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Hyderabad Last Nizam
- Hyderabad Last Nizam
- Nizam of Hyderabad
- How did the Nizams start ruling Hyderabad?
- Why Qamaruddin?
- The Nizam and the Mughals
- What was the name of the Nizam’s dynasty?
- How did the Nizam’s era come to an end?
- Where was Mukarram Jah when the Indian Army captured Hyderabad?
- When did Mukarram Jah succeed as Nizam?
- The Nizam and his legendary treasures
- The Major Blow
- Relocating to Australia
- Who were his wives?
- List of Nizams of Hyderabad (1724–1948)
- Descendants of the last Nizam
Hyderabad Last Nizam
The last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mukarram Jah Bahadur, who passed away on 14th January 2023 in Turkey, will be buried in the family vault in the Mecca Masjid courtyard. “The body will be transported to Chowmahalla Palace so that mourners can pay their respects when it arrives on a chartered flight as planned. On Wednesday 18th January, the funeral will be held, said a family member. The preparation of the vault, where other members of the Nizam family who governed Hyderabad starting in 1724 are buried, was overseen by Nizam Trust officials.
Nizam of Hyderabad
Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (October 6, 1933 – January 14, 2023), also known as Mukarram Jah, was the titular Nizam of Hyderabad after his grandfather’s death in 1967.
Jah served as the chairman of the Mukarram Jah Trust for Education & Learning and H.E.H. The Nizam’s Charitable Trust (MJTEL).
How did the Nizams start ruling Hyderabad?
In 1712, Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar persuaded Qamaruddin to assume the viceroyalty of the Deccan with the title Nizam-ul-Mulk (Regulator of the Realm).
Why Qamaruddin?
The beginning of the story is when Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor, conquered Golconda in 1687.
Despite losing his general Khwaja Abid, Aurangzeb defeated Abdul Hassan, the last ruler of the Qutb Shahi kingdom.
So, the grandson of Khwaja Abid was Qamaruddin.
It is said that in 1677, when Qamruddin was six years old, his father Firuz Jung took him to the court of Aurangzeb.
The legend goes that when Aurangzeb saw young Qamaruddin, the emperor received him with kindness and bestowed upon him a mansab (hereditary title).
Aurangzeb then told Firuz Jung, ‘The star of destiny shines on the forehead of your son.’
The emperor’s prediction came true, and Qamruddin became Hyderabad’s first Nizam.
The Nizam and the Mughals
Despite the fact that Hyderabad was a vassal of the Mughal empire, the then-Nizam refused to join the Mughals in their insurrection against the British in 1857.
What was the name of the Nizam’s dynasty?
The Asaf Jahi dynasty.
Asaf Jah, or the Equal to Asaf, was the grand wazir at the court of the biblical ruler Solomon, which was the highest title that could be bestowed upon a Mughal subject.
How did the Nizam’s era come to an end?
After India’s Independence in 1947, Osman Ali Khan, Mukarram’s grandfather, wanted Hyderabad to be a part of Pakistan, if not to be an independent country. The Razakars, the Nizam’s personal army, started a reign of terror.
Due to this, Operation Polo was started in September 1948 by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister.
Within days of arriving in Hyderabad, the Indian Army routed the Razakars.
Hyderabad joined India as the country’s 562nd princely state.
Where was Mukarram Jah when the Indian Army captured Hyderabad?
Together with his mother Princess Durrushehvar and brother Muffakhan Jah, he had fled to Karachi. In order to remain there for the following two years, the princess and her sons moved into a suite at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Princess Durrushehvar was stubborn and refused to send her grandsons back to India despite Nizam Osman Ali Khan’s demands that they be sent.
When did Mukarram Jah succeed as Nizam?
In 1967, after the death of his grandfather, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
The first thing he said to the media was that he had never heard of any buried treasure and that his grandfather didn’t appear to keep track of his fortune.
As Nizam, he was most concerned in providing for 14,718 employees and their family.
He had 28 servants at the Chowmahalla palace complex whose sole responsibility it was to bring drinking water from the customary well outside the city to the Nizam and his immediate household.
The Nizam and his legendary treasures
Osman Ali Khan had a personal net worth of 1.35 billion rupees in the 1950s (then estimated at 100 million pounds).
The Nizam’s fortune could not be calculated, according to a 1949 article in The New York Times, but it was estimated to be more than $2 billion at the time.
According to the New York Times, the Nizam’s pearls would be enough to pave Broadway from Times Square to Columbus Circle or fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
The Major Blow
In 1970, then-prime minister Indira Gandhi introduced a bill in Parliament to abolish princely privileges.
After Independence, a total of 279 princes received 50 million rupees annually, with the Nizam of Hyderabad receiving the highest salary.
Because they had given up their kingdoms to the Indian Union in 1947 with the condition that they would receive privy purses, they were granted princely privileges.
Indira Gandhi was able to get an ordinance to remove the privy purses of all the former princes of India, even though the bill was not passed by Parliament and actually failed by one vote.
By 1971, Mukarram Jah’s enthusiasm about becoming Nizam had almost evaporated.
Relocating to Australia
Nizam moved to Australia in 1972 to be with his friend George Hobdy, a doctor in Western Australia.
He started out as a shepherd and reportedly told a reporter, “I see no reason why I shouldn’t be a shepherd. Abu Bakr, the first caliph of Islam, was one.”
He was so reclusive that he preferred to operate bulldozers in the Australian bush to seeing the prime minister at the time.
According to John Zubrzycki’s book, The Last Nizam, Mukarram Jah declined to meet with Prime Minister Bob Hawke when he requested to meet the Nizam in Perth.
I simply need to be left alone. I don’t require the attention. The fact that I am the Nizam of Hyderabad is all that matters, he said.
He left Australia in the 1990s and travelled back and forth between Hyderabad, London, and Istanbul.
Who were his wives?
The Nizam had five marriages. He occasionally cohabited with women or had a divorce to find new love.
Esra Birgin, a Turkish noblewoman, was the first.
Helen Simmons was his second spouse. He then wed Miss Turkey Manolya Onur, then Moroccan woman Jamila Boularas, and finally Turkish woman Ayesha Arkide in 1995.
List of Nizams of Hyderabad (1724–1948)
| Titular Name | Personal Name | Date of birth | Nizam From | Nizam Until | Date of death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I نظامالملک آصف جاہ | Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan | 20 August 1671 | 31 July 1724 | 1 June 1748 | |
| Nasir Jung نصیرجنگ | Mir Ahmed Ali Khan | 26 February 1712 | 1 June 1748 | 16 December 1750 | |
| Muzaffar Jung مظفرجنگ | Mir Hidayat Muhi-ud-din Sa’adullah Khan | ? | 16 December 1750 | 13 February 1751 | |
| Salabat Jung صلابت جنگ | Mir Sa’id Muhammad Khan | 24 November 1718 | 13 February 1751 | 8 July 1762 (deposed) | 16 September 1763 |
| Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah II نظامالملک آصف جاہ دوم | Mir Nizam Ali Khan | 7 March 1734 | 8 July 1762 | 6 August 1803 | |
| Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III سکندر جاہ ،آصف جاہ سوم | Mir Akbar Ali Khan | 11 November 1768 | 6 August 1803 | 21 May 1829 | |
| Nasir-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah IV ناصر الدولہ ،آصف جاہ چہارم | Mir Farqunda Ali Khan | 25 April 1794 | 21 May 1829 | 16 May 1857 | |
| Afzal-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah V افضال الدولہ ،آصف جاہ پنجم | Mir Tahniyath Ali Khan | 11 October 1827 | 16 May 1857 | 26 February 1869 | |
| Asaf Jah VI آصف جاہ ششم | Mir Mahbub Ali Khan | 17 August 1866 | 26 February 1869 | 29 August 1911 | |
| Asaf Jah VII آصف جاہ ہفتم | Mir Osman Ali Khan | 6 April 1886 | 29 August 1911 | 17 September 1948 (deposed) | 24 February 1967 |
Descendants of the last Nizam
The last Nizam had 34 children, including 16 sons and 18 daughters.
The Asaf Jahi dynasty followed the order of precedence of male primogeniture regardless of the mother’s marital status or rank.
His eldest son was Azam Jah (21 February 1907 – 9 October 1970), was the Prince of Berar.
Whereas, his second son Moazzam Jah, married Princess Niloufer, a princess of the Ottoman empire.
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