Hyderabad: Renowned scholar Hasnuddin Ahmad, the last link to Hyderabad’s glorious era and a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), died on Tuesday morning. He was 97.

Ahmad, who served the central and the state governments for nearly four decades and also held many important positions including the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Minorities Commission and the state Waqf Board, was a multi-faceted personality.

He had not been well for the last three years. In his heydays, he was close to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad in the mid-70s.

Son of Nawab Deen Yar Jung, the police commissioner of Hyderabad during the Nizam era, Ahmad was born on February 12, 1923. A PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Ahmad was prolific writer, who authored 38 books on various subjects. While he did considerable work on the Quran and authored books including ‘An Easy Way to Understanding of the Quran’, he also had the unique distinction of translating the Hindu sacred book Srimad Bhagwad Geeta in Urdu. He had translated it during the era of the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan under the title of ‘Naghma-e-Uloohiat’.

In one of his last interviews, Ahmad had expressed pain and anguish over the growing hatred and religious intolerance in Indian society.

Having studied the subject of endowment in several European countries including Germany, Greece and Turkey, Ahmad was an authority over the subject of the Muslim waqf in India and contributed significantly to the legislation on protecting and maintaining these properties in the country.

He was a founder of Indo-Middle East Cultural Studies and All India Amir Khusrau Society which had branches in several countries.