At the age of just 25, he had a total wealth of two percent of America’s GDP at that time.
New Delhi: India got independence on 15 August 1947. At the time of independence, there was a king in the country who had the most gold at that time. It is said that he had so many pearls that if he wanted, he could have covered all the pavements of Piccadilly Circus in London with those pearls. We are talking about the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who was called the richest man not only in India but in the world. Today we are going to tell you some facts related to Mir Osman Ali Khan.
Trucks full of gold
According to a report by Financial Express, Mir Osman Ali Khan had more than 100 million pounds (45359 tons) of gold. Apart from this, there were diamonds, pearls, rubies and other jewels worth around 400 million pounds. Famous historians Dominic Lapierre and Larry Collins write in their book “Freedom at Midnight” that the Nizam of Hyderabad had so much gold that dozens of trucks filled with gold bricks used to stand in the mud in his garden. Because of the weight of these trucks, their wheels had sunk. Apart from this, the Nizam had so many pearls at that time that if he wanted, he could cover all the pavements of London’s famous Piccadilly Circus with them.
425 kg gold was handed over to the government
Historians tell that in 1965, when the war between India and Pakistan broke out, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri started a campaign to raise funds. During this time, the government started the National Defense Gold Scheme. According to the information, the Nizam had invested 4.25 lakh grams (425 kg) of gold in this scheme. This is also mentioned in a speech of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
According to a report of The Hindu dated 11 December 1965, when Lal Bahadur Shastri came to Hyderabad, the Nizam welcomed him at the airport. Later on the same day, Lal Bahadur Shastri addressed a rally and congratulated Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan for investing 4.25 lakh grams of gold in the National Defense Gold Scheme. According to the information, the value of that gold at that time was around 50 lakhs.
India’s first billionaire
Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan is also called India’s first billionaire. Osman Ali, who took over the Nizam’s throne in 1911 at the age of just 25, had a total wealth of two percent of America’s GDP at that time.
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