His Exalted Highness Asaf Jah VII Mir Osman Ali Khan

Welcome! 
You have come to the crown of the caliphate, a great blessing.
You have arrived at the pinnacle of fortune and prosperity, welcome!
Victory and success have accompanied you, welcome!
As the standard-bearer of prophethood, you have arrived, welcome!
The gates of the caliphate have opened again, welcome!
You have come as the solution to governance, welcome!
O light of brotherhood, you have come, welcome!
With grandeur and splendor, you have awakened the dormant world,
You have illuminated the kingdom and nation, welcome!
For the garden of aspirations, you have come as a flourishing flower, welcome!
With your arrival in Deccan, the spirit of illumination has returned,
A legacy has revived, pouring blessings upon it,
A grand sip from the timeless chalice of Usman Khan.*
The poor are now comforted,
The destitute and helpless find refuge,
Even strangers are guided to a noble path.
In this realm, a voice has risen—
The pride of Hindustan, The glory of Islam
Indeed, you are the manifestation of a divine blessing in Deccan,
*The fulfillment of the caliphal aspirations linked to Ottoman Usman Khan I.

— Rahbar-E-Deccan 1931. Wali Ahad Number.
Crown Prince Special Edition.
Al Sharif Ahmed Mohiuddin, Al Sharif Yusufuddin.
68 pages. Pg. 40. Rahbar-E-Deccan Press,
Afzal Ganj, Hyderabad

“Years ago Hyderabad’s ruling Nizam tried to get himself proclaimed Caliph. To pious Moslems his ambition was shocking. They squelched it. But the “secret engagement” of Caliph’s daughter and Nizam’s heir last week struck many Moslems as a happy thought. Should these young people wed and have a man child, temporal and spiritual strains would richly blend in him. He could be proclaimed “The True Caliph.” [TIME Magazine. Nov, 1931]

“It was believed at that time that the matrimonial alliance between the Nizam, the richest ruler in the world of his time, and the deposed Caliph would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman sultans. Princess Durru Shahvar, who was raised to succeed her father with modern education and martial training, became the most popular face after her arrival in Hyderabad”. [Deccan Chronicle, Feb 8 2006]

“Abdul Mejid, the ex-caliph, died in 1944, his will appointed Mukarram, though just a schoolboy, to inherit his claim to the mantle of his lost caliphate…He never asserted a hereditary claim to the grand title of caliph.” [The New York Times, Feb 7, 2023]

“The idea was that until their offspring attains maturity, the Nizam of Hyderabad would be the care-taker Caliph. Pleased with this idea, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur put Maulana Shaukat Ali in charge as the carrier of this proposal to the deposed Caliph Abdul Majeed who was residing in the city of Nice in France at the time. Pleased with this idea, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur put Maulana Shaukat Ali in charge as the carrier of this proposal to the deposed Caliph Abdul Majeed who was residing in the city of Nice in France at the time. Caliph Abdul Majeed was pleased at the proposal; and in furtherance of this idea, he later nominated W’aala Shaan Nawab Mukarram Jah Bahadur as his heir.” [Auraaq e-Maazi by Shahid Husain Zuberi, Former GPA to H.E.H. Asaf Jah VIII Prince Mukarram Jah, p.66]

he marriage of the last Ottoman Caliph’s daughter with Prince Azam Jah Bahadur, the elder son of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad His Exalted Highness Mir Osman Ali Khan, resulted in the union of two illustrious Muslim families, the Turkish Caliphate and the Asaf Jahis of Hyderabad.

TIME Magazine covered the historic wedding with a befitting headline, Caliph’s Beauteous Daughter.

Princes Durru Shehvar, the only daughter of Abdulmejid II, the Last Caliph of Turkey was born in 1914 and brought up with modern education, and training in martial arts as his successor.

The negotiations for her marriage to the Nizam’s son and heir included the first born son of this union be declared the heir to the throne of the Nizam instead of his father and that the last caliph name him in his will as his successor to the Caliphal Crown.

It was believed at that time that the matrimonial alliance between the Nizam, the richest ruler in the world of his time, and the deposed Caliph would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman sultans.

In 1940, preparations for the final resting place for the Caliphal Crown to become Hyderabad with its erstwhile Royal Family, were commenced. A majestic Ottoman style mausoleum was constructed for the Caliph in Khuldabad, then part of Hyderabad, by his daughter with the financing of the Nizam, where it was said His Majesty’s mortal remains would be brought.

However, in 1944 the Caliph suddenly died at the age of 76. His heir born from the wedlock of his daughter to the Nizam’s son as a minor was still too young, to officially accept the Caliphal Crown from his grandfather – according to Muslim law.

The Caliph’s death coincided with the Liberation of Paris from the German occupation during World War II.

The plan was to circumvent the Treaty of Lausanne by transferring the right to the Caliphate to Hyderabad with the transfer of the Caliphal Crown.

In London the Turkish Embassy revealed that the Turkish Government asked the British Government not to permit restoration of the Caliphate anywhere in the Empire.

The plan was for the Nizam of Hyderabad to formally accept the Caliphal Crown as interim Caliph on behalf of his underage grandson, who was named by Caliph’s as his successor to the Crown.

TIME Magazine reported, “…Hyderabad’s ruling Nizam tried to get himself proclaimed Caliph. To pious Moslems his ambition was shocking. They squelched it. But the “secret engagement” of Caliph’s daughter and Nizam’s heir…struck many Moslems as a happy thought. Should these young people wed and have a man child, temporal and spiritual strains would richly blend in him. He could be proclaimed “The True Caliph.””

The Nizam would keep Custody of the Caliphal Crown as interim Caliph, until young Prince Mukarram Jah was of legal age to ascend to the Nizam’s throne as his heir to the Sultanate of Hyderabad, and would also claim the Caliphal Crown from his maternal grandfather.

However, the combination of World War II, the Caliph’s unexpected demise, the pressure of Turkey on the British Raj to prevent the claiming of the right to the Caliphate by the erstwhile Royal Family of Hyderabad, and the political turmoil in India and Hyderabad made it impossible for His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad to fly out to Paris, accept the interim Caliphal Crown, conduct the Caliph’s funeral and bring his mortal remains back to Hyderabad for burial at Khuldabad.

The political chaos in India eventually led to the British Raj’s overthrow by India’s freedom fighters, so many Muslims from whom among the leaders of Deoband fought to oust the British to gain independence for Indian Muslims, and thereby enable the Nizam to announce the Caliphal Crown had arrived in the Deccan, despite the political institution being legally abolished since 1924.

These Muslims dreamed of having a monarch with the title of the Caliph in Hyderabad, independent of any political ties to the remainder of the Arab and Muslim world, and the Nizam arranged succession to it for his grandson through his interim succession.

Faced with such turmoil, immediate public succession to the Caliphal Crown seemed impossible at best, as according to Muslim law, a Caliph could only be buried after his successor ascends to his position by accepting the papers to the office and or making his official proclamation of succession to the Caliphal Crown.

Hence it was decided to postpone the burial of the late Caliph, keeping his body uninterred in the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Then, in 1947 India finally gained its Independence from the British Raj, but in 1948 Hyderabad was annexed into India and the Nizam lost his kingdom, all while the Caliph’s mortal remains remained in uninterred in Paris.

No one in the Muslim world could legally challenge the Nizam’s grandson for the office, as he was named in the Will of the Caliph, nor could the Nizam officially go to Paris to accept as interim the Caliphal Crown and thereafter conduct the Caliphs funeral, and proclaim himself or his grandson the successor to the Caliphal Crown of his maternal grandfather.

Unbelievably, the Caliph’s mortal remains were uninterred at the Grand Mosque of Paris for another 10 years, unburied, until a breakthrough negotiation took place in 1954.

In 1954 Princess Durru Shehvar, the late Caliph’s daughter, and the now deposed Nizam of Hyderabad’s daughter-in-law, brokered a deal through her cousin Princess Nilofer.

In this deal, the Caliphal Crown willed by the late Caliph to his grandson Prince Mukarram Jah – held in trust by His Exalted Highness VII Nizam of Hyderabad until Jah was ready to succeed him as well – would now make their way back to Hyderabad after all, but the mortal remains of the Caliph would not, in recognition of the Muslim world’s collective will through silence to keep the political institution of the Caliphate abolished since 1924.

Instead, the Caliph’s remains would be laid to rest in an unmarked grave, likely to break the link between the Republic of Turkey and the Caliph’s would be successor in Hyderabad.

This deal was made with none other than Saudi Arabia’s gracious King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who conditioned permission to bury the last Caliph in Madinah at Al Baqi cemetery upon the Nizam and the Caliph’s daughter respecting the collective wishes of the Arab and Islamic world.

The Caliphs mortal remains finally arrived from Paris to Medina by 1954, a decade after his demise.

The theory is, the document or Will of the transfer of the Caliphal Crown to Hyderabad was then held in trust for His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad or the Nizam’s succession to the late Caliph simply announced by King Saud to legalize the burial of the Caliph’s mortal remains by King Saud, thereby satisfying the requirements of the religious law – that the earth not be void of a Caliph.

Following the Caliph’s burial in an unmarked grave in Al Baqi, King Saud then traveled to Hyderabad to meet the deposed Nizam.

On December 5th, 1955 the His Majesty King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met in Hyderabad the deposed Nizam and the deed to the Caliphal Crown was transferred. This deed was subsequently kept with the Nizam’s Military Secretary in preparation of Mukarram Jah’s succession to both the Nizam and the Caliphal Crown of his maternal grandfather.

The Nizam’s and the late Caliph’s arrangement was finally realized, except one minor detail, the Nizam lost his throne in the meanwhile, leaving his own successor and the Caliph’s successor to the Caliphal Crown – His Exalted Highness Mir Barket Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur – without a kingdom.

Auraaq-e-Maazi: Echoes From the Past

The author of Auraaq-e-Maazi Shahid Husain Zuberi is a descendant of the illustrious Bani Hashem clan. He was closely associated with His Exalted Highness Asaf Jah VIII Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqui, Bayafandi, VIII Nizam of Hyderabad for well near half a century. He knew Mukarram Jah perhaps more intimately than any other person of the times. In his book on Mukarram Jah, Zuberi informs readers, it was His Exalted Highness Asaf Jah VIII Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur himself who told him that it was Mahatma Gandhi’s suggestion that the Caliphate be sought by the Nizam State and transferred to Hyderabad. Jah informed Zuberi, his maternal grandfather His Majesty Caliph Abdulmejid II, and about his paternal grandfather His Exalted Highness Asaf Jah VII Mir Osman Ali Khan agreed to this and to the Nizam’s ascending to the lofty office of [interim] Caliph of Islam after Abdulmejid II, who sought to be buried in the Nizam’s Hyderabad State.

On page 66, Zuberi writes:

“Mahatma Gandhi suggested to Mohammad Ali Jauhar that after the decline of the Caliphate in Turkey, the greatest and wealthiest Muslim Princely State was Hyderabad under the Asaf Jahis. If the marriage of the older son of H.E.H. The Nizam, His Highness the Prince of Berar could be arranged with Princess Durre Shahwar, daughter of the dethroned Caliph of Turkey Abdul Majeed, it would be a farsighted move indeed. If the ousted Caliph declared the offspring from this union as the chosen heir of the Caliph, it would be probable that the Caliphate would get transferred to Hyderabad. Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar sent his younger brother Maulana Shaukat Ali with this idea to H.E.H. The Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. The idea was that until their offspring attains maturity, H.E.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad would be the care-taker [interim] Caliph. Pleased with this idea, The Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur put Maulana Shaukat Ali in charge as the carrier of this proposal to the deposed Caliph Abdul Majeed who was residing in the city of Nice in France at the time. Caliph Abdul Majeed was pleased at the proposal; and in furtherance of this idea he later nominated W’aala Shaan Nawab Mukarram Jah Bahadur as his heir. During the discussions regarding the matrimonial alliance of Nawab Azam Jah Bahadur with Princess Durreshahwar, Caliph Abdul Majeed further offered that his niece Princess Niloufer could be given in marriage to the second son of H.E.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad, Prince Nawab Moazzam Jah Bahadur. The two princes travelled with some important persons of the nobility of Hyderabad to France and the weddings took place there. When I discussed this matter with the renowned historian Dr. Dawood Ashraf, he said that the whole negotiation was at the level of private conversations. So there would be no evidence in the archives. As the Nizam government bore the expenses of his journey to France, the record is available in the archives. There is ample proof in the archives and also in an article by Dr. Dawood Ashraf published in Siasat about Maulana Shaukat Ali’s journey to France, it is said that the British Government was favorable towards the idea of this alliance, and gave its support.” [Auraaq-e-Maazi, by Shahid Husain Zuberi, p. 66]

During his period with Mukarram Jah, Zuberi held the positions of GPA to H.E.H. The Nizam VIII; and also Chairman of the H.E.H. The Nizam’s Private Estate.  Some of the distinguished positions he held included the following, making him a first hand witness to Jah’s narrative of the transfer of the Caliphate to Hyderabad:

1.) Trustee, H.E.H. The Nizam Trust
2.) Trustee, Sir Ziauddin Ahmed Trust, Aligarh;
3.) Trustee, Urdu Hall Trust, Hyderabad
4.) Trustee, Zaheer Manzil Trust, Hyderabad
5.) Ex-President, Old Boys’ Association, AMU
6.) Secretary, Anjuman Taraqqui-e-Urdu Hind,
7.) Founding Member, Mukarram Jah Hostel
8.) Founding Member Iqbal Academy
9.) Trustee, Mukarram Jah Trust for Education and Learning

See, How an Ottoman Princess brought the abolished Turkish Caliphate to the Nizam of Hyderabad

And, When the Nizam was projected as Caliph’s successor, and Hyderabad a magnet for global Muslims