Sachin State

The Sachin State was a princely state belonging to the Surat Agency, former Khandesh Agency, of the Bombay Presidency during the era of the British Raj. Its capital was in Sachin, the southernmost town of present-day Surat district of Gujarat State.HistorySachin state was founded on 6 June 1791. Although over 85% of the subjects were Hindu, the state was ruled by Sunni Muslims of the Sidi dynasty of Danfa-Rajpuri and Janjira State. The Sidi dynasty is of African origin.Sachin State was under the protection of the Maratha Peshwa until it became a British protectorate. The state became bankrupt in 1829 and during the period between 1835 and 1864 the state was under British civil administration. It had its own cavalry, currency, and stamped paper, as well as a state band that included Africans.Fatima Begum (1892 - 1983), one of the early superstars in Indian cinema and India's first female film director, was allegedly married to Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III of Sachin State. But Sachin royal family sources cast a veil over this claiming no record of a marriage or contract having taken place between the Nawab and Fatima Bai or of the Nawab having officially recognised their children, Sultana, Zubeida and Shehzadi, as his own. Sultana, the daughter of Fatima Begum, became a leading figure in early Indian movies. Zubeida, leading actress of India's first talkie film Alam Ara (1931), was her younger sister.