Medieval Indian History : Nawab who used Rolls Royce as Garbage Bin

Well, he needs no introduction. His Exalted Highness (H.E.H) Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan was the last monarch of the Princely state of Hyderabad He ruled Hyderabad between 1911 and 1948, until it was annexed by India.

Few facts about him:

His wealth in the 1930’s was over $2 billion, which was 2% of total American Economy at that time.
He was the ruler of British India’s biggest Princely state, Hyderabad State. Which was equal to present day England+Scotland in terms of geographical area.
He owned an Ostrich-egg sized Diamond worth £50 million which he used as a paper weight.
He was the only ruler of a princely state who was addressed as “His Exalted Highness” in Time Magazine, while other rulers were addressed with “His Excellency” title.
He gifted a Diamond Necklace to Queen Elizabeth -II which is still called as “Nizam of Hyderabad Neckalce”.

He was also the owner of the world’s most precious Diamond, “The Jacob Diamond”.
He also had a fleet of 50 Rolls Royce Cars which included Barker Coach built Silver Ghost acquired in 1912.
The Nizam is widely believed to have remained as the richest man in South Asia until his death in 1967.

This incident in the life of Mir Osman Ali Khan depicts how as a person he was. When the Nizam used his Rolls Royce to sweep the streets of Hyderabad for an insult in Rolls Royce Showroom in London. This story is also attributed to Nawab of Bhawalpur and Maharaja of Alwar, there are no sources for authenticity of the incident but it is highly likely that it was Nizam of Hyderabad considering few series of events (which is a story for another day).

One day during his visit to London, Nawab Of Hyderabad was walking in casual dress in Bond Street. He saw a Rolls Royce showroom and went inside to inquire about the Price and Features etc. of their cars. Considering him a just another Poor Indian citizen, showroom salesmen insulted him and almost showed him the way out of the showroom. After this insult, Nawab Of Hyderabad came back to his Hotel room and asked his servants to call the showroom that Nawab Of Hyderabad is interested in purchasing their few Cars. After a few hours Nawab reached the Rolls Royce showroom again but with his full astonishing royal manner and in his royal costume. Until he reached the showroom there was already red carpet on the floor and all the salesmen were bent with respect. The Nawab purchased all the six cars that they had at showroom at that time and paid full amount with delivery costs. Nawab After reaching India, Nawab ordered municipal department to use all those six Rolls Royce cars for cleaning and transporting city’s waste. World’s number one Rolls Royce cars were being used for transportation of City’s waste, the news spread all over the world rapidly and the reputation of Rolls Royce Company was in drains. Whenever someone used to boast in Europe or America that he owned a Rolls Royce, people used to laugh saying, which one? The same that is used in India for carrying the waste of the City? Due to such reputation damages, sales of Rolls Royce dropped rapidly and revenue of company owners started falling down. Then they sent a Telegram to the king in India for apologies and requested to stop transportation of waste in Rolls Royce cars. Not only this but they also offered Six new cars to Nawab free of cost..!! Mukarram Jah was made the Nizam after his grandmother died in 1967. Prince Mukarram Jah was fond of expensive cars and the most famous and expensive cars could be seen is his garage. Today, his palace has been turned into a museum and the cars can be seen in an exhibition.

Have a look at some of the infrastructural marvels built by Nizams of Hyderabad.

Chowmahalla Palace, It was the official residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad while they ruled their state.