Turkish Princess Durru Shehvar Married to Asaf Jah: Nizam of Hyderabad, British India

During World War I, Britain and its allies defeated Turkey, resulting in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Now the rulers of Saudi Arabia took control of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Caliphate was in danger from the newly elected Mustafa Kemal Pasha of Turkey. Kemal Pasha desired to abolish the Caliphate and transform Turkey into a secular nation. But removing the Caliph was difficult since he had many followers. Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Mohammad Ali, who were brothers from India, were two of his biggest supporters.

In order to reestablish the Caliphate, the Ali brothers launched the Khilafat (Caliphate) movement in India, gaining backing from prominent Muslim leaders such as Maulana Azad and Hakim Ajmal Khan. At the time, India was governed by the British, and Mahatma Gandhi was eager to assume national leadership of the Congress. To restore Khilafat and gain independence for India, the Ali brothers and Gandhi formed the Khilafat Non Cooperation Movement.

Gandhi aspired for it to be a movement that did not resort to violence. The movement started well, but Gandhi lost control after rioting in Kerala killed several Hindus and policemen in UP. By his own own, Gandhi decided to end his movement. This caused Gandhi and the Ali brothers to become estranged from one another. Aside from Maulana Azad, who stayed with Gandhi, while the Ali brothers joined the Muslim League.

Kemal Pasha used this opportunity to remove the last Caliph, Abdul Majid, from power, viewing the Khilafat movement as a danger to Turkish sovereignty. He had settled in France but was now impoverished.

The Ali brothers chose to assist the last Ottoman caliph, Abdul Majid II. They requested that the Nizam of Hyderabad provide him a monthly pension of 300 pounds for the rest of his life so that he might live a respectable life. The Ali brothers were eager to bring together two Muslim families: the Ottomans and the Asaf Jahis. They requested that Abdul Majid marry his daughter Durru to Nizam's son. Because Abdul was indebted to Nizam, he had no choice but to marry his lovely daughter to Nizam's son. But for this marriage, he requested a dowry of 50,000 pounds from Nizam. Nizam argued that it was too costly, so a compromise was reached: the dowry was decreased to 40000 pounds, and Durru's cousin Nilofar married Nizam's other son with no dowry. Durru, however, could not remain a princess for long, as Hyderabad was captured and assimilated into India in 1948.

She was too passionate about modernizing policies and women's education. After her arrival in Hyderabad, she quickly became a well-known public figure.

She participated in the following public activities:

1. Inaugurated airport in Hyderabad 1940.
2. Inaugurated Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad.
3. Inaugurated Durru Shehvar Children’s & General Hospital for women and children in the old city of Hyderabad.
4. Inaugurated Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College Hospital at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh in 1939.
5. established a junior college for girls in her name, Baghe-jahan-ara, Yakutpura (Hyderabad).

References:

Philip Mason (1978). A Shaft of Sunlight: Memories of a Varied Life. Vikas Publishing House.

https://www.heritagetimes.in/princess-durru-shehvar-a-turkish-princes-married-to-an-indian-prince/ 21 December 2018, Retrieved on 9 November 2022.