Dubai: One of the world’s wealthiest dynasties, the Nizams of Hyderabad were known for their treasures of jewels and their exquisite taste for all things exotic and refined, but little is known about their love for automobiles, which a Dubai-based author highlights in a new book released earlier this month.
A vintage car aficionado, Mohammad Luqman Ali Khan travelled around the world to track down 50 of the last Nizam’s vehicles in ‘a first of its kind’ coffee-table book titled the ‘Automobiles of the Nizams’.
Said to have possessed one of the world’s largest collections of cars in the first half of the 20th century, ranging from the largest and most luxurious to most outlandish of automobiles, most of Mir Osman Ali Khan’s coveted collection is now scattered across the globe, acquired by collectors and museums.
“Much has been written and said about the jewels and treasures possessed by the Nizams. The seventh Nizam was the wealthiest man in the world during his time and his fabulous wealth has now become a legend, but the Nizam also possessed the greatest fleet of vehicles between 1900 and 1967 and as a classic car enthusiast, I was always interested in documenting it,” said Khan, who is from Hyderabad, the capital of the Nizams.
Ranging from the Rolls-Royce and Napier to Mercedes and Bentley, the seventh Nizam of the Asaf Jah dynasty had a collection of 400 cars of which only a handful now survive in the Nizam’s vintage car museum at the Chow Mohalla Palace in Hyderabad.
Khan’s book was released earlier this month to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations of the last Nizam’s, Mukarram Jah’s, coronation in 1967.
Now based in Turkey, the last Nizam, known to be a ‘born mechanic’, inherited the fleet of vehicles along with other wealth from his grandfather, the previous Nizam, but due to various reasons couldn’t keep and maintain all the automobiles.
Khan said that his interviews with the Nizam family gave him an insight into the last Nizam’s interests in cars and his an enviably innate mechanical acumen.
“He was known to have toyed with engines since childhood, with particular interest in Jeeps and heavy machinery like the bulldozers and excavators. Often seen in his greasy overalls, the Nizam was a hands-on outdoor person, hunting and fiddling with motors and machine,” he said.
However, he added, though he inherited one of world’s largest fortunes, anti-monarchy sentiment in a newly-independent India and abolition of privy purses meant the extraordinary fleet couldn’t be maintained and many of the vehicles were auctioned off.
“I travelled widely to research the Nizam cars, many surviving to this day in Europe and the United States with collectors and museums. I also extensively studied the palace archives, a treasure trove of interesting information, which are well preserved by the efforts of Nizam’s wife, Princess Esra Jah, and Prince Azmet Jah that helped in shaping the book,” said Khan, who is planning to cover all vehicles in four volumes, with the first volume hitting the stores in June.
