He was only thirteen (but turning fourteen years of age) when he ascended the throne of Rampur, he ruled under a regency to 1896, when Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin invested him with full ruling powers.

During his reign, his salute was raised from 13-guns to 15 as a result of Sir Hamid's army seeing distinguished service in the Middle East, Afghanistan and German East Africa during World War I.

A staunch supporter of higher education, Sir Nawab Hamid gave generously to many colleges across the subcontinent, including the Lucknow Medical College and Aligarh Muslim University, also greatly expanding the number of educational institutions within his state.

[1] Dying in 1930 at the age of 54, after a 41-year reign, Sir Hamid was buried at Karbala, Iraq.

He was succeeded by his son, Sir Raza Ali Khan Bahadur.