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| The Nizam jewelry.wionews.com |
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| The Nizam jewelry. deccanchronicle.com |
The Nizam Asaf Jah was the ruler of the Hyderabad Princely State, now divided into Telangana state, part Karnataka region of Karnataka an dpart Marathwada region of Maharashtra. The
title Nizam which is the short form of Nizam-ul-Mulk, (meaning Administrator of the Realm) was inherited by Asaf Jah I, the viceroy of the Great Moghul in the Deccan in Mughal India in 1724. He was the founder of the "Nizam of Hyderabad" and the Asaf Jahi dynasty that ruled it till 1948. Way back, the 7th Nizam - Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII was the richest person in the world and was known to have the finest collection of expensive jewelry in the world, besides owning a large fleet of expensive cars like Rolls Royce, etc., and many impressive palaces and buildings. Often tagged as 'miserly', personally, he lived a simple life. Even today, whenever his expensive jewels are on display in the museums, connoisseurs of valuable jewelry never fail to visit them. Fabulously rich with keen eyes, he had excellent aesthetic sense and obsession for artistic work, be they jewels or buildings
Way back starting in February, 2019 an exhibition titled, ''Jewels of India: The Nizam's Jewellery Collection'' was held till May 2019 at the National Museum in New Delhi; It happened to be the third one; last one was held 12 years ago. Perhaps people of Delhi would not have seen such a dazzling exhibition of enduring and astounding variety of jewels that may take you absolutely by surprise. Seeing a vast collection of expensive jewelry in one place from the personal collection of the last and 7th Nizam Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan (ruled from 1724 to 1948) and his eldest son Azam Jah was a treat to the eye. On display were 173 exceptional pieces of jewellery once belonging to the Nizams of Hyderabad. Experts are of the view these gleaming jewellery represents the culture, elegance, lifestyle and fashion of erstwhile Hyderabad.
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| 7th Nizam - Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII .ndtv.com |
The visitors were baffled by an array of fine jewelry that included
necklaces, gold belts, sarpeches (a turban ornament), and gold and stone studded buckles, bracelets, bangles, earrings, armlets, toe rings, anklets finger rings, a pocket watch and watch chains, buttons and cuff links. All these were made in the by-gone years.
Below presented some of the impressive jewels:
Kanthi Almas Kanval:
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| Kanthi Almas Kanval -- Gold necklace set with diamonds .telegraphindia.com |
Kanthi Almas Kanval is a gold necklace, European in design . It is set with diamonds in a nice pattern with large circular and oval diamonds in the middle surrounded by smaller diamonds and a pear-shaped diamond hanging from the middle. The chain is embedded with a series of diamonds; the clasp is a large rectangular diamond; the diamonds are set in such a way they dazzle when the light hits on them; late 19th-20th century,Weight: 128gm.
Jacob Diamond:
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| The Imperial (Jacob) Diamond .telegraphindia.com |
The Imperial (Jacob) Diamond from the Kimberly mines of South Africa (late 19th century) originally weighed roughly 457.5 carats. Later it was cut to the present size, now weighing 184.50 carats; it is the 7th largest diamond of the world. The sixth Nizam, Mehboob Ali Pasha got it from Alexander Malcolm Jacob, a jeweller. Because of a legal wrangle, the ruler stashed it in a drawer, wrapped in an old rag and never paid attention to it. Years later Nizam Osman Ali Khan ran into the diamond and used it as a paper weight and, at last, fixed it in a gold base. A highly valuable stone in his vast collection.
Sarpech - turban ornament:
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| Sarpech-Gold turban ornament with emeralds,diamonds,etc .telegraphindia.com |
Sarpech Khurd Zamarrud Wa Kanval Almas: Normally, Indian Maharajahs and Nawabs used to wear expensive turban and matching gold ornament on it. This sarpech bears testimony to the extravagant and affluent lifestyle of Asaf Jah. Gold turban ornament set with emeralds, diamonds and emerald drops. An amazing turban ornament with a table-cut emerald in the center surrounded by uncut diamonds, this sarpech is set in gold and is decorated with square, rectangle, round and oval emeralds (from Columbia) matched for their color, luster and purity along with emerald drops;19th century. Weight: 130 gm.
Kanthi Dolna
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| Kanthi Dolna -diamond beads necklace strung with pearls . telegraphindia.com |
three rows of pearls alternating with sizeable diamond beads strung together with a taveez-shaped diamond in the centre. The 57 diamonds together weigh almost 220 carats. It is known for its workmanship. Such threaded diamonds with pearls were often draped around turbans; 19th century. Weight: 93gm.
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| Hansli Parab .Gold necklace with diamonds and emerald drops. telegraphindia.com |
Baglus Almas:
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| Baglus Almas --Gold buckle set with diamonds.telegraphindia.com |
Tora Paon Jaravi Almas....
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| Tora Paon Jaravi Almas ...telegraphindia.com |
'The jewels, now in the custody of the Indian government are kept at the Reserve Bank of India. The jewels were part of the assets of exclusive Nizam trusts. In March 1951, HEH the Nizam’s Jewellery Trust was created and it took over 103 items including state regalia; in February 1952, HEH the Nizam’s Supplemental Jewellery. Photo credit and details: telegraphindia.com
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/rare-golconda-diamonds-and-mughal-artefacts-be-auctioned-new
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