The Last Nizam is the story of an extraordinary dynasty, the Nizams of Hyderabad, and how the heir to India's richest princely state gave up a kingdom and retired to the dusty paddocks of outback Australia. With vivid detail and anecdotes, John Zubrzycki charts the rise of the Nizams to fabulous wealth and prominence in the detritus of the Mughal empire, giving a rich and vibrant portrait of a realm soaked in blood and intrigue. Above all he describes the strange and sometimes tragic life of Mukarram Jah, His Exalted Highness, the last Nizam, the man who left behind the diamonds of Golconda and the palaces of Hyderabad to drive bulldozers in the Australian bush. Meticulously researched, The Last Nizam adds a crucial chapter to the history of India, capturing the conspiracies and machinations that kept the Nizams in the news while simultaneously deepening their legend.

Biography of the last ruler of Hyderabad (Princely State).

This book has brought together some of the foremost scholars of South Asian and Global History, who were colleagues and associates of Professor John F. Richards to discuss themes that marked his work as a historian in an academic career of almost forty years. It encapsulates discussions under the rubric of 'frontiers' in multiple contexts. Frontier has often been conceived as a space of transformation marking new forms of economic organization, commodity trade, land settlement and state authority. The essays here underline the range of interests and approaches that marked Professor Richards' illustrious career - frontiers and state building; frontiers and environmental change; cultural frontiers; frontiers, trade and drugs; and frontiers and world history. The volume discusses issues from medieval to early modern South Asian history. It also reflects a concern for large-scale global processes and for the detailed specificities of each historical case as evident in Professor Richards' work.

It is 1948. A newly-independent India is trying to persuade Hyderabad to join the Indian Union. Negotiations are difficult for both sides. The State Congress, now operating from Indian territory, has launched a campaign of violent raids, designed to cripple civil administration in the border areas, and provoke an annexation. The leading Islamic party inside Hyderabad, in an equally rash move, has created a paramilitary body, the Razakars, to counter the threat to Hyderabad’s borders. For Mohammed Hyder of the Hyderabad Civil Service, the newly-appointed Collector of Osmanabad District (situated on the Hyderabad-Bombay border), both, the wayward State Congress and the ramshackle Razakar outfit are a threat to law and order. This first-person account conveys a vivid picture of Hyderabad under pressure, through the eyes of a senior district administrator.