Prince of Berar Hyderabad Nizam’s Son, 1932 Postcard
A 1932 photo postcard of the Prince of Berar son of Nizam of Hyderabad. He was the eldest son of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. Who was the seventh and the last of the Nizams of Hyderabad. Prince of Berar or General HH Walashan Nawab Azam Jah, Sahibzada Mir Himayat Ali Khan Bahadur was in charge of Berar province.
The Berar was not part of the then Hyderabad state but was under the Nizam’s dominion. Today it is a part of Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh. Shown in this postcard is the Prince with his relatively new wife HH Princess Khadija Hayriya Aisha Dur-I-Shahvar Sultana. Also called Durru Shevar Sultan. She was an Ottoman princess from Turkey. Her father was the last heir apparent to the Ottoman Caliphate.
Prince Azam Jah and Princess Durru Shevar Sultan married in 1931. She gave birth to two sons- Mukarram Jah Bahadur, Asaf Jah was born in 1933 and Nawab Mir Karamat Ali Khan, Muffakham Jah Bahadur, born in 1939. Prince Azam Jah was rumored to have numerous concubines. Which led to their marriage falling apart and eventually filing for divorce in 1933.
The Hyderabad Nizam the father of Prince of Berar Mir Osman Ali Khan or Asaf Jah the seventh Nizam died in 1967 (age 80). Prince Azam Jah died in 1970 at the age of 63 years only. The baton as the eighth Nizam would pass on to Mukram Jah (now in his 80s) on his grandfather’s insistence. The beautiful Turkish Princess Durru Shevar Sultan died in London in 2006 at the age of 92.
Did you know- the Nizams were once the proxy rulers of the Mughal Emperors. See my post Nizam of Hyderabad VI – Photogravure 1915.
From the collection- 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal On Paper (#2)., Government House Calcutta – Old Photo 1890., Bombay Fort And Harbour – Old Map/Plan 1754., Duke Of Edinburgh At Parel Station Bombay – Old Print
