Asaf Jah VII.

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Nizam Osman Ali Khan (ca.1926)

Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII. (Urdu: آصف جاہ), GCSI , GBE (born April 6, 1886 in the Purani Haveli of Hyderabad ; † February 24, 1967 in Hyderabad) with the maiden name of Usman Ali Khan Bahadur (Urdu: عثمان علی خان بہادر), was the last ruling Nizam of the Indian princely state of Hyderabad , whose inhabitants were among the poorest and most uneducated on the subcontinent, whereas the despotic ruler before the Second World Warwas considered the richest man in the world. He was eccentric and extravagant, even for an Indian ruler, but he could also be frugal in everyday things like his clothes.

youth

Usman Ali was the second son of Asaf Jah VI. His full titles were His Exalted Highness Rustam-i-Dauran, Arustu-i-Zaman, Whale Mamalik, Asaf Jah VII, Muzaffar-ul-Mulk-Wal-Mamalik, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula Nawab Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, Sipah Saula, Fateh Jung. " He was trained by private teachers, also in the sense of the classical Islamic tradition in Persian and Arabic. Important tutors were Imud ul-Mulk and the Parse Hafiz Anwarullah Faruqi . At times, the later Diwan Salar Jung III learned with him . The Nizam wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian.

Domination

Coat of arms of the rulers of Hyderabad during colonial times

His inauguration took place on September 18, 1911 in the presence of Viceroy Charles Hardinge . Asaf Jah VII remained an anti-democratic absolutist ruler until the end, who let the business of government be carried out by the divan and some ministers, but reserved the last word on all state matters. The Legislative Council , consisting largely of appointed members, was not allowed to discuss any proposals that would have restricted the ruler's power. There was no freedom of speech or the press at any time. All ordinances ( gasti ) were subject to the approval of the ruler, including Ordinance No. 52 of 1921, which banned all political activity. Political parties were tolerated to a minor extent from the late 1930s.

Immediately after taking office, the Nizam intervened in government affairs. The resulting friction and jealousy led to the fact that the British-supported Diwan Salar Jung III. resigned his post in December 1914 after 2½ years after Imud ul-Mulk had already retired in July. The Nizam himself took over the office of the divan until the end of 1917. He kept his administration to the strictest budgetary discipline.

He participated in the First World War with money, troops and material worth US $ 100 million, which is why he, like his grandfather after 1858, was again allowed to call himself “Faithful Ally of the British Government”. With a letter to the viceroy - designed by Imud ul-Mulk  - he sided with the British as a Muslim against Turkey and urged his fellow believers to do the same. Through this "manifesto" his reputation among the Indian Muslims increased, he was able to act more independently in the next few years. The army was increased to over 25,000 men. In the immediate post-war period, during which he showed himself to be an unconditional ally of the colonial rulers, he flirted at times with the ideas of the Khilafat movement .

Contemporary descriptions emphasize that he was a patron and promoter of the school system. In fact, the state was backward, the country's literacy rate was 1.3% in 1901 and only rose to just under 5% by 1950. That was a quarter of what was achieved in Travancore and was well below the Indian average. Travel reports describe the way of life of the population as "little influenced by the western way of life."

The Nizam refused to work in the Chamber of Princes , which was newly created from 1919 to 1921 , as he considered it beneath his dignity to be placed on an equal footing with other princes. The Prince of Wales visited Hyderabad in 1922 and was received most magnificently, but the nizam did not appear at the station to say goodbye as he considered it inappropriate. The government was led by Kishen Pershad , later the able Akbar Hydari , first as finance minister, then from 1935 to 1941 as divan. Any attempts at democratic participation have been suppressed. About 20,000 satyagrahis were detained. The British were also supported in World War II . The last reform proposal for “democratization” in 1946 would have given 100,000 people (out of a population of approx. 16.3 million) the right to vote.

When the English left India, the nizam refused to join the union. He also supported Pakistan financially by secretly sending large amounts of cash by air. While he let the negotiations persist, he expanded the army to about forty thousand men. Irregular Razakar, the military wing of the radical Islamic Itihad ul Muslim , terrorized the country and were also fought by guerrilla groups of the Communist Party . Thousands of farmers fled to Indian territory. Sardar Patel , executive prime minister, while Nehru was on a European tour , ordered Operation Polo , the occupation of the state by the Indian army, on September 13, 1948 .

Nizam of Hyderabad with King Saud
Nizam with Josip Broz Tito , 1956

After his removal, the Nizam was left as the nominal head of the state ( Rajpramukh ) until it was divided along linguistic borders in November 1956. Thereupon he lived withdrawn, but still extravagant and eccentric in his palace, which he almost only left for Friday prayers. He received heads of state who were passing through, including the Saudi King and the Persian Shah . He was granted a state funeral. The funeral procession, which initially led to the Mecca Mosque (Mecca Masjid) , is said to have been followed by half a million people. He had chosen his tomb in the Judi mosque near the palace , where his mother is also located. As his successor he designated his grandson Mukarram Jah ( Asaf Jah VIII. ) In 1946 .

capital

The enormous personal fortune of Osmani Ali Khan stood in stark contrast to the extreme poverty of his peasant subjects. The area of ​​the capital and the surrounding district ( Atraf-i-Balda ), the economically most important part of the country, about a tenth of the country, belonged to him as Sarf-i-kas land, with all taxes and duties levied there, as private property . Whoever came before his face had to deliver a gift corresponding to his wealth, the Nazarana . His appanage was already 5 million HRs before the First World War . In the late 1930s he was considered the richest man in the world, with an estimated fortune of US $ 2 billion. The government of the Indian Union continued to pay him, like all other abdicated Rajas , a generous privy purse . After his forced abdication, he lost about half of his fortune through lawsuits , the abandonment of the sarf-i-kas and expropriation under the Jagidari Abolition Regulation of 1949 and the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act of 1950. His income from the Sarf-i- kas in 1947 were 20 million. Expenses for the area were, however, paid from the state treasury. For the abolition of its rights, the ruling family received an additional 5 million p. a.

When he died, the finances were in a mess. Some of his descendants are still litigating for shares in the assets that were managed by 54 trust companies from 1970 onwards. At the time of his death, 14,718 people were employed in his palaces, plus a bodyguard of 3,000 men from the local Muslim nobility.

In 1992 the Indian state paid 2.6 billion Rs. For the jewels to establish the Nizam's Jewelery Trust, from which the approximately 200 descendants entitled to inheritance are supplied. Among the stones is the fifth largest diamond in the world at the time it was found, the Jacob Diamond with 400 carats , which has been in the family since 1892. As a child, the nizam is said to have found him in his father's slipper and used it as a paperweight. 173 other pieces were auctioned for £ 40 million in 1995. The settlement of claims on the £ 1 million he deposited with the National Westminster Bank on September 20, 1948 in favor of Habib Ibrahim Rahimtoola (then Pakistan's High Commissioner in Great Britain) and which have since been frozen at the urging of the Indian government (now £ 30 million), is still pending.

Honors and medals

  • 1911: Delhi Durbar gold medal
  • 1911: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
  • 1911: Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St John (GCStJ)
  • 1912: Honorary Colonel of the 20th Deccan Horse
  • 1917: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)
  • 1918: Lieutenant General, honorary. “Faithful Ally of the British Government,” for the state's contribution to World War I.
  • 1935: King George V Silver Jubilee Medal
  • 1936: “Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar”
  • 1937: King George VI Coronation Medal
  • 1941: General, honorary
  • 1946: Royal Victorian Chain (RVC)

Family and harem

His mother was the Begum Amat-uz-Zahrunnisa. His first main wife (marriage on April 14, 1906) was Dulhan Pasha Begum (1889–1955, = Azamunnisa Begum), daughter of Nawab Jahangir Jung; she became the mother of his two eldest sons and a daughter. The second main wife was Iqbal Begum, daughter of Nawab Nazir Jung Bahadur (Mirza Nazir Beg). Five more wives followed. With his favorite Leila Begum he had two daughters and five sons. He also had a total of 42 concubines in the harem.

children

As far as known; Press reports speak of 86 concubines and 20 sons, whose descendants should have grown to 470 by 2008.

  • Yawar un-nisa Begum Sahiba (died as a child)
  • Hidayat un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1901–1925)
  • Walashan Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Azam Jah, Prince of Berar (born February 22, 1907 - † October 9, 1970) married the Ottoman Princess Dürrüşehvar Sultan on November 12, 1931 in Nice (* January 26, 1914 - † February 7 2006) in London, 17-year-old daughter of Abdülmecit II , the last caliph . They had two sons:
    • Nizam ul-Mulk Fath Jang Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Asaf Jah VIII (* 1933 in Nice) the current pretender to the throne. Married 1) Esra Birgin (* 1938), ⚭ 1959, 2 children, ⚮; 2) Helen Simmons ( Ayesha Jah, born August 26, 1948, † May 13, 1989), 2 children; 3) Manolya Onur (* 1954, Miss Turkey 1975, her 2nd marriage) ⚭ August 1990, 1 child, ⚮ 1994; 4) Jamila, a 22 year old Moroccan 1995; 5) Orchid, a Turkish woman. He lived outside of India. For many years he ran a sheep farm in the western Australian hinterland; In 2010 he is said to have lived in a two-room apartment in Istanbul.
    • Mir Karamat Ali Khan Muffakham Jah (* 1939)
  • Sahibzada Nawab Muazam Jah (born December 22, 1907), ⚭ November 12, 1931 in Nice, the Ottoman Princess Nilüfer Hanim Sultana.
  • Osman 'Ali Khan Bahadur (February 29 - June 30, 1908)
  • Ahmad un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1910–1985)
  • Ahmad 'Ali Khan Bahadur (1912-)
  • Kazim Jah (1912–1952)
  • Abid Jah (1913-1983)
  • Hashmat Jah (1913–1988)
  • Hashim Jah (1913-1991)
  • Taqi Jah (1913–1985)
  • Hurmat un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1913-)
  • Karim un-nisa Begum (1913-)
  • Jamal un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1913–1973)
  • Behbood un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1914-)
  • Mahmood un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1914–1984)
  • Basharat Jah (1915-1991)
  • Mehar un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1915–1964)
  • Ghaffoor un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1915–)
  • Aleem un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1915-)
  • Nazeer un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1916–1975)
  • Rajjab Jah (1917–1968)
  • Sa'adat Jah (1917–1988)
  • Faruq un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1918–)
  • Kabir un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1920-)
  • Masud un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1923–1980)
  • Asmat un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1924–1979)
  • Bashir un-nisa Begum Sahiba (1927-)
  • Ramzani Begum Sahiba (1931–1974)
  • Jawad Jah (d.1936)
  • stillborn male child (1938)
  • Mashadi Begum Sahiba (1939-)
  • Zulfiqar Jah (1943-)
  • Imdad Jah (1944-)
  • Nawazish Jah (1944-)
  • Fazal Jah (1946-)
  • Bhojat Jah (1947-1982)
  • Sabir Jah (1948–1985)
  • Sayida Begum Sahiba (1949-)

literature

  • Margrit Pernau : Constitution and political culture in transition: the Indian princely state of Hyderabad 1911–48 . Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-515-06231-9 ; Sert .: Contributions to South Asian Studies, 152 (also: Heidelberg, Univ., Diss., 1991)
  • Zubeda Yazdani: The Seventh Nizam: the Fallen Empire . Cambridge 1985
  • Michael Braun Alexander: Osman Ali Khan / Das Reich des Nizam , in: Börse Online , issue 5/2021, pp. 96–97

Archives:

  • The papers of the resident (1911–1916) Sir Alexander Fleetwood Pinhey (* 1861, † 1918) in the South Asian Center of Cambridge on the events of the first years of the rule .
  • Oriental and India Office Collections, London (L / P & S / 13)
    • Collection 22: Hyderabad
    • Private Office Papers (L / PO): 1) Tasker Collection: D 798. Theodore Tasker was Minister of Finance and Police 1928–1942. 2) Lothia Collection: F144. Arthur Cunningham Lothian was resident from 1942–1946.
  • Andhra Phradesh State Archives, Hyderabad: files of the Princely State.

Web links

Commons : Asaf Jah VII  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual references and comments

  1. ^ Resident William Barton described the situation as: “most complete absolutism in history, an absolutism untempered by fear or danger from without or”. Memorandum dated December 11, 1925. Quoted in: Dicks Kooimans: Communalism and Indian Princely States , p. 103. New Delhi 2002, ISBN 81-7304-421-X .
  2. ↑ Y. Yaikuntham (ed.): People's Movement in the Princely States . Delhi 2004, ISBN 81-7304-528-3 (papers from a 1994 seminar).
  3. ^ Margit Pernau-Reifeld: Reaping the Whirlwind: Nizam and the Khilafat Movement . Economic and Political Weekly, Issue 34, No. 38 (September 18-24, 1999), pp. 2745-2751.
  4. ↑ Bipan Chandra: India's Struggle for Independence . Delhi et al. 1989, pp. 366-371.
  5. ↑ Erwin Drinneberg: From Ceylon to the Himalaya . Berlin 1926, Chapter In the State of Hyderabad .
  6. ↑ according to Hyderabad Administration Report in financial year 1938: 9525; Quoted in: Dick Kooiman (2002), p. 198.
  7. ↑ a b The last Nizam . DAWN Magazine, March 18, 2007.
  8. ↑ The Times, August 9, 1948.
  9. ↑ a b Bipan Chandra: India Since Independence . Delhi et al. 2008, p. 96f., 587.
  10. ^ Cover story of Time , February 22, 1937.
  11. ↑ a b Adjusted for inflation, this is said to have amounted to US $ 210.8 billion in 2008. Nizam of Hyderabad: Fifth on the Forbes 'All Time Wealthiest' . Time, April 11, 2008 (accessed August 14, 2010).
  12. ↑ Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII in the English language Wikipedia.
  13. ↑ https://m.timesofindia.com/city/hyderabad/last-surviving-son-of-nizam-fazal-jah-dies/articleshow/62975984.cms .
  14. ^ The saga of the Nizam of Hyderabad (Times, April 14, 2008; accessed August 14, 2010).
  15. ↑ Nizam's great granddaughter sues for property share . India eNews.com. (Accessed August 14, 2010).
personal data
SURNAME Asaf Jah VII.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES آصف جاہ (Urdu); Usman Ali Khan Bahadur (maiden name, alternative transcription); عثمان علی خان بہادر (birth name Urdu); Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION last ruling nizam of the Indian princely state of Hyderabad (1911–1948), around 1940 the richest man in the world
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Hyderabad
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1967
PLACE OF DEATH Hyderabad