Nizam's grandson seeks recognition from government for all heirs of royal family

HYDERABAD: With only two of the last Nizam’s grandsons hogging the limelight, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Hyderabad has launched a campaign seeking recognition for other heirs. Only Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah, grandsons of the Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, are popular royal names.
Nizam’s grandson Najaf Ali Khan, who is also president of Nizam’s Family Welfare Association, is now on a mission to get due recognition to his father, Prince Hasham Jah, and others in the family.The timing was the 105th birth anniversary of Hasham Jah, one of the sons of Mir Osman Ali Khan.
Last month, Najaf Ali Khan led a delegation of lesser known grandsons of the Nizam to Aurangabad in Maharashtra, laying claim to properties of the last ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad. It was the first time, four grandsons of the Nizam, other than Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah, shared a public platform fighting for family’s cause.
The 105th birth anniversary of Prince Hasham Jah is on March 28. Describing him as the “beloved son of Nizam VII”, Najaf Ali Khan said the Nizam government celebrated the birth on March 28, 1913, with a one cannon salute at King Kothi Palace. “Nizam’s wife Shahzada Begum Sahaba’s two children died at birth and Hasham Jah was the third child, who survived. This made him more important in the eyes of the Nizam. An extraordinary Gazette notification was issued, and a holiday was declared on the happy occasion,” he said, adding the government should recognise all legal heirs, particularly Prince Hasham Jah.
He said the birth anniversary would be marked by Fateha (recital of the Holy Quran) and floral tributes at his grave in Masjid Judi at King Kothi. Hasham Jah was widely respected as a socialite Prince in the royal circles of the Paigahs, Dhanrajgirs, Salar Jung and other elite families of the high society of Hyderabad. The Prince was also apoet in Persian and Urdu.