Hyderabad: Last Nizam remembered

Hyderabad: The 55th death anniversary of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, was observed on Thursday. Members of the royal family and of various social organisations paid floral tributes at his grave at Masjid-e-Judi in King Koti.

Nawab Mir Najaf Ali Khan, Nizam's grandson, Anuradha Reddy, convener, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Dr Iqbal Jaweed, historians, social activists and others paid the tributes. 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 Masjid-e-Judi, which he had built in 1936 near the palace where he was buried, lies in a state of neglect.

According to family members, his funeral procession was one of the largest in Indian history, a testimony to his popularity. An estimated 2 lakh people took part in the procession. On the last Nizam's demise, the then Andhra Pradesh government remembered him by issuing an extraordinary gazette. The government declared state mourning on February 25, 1967, the day when he was buried. State government offices remained closed as a mark of respect, while the national flag was flown at half-mast on all government buildings throughout the state.