Hyderabad Nizam's Opulence: A Diamond Larger Than Kohinoor Used as Paperweight

• Hyderabad, a superpower with its own railway, postal service, and independent 'Osmania Coin' currency, maintained economic sovereignty even during British rule.
• The British granted Hyderabad the unique right to issue its own currency, which persisted until the early 1950s, even after India's independence.
• Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam and once the world's richest person, was known for regal hospitality, gifting gold coins in velvet pouches to guests.
• The Nizam possessed the 'Jacob Diamond', larger than the Kohinoor, but famously used it as a paperweight on his office desk, astonishing historians.
• Hyderabad merged with the Indian Union in 1948 via 'Operation Polo', but the Osmania Coin circulated for years, now a collector's item.