Sulaiman even has a shajra (family tree), prepared by his late grandfather, Irfan Artist, who was the personal photographer of Bhopal's last Nawab.
NEW DELHI: Mohammed Sulaiman, a supervisor with the public works department in Bhopal, claims his great-grandfather was the real Bourbon descendent and therefore his father Mohammed Affan is the heir to the French throne.
Four months ago, 48-year-old lawyer and farmer Balthazar Napoleon de Bourbon was named as the lost descendent of Bourbon kings by Prince Michael of Greece in his historical novel Le Rajah de Bourbon.
The Bourbon kings ruled France from the 16th century to the French revolution. But Sulaiman said over phone from Bhopal: "My great grandfather, after whom I have been named, was the real descendent of the Bourbons."
He added: "Since he embraced Islam at the age of 20 (around 1890) and cut off ties with his father, he doesn't find mention in the Bourbon family tree."
Sulaiman even has a shajra (family tree), prepared by his late grandfather, Irfan Artist, who was the personal photographer of Bhopal's last Nawab, and this showed the lineage.
"My great-great-grandfather had two wives. Balthazar may be a descendent of the second wife's children," he said.
Balthazar Bourbon, who four months after his changed status is still awaiting an invitation from his distant cousin, Prince Michael, to travel to France and Greece, said: "I haven't heard about such a claim. They don't bother me.”
When told about Sulaiman's claim that the real Bourbon ancestor could have embraced Islam, Balthazar said: "I have a genealogical table. No Bourbon ever converted to any religion. If a Bourbon woman married a non-Christian and if the lineage stems from there, then it is a different matter."
Balthazar, who was earlier eager to take a DNA test either in France or India to prove his links to the dyansty, now seemed to be in no hurry.
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