Nizam of Hyderabad

While browsing through April 22nd Business Recorder I came across a letter of Mr Gheewala who has lamented over the slandering of the Last Nizam of Hyderabad H.E Mir Osman Ali Khan.
The vilification pertained to a Reuters' report published in Business Recorder on April 12, 2008 captioned "Out-of-Court deal to unlock Nizam of Hyderabad's millions". Surprisingly it was a blatant attempt to exploit the regal tendency of polygamy in an exaggerated fashion.
Unfortunately we tend to judge people on their characters based on personal matters and conveniently sideline the plethora of good deeds, which carry immense weight. The Last Nizam has been made victim of the same judgmental streak. I beg to differ from the report and all the writers mentioned in the letter who have attempted to malign his character over promiscuity.
Little knowledge, they say is dangerous, Mir Osman's so-called polygamous overtures were always in alignment with Shariah laws. He was not in breach of the religious laws and maintained a large harem of destitute women suffering from poverty. It was largely a means to provide them sanctity within the realm of societal norms and as a means to protect them from slipping into the decadence of a corrupt life.
In fact having visited the magical city of Hyderabad twice in the last two last years I am compelled to write this to repudiate the most baseless allegations levelled against Honourable Mir Osman Ali Khan. Reminiscing the last visit somewhere in 2006 in the eclectic and historical city of Hyderabad, India, I recount the rich and diverse history of Hyderabad known for the ancient capital of the Nizams Empire. Today, Hyderabad is a happening place; exploring the by-lanes, tasting the roadside foodstuff and smelling the entrepreneurial excitement in the air, getting a whiff of the nostalgia. Hyderabad is a blend of the old and the new, the emerging character unique and trend-setting in India.
The city allowed me to catch a glimpse of an era spanning the glorious Qutub Shahi, the Asif Jahi and the Nizam dynasties who left their indomitable stamp on the city. Taking a stroll down memory lane by browsing through a list of important dates and significant events, the turning points in Deccani history. From Nawabs and pearls to the world's hi-tech happening point, the city's journey was fascinating. The sprawling metropolis is coming to terms with itself at the start of the new millennium.
With a history studded with the Moghul lineage and then the Nizams, Hyderabad truly sparks off the regal era in its truest sense. However, the end of the princely era was marked by the last of the Nizams, who very recently, to my utter dismay gained negative publicity over money matters- an issue considered very trivial from royalty standpoint!
My father being a civil servant having served a couple of years in Hyderabad was neighbour to the Nizam of Hyderabad for a quite a few years. Living opposite King Kothi my family watched the making of history from very close quarters.
Coincidentally, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, His exalted Highness Mir Osman Ali Khan was the Seventh Nizam whose reign lasted 37 years. I had learnt from my father that the Nizam was a great supporter of Pakistan's cause and that during our country's initial years of independence he used to send tons of money by an airplane that used to be flown by 'Captain Sidney Cotton' every week from Hyderabad to Karachi. It was surreptitiously done at night and Sidney Cotton would ensure flying at such low heights to avoid appearance on Indian radars.
The Nizam was known as the world's richest man in his era but was known to be utterly miserly, always clad in a sherwani with tattered collars. The simplicity of his lifestyle was such that he only survived on biscuits specifically baked by his daughter. However, this attribute has been misinterpreted as the miserliness only extended to his personal self. When it came to donations and spending on welfare issues the streak of generosity knew no bounds.
The Nizam's rule saw the growth of Hyderabad economically and culturally. Electricity, railways, roads and airways developed. Huge reservoirs and irrigation projects such as the Tungabhadra, and Nizamsagar were completed. The early work on Nagarjunasagar was undertaken. The Osmania University, colleges and schools were founded throughout the state. Nearly all the public buildings such as the Osmania General Hospital, High Court, Central State Library, Assembly Hall, Jubilee Hall and other buildings in the Public Garden were built during Osman Ali Khan's reign.
Osman Ali was the absolute ruler of this principality. In some accounts, he is held to have been a benevolent ruler who patronised education, science and development. Indeed, compared to his predecessors, Osman Ali's 37-year rule witnessed progress. In 1941, Mir Osman Ali Khan started his own bank, the Hyderabad State Bank (now State Bank of Hyderabad) as the state's central bank, which managed the Osmania sikka, the currency of the Hyderabad state. It was the only state which had its own currency during British rule.
Osman Ali donated generously to many worthy institutions in India and abroad: recipients of his largesse included educational institutions such as the Jamia Nizamia, the Darul Uloom Deoband and the Banaras Hindu University.
Today, everyone is on the fast track and very few stop to remember the last Nizam -whose contribution to his people never was and never will be matched. The ruler who was praised by great leaders like C.Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Ambedkar and even the Imperial British. Rabindranath Tagore wrote in praise of the first vernacular University established in 1917 by the Nizam, "I have long been waiting for the day when, free from the shackles of a foreign language our education becomes naturally accessible to all our people.'
The Nizam, though diminutive in height, stands tall amongst the Muslims of India, who gave unrelenting support to the concept of Pakistan- for those who allege the despicable, I would remark, "only pygmies can make fun of giants, after their death".