Azam Jah

Who was Azam Jah?

Azam Jah, Damat Walashan Sahebzada Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Bahadur Bey Effendi was the eldest son of the seventh and last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jah VII; In 1936 he was given the courtesy title of Prince of Berar, a territory of the Nizam then leased in perpetuity to the British and administered by them.

Azam Jah married Princess Hatice Hariye Durr-e-Shevar in Nice on 12 November 1931. She was one of the daughters of Caliph Abdul Mejid II, who was the cousin and heir of the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The Nizam was regarded by Time magazine in 1937 as the richest person in world with estimated wealth of US$2 billion; he is also regarded as the fifth wealthiest man in history with a fortune of $210 billion at its peak.

His marriage failed after producing two sons.

On the death of the seventh nizam the title passed to Azam Jah's elder son, Sahebzada Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah, as eighth nizam, who was still the pretender to the throne of Hyderabad as of 2013. His youngest son is Sahebzada Mir Karamat Ali Khan Muffakham Jah.