Fifty-six years after the death of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Hyderabad’s seventh Nizam who was once said to be the world’s richest man, a fresh war of succession is brewing among the royal descendants. The latest trigger is the death of Mukarram Jah, the last titular Nizam of Hyderabad, on January 14 this year.
While a quiet ceremony held days later at the Chowmahalla Palace pronounced Azmet Jah, the London-based eldest son of Mukarram Jah, as the next head of family, the event led to serious heartburn in other camps — the Sahebzadas (descendants of the sixth and earlier Nizams) and the descendants of the seventh Nizam led by Najaf Ali Khan. All three teams claim the royal pie belongs to them.
TOI spoke to multiple representatives from the three groups to unravel this family feud and understand why every group has a different ‘leader’ and what’s the wealth they are staking claim to.
Team Azmet Jah
As the eldest son of Mukarram Jah, supporters say Azmet Jah is the only person fit to be crowned his successor. And as the next head of family, all rights to properties and valuables accumulated by the Nizam — either by way of inheritance or gifts — are bound to be passed on to the 62-year-old.
Nobody else, be it the other grandsons of the seventh Nizam or relatives, has any right to these riches. While there is no exact account of the wealth, Azmet Jah, by virtue of his position, has control over four heritage palaces in the Hyderabad — Falaknuma, Chowmahalla, Narzi Bagh (also called King Kothi palace) and Purani Haveli — spread over 50 acres within the city and each crammed with art and artefacts of very high antique value. Then, there’s a host of trusts set up by Osman Ali Khan (they had a total corpus of Rs 40-50 crore in 1950) and a couple of properties in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The Nizam’s family also controls exclusive waqf properties through the Nizam Auqaf Trust that run into several thousand crores.
With members of the other camps claiming equal right to some of these properties, Azmet Jah’s well-wishers recently issued a caution notice asking the public to beware of such people who were positioning themselves as “direct descendants of the Asaf Jahi dynasty” for “personal gains”. “During his regime, the seventh Nizam had set up multiple trusts for charitable works and welfare of family members. A trust was set up specifically for the benefit of the extended family as well. So, while the members have a right to that trust, they have no right to anything else,” says a member of the Azmet Jah camp.
Majlis-e-Sahebzadagan Society
By their own estimate, the society members number around 4,500 — all descendants of the sixth Nizam, Mahboob Ali Khan, and his predecessors. They are objecting to Azmet Jah’s crowning, alleging misuse of funds and the lack of interest shown by him in taking care of the family. In retaliation, this group has put forth their own leader, Raunaq Yar Khan, who was even crowned the ninth Nizam at a ceremony in Moghalpura, a neighbourhood in Hyderabad, on March 2. While the seventh Nizam had set up the Sahebzadas of Sarf-e-Khas Trust (it had an initial corpus of Rs 2.5 crore) exclusively for them, it barely serves them anymore. Each member today gets a paltry sum (in some cases just Rs 20 a month) as the trust’s corpus was not managed properly and the number of claimants has increased manifold over the years. They are now fighting to revive the trust along with a share in all properties — some located in Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar as well. “There was also a miscellaneous trust with Rs 9 crore that was set up for the family. Even that’s dried up,” says a representative of the group, accusing Azmet Jah and team of failing to replenish these trusts so that family members can earn a basic living. “Right now, some Sahebzada members get money only once in three months,” he adds.
Splinter group
Some members from the Sahebzadagan Society have split to support Azmet Jah. The group has formed its own society with Mir Hashmat Ali Khan as its president. It has also announced that Azmet Jah has agreed to donate Rs 5 crore to the trust to increase the monthly pensions of members. Hashmat Ali says they have requested him to sanction Rs 20 crore and allot land for a residential colony for descendants of the first nine Nizams.
Team Najaf Ali Khan
Led by him, this group approximately comprises 195 members scattered all over the world and who claim to be direct descendants of the seventh Nizam. Their contention with Azmet Jah’s elevation is also rooted in the lack of involvement that he has had with the affairs of the family so far. “He has never been around and not cared about the family. How can he suddenly turn up and pronounce himself as the head of the family with rights over all the property and money?” asks a member of the group that has even filed a partition suit in a Hyderabad civil court. They have been claiming a stake in the four palaces and the case is pending in court. They have also demanded a share in the Hyderabad Fund (₹325 crore) that was settled in favour of the Government of India, and the seventh Nizam’s grandsons Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah.
Imagine having the world’s richest man in your family tree, but all you get is the bitter fruit of penury. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, was rumoured to have used a 185-carat diamond — the Jacob’s Diamond — as a paperweight. In 1937, he was on the cover of Time magazine for being the world’s richest man with an estimated wealth of billions of dollars.
Today, however, one branch of the Nizam’s family — the descendants of the first to the sixth Nizam — have none of the airs of a rich heir. They live in Hyderabad doing odd jobs and running small businesses. The famed wealth of the Nizam seems to them like an old, faded photograph where they can barely make out the smudged contours of a glorious past.
Per the last count, there are about 4,500 Sahebzadas, as they are called, brought together under one roof — the Majlis-e-Sahebzadagan Society. They have small, faded ID cards endorsing their membership to this nearly bankrupt trust which pays them a cash dole of anywhere between ₹150 and ₹4 every month.
The society members recently met in the Old City of Hyderabad, had some biryani carrying the rich fragrance of saffron, and appointed one of the descendants of the family, Mir Raunaq Yar Khan, as their Nizam. The only sign of old grandeur under the shamiana that day was the long line of the dark maroon Rumi Topi, or cap, that many of them had put on, just like Mir Osman Ali Khan did.
In the Hyderabad of old, the cap signalled aristocracy. Today, however, many of the Sahebzadas struggle to hide their hard life despite their lineage.
Meet Mir Sajid Ali Khan, dressed in a simple shirt and pants, and hiding his left hand in his trouser pocket as it has been paralysed. For the most part, he had made a living as a car mechanic, but about 15 years ago, a car crashed on him while he was repairing it, leaving one side of his body paralysed. The 40-year-old has three children and feeds his family by doing odd jobs. “I get ₹18 every month from the trust as a ‘salary’,” he says. “How can one live on that money?”
Mir Sayeed-ud-Din Khan, in his mid-60s, has a son working in ‘Saudia’. As a result, he doesn’t need to work for a living. Also, he doesn’t need to come to the trust and pick up his ₹133-per-month allowance. “You can’t get two decent lukhmis for breakfast with that money,” he says. You expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t, preferring to give a stiff, expressionless look. For those not initiated into Hyderabadi cuisine, lukhmi is a variation of the samosa, a flat square filled with mincemeat.
And then there is Fatima Barkat-un-Nisa, who once worked as a schoolteacher but stopped because of health issues. “To come to the Old City just to get my monthly allowance of ₹20.25 is no longer feasible,” she says. “I can’t afford the ₹500 one-way taxi ride to come to the office. Although, we visit the office once a year just to establish that we are alive.”
She says there are Sahebzadas who make a living as auto drivers or as domestic help in other people’s homes, but they would prefer not to be identified. “There are many members who need the small amounts the trust gives out,” she says. “That is how desperate they are.”
There is talk among the descendants of Mir Osman Ali Khan leaving crores in two trusts – the amount ranges from about ₹2 crore to ₹9 crore, which would have been a princely sum in the 1950s. Today, they are left with empty coffers. The members are hoping they will be identified as legal heirs of the last Nizam and regain some of the lost glory, even if it is reflected glory.
