan does claim the legacy of the Mughal Empire. But after the Rebellion in 1957 which was brutally put down by the British all the remains of the Mughal rule were wiped out. The last emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Burma where he died in 1862. It is said that the emperor had 24 sons and 25 daughters and several grandchildren. 22 princes were arrested by the British and they were all shot or hanged. The rest of the Imperial family fled Delhi and scattered to different parts of the country and outside.
Today the descendants of the last Mughal emperor live mainly in Delhi, Calcutta and Hyderabad. The story of Sultana Begam, the widow of "Prince" Bedar Bakht, a great grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar who lives in a Calcutta slum with her five daughters is really pathetic. Then there is Pakeezah Begum, a great great granddaughter in Delhi who claims proudly that her mother was invited for a function in connection with the 101st anniversary of the death of Bahadur Shah by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963! In Hyderabad live another branch who were treated kindly and protected by the Nizam.
Thus the Mughal Emperor had no heirs to claim the legacy of the Empire in 1947. All the surviving members led a lower middle class or below poverty line lives.
 
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