Mukarram Jah

His Highness Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Asaf Jah VIII (Urdu: برکت علی خان مکرم جاہ آصف جاہ ہشتم‎), Siddiqi Bayafendi (born 6 October 1933), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, became the titular Nizam of Hyderabad upon the death of his grandfather in 1967.

Background

Mukarram Jah was born to Azam Jah, the son and heir of Osman Ali Khan, the last reigning Nizam of Hyderabad state, by his marriage to Princess Durru Shehvar, daughter of the last Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, ‘Abdu’l-Mijid II. Jah was educated in India at The Doon School and then in England at Harrow, Peterhouse, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and Sandhurst.

Jah was a friend of India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and stated in 2010 that Nehru had wanted him to become his personal envoy or the Indian ambassador to a Muslim country. His two main palaces in Hyderabad, Chowmahalla and Falaknuma, have been restored and opened to the public, the former as a museum showcasing the era of the Nizams and the latter as a luxury hotel. The Taj Falaknuma Palace Hotel opened in February 2010, having been leased to the Taj Group, after some ten years of renovations.

Like his father, Mukarram was the richest man in India until the 1980s. However, in the 1990s most of his ancestral assets were lost to forceful annexures by the Government of India and the remaining in divorce settlements. His net worth is nevertheless estimated at some $1 billion.

Marriages

Mukarram Jah married Turkish Princess Esra Birgin (b. 1938) in 1959. Jah left his Hyderabad palace for a sheep station in the Australian outback and divorced his wife, who did not want to move with him. In 1980 he married a former air hostess and employee of the BBC, Helen Simmons (b. 1948 - d. 1989); she converted to Islam and changed her name to Aysha. After her death, he married Manolya Onur (b. 1955), a former Miss Turkey in 1990, and divorced her in 1996.

He married Jameela Boularous (b. 1971), from Morocco, in 1993. In 1995, he married Princess Orchedi (b. 1958), who is Turkish.

By Esra Birgin, Mukarram Jah had one son and one daughter:

• Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Azmet Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (b. 1960), also known as Azmet Jah (heir apparent), married 1996, has worked as a cameraman.
• Sahibzadi Shehkyar Begum (b. 1964), unmarried and without issue

By Helen Simmons he had two sons:

• Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Alexander Azam Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur(b. 1979)
• Walashan Nawab Sahibzada Mir Mohammod Umar Khan Siddiqi Bayafendi Bahadur (b. 1983)

By Manolya Onur he had a daughter:

• Nilufer (b. 1991)

By Jameela Boularous he had:

• Zairin (b. 1994)

• Farida, Syeda (2005-02-10), "'I belong to a lot of countries'", The Hindu 
• ^ Soszynski, Henry (2005-06-20). "HH Walashan Nawab Mir BEREKET ALI KHAN Mukarram Jah". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2008-12-30. 

His Exalted Highness Prince Rustam-i-Dauran, Arustu-i-Zaman, Wal Mamaluk, Asaf Jah VIII, Muzaffar ul-Mamalik, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Barakat 'Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar.

Military titles

Honorary Lieutenant-General

The palaces he owns

• Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad.
• Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad.
• Nazribagh Palace, Hyderabad.
• Naukhanda Palace, Aurangabad.

Nanny carrying the prince from board after arrival in Bombay, 1934