An Islamic Scholar, a Muslim Queen, and South Asian Family Archives

In 2008, while cleaning my parents’ basement, I encountered a photograph I had never seen before. When I asked my mother about it, she told me the photograph was of “Nana Hazrat,” “your Nani’s Nana” (maternal grandmother’s maternal grandfather). My mother recounted several things that my Nani had told her: his name was Qari Sulaiman; he came from Turkey, he was a pearl merchant, he went to the holy city of Makkah, and he was also an ataliq (tutor) to the sons of Hyderabad’s last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan. He led prayers in the Jamah Masjid of Delhi, his wife was related to Bhopal’s aristocracy, and finally, he was instrumental in arranging the marriages of the Hyderabad Nizam’s sons Mauzam Jah and Azam Jah, to the Ottoman princesses Durru Shehvar and Niloufer. I was also told that the child in the photograph was the Hyderabadi prince, Mauzam Jah.

After discovering this fascinating photo, I began researching my family’s past, their oral history, and how the surviving memories and photographs I have of them connect to the Hyderabad state and the history of Muslim scholarship in South Asia. Where was the photograph taken? Who were the other people depicted? Qari Sulaiman seemed to be a prominent personality, a scholar of high repute, and I suspected there must have been some historical record concerning him. As a historian, I also wanted to test to what extent the written historical record and the trove of family oral accounts could be complementary methods to study the past.

As I delved deeper, I found several textual sources related to my great-great-grandfather. Qari Sulaiman served in the Bhopal State as the religious affairs and education minister in the court of the queen of Bhopal, Shah Jahan Sultan. Like the Hyderabad State, Bhopal was a Muslim princely state. What made the Bhopal State distinct, however, was that it was ruled for 107 years by four Muslim women, one after the other.

Aside from family history, much of what is known about Qari Sulaiman’s life and lineage is based on an entry in a tazkira, a biographical dictionary similar to an encyclopedic Who’s Who. For centuries, tazkiras were the standard method by which Muslims of South Asia—in the Persian tradition—preserved the biographies of high-ranking nobles, scholars, poets, intellectuals, and other personalities.

Here is Qari Sulaiman’s tazkira from Tazkira Qariyan-e Hind (Tazkira of the Qaris of India), Vol No. 1-3, penned by Bismillah Beg.

 

There are several points to glean from this tazkira. Qari Sulaiman’s full name was Muhammad Sulaiman ibn Hafiz Ismail ibn Hafiz Mahmood ibn Hafiz Daood Khan. It was shortened sometimes to Qari-o Hafiz Muhammad Sulaiman bin Daood Bhopali, with the title Qari identifying him as a person who recited the Qur’an with proper pronunciation and intonation.

Qari Sulaiman’s ancestors were originally based in Delhi and were counted among the elite. The most prominent of these was Hafiz Nawab Ghulam Rasool Khan—Qari Sulaiman’s father’s great-great-grandfather. Ghulam Rasul Khan’s eldest son was tutor to two Mughal emperors—Shah Alam and Akbar II—of the later Mughals. During the nineteenth century, Syed Ahmad Khan— the major Indian Muslim reformer and founder of the first Muslim university in South Asia—in his Asar-al-Sanadid, mentions another of Qari Sulaiman’s ancestors: his great-grandfather, Hafiz Daood.[1] Hafiz Daood built a well in the vicinity of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki’s dargah (Sufi shrine) in Delhi.

Qari Sulaiman’s family came to Delhi in the 13th century, fleeing the Mongol invasions of Gengis Khan and leaving their homeland of Central Asia behind. My grandmother had told us that he was from Turkey, and it is indeed likely that Qari Sulaiman’s ancestors were of Turkic origin given their roots in Central Asia.

As for more immediate family: Qari Sulaiman’s father, Hafiz Muhammad Ismail, was a poet who went by the nom de plume (takkhalus), Zaheen, meaning “intelligent” or “wise.” Hafiz Muhammad Ismail was given the official title ““مشیر الدولہ” (Musheer ud-Dawlah, Advisor to the State” by the Begum of Bhopal, mirroring the terms often used in the Mughal and later princely states of India for high-ranking officials or nobles who advised the ruler. Nawab Shahjahan Begum, the Queen of Bhopal, had him married to the daughter of her brother (Mian Nazeer Muhammad Khan).

Born in 1851, Qari Sulaiman’s earliest years passed against the backdrop of mass anti-colonial uprisings against British rule, as the peoples of India revolted against the brutal exploitation of the East India Company. The revolt of 1857 was a watershed moment in India’s past, and it took the British over a year to quell the uprising. Qari Sulaiman was six years old when his Nana (maternal grandfather) took him and his mother to Makkah. There, Qari Sulaiman studied in the famous Madrasah Sawlatiyyah and later taught in the same institution for six years.

The full scope of Qari Sulaiman’s education and subsequent scholarship cannot be appreciated without understanding how his work was supported by the Muslim queens of the Bhopal State.

The full scope of Qari Sulaiman’s education and subsequent scholarship cannot be appreciated without understanding how his work was supported by the Muslim queens of the Bhopal State. The Madrasah Sawlatiyyah (المدرسة الصولتية), a historic and prestigious Islamic educational institution in Makkah, located near the Masjid al-Haram—was financed by Nawab Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal (1858-1930), one of the aforementioned Queens. The institution’s name, “sawlatiyah” comes from her title as “Sultana” (Queen), serving as a mark of her patronage over the institution.

Qari Sulaiman received the patronage of both Nawab Shah Jahan Begum (r. 1868-1901) as well as Sultan Jahan Begum (r. 1901-1926). The Begums were major patrons of public works projects, social welfare and reform, as well as education.[2] Nawab Shah Jahan Begum founded the Sultania Girls’ School in Bhopal (1914), one of the earliest state-supported institutions for Muslim girls in India. She also established medical colleges, hospitals, and midwifery training programs; promoted vaccination campaigns and maternal health; and advocated for widows’ welfare, vocational training, and orphanages. Beyond patronage, the Begums of Bhopal were active participants within broader networks of Islamic piety.[3]

Under such patronage, Islamic religious scholarship flourished in South Asia, and the region became one of the richest repositories of Islamic scholarly works outside of the Arab world. Though located in Makkah, the Madrasah Sawlatiyyah also served to strengthen Islamic scholarship in South Asia. The school was established to serve the educational needs of pilgrims and the local population, but was especially directed towards Indian Muslims who came to Makkah for Hajj and stayed for religious studies. The curriculum focused on the Islamic sciences, including the study of the Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Tafsir, and grammar. It followed the Dars-i-Nizami curriculum common in Indian madrasas. It was the one of the oldest modern style madrasas in the Hijaz region, and became a center for South Asian Islamic scholarship in Makkah. Many famous Islamic scholars from India studied or taught there, and it served as a cultural bridge between the Indian subcontinent and the Hijaz.

Like these scholars before him, Qari Sulaiman left behind a legacy of Islamic scholarship. Three of Qari Sulaiman’s books are available on Rekhta, an online repository of Urdu books and materials.

Incidentally, Qari Sulaiman’s magnum opus on advanced Tajwid, Qur’an recitation, was apparently given to an unnamed Nawab, who promised to publish it but never did, neither did he return it.

In 1887, while Qari Sulaiman was teaching in Makkah, Nawab Siddiq Yar Jung of Hyderabad came to Makkah for Hajj and arranged for his grandson Mir Wilayat Ali to become Qari Sulaiman’s student. This Nawab also invited him to Hyderabad, whose leaders were major patrons of Islamic scholarship. Qari Sulaiman accepted the invitation and travelled to Hyderabad in 1892. He would stay there for some time, before departing for the Bhopal State and then ultimately returning to Hyderabad upon receiving his pension in 1931.

In the interim, Qari Sulaiman served for many years in the court of the Begum of Bhopal, Shah Jahan Sultan. She admired him greatly, and when Qari Sulaiman bid farewell to the Bhopal court, his colleagues composed a book of poetry commemorating his service. I first encountered this book in my grandmother’s sister’s possession. I asked Malika Nanima to tell me more about Nana Hazrat, and as she recounted what she knew, she also showed me this book, written in Urdu. It was dated 1948, the year that the princely state of Hyderabad was forcibly annexed by the Indian state. I made a scan of the book and then set about reading and interpreting its contents.

The book contains a portrait of Qari Sulaiman, a photograph I had never seen before:

The introduction was written by Nawab Hameedullah Khan, the son of the last Begum of Bhopal, Sultan Jahan Begum. It thanks Qari Sulaiman for his contributions to the Bhopal State. Hameedullah Khan writes, “my great mother, Shah Jahan Sultan Begum always admired your many contributions.”

The close ties went beyond patronage. My grandmother noted that women in Qari Sulaiman’s family—some of whom were Hyderabadi—married into the Bhopal State. The princely states of Bhopal and Hyderabad—two of the most prominent Muslim-ruled states in colonial India—fostered close political ties via marriage alliances. These marriage ties helped consolidate Muslim aristocratic power, preserve identity, and navigate British colonial rule. Hyderabad was the largest and wealthiest princely state, ruled by the Asaf Jahi dynasty (Nizams). Bhopal was also a Muslim-ruled state, notable for being ruled by female sovereigns (Begums) for over a century. Both states had Sunni Muslim leadership (though Hyderabad had significant Shia elements in the court), strong Persianate court cultures, and deep ties to Islamic scholarship.

After 1857, the Bhopal-Hyderabad marriage axis became even more crucial as Muslim nobility sought legitimacy and stability under the newly-consolidated colonial order of the British Raj. The British blamed the revolt of 1857 on Muslims, framing it as a Muslim conspiracy; they exiled the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to Rangoon, and executed his sons and grandson, the Mughal princes. Both the princely states of Bhopal and Hyderabad had backed the British during the revolt of 1857. In the aftermath of the revolt, the mixing of these two courts of Bhopal and Hyderabad quickly became symbolic of Muslim noble solidarity. In 1905, Sultan Jahan Begum of Bhopal arranged for the marriage of her daughter Nawab Sultan to Nawab Hafiz Mirza Muhammad Nasiruddin, a Hyderabadi aristocrat. Similarly, several marriages took place between Hyderabadi Paigah nobility (closely tied to the Nizam) and Bhopali aristocrats.

Armed with what context I could glean from this commemorative book, I returned again to the original photograph I first encountered. In this photograph, Qari Sulaiman is standing on what appears to be the dock of a ship or near one. Slightly to the left, in the foreground of the photograph, is a man in European dress holding the hand of a young child wearing a sherwani and fez cap. Here, Qari Sulaiman looks younger than his farewell photo, and we can deduce the events depicted took place earlier in his life. But who is the child in the photograph? He resembles Mukarram Jah, who was born in 1933, and who in his infancy travelled to Europe. Could this photograph be from around that time, documenting Qari Sulaiman receiving him upon his return?

The answer, it seems, is no. With further research, I learned that the child in the photograph is not Mukarram Jah. He is, however, a royal descendant, and possibly one of the young princes of Bhopal. Despite the confusion around this photograph, I was able to confirm that our family lore was correct in similar instance: Qari Sulaiman did indeed serve as ataliq (tutor) to Mauzam Jah and Azam Jah. According to Sidq Jaisi’s Durbar-e Durbaar (translated into English as The Nocturnal Court), the princes affectionately referred to their ataliq Qari Sulaiman as “Karios.”

What about family accounts of Qari Sulaiman working as a pearl merchant? Since he lived in the Hijaz, it is certainly possible that he had some involvement with the pearl trade that played a prominent role in societies all along the Indian Ocean. Yemen’s Hadhrami Arabs had a long-standing diaspora across the Indian Ocean, with many settling in Hyderabad. There, some Hadhramis served in court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, as well as in Bombay, Gujarat, Malabar, and East Africa. They brought with them religious prestige (as Sayyids) and commercial acumen, especially in pearling, shipping, and moneylending. Many of them married into local Muslim elites, creating cross-cultural Islamic lineages.

The Gulf pearl trade (centered in Bahrain and Qatar) relied extensively upon Hadhrami merchants and Indian financiers and jewelers, especially from Hyderabad, Bombay, and Gujarat. Hyderabad, the wealthiest princely state in British India, was a major consumer of pearls, importing vast quantities for elite use. Indian Muslim traders often financed pearling expeditions in the Gulf, creating a financial link between Indian capitals and the Arabian coast. Moreover, Hadhramis were recruited into the Hyderabadi military, bureaucracy, and ulama circles—seen as culturally and religiously prestigious allies.

Ties to the Hijaz and the Hadhrami diaspora reinforced Islamic authority and identity for Indian Muslim elites. The pearling economy created an economic corridor between Hyderabad, Bombay, and the Gulf, with Hadhramis as mediators.

Ties to the Hijaz and the Hadhrami diaspora reinforced Islamic authority and identity for Indian Muslim elites. The pearling economy created an economic corridor between Hyderabad, Bombay, and the Gulf, with Hadhramis as mediators. These networks led to a fusion of Hadhrami-Arab, Indian, and Gulf Muslim cultures, visible in language, dress, architecture, and religious practice. These transregional networks allowed Indian Muslims to bypass British colonial limitations, sustaining Islamic learning and trade through non-European routes.

With this context in mind, it is quite believable that Qari Sulaiman, a member of the Bhopal and Hyderabad courts, was involved with the pearl trade. But if that was the case, were there any records of his travels by ship? To find out, I plan to seek out sources housed in British archives, which kept detailed records of passengers at a time when Hajj pilgrimage routes came under the scrutiny of British imperial officials.

And what about the women connected to Qari Sulaiman’s life? Who was his mother, who accompanied him to Makkah? What was her name and what was her story? Bismillah Baig’s tazkira includes the names of some women who were learned scholars in their own right, but so far, I have not found her name there.

According to a story told to my mother, one of Qari Sulaiman’s friends had a dream: the dream featured a woman destined to be his bride. Who was she? Dream interpretation was a long-standing Islamic science practiced in India, but I am also curious about Muslim women’s memories in particular. What is evident from following Qari Sulaiman’s story is that it has been housed in the memory of the women of my family: from the earliest stories conveyed to my Nani to her children, to the book in the possession of my Nani’s sister. Qari Sulaiman’s status as a religious scholar, his travels to Makkah, and his connections to Bhopal—all these initial traces, and indeed even the documented evidence, was preserved first by the women of my family. These are women’s archives.

Qari Sulaiman’s status as a religious scholar, his travels to Makkah, and his connections to Bhopal—all these initial traces, and indeed even the documented evidence, was preserved first by the women of my family. These are women’s archives.

As the tradition of inquiring after tazkiras increasingly fades and as knowledge about such texts are relegated to the shrinking domains of obscure archives, what remains is the obstinacy of women’s memory. Perhaps this form of memory constitutes yet another axis in what Katherine Lemons has argued are the “capabilities of old women,” their mode of accessing truth; as she argues: paying attention to old women “opens another perspective on the basis and the limits of scholarly knowledge, both within and beyond the Islamic tradition.” Lemons writes:

The din of the old women of Nishapur, whether envied or disdained, appears to be the archetype of non- or anti-intellectual religiosity. Yet as they appear and reappear in scholarly texts, the old women’s certainty instantiates the end and presupposition of scholarly knowledge. The Islamic scholars who reference the old women desire truth and restlessly pursue it by producing proofs, philosophical treatises, and legal theories. They present the old women’s unfettered certainty, which appears antithetical to their own doubt-driven search for truth, by marking their age and gender. Yet the women’s certainty, I propose, constitutes a form of knowledge that is neither antithetical to that of scholars nor limited by the old women’s age, gender, or religion.[4]

It struck me that so much of the original family lore about Qari Sulaiman—all preserved by women—was correct, without the documented evidence in texts.

There is more. There also exist additional surviving clues about women who interacted with Qari Sulaiman, in the context of his service for the Nizam of Hyderabad. From Sidq Jaisi’s memoir, Darbar-e Durbaar, translated into English as The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad, comes the following incident. Apparently, Qari Sulaiman was affectionately called “Kario” or “Carew” by Nizam and his sons. Here is the incident as recalled by Sidq Jaisi, who was one of courtiers of the Nizam of Hyderabad, in the English translation:

After some time, Carew arrived. The Prince [Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan] welcomed him heartily. ‘Come, Carew. Yesterday in a hurry I forgot to invite you. You bring life to a party.’ Carew thanked him profusely and sat down by my side. He was followed by the other guests of the previous night.

That day, a dancing girl from Lucknow had been called for the entertainment of the honored guest. After some time, we heard the sound of the musical instruments from the courtyard. The Prince got up and proceeded there. The show started. At one point, the hem of the dancer’s sari kissed Carew’s white beard. He frowned. The Prince started laughing and told me, ‘Sidq, he is my teacher. I respect him greatly. For that reason, whenever a beauty comes to my parties, I get the hem of her sari touched by his beard by way of benediction so that her sins are washed away.’ Carew remarked crossly: ‘Very well said, Sire.’ Everyone, including the beauty, laughed at his annoyance. Time flew by in such merrymaking and flippancy. Soon dinner was ordered.[5]

The translation is an accurate one. In the original Urdu, however, Carew is also referred to as Qari Sulaiman in parenthesis. Evidently, Qari Sulaiman was not only teacher (ustad) for the prince’s sons, but also for Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. At the same time, the Nizam seemed to derive pleasure in making his teacher rather uncomfortable in the presence of a dancing girl. In turn, it seemed that Qari Sulaiman could not hide his displeasure, nor could the court resist laughing at him. Elsewhere, in Sidq’s account, there is another encounter between Qari Sulaiman, the prince Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, and a dancer—this time a male dancer by the name of Piya:

One night at court, around 1:00am, which was the time for the dance, the absence of the handsome dancer was acutely felt. The Prince ordered that Carew be woken up and produced before him. Within ten minutes, Carew was standing there, making his salutations. An old man of 80 years, he was quite cross at having been woken up at that unearthly hour.

The Prince said, with considerable affection, ‘Come, Carew. I have bothered you at this late hour. But circumstances were such that I had to do so.” Carew asked, alarmed, ‘I hope everything is alright, My Lord?’ The Prince replied, ‘If everything was alright , why would I have bothered you?’ Turning towards Piya, he said, ‘Look at him. He does not seem at all well. Seems to be on his last breath.’ Piya, who did not like any reference to impending death, was annoyed. He protested: ‘This slave is alright. Please don’t say anything inauspicious, Sire.’ The Prince asked Carew: ‘What do you think? Is he really alright, as he says?’ Carew replied, looking intently at Piya’s face: ‘His face looks pale and funereal. I wonder if he will survive.’ Piya said angrily, ‘May your face reflect death.’ Then turning to the Prince he said, ‘Let him jabber. My Lord, this slave of yours is absolutely alright. Carew said, ‘My Lord, shall I recite Sura-e Yaseen?’

Piya retorted angrily: ‘Recite it for your near and dear ones. What is this nonsense?’

The Prince told an attendant: ‘Ring up Colonel Waghray. Whoever picks up the phone, tell him to ask the doctor to come here immediately. There is a serious case for him to examine.’ Poor Piya insisted: ‘God forbid, Sire. Your slave is fit and fine. Please don’t say anything ill-omened.’

After fifteen minutes, Colonel Waghray entered and made his salaams to the Prince.

The Prince told him, ‘Waghray. Just examine Piya and tell me how long he is likely to survive.’ Waghray took one look at Piya and said gravely: ‘Sire what is left in him now? I give him two hours at the most.’ Piya said helplessly: ‘You are talking rot. You will die within two hours. I shall yet live for a long time.’ The Prince ignored him and said: ‘Waghray, will you be able to treat and save him or shall I ask Carew to start reciting Sura-e Yaseen?’ Waghray shook his head and said, ‘In my view, the time for treatment is over. It is better to read the sura.’

Piya said with annoyance: ‘A hale and hearty person cannot be treated. But you should get your head examined by some other physician.’ Carew said: ‘In my humble opinion, Sire, let us try fanning him with the Quran. Maybe the Great Physician will cure him.’

Piya was incensed. ‘What rot you are talking in this exalted court.’ Turning to the Prince, he said: ‘Sarkar, I am reminded of a couplet. With your permission, I will recite it:

Quran ki havaa den peh ahbaab musir hain

Main keh nahin sakta tera daaman ki havaa ho

They are bent on fanning me with the Quran

I cannot say I’d rather have it from your scarf.[6]

Both these incidents reflect the proximity of Qari Sulaiman to the Nizam of Hyderabad, and much else besides. From these passages, it appears that Qari Sahb was a serious Islamic scholar, who was respectful of the Nizam of Hyderabad, even as he found himself the subject of courtly jokes. I cannot help but wonder if he preferred his time in Bhopal under the employ of the last Begum of Bhopal, given his stature as a serious scholar there, over his service under the last Nizam of Hyderabad, where as an elderly man he had become the target of playful courtly humor.

________________________________________________________________________

Sarah Waheed is a Historian of South Asia. She completed her PhD in History at Tufts University in 2011. She is Assistant Professor of History at University of South Carolina. Sarah Waheed’s scholarly expertise is on the history of South Asian Islam and the shaping of Muslim communities across the India-Pakistan divide: her academic work focuses on gender and memory as well as transregional global histories. Her first book, Hidden Histories of Pakistan: Censorship, Literature, and Secular Nationalism in Late Colonial India was published with Cambridge University Press in 2022. Her second book forthcoming with Penguin Random House India titled, In Search of Chand Bibi: Warrior Queen of India, about the life and world of the sixteenth century Muslim warrior queen of the Deccan. It is slated to be published in early 2026. Sarah Waheed has published widely. Her scholarly peer reviewed articles have appeared in Modern Asian Studies, Postcolonial Text, Asian Affairs, South Asian Studies among others.


Sources

Baig, Mirza Bismillah, Col. Tazkira-e Qariyan-e Hind: Vol No. 1, 2, 3. 14 Feb. 2024. p. 352. Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/tazkira-qariyan-e-hind-volume-no.-1-2-3-./page/n7/mode/2up

Jaisi, Sidq. Durbar-e Darbar. Machli Kaman, Hyderabad: Himali Book Depot, 1967.

Jaisi, Sidq. The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad. Translated and Introduced by Narendra Luther. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Lemons, Katherine. “Capabilties of Old Women”. Immanent Frame. May 4, 2022.

Metcalf, Barbara. “On the Cusp of Colonial Modernity: Administration, Women, and Islam in Princely Bhopal” in Religious Interactions in Modern India eds. Vasudha Dalmia and Martin Fuchs. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 34-61. 2019.

Maulvi Ibrahim Sahib. Hissa rabi’ah mutaliqah jalsa-o da’iyeh. (Date unknown).

Naim, Choudri Mohammed. “Syed Ahmad and his two books called ‘Asar-al-Sanadid’.” Modern Asian Studies 45, no. 3 (2011): 669-708.

Many thanks to Mohammed Ayub Khan for his support and assistance in tracking down several textual sources related to Qari Sulaiman.


[1] For more on Asar-al-Sanadid, see Naim, CM. “Syed Ahmad and His Two Books Called ‘Asar-al-Sanadid’ in Modern Asian Studies 45, no. 3 (2011): 669-708.

[2] Metcalf, Barbara. “On the Cusp of Colonial Modernity: Administration, Women, and Islam in Princely Bhopal” in Religious Interactions in Modern India eds. Vasudha Dalmia and Martin Fuchs. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 34-61. 2019.

[3] As an example: Sikander Begum was the first Indian monarch to go to Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage and left behind a travelogue of her experience. For more on hajj and the begums of Bhopal, see “Women, Power and Religion in Bhopal, India: Tarikh-i Safar-i Makkah (A Journey to Mecca) by Sikander Jahan Begum, Nawab of Bhopal. Her life and travels have been extensively studied by the historian Siobhan Lambert Hurley. See Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan, ed. A Princess’s Pilgrimage: Nawab Sikander Begum’s Pilgrimage to Mecca. Indiana University Press, 2008.

[4] Lemons, Katherine. “Capabilties of Old Women”. Immanent Frame. May 4, 2022. https://tif.ssrc.org/2022/05/04/capabilities-of-old-women/

[5] Jaisi, Sidq. The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad. Translated and Introduced by Narendra Luther. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004. p. 48.

[6] Jaisi, Sidq. The Nocturnal Court: The Life of a Prince of Hyderabad,. p. 84