Today marks the 110th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Princess of Berar, who was born on this day in 1914! The stunning daughter of the last Ottoman Caliph who married the Heir of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the world’s richest individual, Princess Dürrüşehvar was an accomplished figure and an advocate for girls’ education and healthcare!
The only daughter of the future Caliph Abdulmejid II and his fourth consort, Mehisti Hanım, Princess Dürrüşehvar was born at the Çamlıca Palace in Istanbul, and lived at the Dolmabahçe Palace when her father became the last Ottoman Caliph from 1922 to 1924, when the Ottoman Family were expelled from the new Republic of Turkey. The last Caliph and his family settled in Turkey, where they were supported by the Nizam of Hyderabad, the world’s wealthiest individual. The Princess herself wrote of leaving Turkey:
“Since I was still very young then, I do not remember very well these sad parts of my short life, which were covered with a cloud of despair. Although I am not able to record all the details exactly, I know that my father performed the Morning Prayer and prayed loudly for the happiness of his nation and country at the time of our departure. The words he said at the top of the stairs, under the influence of his unending love for his homeland, had an unforgettable effect on me … We were taken to the nearby station and put on a train. A few minutes later, as we were leaving our beloved homeland and the glorious homeland of our ancestors, we felt that the joyless days that were dragging us towards an unknown future were very near, and our happiness was far away … ”
After refusing the hands of various suitors, including the future Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran and King Farouk of Egypt, in 1931, Princess Dürrüşehvar married Azam Jah, the Prince of Berar, the elder son and heir of the Nizam of Hyderabad, while her cousin, Princess Nilüfer, married his younger brother. Following the wedding in Nice, the two couples returned to Hyderabad in the new year.
Princess Dürrüşehvar received the title of Durdana Begum from the Nizam in addition to her title of Princess of Berar, and the following year gave birth to her eldest son, Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, Asaf Jah, followed six years alter by another son, Nawab Mir Karamat Ali Khan, Muffakham Jah Bahadur.
Fluent in French, Turkish, English and Urdu, Princess Dürrüşehvar advocated for girls’ education and healthcare, establishing women’s colleges, hospitals, maternity units, schools, and dispensaries, while also becoming a public symbol of Hyderabad on the global stage, encouraged by her father-in-law, the Nizam. She was described as:
a commanding figure, handsome of feature, with a clear fair complexion and auburn hair… No one could ignore her or slight her. She was always essentially and indefinably royal, and it seems to me that if fate had so willed she might have been one of the great queens of the world
The Prince of Berar had numerous concubines, and after the Independence fo India and the annexation of the State of Hyderabad, the couple divorced in 1954, with the Princess permanently settling at Hyderabad House in London after a few years.
When the Nizam passed away in 1967, he was succeeded by his grandson, Nizam Mukarram Jah, and thus Princess Dürrüşehvar returned frequently to Hyderabad, where she sponsored the Durru Shehvar Children’s & General Hospital in 1983, but as family feuds and property disputes forced her sons to reside outside India, Princess Dürrüşehvar remained living in London, where she passed away in 2006. Since the Turkish Government had refused for her father to be buried in Turkey in 1944, she refused to be buried in Turkey and is instead laid to rest at Brookwood Cemetery in London. Of her dedication to duty, it was said:
“There was an occasion when she was lunching with a friend in Oxfordshire, at which Princess Margaret was also a guest. The weather was inclement, and both Princesses were invited to plant cedars of Lebanon. Princess Margaret eventually did so – reluctantly – while the Princess of Berar performed her duty with her customary quiet dignity. Today Princess Margaret’s tree struggles, while the Princess of Berar’s thrives”
