He donated 5000 kg of gold to the Indian government during the 1965 war with China.
New Delhi: There are thousands of stories about the legacy of India’s royal families. Wealth worth crores, diamonds, jewels, real estate, kings and maharajas had no dearth of wealth. Palaces spread over thousands of acres were filled with queens and princesses. The king whose story we are telling today, had so much wealth that diamonds were weighed in kilos and gold and silver in tons. In those days, he had more than 50 Rolls Royce cars. So much money that he was among the richest people not only in India but in the world. This is the story of the Nizam of Hyderabad State.
India’s first billionaire
The title of India’s first billionaire is with the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. He had so much wealth that it is difficult to estimate it. He had a treasure of gems like diamonds, gold, silver, sapphire and topaz. There was so much gold that trucks loaded with gold bricks used to be parked in the garden. He had assets worth 236 billion dollars i.e. about Rs 2,03,55,76,70,00,000.
Diamond paperweight
Mir Osman Ali Khan had a 185 carat Jacob diamond, which he used as a paperweight. The price of this paperweight was Rs 1350 crore. He had 20 lakh pounds in cash in his palace. He had dozens of palaces to live in, but he spent most of his time in Falaknuma Palace built in the middle of Hyderabad. It is said that he had so many diamonds that an Olympic size swimming pool could be filled with them.
Owner of Falaknuma Palace
This palace was built by Hyderabad’s Prime Minister Nawab Sir Vikar-ul-Umar in 1893, but the credit for making it luxurious goes to the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Asaf Jah VII. In that era, the cost of building this palace was Rs 40 lakh. The palace is built on an area of 32 acres.
220 rooms, world’s largest dining table
Falaknuma Palace has a total of 220 rooms. Seeing the beauty of the palace, Times Magazine had featured it on its cover page. Falaknuma Palace has the world’s largest dining table, which is made of seven different pieces. 101 people can sit and eat together on this 80 feet long table.
How much wealth
According to a report in the British newspaper ‘The Independent’, the Nizam of Hyderabad had a total wealth of 236 billion dollars between 1886-1967. The Nizam of Hyderabad donated five tons (5000 kg) of gold to the Indian government during the 1965 war with China.
A great miser
Hyderabad’s Nizam Mir Osman Ali was the richest person in India but he was equally miserly. Nizam’s miserliness was such that he would not even leave people’s used cigarettes. According to historians Dominic Lapierre and Larry Collins’ book ‘Freedom at Midnight’, Mir Osman Ali was infamous for his miserliness. Whenever a guest came to his palace and left his unsatisfied cigarette, Nizam would pick up his used and unsatisfied cigarette and start smoking it.
Utensils of gold and silver, but tin plates for himself
Nizam did not spend on himself. Nizam wore the same cap for 35 years in his life and he never got his clothes ironed. Nizam’s miserliness was such that despite having gold and silver utensils, he himself used to eat in tin utensils. Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins wrote about Nizam’s miserliness in their book that he had so many gold utensils that 200 people could eat together in them, but he himself used to eat in old tin utensils.
Usurping people’s cars
Nizam had no dearth of luxury cars, 50 Rolls Royce was parked in his garage, but whenever he saw luxury cars in his capital, he would forcibly ask for that car as a gift from the owner. Despite having thousands of cars, he used to travel in a rickety car.
Also Read:
