Mahabat Khan, Nawab of Junagarh, 1887 (c).

Mahabat Khan, Nawab of Junagarh, 1887 (c).

Photograph of Mahabat Khan (1837-1882) the Nawab of Junagahr in a full length portait. The Nawab is seated and a second man, possibly his son, Bhahadur Khan, stands behind him with his left hand on the hilt of his sword. The Nawab was invested a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India and wears the Order Insignia on his left breast. In the background on the left, stands a table with a bronze of two horses. On the right of the background, stands a cabinet with a mirror on the top.

Muhammad Sher Khan Babai was the founder of the Babi Pashtun dynasty of Junagarh in 1654. His descendants, the Babi Nawabs of Junagarh, conquered large territories in southern Saurashtra. However, during the collapse of the Mughal Empire, the Babis became involved in a struggle with the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Empire over control of Gujarat during the reign of the local Mohammad Mahabat Khanji I. Mohammad Khan Bahadur Khanji I declared independence from the Mughal governor of Gujarat subah, and founded the state of Junagarh in 1730. 

This allowed the Babi to retain sovereignty of Junagarh and other princely states. During the reign of his heir Junagarh was a tributary to the Maratha Empire, until it came under British suzerainty in 1807 under Mohammad Hamid Khanji I, following the Second Anglo-Maratha War. In 1807, Junagarh became a British protectorate and the East India Company took control of the state. By 1818, the Saurashtra area, along with other princely states of Kathiawar, were separately administrated under the Kathiawar Agency by British India.