Mukarram Jah

Mukkaram Jah
Pretender
Born (1933-10-06) 6 October 1933
Hilafet Palace, Nice, France
Title(s) Nizam of Hyderabad
Throne(s) claimed Hyderabad State
Pretend from 24 February 1967-present
(Titular Nizam of Hyderabad)
Monarchy abolished 1948
Last monarch Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII
Connection with Grandson
Royal House Paternal: House of Asaf Jah
Father Azam Jah
Mother Princess Durru Shehvar, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire
Spouse Princess Esra Birgin
(1959-1974 divorced)
Aysha Simmons
(1980-1989 widowed)
Manolya Onur
(1990-1996 divorced)
Jameela Boularous
(From 1993)
Princess Orchedi
(From 1995)
Children Prince Azmet Jah (b. 1960)
Sahibzadi Shehkyar Begum (b. 1964)
Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Alexander Azam Khan (b. 1979)
Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mohammod Umar Khan (b. 1983)
Nilufer (b. 1991)
Zairin (b. 1994)
Predecessor Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII

Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Asaf Jah VIII (Urdu: برکت علی خان مکرم جاہ آصف جاہ ہشتم), Beyefendi (born 6 October 1933), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, became the titular Nizam of Hyderabad upon the death of his grandfather in 1967.[1]

Personal life

Background

Mukarram Jah was born to Azam Jah, the son and heir of Osman Ali Khan, the last reigning Nizam of Hyderabad state, by his marriage to Princess Durru Shehvar, daughter of the last Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, ‘Abdu’l-Mijid II.[2] Jah was educated in India at The Doon School and then in England at Harrow, Peterhouse, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and Sandhurst.[3][4]

Jah was a friend of India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and stated in 2010 that Nehru had wanted him to become his personal envoy or the Indian ambassador to a Muslim country.[5] 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.[6]

Like his father, Mukarram was the richest man in India until the 1980s. However, in the 1990s most of his ancestral assets were lost to divorce settlements and to rival claimants in legal disputes. His net worth is nevertheless estimated at some $1 billion.[7][8]

Marriages

Mukarram Jah married Turkish Princess Esra Birgin (b. 1938) in 1959.[1][9] 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.[10] In 1980 he married a former air hostess and employee of the BBC, Helen Simmons (b. 1948 - d. 1989);[11] she converted to Islam and changed her name to Aysha. After her death, he married Manolya Onur (b. 1955), a former Miss Turkey in 1990, and divorced her in 1996.[10][11][12]

He married Jameela Boularous (b. 1971), from Morocco, in 1993.[13] In 1995, he married[14] Princess Orchedi (b. 1958), who is Turkish.[3][15]

Issue

By Esra Birgin he had:

By Helen Simmons he had:

By Manolya Onur he had:

By Jameela Boularous he had:

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 Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar (through paternal lineal descent).

Military titles

Honorary Lieutenant-General

Palaces

The palaces he owns

Nanny carrying the prince from board after arrival in Bombay, 1934

References

  1. 1 2 Zubrzycki, John (2006), The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback, Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited, ISBN 1-4050-3722-9
  2. "Princess Durru Shehvar passes away", The Hindu, 2006-02-09
  3. 1 2 3 Buyers, Christopher (August 2008). "Hyderabad: The Asaf Jahi Dynasty Genealogy". Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  4. Singh, Kishore (2007-03-30), "India's wealthiest man the country forgot", Business Standard
  5. "Nehru had big plans for me, says Mukarram Jah", The Times of India, 2010-03-14
  6. Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad - Opening February 2010, February 2010
  7. Natwest Bank account freeze
  8. Costliest divorce in India
  9. 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 2008-12-30.
  10. 1 2 3 Dalrymple, William (2007-12-08), "The lost world", Guardian
  11. 1 2 3 "Turkish Beauty Fights for Justice", Times of India, 2006-03-21
  12. Shrivastava, Namita A (2006-03-19), "Princess diaries", Times of India
  13. "Nizam lands in $7-lakh soup", The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, 2006-03-24
  14. Leonard, Karen Isaksen (2007), Locating Home: India's Hyderabadis Abroad, Stanford University Press, p. 111, ISBN 0-8047-5442-X
  15. Parasher, Paritosh (2001-08-31), "Nizam's descendant faces unpaid wages charge in Aussie court", Indo-Asian News Service
  16. Farida, Syeda (2005-02-10), "'I belong to a lot of countries'", The Hindu
  17. 1 2 3 Soszynski, Henry (2005-06-20). "HH Walashan Nawab Mir BEREKET ALI KHAN Mukarram Jah". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  18. Buyers, Christopher. "The Asaf Jahi Dynasty: Genealogy". The Royal Ark. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  19. Buyers, Christopher. "The Imperial House of Osman: Genealogy". The Royal Ark. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15.

External links

Mukarram Jah
Born: 6 October 1933
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII
 TITULAR 
Nizam of Hyderabad
1967 – present
Incumbent
Heir:
Azmet Jah
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