The Koh-i-noor of Hyderabad: Princess Niloufer who championed the cause of women in India helobaba.com

Princess Niloufer, born into the fading grandeur of the Ottoman Empire, entered the world on January 4, 1916, at Göztepe Palace in Istanbul. Her birth came at a tumultuous time when her mother’s family’s empire was crumbling, leading to her father’s demise when she was just two and the family’s exile to France in 1924. Despite these early hardships, Niloufer’s striking beauty and royal lineage made her one of the most sought-after brides of her time. Her marriage was a strategic alliance, orchestrated by royalty to strengthen ties with the affluent and powerful Nizam of Hyderabad. The young princess, only fifteen, was wed to Prince Moazzam Jah, becoming a glittering jewel in the Nizam’s court and a symbol of the cross-continental royal connections that shaped the geopolitics of the era.

Image: The Nizam’s – Hyderabad/Facebook