The Jewels of the Nizams 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 ...

are among the largest and most expensive collection of

jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

in present-day India. The jewels belonged to the

Nizams 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, M ...

. After the annexation of their kingdom by Union of India, the

Nizam 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 ...

and his heirs were barred by the Indian government from taking the collection, claiming that it was a national treasure. After much litigation, the diamond was purchased by the Government of India from the Nizam's trust for an estimated $13 million in 1995, along with other jewels of the Nizams, and is held at the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

vaults in Mumbai. Once the Nizams' state

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...

, the ornaments date from the early 18th century to the early 20th century. Crafted in gold and silver, with many embellished with

enamelling Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by melting, fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitrification, vitreous coating. The wo ...

, the jewels are set with gems including Colombian

emeralds Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p. ...

, diamonds from the

Kollur Diamond Mine Kollur Mine was a series of gravel-clay pits on the south bank of the Krishna River in the Golconda Sultanate of India. It currently falls within the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is thought to have produced many large diamonds, known as Golcond ...

in Guntur district and the diamond mine in Krishna district (now Andhra Rayalaseema Diamond mines group), Burmese

rubies A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

and

spinels The spinels are any of a class of minerals of general formulation which crystallise in the cubic crystal system, cubic (isometric) crystal system, with the X anions (typically chalcogens, like oxygen and sulfur) arranged in a cubic close-packing, c ...

, and

pearls A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living animal shell, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pea ...

from

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

and the

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .

. There are 173 jewels, which includes

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

s and

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

s weighing nearly , and

exceeding 40,000 chows. The collection includes

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promine ...

ornaments,

necklaces A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as symbol ...

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

s, belts,

buckles The buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing tw ...

earrings An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...

armbands An armband is a piece of material worn around the arm. They may be worn for pure ornamentation, or to mark the wearer as belonging to group, or as insignia having a certain rank, status, office or role, or being in a particular state or conditi ...

bangle Bangles are traditionally rigid bracelets which are usually made of metal, wood, glass or plastic. These ornament are worn mostly by women in the Indian subcontinent, Southeastern Asia, Arabian Peninsula, and Africa. It is common to see a bride ...

bracelets A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a wikt:supportive, supportive function to hold other items of ...

anklet An anklet, also called ''ankle chain'', ''ankle bracelet'' or ''ankle string'', is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for at least over 8,000 years by girls and women in Indus Valley, in ...

cufflinks Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing of ...

buttons A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, ...

watch chain A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatc ...

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

toe ring A toe ring is a ring made out of metals and non-metals worn on any of the toes. The second toe of either foot is where they are worn most commonly. This is because proportionately it is the longest toe and thus the easiest toe to put a ring on a ...

s, and

nose rings A nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which receive and expel air for respiration alongside the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes thr ...

. Among them is the seven-stringed

Basrah Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

pearl necklace, known as

Satlada Satlada is a seven stringed pearl necklace of Indian origin. It traditionally has 465 pearls embedded in it. It can also be set with emeralds, diamonds and rubies. Some of the pearls are so large they look like small eggs, or outsized peas. Formerl ...

, which has 465 pearls embedded in it. One of the prized possessions in the collection is the

Jacob Diamond The Jacob Diamond, also known as the Imperial or Victoria Diamond, is a colorless diamond from South Africa (or from the Golconda mines) ranked as the fifth-biggest polished diamond in the world. The last nizam of the Hyderabad State, Mir Osman ...

, the fifth largest diamond in the world weighing 184.75 carats, which was found by the last Nizam,

Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age of ...

, in the toe of his father's shoe at

Chowmahalla Palace Chowmahalla Palace or Chowmahallat (from ''chār mahallāt'', in Dakhini Urdu) is the palace of the Nizams of Hyderabad State in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and was the official residence of the Niz ...

and he himself used it as a paper weight for a long time.

History of the jewels

In 1995, the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

bought the jewels for ₹218

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

(about US$70 million) many years after the death of the last Nizam of Hyderabad,

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age of ...

, in 1967. The government tried to buy the collection for a mere amount of $25 million.Nizam's Heirs End Wrangle for Treasure
''The Independent'' Fifteen years later, India's

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

finally fixed a price of about $65 million, much less than the actual price of $350 million

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

estimated the jewels were worth.The Prince's Ransom
''The Guardian'' The biggest chunk of the share ($20 million) went to Nizam's 1st grandson

Mukarram Jah Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (born 6 October 1933), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, has been the titular Nizam of Hyderabad since the death of his grandfather in 1967. He currently chairs the H.E.H. The Niz ...

. The collection is with the Union Government and had been deposited in the vaults of the

in its headquarters at

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. It has been showcased a few times in exhibitions; in 2001 and 2006 at the

National Museum, New Delhi The National Museum in New Delhi, also known as the National Museum of India, is one of the largest museums in India. Established in 1949, it holds a variety of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art. It functions under t ...

and the

Salar Jung Museum The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River, India, Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the List of museums in India, notable National Museums of India. ...

, Hyderabad. After the Government of India had initially declined to buy the jewels in 1970s, the Nizam's Jewellery Trust's officials intended to sell 37 out of 65 of the Nizam's jewels to Indian and foreign entities. However, princess Fatima Fouzia, granddaughter of the Nizam, intervened. She went to the Hyderabad City Civil Court and notified that neither all the trustees had agreed for the sale, nor the tender was publicized sufficiently at an international level so that the heirs would get the right price of the jewels. It was followed by a series of court cases in Hyderabad High Court and Supreme court of India. Again, in early 1990s, the jewels were to be auctioned to private parties for amount much lower than the actual value. Fatima Fouzia, mother of great grandson of Nizam Himayat Ali Mirza, had filed a petition to protect the jewels to be sold to private parties. Princes

Muffakham Jah Colonel Muffakham Jah Nawab Walashan Sahebzada Mir Karamath Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (born 27 February 1939) is the son of Prince Azam Jah and Princess Durru Shehvar, and grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad. An engineering colleg ...

Najaf Ali Khan Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

, Dilshad Jah, Himayat Ali Mirza and other trustees of the Nizams Jewellery Trust handed over the jewellery to the government of India. Nizam’s Great-grandson, Himayat Ali Mirza, said Nizam’s exclusive jewels are among the most elegant collections in the world. He has recently urged the Prime Minister to relocate Nizam’s Jewellery to Hyderabad by establishing an exclusive

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in the city. Along with the Nizam’s jewels, two Bari gold coins worth hundreds of crores, were considered the rarest in the world. Himayat Ali Mirza has requested the central government to bring these coins, which were made in the Arabic script should be brought back to Hyderabad.

References

External links

BBC

expressindia.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewels of the Nizams History of Telangana Hyderabad State Crown jewels Jewellery of India

History of the jewels

See also

References

Further reading

External links