Who was Mir Osman Ali Khan, last Nizam of Hyderabad and first billionaire of India?
Osman Ali Khan became the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1911
The last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan is known as the first official billionaire of India. Known as the architect of Hyderabad, he ruled the largest princely state in British India from 1911 to 1948.
While most associate the richest Indians with the Ambanis and Tatas, it is rather unknown that Nizam Ali was named "The Richest Man in the World" by Time magazine in its February 22, 1937 issue. He ascended the throne of Hyderabad after his father died in 1911.
The wealth ofMir Osman Khan
According to estimates, his net worth was estimated to be around $230 billion (Rs 17.47 lakh crore), after being adjusted to today's inflation. He had 100 million pounds of gold and 400 million pounds of other jewels. He is popularly known for gifting a necklace studded with 300 diamonds to Queen Elizabeth II onher wedding. The Nizam'sbiggest source of wealth was the Golconda diamond mines, of which he was the owner.
As the Nizam, he established Osmania University, started the Osmania General Hospital, State Bank of Hyderabad, Begumpet Airport, and Hyderabad High Court. To stop Hyderabad - a state roughly the size of the present-day United Kingdom from flooding, he also developed Osman Sagar, Himayat Sagar ad the Nizam Sagar Dam.
Despite being a man of 'extreme' fortune, Nizam Ali was modest, or some might say 'miser' in his habits, according to most reports. He used to wear very simple clothes but more peculiarly, his bedroom was only cleaned once a year. He had an obsessive liking for the Osmania biscuits, made at theVicaji Bakery. Although the biscuits were initially not named after him, his fondness for them meant that the name stuck around.
“Nizam was so fond of the biscuits which were not named after him at that time that every day a van was sent from Hazari Bagh to the Vicaji Bakers to fetch a freshly baked pack for the Nizam,” Syed Akbar a journalist and historian was quoted as saying by NewsTAP.
Nizam passed away on February 24, 1967, at the old age of 80 and was laid to rest at Masjid-e-Judi at King Kothi.
(With inputs from agencies)
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