Royal Library of Hyderabadi Nizams

The 45th death anniversary of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan on February 24 went past rather too quietly. The reason, no one remembered the Gregorian date, not even the Nizam's Trust. They said they observe the Nizam's birth and death anniversaries according to the Islamic calendar. The Gregorian and Islamic lunar calendar do not match, therefore, the miss.
A couple of days before the death anniversary, a visit to Chowmahalla Palace threw light on some of the hidden dimensions of the Nizam's life. Going through the library which has not been opened to public yet, it was clear that he was a voracious reader, collected huge number of books and wrote poetry. He invited scholars to his court, gave them respect and held discussions with them on a variety of issues.
The story behind this library is interesting. When former princess Esra came to know of the tomes of printed material that was lying in some rooms and cellars of the Nazri Bagh Palace, King Kothi, she roped in the services of Dr Aminuddin Khan to salvage it. She thought it would be a good idea to keep all the books, manuscripts and other documents found in Nazri Bagh and other places like Chiran Palace (KBR Park), etc. under one roof. While the collection in Chiran Palace was largely the result of interest shown by former prince Mukarram Jah in books, the material in Nazri Bagh solely belonged to his grandfather.
There is a curious twist to this story of book collections. It is not known why a large collection of printed material is still intact in Falaknuma Palace. She knew that access to the collection in Falaknuma Palace, after its conversion into a luxury hotel, would be restricted to hotel guests alone still she preferred to keep it there. As scholars point out, there are some collections in the palaces, bungalows and mansions of the rich that are only meant for seeing from a distance, not reading. They essentially form part of the overall decor of the place and give the owner an image of an 'intellectual.' Perhaps, Esra didn't wish to disturb the decor of Falaknuma Palace. Or perhaps she didn't wish to deny the guests of the palace hotel an element of pride which they could enjoy by making an occasional visit to the library there. Read More