Last Nizam (9781742626109)

by Zubrzycki, John

  48 The West Australian, 16 April 1997

  49 Louise Tilden, personal interview

  50 Tilden, personal interview

  51 David Michael, personal inteview

  52 The Western Mail, 25 February 1984

  Epilogue

  1 Mujeeb Yar Jung, personal interview

  2 Mujeeb Yar Jung, personal interview, 1998

  3 Anonymous, personal interview, 1998

  4 The Hindu, 21 October 2005

  5 Anonymous, personal interview

  6 Ayoob Ali Khan, personal interview

  7 Rajendra Prasad, personal interview

  8 Mukarram Jah, personal interview

  9 Mukarram Jah, personal interview

  Bibliography

  Published Books and Periodical Articles

  Ali, B. Sheikh, Tipu Sultan: A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation, Geetha Book House, Mysore, 1982.

  Ali, Mir Laik, Tragedy of Hyderabad, Pakistan Cooperative Book Society, Karachi, 1962.

  Alladin, Bilkiz, For the Love of a Begum, Hydeca, Hyderabad, 1989.

  Allen, Charles and Dwivedi, Sharada, Lives of the Indian Princes, Century Publishing, London, 1984.

  Amini, Iradj, The Koh-i-noor Diamond, Roli Books, New Delhi, 1994.

  Armstead, Christopher, Princely Pageant, Thomas Harmsworth Publishing, London, 1987.

  Aston, Stephen, British Policy Towards the Indian States, 1905–1939, Curzon Press, London, 1982.

  Austin, Ian, City of Legends, the Story of Hyderabad, Viking, New Delhi, 1992.

  Bahadur, Nawab Sever-ul-Mulk, My Life, Arthur H. Stockwell, London, undated.

  Bala Krishnan, Usha R., Jewels of the Nizams, India Book House, Bombay, 2001.

  Barton, William, The Princes of India, Nisbet & Co., London, 1934.

  Barry, Paul, Going for Broke, Bantam Books, Sydney, 2000.

  Bawa, Vasant Kumar, The Last Nizam, Penguin, New Delhi, 1992.

  Benichou, Lucien, From Autocracy to Integration: Political Developments in Hyderabad (1938–1948), Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2000.

  Bidwell, Shelford, Swords for Hire: European Mercenaries in Eighteenth-Century India, John Murray, London, 1971.

  Bilgrami, S. and Willmott, C., Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Nizam’s Dominions, Times of India Steam Press, Bombay, 1883–1884.

  Birkenhead, Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, Walter Monckton: The Life of Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969.

  Briggs, Henry George, The Nizam: His History and Relations with the British Government, Vols I & II, reprint of 1861 edition, Manas Publications, 1985.

  Chaudhuri, Nani Gopal, British Relations with Hyderabad, University of Calcutta Press, 1964.

  Cooper, Elizabeth, The Harim and the Purdah, T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1915.

  Copeland, Ian, The Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire 1917–1947, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997.

  Corfield, Sir Conrad, The Princely India I Knew: From Reading to Mountbatten, Hoe & Co, Madras, 1975.

  Cotton, Sidney, Aviator Extraordinary: The Sidney Cotton Story as Told to Ralph Barker, Chatto & Windus, London, 1969.

  Dalrymple, William, The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters, HarperCollins, London, 1998.

  Dalrymple, William, White Mughals, HarperCollins, London, 2002.

  Das, Harihar, The Norris Embassy to Aurangzeb, K. L. Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, 1959.

  Elliott, H. M. and Dowson, John, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians, Vol. 8, reprint of 1867–77 London editions, Kitab Mahal, New Delhi, 1990.

  Eraly, Abraham, Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Mughals, Penguin, New Delhi, 2000.

  Fathulla Khan, M., A History of Administrative Reforms in Hyderabad State, New Hyderabad Press, Secunderabad, 1935.

  Forbes, Rosita, India of the Princes, The Book Club, London, 1939.

  Forrest, Denys, Tiger of Mysore: The Life and Death of Tipu Sultan, Allied Publishers, Bombay, 1980.

  Forrest, Kay, The Challenge and the Chance: The Colonisation and Settlement of North West Australia (1861–1914), Hesperian Press, Perth, 1996.

  Fraser, Captain Hastings, Our Faithful Ally, The Nizam, Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1865.

  Fromkin, David, A Peace to End all Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, Avon, New York, 1990

  Furneaux, J. H., Glimpses of India, C. B. Burrows, Bombay, 1895.

  Gascoigne, Barber, The Great Moghuls, Time Books International, New Delhi, 1987.

  Gauba, K. L., Hyderabad or India, Rajkamal Publications Limited, Delhi, 1948.

  Gribble, James Dunning Baker, History of the Deccan, Vol. I, 1896, Vol. II, 1924 (reprint, Rupa, New Delhi, 2002).

  Husain, Yusuf, Diplomatic Correspondence between Nizam Ali Khan and The East India Company (1780–1798), Central Records Office, Hyderabad, 1958.

  Husain, Yusuf, Nizamu’l-Mulk Asaf Jah I: Founder of Haiderabad State, Basel Mission Press, Mangalore, 1936.

  Hyderabad Affairs, Vols 1–9, by Moulvi Syed Mahdi Ali, Times of India Steam Press, Bombay, 1883.

  Hyderabad in Retrospect, by an Ex-official of Hyderabad, Bennett, Coleman & Co, Bombay and Calcutta, 1949.

  Irvine, William, The Later Mughals, Vols I & II, reprint of 1922 edition, Low Price Publications, Delhi, 1995.

  James, Lawrence, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India, Little Brown and Company, London, 1998.

  Jones, Mark Bence, Palaces of the Raj: Magnificence and Misery of the Lord Sahibs, London, Allen & Unwin, 1973.

  Karaka, D. F., Fabulous Mogul: Nizam VII of Hyderabad, Derek Verschoyle, London, 1955.

  Kaye, John William, The Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe: From Unpublished Letters and Journals, Richard Bentley, London, 1854.

  Keay, John, India: A History, HarperCollins, London, 2000.

  Khalidi, Omar, British Residents at the Court of the Nizams of Haydarabad, Haydarabad Historical Society, Wichita, Monograph Series No. 1.

  Khalidi, Omar, Hyderabad, After the Fall, Hyderabad Historical Society, Wichita, 1988.

  Khalidi, Omar, Memoirs of Sidney Cotton, Hyderabad Historical Society, Wichita, 1994.

  Khalidi, Omar, Romance of the Golconda Diamonds, Mapin, Ahmedabad, 1999.

  Khan, Siddiqua, History of Purani Haveli with Special Reference to Masarrat Mahal, Unpublished dissertation, Osmania University, 1982.

  Khan, M. Fathulla, A History of Administrative Reforms in Hyderabad State, New Hyderabad Press, Secunderabad, 1935.

  Kinzer, Stephen, Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2002.

  Kulkarni, G. T. and Kantak, M. R., Battle of Khardla: Challenges and Responses, Deccan College, Post Graduate & Research Institute, Pune, 1980.

  L’Eclaireur du Dimanche Illustré, No. 458, Nice, November 1931.

  The Legacy of the Nizams, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 2002.

  Lord, John, The Maharajahs, Random House, New York, 1971.

  Luther, Narendra, Hyderabad: Memoirs of a City, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1995.

  Luther, Narendra, The Nizam Who Wasn’t, Creative Point, Hyderabad, (undated).

  Luther, Narendra, The Nocturnal Court, The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004.

  Lynton, Harriett Ronken and Rajan, Mohini, The Days of the Beloved, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1987.

  Macaulay, Thomas Babington, The Complete Works of Lord Macaulay, The University Library Association, London, 1910.

  Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire, 1453–1924, John Murray, London, 1995.

  Mason, Philip, The Men Who Ruled India, Pan, London, 1985.

  Mason, Philip, A Shaft of Sunlight: Memories of a Varied Life, Andre Deutsch, London, 1978.

  Menon, V. P., The Story of the Integration of the Indian States, Orient Longman, Calcutta, 1961.

  Moon, Penderal, Warren Hastings and British India, Hodder & Stoughton, London
, 1947.

  Morrow, Anne, Highness, Grafton Books, London, 1986.

  Mukhia, Harbans, The Mughals of India, Blackwells Publishing, 2004.

  Munshi, K. M., The End of an Era, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1957.

  Nayeem, M. A., Mughal Administration of the Deccan under Nizamul Mulk Asaf Jah, Jaico Publishing House, Bombay, 1994.

  Paveir, Barry, The Telengana Movement, 1944–51, Vikas, New Delhi, 1951.

  Pernau, Margrit, The Passing of Patrimonialism: Politics and Political Culture in Hyderabad, 1911–1948, Manohar, New Delhi, 2000.

  Pictorial Hyderabad, Compiled and published by K. Krishnaswamy Mudiraj, Chandrakanth Press, Hyderabad, Vol. I, 1929, Vol. II, 1934.

  Playford, Philip, Carpet of Silver: The Wreck of the Zuytdorp, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1996.

  Prasad, Rajendra, The Asaf Jahs of Hyderabad: Their Rise and Decline, Vikas, New Delhi, 1984.

  The Prince of Wales at Hyderabad, The Bulletin Press, Secunderabad, 1922.

  Raj, Sheela, Mediaevalism to Modernism: Social-Economic and Cultural History of Hyderabad – 1869–1911, Popular Prakasan, Bombay, 1987.

  Ray, Bharati, Hyderabad and British Paramountcy: 1858–1883, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1988.

  Regani, Sarojini, Nizam–British Relations 1724–1857, Booklovers Private Ltd, Hyderabad, 1963.

  Richards, John F., The Mughal Empire, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 1998.

  Ruler to Rajpramukh: Nizam VII, Caxton Press, Bombay, (undated).

  Singh, Nihal, The Nizam and the British Empire, privately printed for the author, 1923.

  Smith, Vincent, Oxford History of India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1974.

  Spear, Percival, Master of Bengal: Clive and his India, Thames and Hudson, London, 1975.

  Srivastava, Constructing Post-Colonial India: National Character and the Doon School, Sage, New Delhi, 2004.

  Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste, Travels in India, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, reprint of translation of 1676 edition, Low Price Publications, New Delhi, 2000.

  Thapar Romesh, Storm over Hyderabad, Kutub Publishers, Bombay, 1948.

  Thomas, Hugh, The Story of Sandhurst, Hutchinson, London, 1961.

  Thompson, Edward, The Making of the Indian Princes, Oxford University Press, London, 1943.

  Thompson, Edward and Garrett, Geoffrey Theodore, Rise and Fulfilment of British Rule in India, Macmillan, London, 1934.

  Tyerman, Christopher, A History of Harrow School, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000.

  Watson, Jeffrey, The Last Plane Out of Berlin, Hodder Headline, Sydney, 2002.

  Yazdani, Zubaida, Hyderabad during the Residency of Henry Russell 1811–1820: A Case Study of the Subsidiary Alliance, University Press, Oxford, 1976.

  Yazdani, Zubaida, The Seventh Nizam: The Fallen Empire, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985.

  Zeigler, Philip, Mountbatten, Harper & Row, New York, 1986.

  Zinkin, Taya, Reporting India, Chatto & Windus, London, 1962.

  Unpublished Works

  Oriental and India Office Collections

  India Office Records

  Political and Secret Department Records

  Crown Representative Records: Political Department Records

  Personal Papers

  Papers of Marjorie Ussher as a governess in India, first (1934–36) to the children of a British military family at Chakrata and Jubbulpore, and afterwards (1936–43) to three wards of the Nizam of Hyderabad, IOIC.

  Papers of Theodore Tasker, Hyderabad Government Service, 1927–42, IOIC.

  Others

  Hyderabad Affairs 1900, confidential memorandum, NAI.

  Hyderabad Affairs 1914–1919, Vol. I, Hyderabad, c. 1920, Political and Secret Department Library, IOIC.

  Hyderabad Political Notebook, Vol. I, 1852–1919 (edited by H. R. Lynch-Blosse), Hyderabad: Residency Press, Confidential Print, 1919, IOIC.

  Hyderabad Political Notebook, 1925–26, confidential memorandum, NAI.

  Hyderabad Political Notebook, Vol. II (1919–1945), (edited by A. C. Lothian), Hyderabad Residency, Top Secret print, 1946, IOIC.

  Miscellaneous Works

  Blue Book, Ministry of States, India, D. O. No. F. 2. (1) – H/50.

  ‘Majeed Mining, Business Plan for the Operation of the Majeed Mine at Halls Creek’, 20 October 1990.

  Memorandum of Compromise (Jewellery Trust), June 2002.

  ‘Minute of Resolution of Directors’, Kingsburg Pty Ltd, 9 February 1994.

  ‘Murchison House Pastoral Co. Pty Ltd, Assets and Liabilities as at 20 May 1992’.

  ‘Murchison House Pastoral Co. Pty Ltd v Kingsburg Pty Ltd’, Supreme Court of Western Australia, Cor 51 of 1996.

  Murchison House Station Manager’s Diary, 1982.

  The Nizam of Hyderabad, The Chattels from the Havelock Street, West Perth, Ex-Residence, Catalogue, Gregsons Auctioneers Pty Ltd.

  ‘Report as to Affairs, Murchison House Pastoral Co. Pty Ltd’, 1 April 1996.

  ‘Report of Princess B. K. Patiala to H. E. H. The Nizam of Hyderabad’, 1991.

  ‘Report to H. E. H. Prince Jah, re. M. Y. Kalbarrie Insurance’, 20 October 1996.

  Sir Salar Jung’s Visit to Europe, extracts from newspapers, May to September 1876.

  Trust Deed (Jewellery Trust), 29 March 1951.

  Interviews

  India

  Mansoor Ali, Bilkiz Alladin, Bhakhtiar Ansari, Vasant Kumar Bawa, Jayant Chowlera, Ghanshyam Das, Chandrakant Gir, Lalitha Gir, Moazzam Hussain, Shahid Hussain, Imdad Jah, Sadruddin Javeri, Scheherazade Javeri, Bashir Yar Jung, Habeeb Jung, Mujeeb Yar Jung, J. Kedareswari, Khairuddin, Aminuddin Khan, Aminuddin Khan, Ghulam Hyder Khan, Justice Sardar Ali Khan, Khudrat Ali Khan, Khusro Yar Khan, Mir Ayoob Ali Khan, Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, Rashid Ali Khan, Usha Bala Krishnan, Narendra Luther, Dr S. A. Mannan, Begum Meherunissa, Rahul Mehrotra, Mehmoob bin Mohammad, Basith Nawab, Rajendra Prasad, Lakshmi Devi Raj, Kishen Rao, Kumudini Ramdev Rao, Gade Venkat Reddy, Joan Reddy, Nandita Sen and Vijay Shankardass.

  London

  John Friedberger, David Michael and Perena Shryane.

  Turkey

  Esra Jah and His Exalted Highness, Mukarram Jah, The Nizam of Hyderabad.

  Australia

  Ron Allen, Cess Blood, Kevin Edwards, Peter Falconer, Bob Gregson, George Hobday, Ayoob Khan, Maurice Lyford, Ted McClintock, David Nuttal, Paul Palazzo, Callum Roscic, Louise Tilden, Neil Trudgen, David Weinman, Joyce Westrip and Gary White.

  Acknowledgements

  One of the seminal moments in researching this book came when the gracious Dr Aminuddin Khan, the chairman of the Nizam’s Private Estate, broke the seal on the door of the bedroom where Osman Ali Khan spent his final years. The very private quarters of the Seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, untouched for decades and lit by a single light-bulb, were laid bare before me. The wooden bed with its thin mattress, a sooty spittoon strewn with cigarette butts and an old rolled-up rug were all testimony to the frugality of the richest man of his times.

  Those privileged days spent plumbing the hidden depths of Nazari Bagh and other palaces in Hyderabad could not have been possible without the help of His Exalted Highness Mukarram Jah, the eight and last Nizam of Hyderabad. Letters of introduction led to many truly remarkable people. I am also indebted to Prince Jah for his hospitality and for agreeing to be interviewed on his extraordinary life. For arranging my meeting with Prince Jah I would like to thank David Michael in London, Esra Jah in Istanbul and Vijay Shankardass in New Delhi.

  Dozens of people in India, the UK and Australia gave up their time to be interviewed. Apart from those few who wished to remain anonymous, their names are listed in the bibliography. This book would have lacked many of its insights had it not been for the many entertaining and informative afternoons I spent in Hyderabad with Nawab Habeeb Jung, the Amir of Paigah, who together with his wife Shanaz virtually adopted me as part of their family and helped guide my research. I would particularly like to thank Mohammed
Safiullah who was a walking encyclopaedia on Hyderabad and a rich source of articles, photographs, maps and memorabilia. My gratitude goes to Vikas and Umar Jain for permission to reproduce photographs from their invaluable Raja Deen Dayal archive. From the dusty shelves of his cramped studios, Shah Ali produced rare photos and shared tiger-hunting stories.

  For guiding me through the collections at Chowmahalla palace and providing valuable insights into the Nizam’s jewellery collection and other aspects of Hyderabad’s history I am grateful to Deepthi Sasidharan. Bhakhtiar Ansari, G. Kishen Rao and Rahul Mehrotra deserve special mention for their fine work restoring the Chowmahalla palace. At Haziq and Mohi, Abid quenched my thirst with cold drinks while sourcing obscure titles from the stacks in his extraordinary bookshop. Scheherazade Javeri was very generous with her time. Najamunissa Begum and Nandita Sen provided invaluable introductions. In Perth, Richard Howell guided me to a wealth of sources, David Weinman entertained me with tales of his time with Jah, while Helen Black put people and events into perspective.

  For their friendship and practical help as well as a memorable evening watching the monsoon breaking over Golconda fort, I would like to thank Savitri Choudhuri and Vikram Chhatwal. My thanks also go to Juhee Ahmed, Tony Chapman, Sayyid Ahmed and Mohammed Jafer for sharing contacts and arranging a brief but unforgettable stay at the venerable Nizam Club. Vasant Kumar Bawa and his wife Shanti opened up their house and library for me. My driver Siddiq was remarkable for guiding his ancient Ambassador through Hyderabad’s chaotic traffic with the agility of a gazelle.

  For their generous hospitality I would like to thank Divya and Xavier Pilkington and David and Elke Bourchier in Perth; Callam and Belinda Roscic at Murchison House Station; Emma Tarlo and Deni Vidal in London; Aman and Christine Rai and Bindu Batra in New Delhi; and Uma and Gerson da Cunha in Bombay.

  The task of researching this book was made easier by the always helpful staff at the Oriental and India Office Collections at the British Library, the Archive Municipale in Nice, the Andhra Pradesh State Archives in Hyderabad, the National Archives of India in New Delhi, the Battye Library in Perth and the National Library in Canberra.

  Extracts from the following books are reproduced with permission. Lord Birkenhead, Walter Monckton: The Life of Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, with permission of Weidenfeld and Nicholson, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group Ltd, London; William Dalrymple, White Mughals and The Age of Kali, Harper-Collins Publishers Ltd; John Lord, The Maharajahs, The Random House Group; Philip Playford, Carpet of Silver, with permission of University of Western Australia Press.