On 29 August 1911, Mir Osman became the Nizam of Hyderabad.
It is said that he had as much money as 2 percent of America's economy, due to this, on February 22, 1937, Time Magazine named him the richest man. But apart from being rich, he was also a miser.
In the book written on Walter Monckton (The Life Of Viscount Monckton Of Brenchley), it is written that Nizam Osman Ali Khan was of short stature, he used to carry a brown stick with him. Call him miser or simply, he spent his whole life wearing a 35 year old cap, even though he used only one blanket for his whole life. It is written in this book that sometimes when he used to shout out of anger or for other reasons, his voice resonated up to 50 yards.
In the book maharaja which was written by Diwan Jarmani Dass, it is written that he was so stingy that when a guest came, he used to give him 2 biscuits with tea. One of which was his biscuit.
He had a Jacob Diamond which was 282 carat which Nizam Osman used as paper weight.
Nizam was an introvert type person, he used to meet people very rarely.
In the early years, he was seduced that he could soon make Hyderabad independent before India's independence. But soon it was made clear by the Viceroy of the British Government that only after the independence of India, there would be talk about small states.
On 3 June 1947, the Nizam started declaring that Hyderabad would be like a free country. On 12 June 1947, he wrote a letter to the viceroy and told that Hyderabad would remain independent. Nizam Osman asked for some weapons and a plane with the help of a pilot named Sidney Cotton.
When the viceroy came to know that the Nizam wanted an independent country and India would take action against it, he tried to negotiate a settlement between India and Nizam Osman, but the Nizam did not agree. After this Nizam Osman tried to buy Goa but he failed. By August 1948, India completely surrounded Hyderabad. And 25 thousand soldiers of Hyderabad failed.
The common people of Hyderabad attacked the soldiers with personal weapons, but neither Sidney's help nor the efforts of the general public could stop the Indian Army.
Even before Nizam Osman Ali Khan tried to escape to Egypt, he was caught while offering prayers in his palace. After that he was allowed to live in his palace.
On 25 January 1950, he made an agreement with the Indian government, under which he would get 4.2 million annually from India.
With this, India's Operation Polo became successful and Hyderabad became a Part of India.
Nizam Osman Ali, despite being stingy, used to donate a lot, he did a lot of charity in the education hubs of Varanasi.
During the Indo-Pak war of 1965, he donated 5 tonnes of gold to India.
Nizam Osman Ali Khan breathed his last on 24 February 1967.
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