HYDERABAD: In his house in Langar Houz, 30-year-old Aun Mehdi opens old documents and letters from his family’s collection with utmost care. Stacks of archival materials tell the tales of kin before him. “This is the smallest pile I have,” he smiles.
The history of Mehdi’s family mirrors the history of Hyderabad. Mehdi is a fifth-generation descendant of Mir Hashim Ali Khan, the Commandant of the 2nd Nizam’s Own Imperial Service Troops who were part of a decisive victory for the Allied powers against the Ottoman Empire. On September 23, 1918, troops from three princely states of British India - Hyderabad, Mysore, Jodhpur - liberated the city of Haifa, in present-day Israel, from Ottoman rule. Every year, the Indian Army commemorates the day as ‘Haifa Day’ to remember the bravery of the three regiments.
The sixth Nizam of Hyderabad gave Khan the title of ‘Nawab Hashim Nawaz Jung Bahadur’. In April of 1897, Khan was setting sail to England on the Britanica, an imperial ship. In June of the same year, Queen Victoria, who was celebrating the diamond jubilee year of her reign, honoured Khan with the ‘Order of British India’. He was given a photogravure of Queen Victoria signed by the Queen herself, which now hangs in Mehdi’s living room. Showing the original copy of the gratitude note to the Queen sent by his ancestor, Mehdi says, “He was given the title of ‘Sardar Bahadur’ or Commander of the Brave.”
Battle of Haifa
The Hyderabad Lancers (cavalrymen who fought with lances) were part of the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade. “Mir Hashim Ali Khan was the longest-serving Commandant of the regiment. The soldiers who went to war in Haifa were trained and supervised by him,” says Mehdi.
Soldiers from Hyderabad were posted in places such as the Suez Canal, Egypt, Gaza and Haifa. According to Anuradha Reddy, Hyderabad Convenor of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), 84 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Haifa while 124 were wounded.
An interesting artefact in Mehdi’s collection is a small book detailing the achievements of Khan’s long career as a soldier. Each page, stamped with the official seal, talks of his bravery till his retirement in 1922. He remained a faithful officer to the Nizams till his death in 1934.
A few days ago, Aun Mehdi was blessed with a baby boy, the sixth link of a family that has witnessed the crescendos and abysses of the city.As the conversation came to an end, he shared, “I inherited these archives. I want my future generations to preserve them with the same zeal and passion that I do.”