Salar Jung instilled ethical values in Nizam, recalls Ahtheram Kham

Hyderabad: From breaking chandeliers to donating expensive pocket watches, the upbringing of the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, happened most gloriously under the guidance of Salar Jung I, said Ahtheram Khan, a member of the Salar Jung family. He was delivering a memorial lecture on the 135th birth anniversary of Salar Jung III at the lecture hall in the eastern block of the Salar Jung Museum.

Ahtheram Khan said that Salar Jung was one of the most curious persons, and became an expert in the things he collected while travelling around the world. After his death, the family had agreed to donate these articles to the nation at the insistence of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

He congratulated the staff and security personnel at the museum who have kept the collection from Yousuf Ali Khan (Salar Jung III) safe and secure.

Ahtheram Khan also shared how Salar Jung I raised the sixth Nizam."Afzal-ud-Daula, the fifth Nizam, was diabetic and died very early. His son, who was just six years old then, became the heir. With other nobles vying for the throne, Salar Jung ensured that the rightful heir became the king," he said.

He shared two incidents highlighting the values Salar Jung wanted to instil in the Nizam. One day, as a child, the sixth Nizam smashed a pedestal chandelier. Salar Jung came to know about it, which petrified the Nizam. Seeing that the child was afraid, he handed him his walking stick and ordered him to break all the other chandeliers at the dining table as well, recounted Ahtheram Khan.

Salar Jung then said, "Your Exalted Highness, you are going to rule this country one day, you should not be bothered about these petty losses."

In another incident, a nobleman gifted the Nizam an expensive British pocket watch. When Salar Jung came to know about it, he asked the nobleman to pay Rs 10,000 as a fine. When asked the reason for it, he said, "I have been trying to teach the Nizam that as a ruler, he is supposed to give, not take. While inculcating such ethics, I do not want him to be deterred by these trivialities."

The nobleman paid the fine, from which another 200 such pocket watches were purchased and given away as gifts by the government, Ahtheram Khan said.

"As Salar Jung took care of him, the sixth Nizam took Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III, under his wing. His father, Laik Ali Khan, died when he was just a month old. This child, well-educated and a scholar, was given the diwani at an early age, but he was not interested in administration and hence diverted his mind to collecting antiques. He collected everything that caught his eye, and that is how the collection, then kept at Dewan Deodi, began to soar," said Ahtheram Ali Khan.

He specified that the collection has some of the rarest artefacts, such as figures in porcelain made by the famous sculptor Gary Baldy, with the subject Alexander training his horse. Similarly, there are Tipu Sultan's ivory chairs, Noor Jahan's knife, Mary Antoinette's table, and other rare pieces.