Azam Jah

Azam Jah

Azam Jah, Damat Walashan Sahebzada Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Bahadur Bey Effendi (21/22 February 1907 - 9 October 1970) 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 Her Imperial Highness The Princess Hatice Hariye Durr-e-Shevar in Nice on 12 November 1931. Her Imperial Highness was one of the daughters of His Imperial Majesty Caliph Abdul Mejid II, Commander of the Faithful and Succerssor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, Caliph of Islam. Her father was also the cousin and heir of the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. It has been suggested that through this dynastic union of one of the richest ruling Muslim families with the impoverished and exiled Imperial House of Osman (the administrative House of the Caliphs), the seventh nizam of Hyderabad hoped to acquire the Caliphate for his descendants.

The Nizam was regarded by TIME magazine in 1937 as the richest person in world with estimated wealth of $2 billion ; he is also regarded as the fifth wealthiest man in history with a fortune of $210 billion (adjusted to 2008 values) at its peak.

His marriage failed after producing two sons.

Azam Jah did not enjoy the confidence of his father and 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 remains the current pretender to the throne of Hyderabad.His youngest son is Sahebzada Mir Karamat Ali Khan Muffakham Jah.