All is not well in paradise. Rumblings indicate legal firecrackers on Hyderabad’s skyline

Mir Ayoob Ali Khan  I editor, Siasat.com

In a belated move, Prince Azmet Jah has come out with a declaration that he is the successor to his father, Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur who passed away on January 15, 2023. At that time, Mukarram Jah’s body was flown in from Turkey where he was living and died, to Hyderabad and laid to rest at the Royal Cemetery located within the courtyard of Makkah Masjid. He was given the Guard of Honour by the Telangana State government.

In a public notice published on the front page of Siasat Urdu daily on Saturday (July 5, 2025), Azmet Jah has claimed that on January 20, 2023, he was declared the titular head of the Asaf Jahi family. The notice carried his photograph with father Prince Mukarram Jah sharing the ‘gaddi’ (throne or chair).

The caption to the photograph does not say when the picture was taken but mentions that it was taken at Chowmahalla Palace to informally declare his son as heir. The advertisement also carries another photograph in which he can be seen sitting alone on the same gaddi, and the caption reads that the photograph was taken on January 20, 2023.

St JosephsGermanten Hospital

The breaking of silence by Azmet Jah on the succession after over two years of the death of his father is intriguing. Some of the senior citizens of Hyderabad and observers of the ‘Royal Family’ are wondering why this time was chosen to make a public statement.

There could be two main reasons. One, that his brother from another mother, Ayesha (formerly Helen) Sikandar (Alexander) Jah has given him a legal notice a few months ago staking claim over the wealth left behind by Mukarram Jah (Siasat.com had carried the details of the notice at that time). He has said in the notice that he too is a shareholder in the properties left behind by his father.

Huge assets 

The assets left behind by Mukarram Jah are huge. They include Chowmahalla Palace, Falaknuma Palace (which has been leased out to Taj Group of Hotels), a portion of Chiran Palace (which has been renamed by the state government as Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Park in Banjara Hills), King Koti Palace and other sundry properties.

The allegedly penniless Sikandar Jah is said to be in the city pursuing the case he has filed by lawyers who have their office in Secunderabad. It is not known in what state that case is.

There is another twist in the tale. Raunaq Yar Khan, a scion of the Nizam family, has staked claim to the ‘kursi’ a little after the demise of Mukarram Jah. Some members of the Nizam family who describe themselves as Sahebzadas (sons) of the persons who were closely related to the Nizam have gathered around him and declared him as successor to Mukarram Jah, the eighth Nizam.

Raunaq is a claimant

Raunaq Yar Khan mostly carries a bundle of documents with him to prove that he is actually the current Nizam. Many people, including those in the media, toe his line. According to the Royal Family sources, even the legitimacy of the Eighth Nizam, Mukarram Jah Bahadur is questionable. They cite the episode where Princess Ahmad Unnisa alias Shahzadi Pasha, daughter of the Nizam Seventh had questioned the legitimacy of the title bestowed or taken away by Mukarram Jah.

She claimed rights to the title and assets as she was the true heir of her father. She took her claim to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and won. The verdict was challenged by Mukarram Jah in the Supreme Court. It was there that the aunt and nephew reached an understanding (it is not known at what cost), and the matter was declared closed.