Mir Osman Ali Khan

In 1908, three years before the Nizam's coronation, the city of Hyderabad was struck by a major flood that resulted in the death of thousands. The Nizam, on the advice of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, ordered the construction of two large reservoirs, namely the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar to prevent another flood.[8]

He was given the title of "Faithful Ally of the British Crown" after World War One due to his financial contribution to the British Empire's war effort. (For example, No. 110 Squadron RAF's original complement of Airco DH.9A aircraft were Osman Ali's gift. Each aircraft bore an inscription to that effect, and the unit became known as the "Hyderabad Squadron".[9]) He also paid for a Royal Navy vessel, the N-class destroyer, HMAS Nizam commissioned in 1940 and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy.

In 1918, the Nizam issued a firman that brought into existence the Osmania University, the first university to have Urdu as a medium of instruction. The present campus was completed in 1934.

In 1919, the Nizam ordered the formation of the Executive Council of Hyderabad, presided by Sir Sayyid Ali Imam, and with eight other members, each in charge of one or more departments. The President of the Executive Council would also be the Prime Minister of Hyderabad.

The Begumpet Airport was established in the 1930s with formation of Hyderabad Aero Club by the Nizam. Initially it was used as a domestic and international airport for the Nizam's Deccan Airways, the earliest airline in British India. The terminal building was created in 1937.[10]

The Nizam being sworn in as Rajpramukh of Hyderabad State by M. K. Vellodi, c.1950.

President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito meeting with the Nizam, c. 1956

The Nizam with the Al-Quaiti Royal Family

The Nizam with King Saud during his visit to Hyderabad

The Nizam of Hyderabad necklace

The Nizam with his subjects (Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad and Nawab Muhammad Ali Beg to his right)

He arranged a matrimonial alliance between his first son Azam Jah and Princess Durrushehvar of the Ottoman Empire. It was believed at that time that the matrimonial alliance between the Nizam and the deposed Caliph would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman Sultans. After India's Independence, the Nizam made vain attempts to declare his sovereignty over the state of Hyderabad, either as a protectorate of the British Empire, or as a sovereign monarchy. However, his power weakened due to the Telangana rebellion and rise of the Razakars, a radical Muslim militia who wanted Hyderabad to remain under Muslim rule. In 1948, India invaded and annexed Hyderabad State, and the rule of the Nizam ended wherein the Nizam became the Rajpramukh and served from 26 January 1950 to 31 October 1956.[11]

Nearly all the major public buildings and institutions in Hyderabad city, such as Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad High Court, Jubilee Hall, Nizamia Observatory, Nizamia Hospital, Moazzam Jahi Market, Kachiguda Railway Station, Asafiya Library now known as the State Central Library, Hyderabad, Town Hall now known as the Assembly Hall, Hyderabad Museum now known as the State Museum and many other monuments were built under his reign.[12][13][14][15] He also built the Hyderabad House in Delhi, now used for diplomatic meetings by the Government of India.[16][17]

From giving donations to major educational institutions throughout India, he introduced many educational reforms during his reign. Almost 11% of the Nizam's budget was spent on education.

He made large donations to many institutions in India and abroad with special emphasis given to educational institutions such as the Jamia Nizamia and the Darul Uloom Deoband.

He founded the Osmania University; today it is one of the biggest universities in India. Schools, colleges and a Department for Translation were set up. Primary education was made compulsory and provided free for the poor.[18]

In 1941, he started his own bank, the "Hyderabad State Bank" (later renamed State Bank of Hyderabad and, in 2017, merged into the State Bank of India) as the state's central bank. It was established on 8 August 1941 under the Hyderabad State Bank Act. The bank managed the "Osmania Sikka", the currency of the state of Hyderabad. It was the only state in India which had its own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee. Hyderabad was the only state in British India where the ruler was allowed to issue currency notes. In 1953, the bank absorbed, by merger, the Mercantile Bank of Hyderabad, which Raja Pannalal Pitti had founded in 1935.[19]

In 1956, the Reserve Bank of India took over the bank as its first subsidiary and renamed it State Bank of Hyderabad. The Subsidiary Banks Act was passed in 1959. On 1 October 1959, SBH and the other banks of the princely states became subsidiaries of SBI. It merged with SBI on 31 March 2017.

After the Great Musi Flood of 1908, which killed an estimated 50,000 people, the Nizam constructed 2 lakes to prevent another great flood, namely Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar.[20][21][22] The former was named after himself, and the latter after his son Mir Himayat Ali Khan (Azam Jah).

The foundation of agricultural research in Marathwada region of erstwhile Hyderabad State was laid by the Nizam with the commencement of the Main Experimental Farm in 1918 in Parbhani. During the Nizam's rule agricultural education was available only at Hyderabad; crop research centres for sorghum, cotton and fruits existed in Parbhani. After independence, this facility was developed further by the Indian government which was renamed as Marathwada Agriculture University on 18 May 1972.[23]

India's first airport - the Begumpet Airport was established in the 1930s with the formation of the Hyderabad Aero Club by Nizam. Initially it was used as a domestic and international airport by Nizam and was known as "Deccan Airways Limited" - the first airline during British India. The airport building was built in 1937. [24]

In 1947, the Nizam made a gift of diamond jewels, including a tiara and necklace, to Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of her marriage. The brooches and necklace from this gift are still worn by the Queen and is known as the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace.[29]

The Duchess of Cambridge has also been spotted wearing the necklace on a few occasions.[30]

The Nizam donated Rs.82,825 to the Yadagirigutta temple at Bhongir, Rs.29,999 to Sita Ramachandraswamy temple, Bhadrachalam[31] and Rs. 8,000 to Tirupati Balaji Temple.
[32] He also donated Rs.50,000 towards the re-construction of Sitarambagh temple located in the old city of Hyderabad.[31][33]

After hearing about the Golden Temple of Amritsar through Maharaja Ranjit Singh,[34][35] Mir Osman Ali Khan started giving yearly grants towards it.[36][37]

He also donated Rs 10 Lakh for the Banaras Hindu University,[38][39] Rs. 5 Lakh for the Aligarh Muslim University,[40] and 3 lakhs for the Indian Institute of Science.[41]

In 1932, there was a need for money for the publication of the Holy Mahabharata in the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute located in Pune. A formal request was made to the 7th Nizam (Mir Osman Ali Khan) who granted Rs.1000 per year for a period of 11 years.[42] He also gave Rs 50,000 for construction of the guest house[43] which stands today as the "Nizam Guest House".[44][45]

According to an urban legend, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan donated 5,000 kg of gold to the National Defence Fund of India in the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. The legend claims that Nizam gave the gold to Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965, when the latter visited Hyderabad during an India-wide tour to raise funds for the post-war economy. According to the story, Nizam asked only the boxes containing the gold to be returned.[46]

In reality, the Nizam did not donate 5,000 kg of gold, he invested 425 kg of gold in the National Defence Gold Scheme. The Scheme was floated by the government in October 1965 to deal with an economic crisis, and the investors were offered a 6.5% interest rate. The scheme included an amnesty clause: the gold acquired using income not disclosed to the income tax authorities was exempted from tax, if invested in the scheme. The Nizam indeed met Shastri in Hyderabad, and agreed to invest 425 kg of old gold mohurs (coins), which were valued at ₹ 5 million at the time. Shastri later thanked the Nizam at a public meeting, stating that the government planned to send these gold coins to foreign countries, expecting to obtain ₹ 10 million in return.[46]

It is not clear who received the return on this investment. In 2018, the Nizam's grandson Mir Najaf Ali Khan stated that according to his knowledge, none of the 52 trusts created by the Nizam had received any money from this investment. English-language newspaper The Hindu submitted a Right to Information query to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2018 asking for information on the investment and the final beneficiary. However, the RBI refused to provide this information, citing "unwarranted invasion of the privacy" clause of the RTI law.[46]

On 14 April 1920, the Nizam married Sahebzadi Azmath unnisa Begum (Dulhan Pasha Begum) (1889–1955),[50] daughter of Nawab Jahangir Jung Bahadur, at Eden Bagh now known as Eden Garden at King Kothi, Hyderabad at the age of 21. Nawab Mir Khudrath Nawaz Jung Bahadur was the first brother-in-law of the Nizam, and the uncle of his sons Azam Jah (1907–1970), and Moazzam Jah (1907–1987)

His first son - Azam Jah married Durru Shehvar, daughter of Abdul Mejid II (Heir to the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire). They had two children, Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah.

Whereas, his 2nd son Moazzam Jah married Princess Niloufer, a princess of the Ottoman empire.[51]

He had 34 children: 18 sons and 16 daughters.[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]