Mukarram Jah

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Mir Barakat Ali Khan

| title = Asaf Jah VIII

| image = Prince Mukarram Jah, the last Nizam (5613295569).jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| succession = 8th Nizam of Hyderabad (titular)

| reign = 24 February 1967 – 5 November 1971
(pretender 1971–2023)

| moretext =

| coronation = 6 April 1967

| reign-type =

| predecessor = Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII

| successor = Position abolished
{{small|Azmet Jah (pretender)}}

| suc-type =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|10|06|df=y}}

| birth_place = Hilafet Palace, Nice, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|1|15|1933|10|6|df=y}}

| death_place = Istanbul, Turkey

| burial_date = 18 January 2023

| burial_place = Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

| spouse = Princess Esra Birgin
(1959–1974; divorced)
Aysha Simmons
(1979–1989; widowed)
Manolya Onur
(1992–1997; divorced)
Jameela Boularous (co-wife)
(since 1992)
Princess Ayesha Orchedi (co-wife)
(since 1994)

| issue = {{plainlist|

Azmet Jah, Crown Prince of Hyderabad
Princess Shehryar
Prince Alexander Azam Khan
Price Mohammad Amzad Hussain Khan
Prince Mohammad Umar Khan
Princess Nilufer
Princess Zairin}}

| house = House of Asaf Jah

| father = Azam Jah

| mother = Dürrüşehvar Sultan

| religion = Sunni Islam

}}

Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (6 October 1933 – 15 January 2023), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, was the titular Nizam of Hyderabad between 1967 and 1971.{{Citation | last = Zubrzycki | first = John | title = The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback | publisher = Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited | year = 2006 | isbn = 1-4050-3722-9}} He was the head of the House of Asaf Jah until he died in 2023.

Born as the eldest son of Azam Jah and Dürrüşehvar Sultan, he was named successor to the title of Nizam of Hyderabad by his grandfather Mir Osman Ali Khan. Upon Osman's death in 1967, he became the titular Nizam. He lost his titles and the privy purses in 1971 when the 26th Amendment to the Indian constitution was passed.

Jah subsequently moved to Australia, where he stayed at the Murchison House Station. While the prince remained in Australia, his palaces in Hyderabad were encroached upon and fell into disrepair. Numerous divorce settlements and failed business ventures led to the loss of the majority of his fortune. In 1996, he moved to Turkey where he remained until he died in 2023. Jah was buried in Hyderabad.

Jah chaired the H.E.H. The Nizam's Charitable Trust and Mukarram Jah Trust for Education & Learning (MJTEL) Mukarram Jah High School.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-20 |title=Nizam Mukarram Jah Trust for Education and Learning wins tax fight |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/131220/news-current-affairs/article/nizam-mukarram-jah-trust-education-and-learning-wins-tax-fight |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Deccan Chronicle |language=en}}

Biography

= Early life and education =

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 Dürrüşehvar Sultan, daughter of the last Caliph of the Ottoman dynasty, Abdulmejid II.{{Citation | title = Princess Durru Shehvar passes away | date = 9 February 2006 | url = http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/09/stories/2006020919300500.htm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071025025100/http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/09/stories/2006020919300500.htm| url-status = dead| newspaper = The Hindu | archive-date = 25 October 2007}} His younger brother is Muffakham Jah.{{Cite web|title=Nizam set to get possession of £35 million after London court rules in favour|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/692002-london-court-rules-in-favour-of-nizam-set-to-get-possession-of-35-million|access-date=2022-01-12|website=www.thenews.com.pk|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Convert Nizam's lands into parks, royal kin urges Telangana CM|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2021/jul/09/convert-nizams-lands-into-parks-royalkin-urges-telangana-cm-2327491.html|access-date=17 January 2022|website=The New Indian Express}}

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.{{Citation |last=Singh |first=Kishore |title=India's wealthiest man the country forgot |date=30 March 2007 |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/india-s-wealthiest-man-the-country-forgot-107033001010_1.html |newspaper=Business Standard}}

Jah stayed at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi for a while and briefly served as an honorary aide-de-camp of Jawaharlal Nehru.{{Cite news |last=K.S.S.SESHAN |date=2018-10-30 |title=The progressive princess of Hyderabad |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/princess-durru-shehvar-progressive-princess-of-hyderabad/article25368539.ece |access-date=2023-01-17 |issn=0971-751X}} He stated in 2010 that Nehru had wanted him to become his personal envoy or the Indian ambassador to a Muslim country.{{Citation |title=Nehru had big plans for me, says Mukarram Jah |date=14 March 2010 |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-14/hyderabad/28126361_1_chiran-palace-prince-mukarram-jah-prime-minister |newspaper=The Times of India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811050901/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-14/hyderabad/28126361_1_chiran-palace-prince-mukarram-jah-prime-minister |archive-date=11 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}

= Nizam of Hyderabad =

He became the titular Nizam of Hyderabad after the death of his grandfather in 1967.

= Life in Australia and Turkey =

In 1972, he visited Australia{{cite news |last1=Grattan |first1=Michelle |title=The Last Nizam |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/the-last-nizam-20060812-ge2wkj.html |access-date=19 February 2023 |publisher=The Age |date=12 August 2006 |ref=MGAge}} and came across the Murchison House Station,{{cite web |title=Murchison House Station, Western Australia |url=https://www.murchisonhousestation.com.au |website=Murchison House Station |access-date=17 February 2023}} a pastoral property of 350,000 acres on the west coast, near Kalbarri. He bought the farm and permanently moved to Australia.{{Cite web |last=Janyala |first=Sreenivas |date=2023-01-17 |title=Trailed by history, the Last Nizam, who travelled continents, died away from 'home' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/mukarram-jah-last-nizam-hyderabad-history-travelled-continents-died-home-8386542/ |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}} He also purchased Havelock House,{{cite web |title=Havelock House |url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/21f2c0c0-8c36-4931-8a02-29f0b2890508 |website=Heritage Council of Western Australia |publisher=Government of Western Australia |access-date=18 February 2023}} a mansion in Perth.

In 1996, he sold the farm and moved to Turkey shortly after.{{Cite news |last=Traub |first=Alex |date=2023-02-07 |title=Mukarram Jah, Heir to an Opulent Throne He Abandoned, Dies at 89 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/world/asia/mukarram-jah-dead.html |access-date=2023-02-08 |issn=0362-4331}}

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.{{Citation | title = Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad - Opening February 2010 | date = February 2010 | url = http://www.tajgetaways.com/palaces/falaknuma/falaknuma.html | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100322203715/http://www.tajgetaways.com/palaces/falaknuma/falaknuma.html | archivedate = 22 March 2010}}

Like his grandfather, Mukarram was the richest man in India until the 1980s. However, in the 1990s, he lost some assets to divorce settlements. His net worth is nevertheless estimated at $US 2 billion.[https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,497496,00.html Natwest Bank account freeze][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5118720.stm Costliest divorce in India]

= Death and funeral =

Jah died on 15 January 2023, at the age of 89.{{cite news |title=Mukarram Jah, Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, Passes Away |url=https://www.thequint.com/south-india/mukarram-jah-bahadur-eighth-nizam-hyderabad-passed-away-istanbul-esra-nawab-mir-barket-ali-khan-walashan |access-date=15 January 2023 |publisher=The Quint |date=15 January 2023}} According to Jah's wish his funeral took place in Hyderabad which was the former capital of Hyderabad State and of the Nizam of Hyderabad on 18 January 2023.

His remains were laid in state at the Chowmahalla Palace, where family members and government officials paid their respects.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2023-01-17 |title=Last Nizam to be laid to rest with police honours |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/last-nizam-to-be-laid-to-rest-with-police-honours/article66387328.ece |access-date=2023-01-17 |issn=0971-751X}} In the evening of 18 January, he was buried at the Mecca Masjid.{{Cite news |last=Nanisetti |first=Serish |date=2023-01-18 |title=Mukarram Jah laid to rest in Mecca Masjid |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/mukarram-jah-laid-to-rest-in-mecca-masjid/article66397402.ece |access-date=2023-01-19 |issn=0971-751X}}

Personal life

= Marriages =

Mukarram Jah married five times. His first wife was a Turkish noblewoman, Esra Birgin (b. 1936), and they married in 1959.{{Cite web | last = Guruswamy | first = Mohan | title = Books: The Last Nizam by John Zubrzycki. Picador India, Delhi, 2006. | work = City of Hope: a symposium on Hyderabad and its syncretic culture | date = May 2008 | url = http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/585/585_books.htm | accessdate = 30 December 2008}} 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.{{Citation | last = Dalrymple | first = William | author-link = William Dalrymple (historian) | title = The lost world | newspaper = Guardian | date = 8 December 2007 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/dec/08/weekend.williamdalrymple}} In 1979, he married a former air hostess and employee of the BBC, Helen Simmons (b. 1949 – d. 1989);{{cite journal |last1=Sandilands |first1=John |title=Nizam of Hyderabad marries Perth girl |journal=Australian Women's Weekly |date=12 March 1980 |pages=2–5 |access-date=19 February 2023 |url = https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55462103/439864}} she converted to Islam and changed her name to Aysha. After her death, he married Manolya Onur (b. 1954 – d. 2017), a former Miss Turkey in 1992, and divorced her after a five-year marriage in 1997.{{Citation | title = Turkish Beauty Fights for Justice | newspaper = The Times of India | date = 21 March 2006 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1457880,flstry-1.cms | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100120080731/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1457880,flstry-1.cms | archivedate = 20 January 2010}}{{Citation | last = Shrivastava | first = Namita A | title = Princess diaries | newspaper = The Times of India | date = 19 March 2006 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1455717,prtpage-1.cms}}

He married Jameela Boularous (b. 1972), from Morocco, in 1992.{{Citation | title = Nizam lands in $7-lakh soup | newspaper = The Telegraph, Calcutta, India | date = 24 March 2006 | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060324/asp/atleisure/story_6007307.asp| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060908142358/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060324/asp/atleisure/story_6007307.asp| url-status = dead| archive-date = 8 September 2006}} In 1994, he married{{Citation | last = Leonard | first = Karen Isaksen | title = Locating Home: India's Hyderabadis Abroad | publisher = Stanford University Press | year = 2007 | page = 111 | isbn = 978-0-8047-5442-2}} Princess Ayesha Orchedi (b. 1959), who is Turkish.{{Citation | last = Parasher | first = Paritosh | title = Nizam's descendant faces unpaid wages charge in Aussie court | newspaper = Indo-Asian News Service | date = 31 August 2001 | url = http://www.rediff.com/us/2001/aug/31aus.htm}}

File:AsafJah8-Nanny Bombay-1933.jpeg

File:Prince Of Hyderabad.jpg]]

=Children=

By Esra Birgin, Mukarram Jah had one son and one daughter:

Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Azmat Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (b. 1960), also known as Azmat Jah, married in 1994 to Princess Begum Sahiba Zainab Naz Jah (née Zeynep Naz Guvendiren) and has one son, has worked as a cameraman.{{Citation | last = Farida | first = Syeda | title = I belong to a lot of countries | newspaper = The Hindu | date = 10 February 2005 | url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/02/10/stories/2005021001020100.htm | access-date = 30 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100306162714/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/02/10/stories/2005021001020100.htm | archive-date = 6 March 2010 | url-status = usurped }}
Murad Jah
Sahibzadi Shehkyar Unisa Begum (b. 1964), unmarried and without issue{{Cite web | last = Soszynski | first = Henry | title = HH Walashan Nawab Mir BEREKET ALI KHAN Mukarram Jah | publisher = Ancestry.com | date = 20 June 2005 | url = http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/turkey/i377.html | accessdate = 30 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160423005341/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/turkey/i377.html | archive-date = 23 April 2016 | url-status = dead }}

By Helen Simmons, he had two sons:

Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Alexander Azam Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (b. 1979)
Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Mohammad Umar Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (1984-2004) deceased due to drug overdose

By Manolya Onur he had a daughter:

Sahebzadi Nilufer Unisa Begum/Nilufer Elif Jah (b. 1992)

By Jameela Boularous he had a daughter:

Sahebzadi Zairin Unisa Begum (b. 1994)

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 Siddiqi Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar.

;Military titles

Honorary Lieutenant-General

Palaces

The palaces he owned:

Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad.
Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad.
Nazribagh Palace, Hyderabad.
Naukhanda Palace, Aurangabad.
Chiraan Palace, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
Purani Haveli Hyderabad. (Mukarram Jah Trust for Education and Learning).

= Complaint against Mukarram Jah=

Nawab Najaf Ali Khan another grandson of 7th Nizam, met the Police Commissioner of Hyderabad and submitted a complaint along with supporting documents alleging that Prince Mukarram Jah, his ex-wife Princess Esra, (who is also the General Power of Attorney (GPA) holder of Prince Mukarram Jah), his son Prince Azmat Jah and his brother Prince Muffakham Jah had used false documents in the UK High Court to lay claim over the £35 million Nizam’s Fund lying in NatWest Bank there.{{Cite news|date=17 November 2020|title=VII Nizam's grandson moves police against two cousins, two other kin|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/vii-nizams-grandson-moves-police-against-two-cousins-two-other-kin/article33118605.ece|access-date=6 May 2021|issn=0971-751X}}