Hyderabad: Sahebzadi Basheerunnisa Begum, last of Nizam’s kids, dies

HYDERABAD: Sahebzadi Basheerunnisa Begum, the last of all surviving children of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, passed away here on Tuesday due to age-related ailments. She was 93 and is survived by a daughter.
With the death of Basheerunnisa Begum, none of the first generation of the descendants of Osman Ali Khan survives now.
It’s curtains down on an era of royalty and nobility with which the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad was associated.
The Nizam VII, the richest man of his times and one of the top 10 richest persons to have ever lived on the earth, is now survived by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He had 16 sons and 18 daughters.
Basheerunnisa had been living in Osman Cottage on the premises of Purani Haveli. Sahebzadi’s only daughter Rasheedunnisa Begum, a heritage enthusiast, lived with her.
Death a big loss to Hyd, says historian
It is a big loss to Hyderabad as Sahebzadi Basheerunnisa Begum was an epitome of Hyderabadi culture, tradition and values. She was one of the favourite daughters of the Nizam,” said city historian and researcher Mohammad Safiullah.
Basheerunnisa was born in September 1927 and married Nawab Kazim Jung, popularly known as Ali Pasha, who was very close to the Nizam. Ali Pasha had immortalised himself in the defence history of India when he was captured in a photograph showing him carrying on his shoulders one of the trays of gold coins for donation to the India Defence Fund during the India-Pakistan war in 1965.
The Nizam had donated 5,000 kg of gold to the defence fund in response to a call given by then prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
INTACH city convener P Anuradha Reddy condoled the death of Basheerunnisa. She said the Sahebzadi had represented the old Hyderabadi tradition and culture. “Ali Pasha was the most powerful noble of his days. He was not only the favourite son-in-law of the Nizam VII but also the most trusted among the royal family. Ali Pasha was a confidant of the Nizam till the latter’s death in 1967,” she said. Ali Pasha had passed away in 1998.