Mukarram Jah

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Mir Barakat Ali Khan
Asaf Jah VIII
Jah with his mother Princess Durru Shehvar, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire.
8th Nizam of Hyderabad (titular)
Reign24 February 1967 – 5 November 1971
(pretender 1971–2023)
Coronation6 April 1967
PredecessorMir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII
SuccessorAzmat Jah
Born(1933-10-06)6 October 1933
Hilafet Palace, Nice, France
Died15 January 2023(2023-01-15) (aged 89)
İstanbul, Turkey
Burial18 January 2023
Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
SpousePrincess Esra Birgin
(1959–1974; divorced)
Aysha Simmons
(1979–1989; widowed)
Manolya Onur
(1992–1997; divorced)
Jameela Boularous (co-wife)
(since 1992)
Princess Ayesha Orchedi (co-wife)
(since 1994)
IssueAzmat Jah
Sahibzadi Shehryar
Azam Jah Sahebzada Alexander Ali Khan Siddiqi
Umar Jah,
Nilufer
Zairin
HouseHouse of Asaf Jah
House of Osman
FatherAzam Jah
MotherPrincess Durru Shehvar
ReligionSunni Islam

Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (6 October 1933 – 15 January 2023), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, was the titular Nizam of Hyderabad between 1967 and 1971.[1] He was the head of the House of Asaf Jah until his death in 2023.

Born as the eldest son of Azam Jah and Dürrüşehvar Sultan, he was named successor to the title of Nizam of Hyderabad by his grandfather Mir Osman Ali Khan. Upon Osman's death in 1967, he became the titular Nizam. He lost his titles and the privy purses in 1971, when the 26th Amendment to the Indian constitution was passed.

Jah subsequently moved to Australia, where he stayed at the Murchison House Station. While the prince remained in Australia, his palaces in Hyderabad were encroached upon and fell into disrepair. Numerous divorce settlements and failed business ventures led to the loss of the majority of his fortune. In 1996, he moved to Turkey where he remained until his death in 2023. Jah was buried in Hyderabad.

Jah chaired the H.E.H. The Nizam's Charitable Trust and Mukarram Jah Trust for Education & Learning (MJTEL).[2]

Biography

Early life and education

Mukarram Jah was born to Azam Jah, the son and heir of Osman Ali Khan, the last reigning Nizam of Hyderabad state, by his wife Princess Durru Shehvar, daughter of the last Caliph of the Ottoman dynasty, Abdulmejid II.[3] Jah was educated in India at the Doon School in Dehradun and in England at Harrow and Peterhouse, Cambridge. He also studied at the London School of Economics and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[4]

Jah stayed at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi for a while and briefly served as an honorary aide-de-camp of Jawaharlal Nehru.[5] He stated in 2010 that Nehru had wanted him to become his personal envoy or the Indian ambassador to a Muslim country.[6]

Nizam of Hyderabad

He became the titular Nizam of Hyderabad after the death of his grandfather in 1967.

Life in Australia and Turkey

In 1972, he visited Australia and came across the Murchison House Station. He bought the farm and permanently moved to Australia.[7]

In 1996, he sold the farm and moved to Turkey shortly after.

His two main palaces in Hyderabad, Chowmahalla and Falaknuma, have been restored and opened to the public, the former as a museum showcasing the era of the Nizams and the latter as a luxury hotel. The Taj Falaknuma Palace Hotel opened in February 2010, having been leased to the Taj Group, after some ten years of renovations.[8]

Like his father, Mukarram was the richest man in India until the 1980s. However, in the 1990s, he lost some assets to divorce settlements. His net worth is nevertheless estimated at $US 2 billion.[9][10]

Death and funeral

Jah died on 15 January 2023, at the age of 89.[11] According to Jah's wish his funeral took place in Hyderabad which was the former capital of Hyderabad State and of the Nizam of Hyderabad on 18 January 2023.

His remains were laid in state at the Chowmahalla Palace, where family members and government officials paid their respects.[12]

Personal life

Jah was interested in working on automobiles.

Marriages

Mukarram Jah married five times. His first wife was a Turkish noble woman, Esra Birgin (b. 1936), and they married in 1959.[1][13] Jah left his Hyderabad palace for a sheep station in the Australian outback and divorced his wife, who did not want to move with him.[14] In 1979, he married a former air hostess and employee of the BBC, Helen Simmons (b. 1949 – d. 1989);[15] she converted to Islam and changed her name to Aysha. After her death, he married Manolya Onur (b. 1954 – d. 2017), a former Miss Turkey in 1992, and divorced her after a five-year marriage in 1997.[14][15][16]

He married Jameela Boularous (b. 1972), from Morocco, in 1992.[17] In 1994, he married[18] Princess Ayesha Orchedi (b. 1959), who is Turkish.[19]

Nanny carrying the prince from board after arrival in Bombay, 1934
Mukarram Jah with his younger brother Muffakham Jah

Issue

By Esra Birgin, Mukarram Jah had one son and one daughter:

By Helen Simmons he had two sons:

  • Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Alexander Azam Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (b. 1979)[21]
  • Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Mohammod Umar Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (1984-2004) deceased due to drug overdose[21]

By Manolya Onur he had a daughter:

  • Sahebzadi Nilufer Unisa Begum (b. 1992)[15]

By Jameela Boularous he had a daughter:

  • Sahebzadi Zairin Unisa Begum (b. 1994)

Mukarram Jah had a brother Muffakham Jah.[22]

Full style

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.

Military titles

Honorary Lieutenant-General

Palaces

The palaces he owned:

Complaint against Mukarram Jah

Nawab Najaf Ali Khan another grandson of 7th Nizam, met the Police Commissioner of Hyderabad and submitted a complaint along with supporting documents alleging that Prince Mukarram Jah, his ex-wife Princess Esra, (who is also the General Power of Attorney (GPA) holder of Prince Mukarram Jah), his son Prince Azmat Jah and his brother Prince Muffakham Jah had used false documents in the UK High Court to lay claim over the £35 million Nizam’s Fund lying in NatWest Bank there.[23]

Ancestry

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Zubrzycki, John (2006), The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback, Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited, ISBN 1-4050-3722-9
  2. ^ "Nizam Mukarram Jah Trust for Education and Learning wins tax fight". Deccan Chronicle. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Princess Durru Shehvar passes away", The Hindu, 9 February 2006, archived from the original on 25 October 2007
  4. ^ Singh, Kishore (30 March 2007), "India's wealthiest man the country forgot", Business Standard
  5. ^ K.S.S.SESHAN (30 October 2018). "The progressive princess of Hyderabad". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Nehru had big plans for me, says Mukarram Jah", The Times of India, 14 March 2010, archived from the original on 11 August 2011
  7. ^ Janyala, Sreenivas (17 January 2023). "Trailed by history, the Last Nizam, who travelled continents, died away from 'home'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  8. ^ Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad - Opening February 2010, February 2010, archived from the original on 22 March 2010
  9. ^ Natwest Bank account freeze
  10. ^ Costliest divorce in India
  11. ^ "Mukarram Jah, Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, Passes Away". The Quint. 15 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Last Nizam to be laid to rest with police honours". The Hindu. 17 January 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  13. ^ Guruswamy, Mohan (May 2008). "Books: The Last Nizam by John Zubrzycki. Picador India, Delhi, 2006". City of Hope: a symposium on Hyderabad and its syncretic culture. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  14. ^ a b c Dalrymple, William (8 December 2007), "The lost world", Guardian
  15. ^ a b c "Turkish Beauty Fights for Justice", The Times of India, 21 March 2006, archived from the original on 20 January 2010
  16. ^ Shrivastava, Namita A (19 March 2006), "Princess diaries", The Times of India
  17. ^ "Nizam lands in $7-lakh soup", The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, 24 March 2006
  18. ^ Leonard, Karen Isaksen (2007), Locating Home: India's Hyderabadis Abroad, Stanford University Press, p. 111, ISBN 978-0-8047-5442-2
  19. ^ Parasher, Paritosh (31 August 2001), "Nizam's descendant faces unpaid wages charge in Aussie court", Indo-Asian News Service
  20. ^ Farida, Syeda (10 February 2005), "I belong to a lot of countries", The Hindu, archived from the original on 6 March 2010, retrieved 30 December 2008{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ a b c Soszynski, Henry (20 June 2005). "HH Walashan Nawab Mir BEREKET ALI KHAN Mukarram Jah". Ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  22. ^ "Convert Nizam's lands into parks, royal kin urges Telangana CM". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  23. ^ "VII Nizam's grandson moves police against two cousins, two other kin". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 17 November 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ^ Harun Açba, Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924 (2004) p.214-215

External links

Mukarram Jah
Born: 6 October 1933 Died: 15 January 2023
Titles in pretence
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Nizam of Hyderabad
Titular
1967 – 1971
Reason for succession failure:
Indian annexation of Hyderabad 		Title abolished by
26th Amendment
Loss of title
Recognition of title withdrawn
 — TITULAR —
Nizam of Hyderabad
Pretence
1971 – 2023
Reason for succession failure:
26th Amendment to the Constitution of India 		Succeeded by
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