HYDERABAD: Thousands of people thronged the Mecca Masjid on Wednesday to take part in the Namaz-e-Janaza, the funeral prayers, of titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad and Berar (Asaf Jah VIII), HEH Nawab Mir Berkat Ali Khan Walashan Mukarram Jah Bahadur who passed away on January 14 of age related ailments.
A State funeral was accorded in recognition of Mukarram Jah’s services in the fields of education and medicine for the poor and as the last Nizam, a title that was duly recognised by the Government of India.
The usually bustling roads around Charminar wore a deserted look with shopkeepers voluntarily downing their shutters as a mark of respect. Before the bier was carried in a procession to Mecca Masjid, the body of Mukarram Jah was draped with the flag of the erstwhile Hyderabad State at the Chowmahalla Palace where the general public were allowed to take one last glimpse.
The procession began from Chowmahalla Palace after a gun salute by the uniformed forces. As it wound its way to Mecca Masjid, hundreds of mourners jostled with each other to carry the coffin while members of the royal family, led by Muffakham Jah, brother of the late Nizam, and Azmet Jah, his son, walked ahead.
At the Mecca Masjid, hundreds of women offered prayers at the southern part of the courtyard, while the men spilled out of the masjid complex. Home Minister Mohammed Mohamood Ali represented the State government at the funeral.
After the Namaz-e-Janaza, led by Hafiz Rizwan Quadri, the police presented a gun salute as mourners brought the body to the grave where Mukarram Jah was laid to rest next to his father Azam Jah Bahadur.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had paid last respects to the mortal remains.
Mukarram Jah was born on October 6, 1933 at Hilafet Palace in Nice, France to Azam Jah and Princess Durrushehwar.
While Azam Jah was the son of Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur (Asaf Jah VII), his mother was an Ottoman Princess and the only daughter of the last Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Mejid II.