The titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mukarram Jah, passed away on Saturday, January 14 in Istanbul, Turkey. He was 89 years old and had been ailing for some time. Mukarram Jah was born in 1933 to Prince Azam Jah and Princess Durrushehvar in France. He was crowned Asaf Jah the Eighth on April 6, 1967, after the passing away of his grandfather Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad. He later moved to Turkey after spending part of his life in the Australian outback.

A statement issued by his office on behalf of the family said, “We are deeply saddened to inform you that Nawab Mir Barket Ali Khan Walashan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, H.E.H The Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, passed away peacefully in Istanbul, Turkey late last night at 10.30 pm (IST) (sic).”

The family will allow his mortal remains to be kept at Hyderabad’s Chowmahalla Palace on Tuesday, January 17. “As per his desire of being laid to rest in his homeland, his children are scheduled to travel to Hyderabad with the mortal remains of the late Nizam on Tuesday,” read the statement. It further added that “on arrival (in Hyderabad) the body will be taken to the Chowmahalla Palace and after completing the required rituals the burial will take place at the Asaf Jahi family tombs. The schedule and other details will be released in due course.”

The Asaf Jahi tombs are located at the entrance of the Mecca Masjid next to Charminar. After the accession of Hyderabad to the Indian Union, the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan served as Raj Pramukh of the state from January 26, 1950, to October 31, 1956.

The Nizam of Hyderabad was a title given to the monarch of the Hyderabad state, a princely state that existed in India from 1724 to 1948. The state was ruled by the Asaf Jahi dynasty, who were of Turkic origin. The Nizam dynasty ruled the state until it was annexed into the Indian Union in 1948.

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