Sikandar enacted many reforms in the state, including the creation of a mint, a secretariat, a parliament and a modern judiciary.

Joseph Davey Cunningham, political agent of the Governor-General of India, announced on 27 July of that year that Sikandar was appointed regent.

In August, however, a group of sepoys attacked British garrisons in Sehore and Berasia; anger with her increased in the state due to her pro-British stance.

[1] The British recognized Sikandar as Nawab of Bhopal on 30 September 1860, and her military salute was increased to 19 guns the following year.

In the memoir, she wrote that the cities of Mecca and Jeddah were "unclean" and the Arabs and the Turks were "uncivilised" and "possessed no religious knowledge."

Also included in the memoir is an anecdote about her confrontation with Turkish customs officials who wanted to levy duties on everything she brought.

Sikandar also established a customs office, a secretariat, an intelligence network, a mint, a postal service which connected the state with the rest of India, and a modern judiciary with a court of appeal.

Like her mother, Qudsia Begum, Sikandar was a devout Muslim; however, she did not wear the niqab (face veil) or practise purdah (female seclusion).