In a ceremony held at the Chowmahalla Palace, attended by close family members, Azmat Jah was coronated as successor to Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the eighth and last formal Nizam of Hyderabad who passed away in Turkey the previous week. Azmat Jah, a professional photographer and filmmaker who worked with leading Hollywood directors, took over as his father’s successor. Mukarram Jah’s first wife and Azmat Jah’s mother Princess Esra, sister Shekhyar, and some other family members attended the ‘Dastar Bandi’ or coronation.
The coronation of Azmat Jah held a symbolic significance, as it took place at the same palace where Mukarram Jah was coronated in 1967 after the death of his grandfather, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam and last ruler of Hyderabad State. However, Azmat Jah’s coronation will have no official status or title of ninth Nizam, as the government of India abolished princely titles and privileges in 1971. As per the wish of his late father, Azmat Jah will act as the caretaker of the Nizam’s properties and Nizam Trusts.
Mir Mohammed Azmat Ali Khan, also known as Azmat Jah, was born in London on July 23, 1960. He received his early education in London and later studied at the University of Southern California. A professional photographer and filmmaker, Azmat Jah worked with leading Hollywood directors such as Steven Spielberg and Richard Attenborough.
Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, passed away in Turkey on January 14 and was buried at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on January 19 with full state honors. Mukarram Jah, the grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, was born to Prince Azam Jah and Princess Durru Shehvar, the imperial princess of the Ottoman Empire, on October 6, 1933, in France. He was coronated as Asaf Jah the Eighth on April 6, 1967, after the passing away of Mir Osman Ali Khan in February 1967.
Mukarram Jah was known as the Prince of Hyderabad till 1971 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished all titles. He was also said to be India’s richest person till the 1980s. Mukarram Jah lived most of his life in Turkey and Australia.
