
We know who the richest man in the word is today. A few years ago, before he gave away most of his money it was William Gates Jr. Back in the sixties it was Paul Getty. Today, it is Mr Elon Musk, But who was the richest man in the world back in 1947. Rockefeller, Howard Hughes ? They were extremely rich, but not as rich as the Nizam of Hyderabad, otherwise known as Mir Osman Ali Khan.
In 1947, just months before India gained its independence, the Nizam ( or ruler) of India’s largest state ( the size of England and Scotland combined and heir of the great Mogul empire which once bestrode India ), was, according to Kenneth Mills of Today ( Photo World), who obtained an audience with the great man , worth £500m. Today that would be worth around $210.8bn.Actually, at the time of this meeting, no-one was quite sure how wealthy the Nizam was. Let Mr Mills explain:
The value of his fortune increases from hour to hour, and investigators find caches of precious metals and jewels tucked away and forgotten, which upsets all calculations. Experts from Britain were once called in and after several months of counting they failed to agree. Finally, they settled on five hundred million pounds—with a hundred million either way as a safety margin.
The enormous Falakuma Palace, official residence of the Nizam, is a treasure house. British airmen recall the time when all the flat roofs of the royal compound shimmered with millions of pearls, when the Nizam thought they might lose their lustre and ordered an airing. The rooms of the Palace are choc-a bloc with gold plate and cases full of jewels. There is the solid gold plate service for 150 people. There is the Jacobs diamond, cut to the shape of a camel, one of the largest diamonds in the world, used as a paperweight by the Nizam; the egg-diamonds set egg-like, not only in shape but in size; the largest emerald collection known; and all along the walls gold is stacked, in bars, in coins, and large keg-shaped blocks. Once, when the Nizam had his servants take down some tapestries of which he had tired, scores of boxes filled with gold coins were found behind them.
But the ruler of Hyderabad no longer lives in his great palace…(but in) King Kothi, his private residence…King Kothi is a rambling collection of about a dozen ill-assorted buildings. A high wall surrounds the residence and there are guards from the Nizam’s own 100,000 strong army continuously on patrol. Inside is shabbiness cheek-by jowl with the inevitable fairy-story wealth. In one of the yards stands a gaudy Rolls-Royce, which some British statesman presented to the Nizam at his accession. It has been rusting for years. The royal elephants contentedly munch hay day after day, year after year. They are never used. For the Nizan drives in an ancient Ford tourer or uses an old Humber.
Continue reading

