Mir Osman Ali Khan appeared on the Time magazine cover in 1937 as the World’s richest person. We bring you some interesting facts about the last Nizam of Hyderabad.

1. Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur ruled Hyderabad for 37 years from 1911 to 1948, before Hyderabad became part of the Indian republic. His dominion covered the present-day Telangana and extended to parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
2. In February 1937, when the Nizam appeared on the cover of the Time Magazine, his fortune was estimated to be USD 2 billion. In the early 1940s, the worth of all his jewels was estimated between USD 150 to USD 500 million dollars. That’s unreal!
3. Mir Osman Ali Khan had the ‘Jacob Diamond’, a 185-carat diamond which he used to use as a paperweight. In 1947, the Nizam gifted a tiara and necklace to Queen Elizabeth as a wedding gift. In 1965, the Nizam helped India tide over the economic slump by investing 425 kg of gold in the National Defense Gold Scheme.
4. The Nizam made major contributions in the field of education as well. Up to 11% of his annual budget was reserved for educational spending. In 1918, he founded the Osmania University, one of the largest universities in India. He even made significant financial contributions to the Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University.
5. Most of Hyderabad’s public building and institutions were constructed during his era. Hyderabad High Court, Town Hall, Hyderabad Museum, Osmania General Hospital, Kachiguda railway station showcases Nizam’s infrastructural contributions. He even established the Hyderabad State Bank.
6. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd once declined to sell their car to the Nizam. Hyderabad’s last ruler was so infuriated that he bought second hand Rolls-Royce cars and deployed then on garbage collection service. Rolls-Royce later requested the Nizam to stop this exercise. The Nizam owned 50 of them!
7. Even the death ceremony of the Nizam was grand. His funeral procession became the biggest non-political, non-religious gathering of people in the recorded history. Millions of people across all sects and religions came out on the streets during his last procession.

The life of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was grand, but he made it larger than life by making a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people of India. The last Nizam of Hyderabad will always be known as one of the most noteworthy people in world history!