Princess Niloufer

Princess Begum Sahiba Niloufer Khanum Sultana of Hyderabad (Turkish: Nilüfer Hanım Sultan; 4 January 1916 – 12 June 1989) was one of the last princesses of the Ottoman Empire. She was married to Moazzam Jah the second son of Mir Osman Ali Khan - the last Nizam of Hyderabad in India.[1]

Princess Niloufer
Born(1916-01-04)4 January 1916
Göztepe Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died12 June 1989(1989-06-12) (aged 73)
Paris, France
Spouse
​
(m. 1931)​
Full name
Niloufer Khanum Sultana Farhat
FatherDamad Moralizade Selaheddin Bey
MotherAdile Sultan

Birth

Niloufer was born at the Göztepe Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, at a time when her mother's family was ruling the Ottoman Empire. Her father was Damad Moralizade Selaheddin Bey, a prominent member of the Ottoman court. Her mother, Adile Sultan, was a daughter of Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, the eldest son of Sultan Murad V.

At the end of World War I, the ruling dynasty was deposed and Turkey was declared a republic. Later, in 1924, the Ottomans were exiled from Turkey. They settled in France, taking up residence in the Mediterranean city of Nice. Several members of their court and extended family, including Niloufer's parents, likewise went into exile in France.

Marriage

On 20 December 1931, Niloufer was married at age 16 to Moazzam Jah, second son of the last ruling Nizam of Hyderabad at her maternal uncle's Hilafat Palace in Nice. The Nizam's elder son and heir was married to Niloufer's first cousin, Dürrüşehvar, daughter of Sultan Abdülmecid II. After her marriage, Niloufer moved to her father-in-law's court in Hyderabad, India.

Public figure and charities

While Niloufer's private life seemed empty due to lack of children, she compensated by making her public life very glittering. She was part of the elite women's club at the time, Lady Hydari Club. Unlike other ladies in her family (this is true of both her natal family in Turkey and her marital family in India) who felt that their dignity and honour lay in not making public spectacles of themselves, Niloufer preferred to move about the city quite freely, leaving the zenana of the palace frequently to attend public engagements, cocktail parties and late-night revels. She attended many functions and also inaugurated several events. As no other lady of the Hyderabad royal family had ever moved about unveiled or attended cocktail parties or even official public events. Niloufer came to be regarded as a torch-bearer for women's advancement. Her beauty and active public life received mention in the press, and she was featured on the cover pages of magazines. She was judged as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world.[2]

Niloufer Hospital

In the year 1949, one of the princess' maids, named RafatUnnisa Begum, "died during childbirth due to lack of medical facilities". On hearing the news of death of her beloved maid, the princess was very shattered.[1][3] She then decided to ensure that no mother faces death hereafter. Niloufer made known to her father-in-law the problems arising due to this lack of medical facilities. As a result, a specialty hospital for women and children was built in the Red Hills area of the city. Indeed, the hospital was named Niloufer Hospital in her honour and she was named its patron, a position she retained as long as she lived in Hyderabad. Even today, the hospital remains a well-known one and is a prominent landmark of the Red Hills neighbourhood.[1][3]

While her father-in-law and other family members had supported her fully for her charity work, including building a speciality hospital at her behest and incentivizing foreign doctors at great expense to settle in Hyderabad, they did not like the immodest and vacuous celebrity-lifestyle she thereafter developed. They tried to engage her energies in constructive things like the hospital and children's schools. It was at her father-in-law's behest that Niloufer, during World War II, obtained training as a nurse, and helped in relief efforts in Hyderabad, where some Indian soldiers who had suffered injuries in the war theatres of Europe or East Asia were brought for recuperation. Meanwhile, the specialist doctors in Europe were unable to deduce a solution to her childlessness.

Later years

Several years passed after the wedding, but Niloufer did not conceive a child. She travelled to Europe to consult doctors, because there were no specialist obstetricians in Hyderabad. In 1948, 17 years after his marriage to Niloufer, her husband Moazzam Jah took a second wife- Razia Begum, daughter of a local aristocrat in Hyderabad, which was in accordance with both Islamic law and tradition, permits a Muslim man to have up to four wives at a time. The second marriage quickly gave him three daughters born in 4 years. Eventually, in 1952, after 21 years of marriage, Niloufer and her husband were divorced. After her divorce, Niloufer moved to France where the Ottoman family had settled after their exile from Turkey. A number of other royal exiles from several countries were also settled in Nice and the Côte d'Azur and Niloufer maintained an active social life. On 21 February 1963, in Paris, Niloufer married Edward Julius Pope, an American war hero, author, and film producer. She died in Paris on 12 June 1989.

References
  1. "Love, loss and longing: The journey of a Princess | Hyderabad News". The Times of India.
  2. Ifthekhar, J. S. "Niloufer, the beguiling princess of Hyderabad". Telangana Today.
  3. Khan, Asif Yar (4 January 2018). "Niloufer pioneered maternity, child care". Deccan Chronicle.
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