Bringing the legendary Nizam rule to an end
Mukarram Jah, the titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad has passed away at 89
Mukarram Jah, the titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad has passed away at 89, bring an end to the privy purse, an idea that beckons to the colonial rule and the flamboyant, vainglorious, privileged existence of most kings, barring a few exceptions that lived austere.
Although not legal, the Nizamate has come to an end, something that will now survive in monuments and documentaries. His body shall be brought back from Turkey, where he passed, then be laid in state for the subjects to have a last glance and he shall finally return to his ancestors at the ancestral graves of the Asaf Jahi dynasty in the historic Mecca on the 17th of January, although the family is yet to divulge details.
Born in opulence to Prince Azam Jah and Princesses Durru Shevar as Mir Barket Ali Khan in Nice, France on 6th October 1933, he had a splendid education in top educational institutes all over the world, ranging from Doon to Sandhurst, an apt feather in his jeweled hat, his royal authority was recognized by the government in 1969 and formally coronated as the Nawab two years prior in 1967.
With the official title -His Exalted Highness Prince Rustam-i-Dauran, Arustu-i-Zaman, Wal Mamaluk, Asaf Jah VIII, Muzaffar ul-Mamalik, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Barakat Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar, holding the same till 1971, the year when the government abolished the privy purse, although his charisma didn’t wane and the people still referred to him as the last Nizam, all the same. His personality was strong to the point that he could very well have become the next spiritual leader of Muslims had the Caliphate been revived, for Sultan Abdul Mejid II had willed that in case of a future revival, the successor would be his grandson.
To stress the point further, when the golden jubilee of his coronation was celebrated in 2017, thousands waited for him outside while he was escorted in a jeep, hearkening back to the same sight when expectant subjects would wait for the Mughal rulers, hoping to catch one fleeting glance. Married 5 times, he owned the legendary Falaknuma, Chowmohalla, Chiran and the King Kothi palaces, although the last one was crumbling, besides the Purani Haveli.
He left India in the early 70s to settle in Australia, later Turkey, suffering huge losses there, although archival records suggest he was close to the Nehru family, even making a claim that he had proposed to set up an automobile unit here long before Maruti in 1983, for he was famous as an automobile enthusiast.
At one stage in his long, epic life he was asset rich, cash poor, although his inheritance included a 12kg mohur last seen in 1987, the largest minted coin ever in the world, along with the Nizam diamond, although the whereabouts aren’t known till date. To provide him some final solace, he was finally paid the long pending Nizam money before the Police Action in 1948, also known as the Hyderabad Fund Case, in which the original amount of 1 million swelled to 35 million over the years.
1 Comment
Pingback: Hybrid Engine System - To Become Carbon Neutral by 2035