Nawab Sir Muhammad Mazharuddin Khan Bahadur (1839 – 18 July 1898), commonly known as Sir Asman Jah or Nawab Sir Asman Jah Bahadur, was an Indian noble who served as Prime Minister of Hyderabad from 1887 to 1894. A member of the powerful Paigah family, He Was a grandson of His Highness the Nizam Nawab

Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III Nawab Mir Akbar Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur, Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III (11 November 1768 – 21 May 1829), was the 3rd Nizam/Ruler of Hyderabad, India from 1803 to 1829. He was born in Chowmahalla Palace in the Khilwath, the second son of Asaf ...

And he was married to parwarish unisa begum daughter of Afzal-ud-Daulah 5th nizam of

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

, Asman Jah built the Asman Garh Palace, Basheer Bagh Palace, saroonagar palace and Mahboob Chowk Clock Tower. He also represented Nizam

Mahbub Ali Khan Mahbub Ali Khan ( bn, মাহবুব আলী খান; 3 November 1934 – 6 August 1984) was a Bangladesh Navy rear admiral and the Chief of Naval Staff from 1979 till his death in 1984. He is known for his heroic actions done for hi ...

at the

Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...

and played as regent to Mahboob Ali Khan.

Early life and ancestry

Asman Jah was born as Mazharuddin Khan in 1839, although his exact date of birth is not recorded. His biological father Sultanuddin Khan was the third son of Fakhruddin Khan. After Sultanuddin's death, Asman Jah was adopted by his uncle Rafiuddin Khan Shams-ul-Umra III. Jah's maternal grandmother was Bashirunnisa Begum, a daughter of Nizam Nizam Ali Khan. Asman Jah was a member of the noble Paigah family which was hierarchically second to the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

. The members of the family were staunch Nizam loyalists. The family descends from the Second Rashidun caliph Umar Sufi saint

Fariduddin Ganjshakar Farīd al-Dīn Masʿūd Ganj-i-Shakar ( ; – 7 May 1266) was a 13th-century Punjabi Sunni Muslim preacher and mystic, who was one of the most revered and distinguished Muslim mystics of the medieval period. He is known reverentially as B ...

is also an ancestor of the family. One of Jah's ancestor Muhammad Abu’l Khair Khan was a '' mansabdar'' during Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

's reign. Jah's cousin

Viqar-ul-Umra Sir Viqar ul-Umara, Iqtidar ul-Mulk, Iqbal ud-Dowla, Secundar Jung, Nawab Muhammad Fazl-ud-din Khan Bahadur (13 August 1856 – 15 February 1902), was the Prime Minister of Hyderabad from 1893 to 1901, and also served as the Amir e Paigah from 1 ...

also served as Prime Minister of Hyderabad.

Political career

In 1869, Asman Jah was appointed as Minister for Justice and served in that position until 1888. After the death of Sir Salar Jung I in 1883, Jah was made a member of the Council of Regency. He also went on to become the administrator of the

during the Nizam's visit to Kolkata during the same year. In 1887, Nizam

chose Jah to represent him at the Golden Jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria held at the Windsor Castle. After returning from England, he was appointed Prime Minister of the state. He was replaced by his cousin

in 1894.

Architecture

Jah built the

Mahboob Chowk Clock Tower Mahboob Chowk Clock Tower is a five-storied architectural clock tower which was built in 1892 by Asman Jah, Prime Minister of Hyderabad. Named after the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad - (Mir Mahboob Ali Khan), the Mahboob Chowk area is considered to be ...

in 1892. The

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

had clocks on its four sides and was constructed in the middle of a garden. He also built the Basheer Bagh Palace at a cost of about in . Jah also constructed the Asmah Garh Palace in 1885 at the top of a hillock in Hyderabad. It was built in the Gothic architecture style and had pointed arches supported by Corinthian pillars. Jah's brother-in-law and Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan enjoyed living in the palace and he later gifted it to the Nizam. The building presently houses the St. Joseph's Public School.

Personal life

Jah was married to Parwarishunnisa Begum, the daughter of the fifth Nizam Tahniyath Ali Khan. They had one son Moin-Ud-Dowlah Bahadur who was born in 1891. Jah died at Basheer Bagh Palace on 16 July 1898 and is buried at Paigah Tombs. Jah brought up cricketer Syed Mohammad Hadi after his father died. Hadi scored the first-ever

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

. Asmah Jah's full name with titles is ''Asmah Jah, Amir-i-Akbar, Azam-ul-Umra, Umdat-ul-Mulk, Bashir-ud-Daulah, Nawab Sir Muhammad Mazharuddin Khan Bahadur, Rifat Jung KCIE''.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Sir Asman Jah photos
Politicians from Hyderabad, India Indian Muslims Prime Ministers of Hyderabad State 1839 births 1898 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire {{Royal-stub