Tributes paid to Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan on death anniversary

Hyderabad: The 59th death anniversary of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, was observed on Tuesday. Members of the erstwhile royal family and various social organisations paid floral tributes at his mausoleum at Masjid-e-Jodi in King Koti.

Senior member of the HEH, the Nizam Awqaf Committee, Nawab Abul Faiz Khan, Mohammed Rizwan Qureshi, Khateeb Mecca Masjid and Syed Abbas Asst. Secretary Awqaf Committee, historians, social activists and others paid the floral tributes.

Nawab Abul Faiz has called for the younger generation to be introduced to the legacy of religious tolerance and public service exemplified by Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad. He emphasised the ruler’s contributions not only to infrastructure and education but also to communal harmony.

“Despite his immense wealth, he chose a simple burial beside his mother, Ummatul Zahra Begum, rather than constructing a grand mausoleum for himself.”

Born on April 6, 1886, Mir Osman Ali Khan was the last ruler of the princely State of Hyderabad, from 1911 to 1948. After the Hyderabad State was annexed into the Indian Union, he was appointed Rajpramukh of the state in 1948 and held the administrative title till 1956 when the post was abolished. The Nizam breathed his last at the King Koti Palace on February 24, 1967.

The death and the funeral of the Nizam, who was considered to be the richest man in the world during his time, is one of the most remembered events for the old-timers of Hyderabad. His funeral procession the following day was the largest ever witnessed in the city; the five-kilometre-long stretch between Mecca Masjid near Charminar to Masjid-e-Judi near King Koti was jam-packed with people.