by Syed Ahmed Khan,
Representative Editor-In-Chief & Publisher
The Rahnuma-E-Deccan Daily
& Rafi Dean, M.A (MCJ), LLB.
HYDERABAD (RAHNUMA): H.E.H Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah Bahadur, The Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad had breathed his last peacefully in Istanbul, Turkey an announcement issued by his office said.
“We are deeply saddened to inform that Nawab Mir Barket Ali Khan Walashan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, H.E.H The Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad passed away peacefully in Istanbul, Turkey late last night at 10:30 pm (IST),” the statement said.
“As per his desire of being laid to rest in his homeland, his children are scheduled to travel to Hyderabad with the mortal remains of the late Nizam on Tuesday, 17th January 2023.”
It has also been stated that on arrival, the body will be taken to the Chowmahalla Palace and after completing the required rituals the burial will take place at the Asaf Jahi family tombs.
The Late Mukarram Jah is survived by six children, three daughters, and three Sons, the eldest being Sahibzada Azmat Ali Khan and then Sahibzadi Shehkyar Unisa Begum from Esra Birgin. Sahibzada Mir Alexander Azam Khan and Sahibzada Mir Mohammod Umar Khan from Helen Simmons, Sahebzadi Nilufer Unisa Begum from Manolya Onur, Sahebzadi Zairin Unisa Begum from Jamila Boularous.
Biography
Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII was born in 1933, and was less formally known as Mukarram Jah.
Jah had been the titular Nizam of Hyderabad since the death of his grandfather His Exalted Highness Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII in 1967.
He chaired the H.E.H. The Nizam’s Charitable Trust and Mukarram Jah Trust for Education & Learning (MJTEL).
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 Empire, Abdulmejid II. 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.
Jah was a friend of India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and revealed in 2010 that Nehru had wanted him to become his personal envoy or the Indian ambassador to a Muslim country.
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.
Mukarram Jah held the title of Honorary Lieutenant-General and his full style was 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.
Like his father, Mukarram was the richest man in India until the 1980s. However, in the 1990s he lost significant assets to divorce settlements. His net worth was nevertheless estimated at US $1 billion.
To God we belong, and to Him is our final return. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.
