Mir Osman Ali Khan
Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII was the last Nizam of Hyderabad State, the largest state in the erstwhile Indian Empire. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age of 25 and ruled the State of Hyderabad until 1948, when the Indian Union annexed it. He was styled as His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad, and was widely considered one of the world's wealthiest people of all time. With some estimates placing his wealth at 2% of U.S. GDP, his portrait was on the cover of Time magazine in 1937. As a semi-autonomous monarch, he had his mint, printing his currency, the Hyderabadi rupee, and had a private treasury that was said to contain £100 million in gold and silver bullion, and a further £400 million of jewels. The major source of his wealth was the Golconda mines, the only supplier of diamonds in the world at that time. Among them was the Jacob Diamond, valued at some £50 million, and used by the Nizam as a paperweight.
During his 37-year rule, electricity was introduced, and railways, roads, and airports were developed. He was known as the "Architect of modern Hyderabad" and is credited with establishing many public institutions in the city of Hyderabad, including Osmania University, Osmania General Hospital, State Bank of Hyderabad, Begumpet Airport, and the Hyderabad High Court. Two reservoirs, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, were built during his reign, to prevent future flooding after the Great Musi Flood of 1908 in the city. The Nizam also constructed the Nizam Sagar Dam and, in 1923, a reservoir was constructed across the Manjira River, a tributary of the Godavari River, between Achampet and Banjepally villages of Kamareddy district in Telangana, India. It is located at about 144 km northwest of Hyderabad and is the oldest dam in the state.
The Nizam had refused to accede Hyderabad to India after the country's independence on 15 August 1947. He wanted his domains to remain an independent state or join Pakistan. Later, he wanted his state to join India; however, his power had weakened because of the Telangana Rebellion and the rise of a radical militia known as the Razakars, whom he could not put down. In 1948, the Indian Army invaded and annexed Hyderabad State and defeated the Razakars. The Nizam became the Rajpramukh of Hyderabad State between 1950 and 1956, after which the state was partitioned and became part of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
In 1951, he started the construction of Nizam Orthopedic Hospital and leased it to the government for 99 years for a monthly rent of Rs.1. He also donated of land from his estate to Vinobha Bhave's Bhoodan movement for re-distribution among landless farmers.
Early life
Mir Osman Ali Khan was born 5 or 6 April 1886, the second son of Mahboob Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI and Amat-uz-Zahra Begum at Purani Haveli. He was educated privately and reportedly became fluent in Urdu, Persian, Arabic and English. Under Nawab Muhammad Ali Beg he received court ethics and military training.On the recommendation of the Viceroy of India, Lord Elgin in 1898, in early 1899 Brian Egerton was appointed as Mir Osman Ali Khan's English tutor for two years. During this period he lived away from the principal palace. He had his own household, to avoid the atmosphere of the palace quarters, under the guidance of Egerton and other British officials and mentors, so that he could flourish as a gentleman of the highest class. Brian Egerton recorded that as a child, Mir Osman Ali Khan was magnanimous and "anxious to learn". Because of the indomitable attitude of zenana who were determined to send Osman Ali Khan out of Hyderabad for further studies, he pursued them at Mayo College after consultation with the principal nobles of the Paigah family.
Reign
The VI Nizam died on 29 August 1911 and on the same day Mir Osman Ali Khan was proclaimed Nizam VII under the supervision of Nawab Shahab Jung, a minister of Police and Public works. On 18 September 1911, the coronation was officially held at the Chowmahalla Palace.His coronation Durbar included the prime minister of Hyderabad Maharaja Kishen Pershad, Colonel Alexander Pinhey British resident of Hyderabad, the Paigah, and the distinguished nobles of the state and the head of principalities under Nizam domain.
The famous mines of Golconda were the major source of wealth for the Nizams, with the Kingdom of Hyderabad being the only supplier of diamonds for the global market in the 18th century.
Mir Osman Ali Khan acceded as the Nizam of Hyderabad upon the death of his father in 1911. The state of Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states in colonial India. With an area of 86,000 square miles, it was roughly the size of the present-day United Kingdom. The Nizam was the highest-ranking prince in India, was one of only five princes entitled to a 21-gun salute, held the unique title of "Nizam", and was titled "His Exalted Highness" and "Faithful Ally of the British Crown".
Early years (1911 to 1918)
In 1908, three years before the Nizam's coronation, the city of Hyderabad was struck by a major flood that resulted in the death of thousands. The Nizam, on the advice of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, ordered the construction of two large reservoirs—the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar—to prevent another flood.He was given the title of "Faithful Ally of the British Crown" after World War One because of his financial contribution to the British Empire's war effort. Part of the reason behind his unique title of "His Exalted Highness" and other titles was due to the huge amounts of financial help that he provided the British amounting to nearly £25 million. He also paid for a Royal Navy vessel, the N-class destroyer, commissioned in 1940 and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy.
In 1918, the Nizam issued a firman that established Osmania University, the first university to have Urdu as the language of instruction. The present campus was completed in 1934. The Firman also mentioned the university's detailed mission and objectives. The establishment of Osmania University was highly lauded by Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore who was overjoyed to see the day when Indians are "freed from the shackles of a foreign language and our education becomes naturally accessible to all our people".
Post-World War (1918 to 1939)
In 1919, the Nizam ordered the formation of the Executive Council of Hyderabad, presided over by Sir Sayyid Ali Imam, including eight other members, each in charge of one or more departments. The president of the Executive Council would also be the prime minister of Hyderabad.The Begumpet Airport was established in 1930 with the eventual formation of Hyderabad Aero Club by the Nizam in 1936. Initially, Nizam's private airline, Deccan Airways, one of the earliest airlines in British India, used it as a domestic and international airport. The terminal building was constructed in 1937. The first commercial flight took off from the airport in 1946.
Final years of his reign (1939 to 1948)
The Nizam arranged a matrimonial alliance with the deposed caliph Abdulmejid II whereby Nizam's first son Azam Jah would marry Princess Durrushehvar of the Ottoman Empire. It was believed that this union between Nizam and Abdulmejid II would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman Sultans. After India's Independence, the Nizam attempted to declare his sovereignty over the state of Hyderabad, either as a protectorate of the British Empire or as a sovereign monarchy. However, his power weakened because of the Telangana Rebellion and the rise of the Razakars, a Muslim militia who wanted Hyderabad to remain under Muslim rule. In 1948, India invaded and annexed Hyderabad State, and the rule of the Nizam ended. He became the Rajpramukh and served from 26 January 1950 to 31 October 1956.Contributions to society
Educational initiatives
By donating to major educational institutions throughout India, he introduced many educational reforms during his reign. Up to 11% of his budget was spent on education. Primary education was made compulsory and provided free for the poor.Osmania University
He founded the Osmania University in 1918 through a royal firman. It is one of the largest universities in India. Schools, colleges and a Department for Translation were set up.Construction of major public buildings
Nearly all the major public buildings and institutions in Hyderabad city, such as the Hyderabad High Court, Jubilee Hall, Nizamia Observatory, Moazzam Jahi Market, Kachiguda Railway Station, Asafiya Library, the Town Hall now known as the Assembly Hall, Hyderabad Museum now known as the State Museum; hospitals like Osmania General Hospital, Nizamia Hospital and many other buildings were constructed during his reign. He also built the Hyderabad House in Delhi, now used for diplomatic meetings by the Government of India.Establishment of Hyderabad State Bank
In 1941, he started his bank, the Hyderabad State Bank. It was later renamed State Bank of Hyderabad and merged with the State Bank of India as the state's central bank in 2017. It was established on 8 August 1941 under the Hyderabad State Bank Act. The bank managed the Osmania Sicca, the currency of the state of Hyderabad. It was the only state in India that had its currency, and the only state in British India where the ruler was allowed to issue currency. In 1953, the bank absorbed, by merger, the Mercantile Bank of Hyderabad, which Raja Pannalal Pitti had founded in 1935.In 1956, the Reserve Bank of India took over the bank as its first subsidiary and renamed it State Bank of Hyderabad. The Subsidiary Banks Act was passed in 1959. On 1 October 1959, SBH and the other banks of the princely states became subsidiaries of SBI. It merged with SBI on 31 March 2017.