Nizam of Hyderabad donated 5000 kg of gold to India after Independence? The 60-year-old story that most people don’t know
There was a time when kings, nawabs, emperors, and sultans would donate gold or gold coins as charity. History is filled with stories of such royals who generously gave away their wealth. One such example is the Nizam of Hyderabad. You may have heard that the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, donated 5000 kilograms of gold to the Indian government. But is this story true? Donating 5000 kilograms of gold seems hard to believe.
It is true that the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, was immensely wealthy. He was said to possess tons of gold and priceless diamonds in kilograms. So, it may seem plausible that he could have donated 5000 kilograms of gold. However, this is not the case. Let us delve into the intriguing story behind the 5000 kilograms of gold donation.
Story from the 1965 India-Pakistan war
In 1965, India and Pakistan fought their second war after independence in 1947. War takes a heavy toll on a country’s economy, and India too faced this challenge. At the time, then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri toured the country and appealed to the public to donate to the military fund. During this period, he also met with the Nizam of Hyderabad.
It wasn’t a donation, it was an investment
After this meeting, rumors spread that the Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, had donated 5000 kilograms of gold to help the nation’s economy during the crisis. While there are conflicting accounts about this, Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, one of the grandsons of the seventh Nizam, in 2020 reaffirmed that Osman Ali donated the said amount. This story remained in discussions for 50-60 years, but the truth was never fully known.
The Nizam did indeed provide gold, but not as a donation. Instead, he invested it in the National Defence Gold Scheme. He invested a total of 425 kilograms of gold, and in return, he was promised an interest rate of 6.5%. This fact was confirmed through an RTI (Right to Information) response from the Prime Minister’s Office in 2019.
Mir Osman Ali Khan was India’s first billionaire
Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, was recognized as India’s first billionaire and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world during his time.
Born in 1886, he ruled over the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest state in British India. His enormous wealth accounted for about 2 per cent of the United States’ GDP. His remarkable financial standing earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine on February 22, 1937, with the headline “His Exalted Highness The Nizam Of Hyderabad.”
Known as the architect of modern Hyderabad, he was instrumental in introducing electricity and founding key institutions such as Osmania University, Osmania General Hospital, the State Bank of Hyderabad, Begumpet Airport, and the Hyderabad High Court.
Upon his death in 1967, millions of people mourned his death, with over a million individuals reportedly joining his funeral procession to pay their respects.