Government of India
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NIZAM OF HYDERABAD NECKLACE
- The Nizam of Hyderabad, Asaf Jah VII, was one of the richest men in the world.
- The Nizam offered the then-Princess of England, Elizabeth an opportunity to pick anything from his existing collection of jewels for herself as a wedding present.
- Princess Elizabeth chose two pieces. The first one was a floral tiara with removable parts that could be worn as brooches. The other one was a floral necklace. Both the pieces were made of diamonds set in platinum.
- Elizabeth wore these pieces very often. She posed in the necklace for portraits before she succeeded to the throne.
- In 1973, she got the tiara dismantled, keeping the three floral brooches intact but removed the diamonds.
- She still wears the necklace on certain occasions.
- It is interesting to note that the same necklace was worn by the Duchess of Cambridge recently.
STOLEN TIFFIN
- In 1936, the three-tier diamond studded gold tiffin box was gifted to the Nizam of Hyderabad to commemorate his 25th year as a ruler. It was stolen in 2018 from the Nizam's Museum (Purani haveli) in Hyderabad.
- A cup, a saucer and a spoon which belonged to the family of the Nizams were also stolen.
- All stolen goods were later recovered after intense police investigations.
- The police said that the thief ate food in the tiffin and drank water out of the cup he had stolen.
KULCHA ON THE FLAG
- According to a legend associated with the founding of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, during one of his hunts, the Nizam Asaf Jah I lost his way in the jungle.
- Tired and famished, he came across a hermit’s cottage. The hermit could only feed him round dry baked bread (kulcha) and plain water.
- The Nizam could not eat any more than seven kulchas at which the hermit prophesied that the Nizam’s family will rule for seven generations.
- Interestingly, the Asaf Jahi dynasty witnessed only seven Asaf Jah Nizams.
- It is believed that because of this event, a kulcha was represented on the flag of the dynasty.
- However, it was contradicted by Asaf Jah I who clarified that the symbol on the flag represented the moon because the Nizam’s name, ‘Qamar’ means moon.
- Regardless, the nature of this legend was so pervasive that the sixth Nizam, Sikander Jah gave his approval for a modified design of the dynasty flag and confirmed that the symbol on it stood for a kulcha.
MARRIAGE ALLIANCES
- Unlike other kingdoms for whom marriage was a useful means of developing diplomatic relations and achieving territorial expansions, the Nizams never married out of their State.
- Their daughters were usually married to the men of the noble Paigah family.
- It was a tradition for the members of the Paigah family to be trained as personal bodyguards for the Nizam’s family.
- Mir Turab Ali Khan, Salar Jung I got his daughter married to the 6th Nizam, Mir Mehboob Ali Khan. Thus, Salar Jung I became the maternal grandfather of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam.
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