08-22-2006, 09:43 PM
Last Nizam: My Kingdom for a Sheep
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->How could Jah, the grandest of Indian kings, inheritor of possibly the world's greatest private fortune, end up on a sheep farm in Australiaâand then lose it? This particular tale, however, is trueâand it's the subject of a fascinating new book, The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback, by John Zubrzycki.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jah's seven predecessors as Nizam were the rulers of Hyderabad, a kingdom in southern India. His grandfather, the seventh Nizam, was believed to be the world's richest manâin 1949 the New York Times estimated his fortune at more than $2 billion. Over seven generations, the jewelry-mad Nizams had built up an unparalleled collection of gems: their pearls alone, the Times reported, would "pave Broadway from Times Square to Columbus Circle."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In 1967, when a 33-year-old, British-educated Mukarram Jah became the eighth Nizam after his grandfather's death, he was no longer a real king, but he was still dizzyingly richâthe master of numerous palaces, a fleet of Rolls-Royces and five trust funds. Muslims in Hyderabad revered Jah, whose maternal grandfather was the last Caliph of Islam in Turkey; the Indian government hoped he would become a diplomat. But the impetuous young man, still sulking over the end of his kingdom, was more interested in tinkering with cars. Then, in 1972, he discovered Australia. After his first glance of the outback, he is said to have exclaimed: "<b>I love this place, miles and miles of open country, and not a bloody Indian in sight.</b>"
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This guy reminds me of that Javed Jafri character in a Hindi Movie, the one settled in Oz, hates Indians and only English word he keeps saying "eggggjacktly"
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Zubrzycki writes that Jah, who is still alive, blames fate for his woes; and it isn't hard to feel sorry for this childlike, inquisitive man, lost in a whirlpool of historical change and legal tangles. Yet if Jah had used even a fraction of his money and status, he could have transformed the lives of millions of poor people in Hyderabad. At the least, he should have been able to make a farm in the outback turn a profit. Instead, after losing one of the greatest fortunes in history, the last Nizam retired to Turkey, where, we are told, he lives a modest and anonymous life, and spends his timeâquite appropriatelyâstudying Roman ruins.
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Ah the karma <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->How could Jah, the grandest of Indian kings, inheritor of possibly the world's greatest private fortune, end up on a sheep farm in Australiaâand then lose it? This particular tale, however, is trueâand it's the subject of a fascinating new book, The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback, by John Zubrzycki.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jah's seven predecessors as Nizam were the rulers of Hyderabad, a kingdom in southern India. His grandfather, the seventh Nizam, was believed to be the world's richest manâin 1949 the New York Times estimated his fortune at more than $2 billion. Over seven generations, the jewelry-mad Nizams had built up an unparalleled collection of gems: their pearls alone, the Times reported, would "pave Broadway from Times Square to Columbus Circle."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In 1967, when a 33-year-old, British-educated Mukarram Jah became the eighth Nizam after his grandfather's death, he was no longer a real king, but he was still dizzyingly richâthe master of numerous palaces, a fleet of Rolls-Royces and five trust funds. Muslims in Hyderabad revered Jah, whose maternal grandfather was the last Caliph of Islam in Turkey; the Indian government hoped he would become a diplomat. But the impetuous young man, still sulking over the end of his kingdom, was more interested in tinkering with cars. Then, in 1972, he discovered Australia. After his first glance of the outback, he is said to have exclaimed: "<b>I love this place, miles and miles of open country, and not a bloody Indian in sight.</b>"
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This guy reminds me of that Javed Jafri character in a Hindi Movie, the one settled in Oz, hates Indians and only English word he keeps saying "eggggjacktly"
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Zubrzycki writes that Jah, who is still alive, blames fate for his woes; and it isn't hard to feel sorry for this childlike, inquisitive man, lost in a whirlpool of historical change and legal tangles. Yet if Jah had used even a fraction of his money and status, he could have transformed the lives of millions of poor people in Hyderabad. At the least, he should have been able to make a farm in the outback turn a profit. Instead, after losing one of the greatest fortunes in history, the last Nizam retired to Turkey, where, we are told, he lives a modest and anonymous life, and spends his timeâquite appropriatelyâstudying Roman ruins.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ah the karma <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->