THE fabled jewels of the former Nizam of Hyderabad, once counted among the world's richest men, have been bought by the Government for 2.18 billion rupees (HK$551.54 million) after a 20-year legal battle.
Officials from the Department of Culture in New Delhi concede the purchase price, fixed by a government-appointed arbitrator, is 'paltry'.
The aim is to keep the 173 pieces of priceless jewellery from being sold overseas by the nizam's Jewellery Trust.
Trust officials say 70 beneficiaries are entitled to a share of the sale proceeds but only 25 are living, mostly in Hyderabad, southern India.
The two main beneficiaries are Mir Barkat Ali, the 61-year-old former eighth nizam, and Prince Mukkaram Jah, the seventh nizam's grandson.
The transaction for the jewellery took place at the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in Bombay. The gems have lain there since they were lodged for safekeeping by Sir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, in the 1950s.
The jewellery, including the Jacob diamond, one of the world's biggest, was inspected by Culture Ministry officials before being ferried to New Delhi on a special flight.
