Mir Osman Ali Khan and His Wealth

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Our family roots are in Jangampalle village of erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad in India. This village is on national highway 7 and is located about 100 kilometers north of Hyderabad city. Hyderabad had been the capital city of Asaf Jahi (1724-1948 AD) and Qutb Shahi (1347-1538 AD) rulers and from 1589 AD onwards. The monument 'Charminar which was completed in 1591 AD is its distinguishing landmark (Fig. 1a &b). Asaf Jahi dynasty ruled the state which was also known by the name of Hyderabad state. The ancient village Jangampalle has a fort in ruins and what now remains is a watch tower, a reminder of its past (Figs. 2 a & b; 3). In medieval period wars were common and each state had forts for defense around its periphery and our village was one such during Kakatiya period (1083-1323 AD). The senior author spent his childhood in this village and visited this ancient village hundreds of times later. This is the only place which has been our home for hundreds of years. It has a large tank for irrigation and only occupation of its residents including our family was agriculture. Farming was the only occupation of the villagers for hundreds of years and since it depended on monsoon rains it suffered from its vagaries. During the past one thousand years this village was ruled by successively by Hindu Kakatiya dynasty and after its fall in 1323 AD it came successively under the rule of four Muslim dynasties namely Bahmani (1347-1538 AD). Qutb Shahi (1489-1687 AD), Mughal (1687-1724) and lastly Asaf Jahis (1724-1948 AD) for almost seven hundred years. The Hyderabad state did not join the Indian Union at the time of its independence from the British in August of 1947 because of the attitude of its ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan though 86% of its citizens were Hindu and they craved for freedom to join the Indian union. Indian government liberated this village and the state by a military attack known as 'operation polo in September of 1948. All through the centuries main concern of villagers was to avoid hunger and famine which was a constant threat and to keep their faith in Hindu religion. Census of the past reveals that in some decades there is a decrease in population due to famines, plagues and cholera. For example the population of Hyderabad state in 1891 was 11537041 which decreased to 11141142 by 1901 because of famines in 1896-97 and 1899-1900 respectively. Besides these there was an outbreak of plague in 1897 in this state (Raj 1987). The population of Hyderabad state in 1881 was 9845594 and it decreased from 1871 as there was famine in 1871 and 1876. Hindus were 90.32% in 1881 and Muslims were 9.42%. Subsequently the numbers of Hindu population showed a steady decline. The official language of the state was Persian and in 1884 Persian was replaced by Urdu as official language. 933 books were published in the year 1910 and out of these 883 were in Urdu, Arabic 25, Telugu 14. Persian 6 respectively. English and Marathi were represented by 2 each. Telugu did not grow in Telangana even though the mother tongue of half of state's population was Telugu since it did not receive royal patronage. Whatever development occurred in Telugu over the centuries was significant but it was due to individual effort. Newspapers and journals also reflected the state of affairs: Urdu and Persian 25, Telugu 1, Marathi4 and English 13. The total number of schools in Hyderabad state in 1872-1873 was 141. The percentage of educated men during the decade 1881 was as follows: Hindus 2.9%; Muhammadan: 4.9%, Jain-8.9% Christians 51.8%, Parsis 56.1%, Sikhs-12.9% and Jews-19.1%. It is indeed obvious that native languages suffered due to lack of patronage by the government during the Asaf Jahi era.

Mir Osman Ali Khan(1886-1967), Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah VII, the sovereign ruler of erstwhile state of Hyderabad (1911-1948 AD; 1886-1967 AD) in India was on the cover page of Times magazine dated 8th February of 1937 (Volume XXIX, issue No.8; Fig.4). He had many titles such as: Lieutenant General, His exalted Highness, Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, Regulator of the realm, Victorious in Battle, Aristotle of the age. Shadow of God, Faithful Ally of the British and so on (Fig. 5). Times investigative report coincided with the silver jubilee celebrations of kings' rule. The article declared that the king was the richest person in the world. The cover page painting aptly depicts the bejeweled Nizam in all its glory. The title 'Nizam-ul-Mulk' meaning governor of the kingdom in Arabic was conferred on his ancestor Chin Qilich Khan, the founder of the Asaf Jahi dynasty by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah in 1713 AD. This title was held by his descendants including the last ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan. The head of a ruling family was commonly known as Nizam and Osman Ali Khan was known as the last Nizam though Mukarram Jah, his successor was conferred with the title Asaf Jah VIII and some called him as last Nizam though he never ruled. Hence Mir Osman Ali Khan alone should alone be known as the last Nizam.

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