MALER KOTLA. H.H. Ahmad Ali Khan, Nawab of Maler Kotla, 1920s.

A very good. soft focus portrait of H.H. Sir Ahmad Ali Khan, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E, Nawab of Maler Kotla by a Simla photographer. The ruler is shown full length wearing handsome Indian court dress, his turban displaying the egret feathers denoting his rank. Within his magnificent ropes of pearls he wears the neck badge of the Most Exalted Order of the  Star of India with its cameo portrait of the Queen Empress Victoria. He wears the badges of his two orders, having been made a Knight Commander of the Star of India in 1915 and of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1921. Born in 1881 the Nawab ruled from 1908 to 1947. The corners of the card are a little damaged but it was intended to be cut down and a window mount would disguise the damage very easily. The Pathan ruling family ruled a small state in the Punjab not far from Patiala and surrounded by other Sikh states.