Meet man, an Indian who once owned 185-carat diamond, private airline, much richer than Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Adani

In the history of India, there are few personalities who have attracted so much attention due to their riches and power as Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad. Osman Ali Khan was born in 1886 and became the king at the age of twenty-five in 1911 and ruled till 1948 and still his rule attracts people today.

Osman Ali Khan had amassed an enormous amount of wealth, and it is estimated that he had around 236 million USD by the early 1940s, in today’s value. The majority of this wealth was earned through the Golconda mines that was the largest producer of diamonds during the reign of this king. It was stated that he kept 130 million USD in gold and silver billion besides 520 million USD worth of jewels in his private treasury. The Jacob diamond, a 185-carat diamond, was well-known to have been used as a paperweight, which gives an impression of the vast wealth of the king.

Osman Ali Khan was a very rich man, but he was very simple and used to live a very frugal life. He was always dressed in a white kurta pyjama and plain slippers, and his clothes were creased most of the time. His bedroom was also simple with an old bed, old furniture and the general appearance was that of a man who was living a very simple life.

However, there were many achievements during Osman Ali Khan’s reign, and he made many contributions in the fields of education, constructions, and social reforms. He founded Osmania University, Osmania General Hospital, and the State Bank of Hyderabad and many more. For visioning modern Hyderabad, he is popularly known as the “Father of Modern Hyderabad.”

When India got independence in 1947 Osman Ali Khan did not join Hyderabad to the Indian union. However, he wanted a closer relationship with Pakistan, which caused a lot of friction with the Indian government. The Indian Army then began ‘Operation Polo’ in September 1948 and the Nizam’s forces had to surrender by September 18, 1948. This was the last phase of the Nizam’s rule and the merging of Hyderabad with the newly formed independent India.