Nizam's grandson Shahamat Jah passes away

Hyderabad, July 31 (IANS) Prince Shahamat Jah, the grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad State Mir Osman Ali Khan, has passed away after a brief illness. He was 68.

He breathed his last at a hospital in Hyderabad on Sunday evening.

He was buried early Monday at the graveyard adjacent to Masjid-e-Joodi, King Kothi, where his grandfather was buried.

Shahamat Jah was born to Mir Shujaat Ali Khan Moazzam Jah Bahadur and Anwari Begum.

Like his father who used to write poetry in Urdu and went by his pen name Shaji, Shahmat Jah was also an Urdu poet and published a few collections. He was active in promoting Urdu poetry by hosting ‘mushairas’.

Shahamat Jah’s two marriages were unsuccessful and he died childless.

He was living alone at his house in Red Hills and after selling the property recently he had moved to his sister’s house in Banjara Hills.

Shahamat Jah’s father Moazzam Jah was second son of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of Hyderabad State. Moazzam Jahi Market, a key landmark in the city, was named after him.

Moazzam Jah’s first wife was Princess Niloufer, niece of the last Turkish Sultan and Caliph Prince Abdul Majeed. The couple had no children. Niloufer left her husband and settled down in France.

Moazzam Jah had later married Razia Begum.  Shahmat Jah was his only son, born from third wife Anwari Begum.

This is the second death in Nizam’s family this year.

Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, had passed away in Turkey on January 14.

His body was brought to Hyderabad and buried in the lawns of historic Mecca Masjid.

Shahmath Jah was first cousin of Mukarram Jah and Mir Karamat Ali Khan Muffakham Jah Bahadur.

Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah are sons of Osman Ali Khan’s first son Mir Himayat Ali Khan Azam Jah Bahadur.

Muffakham Jah, Azmet Jah, the titular head of the Nizam family and his mother Princess Esra have condoled the death of Shahamat Jah.