Promoting heritage and royal culture, the great granddaughter of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, is here on a tour to connect with the past and present.
While talking to ‘The Pioneer’, Hyderabad based Sahebzadi Feroze Jahan Begum, the great granddaughter of Mir Osman Ali Khan said that Bhopal is her first destination. She has planned to visit almost all the royal places in he country. She would stay in Bhopal visiting monuments and historical laces.
She pointed out that hiseat grandfather had donated 5,000 kg of gold was made by the Nizam to the National Defence Fund during the Indo-China war of 1962.
Historically sedimented origins and associations between the Nizam a 21-gun salute state and Begums of Bhopal a 19-gun salute princely state are very much there.
Eclecticism is a thought that Feroze possesses. Add stylistic to it. She plans to wear classic royal attire and as GenX say ‘harness the power of social media to reach out’. “I want revival of royal styles of clothing,” she said, referring to Khada Dupatta, an upright stole, traditional wedding dress worn by brides in Hyderabad. For the uninitiated, the heavy embroidered cloth is only six yards long. Something similar to what tennis star Sania Mirza wore for her wedding. She claims that she want this particular attire to reach out to common people.
She understands there are no great patrons of royal in the Central and south-east of the country. “North Indian royal families are far more connected and organised. However, she did receive a warm reception from the Bhopal royals on her arrival on Tuesday morning.
The insignia of Bhopal state, disbanded by Bhopal Municipal Corporation three years ago, was a mark of allegiance to the Nizam Hyderabad. It was Bhopal insignia from about 1740 onwards. Between 1819 and 1926 four Muslim women rulers reigned over Bhopal, the second largest Muslim state of India, despite staunch opposition, as some historians put it.
A descendant of Asaf Jahan dynasty, Feroze is very accessible. Her journey is about ‘how to connect with your heritage’. “Growing up I have heard stories about the past. I want to experience the locations and places firsthand,” she said.