Jewels of the Nizams

Download or read book Jewels of the Nizams written by Usha Ramamrutham Bala Krishnan and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of the incalculable wealth of the Asaf Jah dynasty. Wealth that has lain concealed in the darkness of a bank vault for over 50 years. It is the study and documentation of gemstones and jewels that few people have had the opportunity to see and handle. The collection of jewels of the nizams of Hyderabad is one of the finest in the world. In addition to turban ornaments, gem-set and enamelled necklaces, earrings, armbands, bracelets, belts and other items of jewellery, it includes twenty-two unset emeralds and the fabled 184.50 carat Jacob Diamond - a magnificent South African gem believed to have been used by the last Nizam as a paperweight After the integration of Hyderabad state into the Union of India in 1950. Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan instituted a jewellery trust to which he assigned the most important items from the Hyderabad treasury, with the stipulation that they could only be sold after his death. In the nearly three decades since 1972 (when the collection was first offered to the government of India), the unfolding drama of the Nizam's jewels entailed court cases, tantrums, intrigue, conflicting decisions and colossal expenses. credence to legends, apocryphal tales and fading memories of a fabulously wealthy dynasty that ruled the Deccan for seven generations.