The Magnificent Diwan: The Life and Times of Sir Salar Jung I

Description

The Magnificent Diwan is the definitive biography of arguably India's most influential and powerful statesman of the nineteenth century. Drawing on extensive archival material, this is a compelling account of the life and times of a remarkable Indian who, as diwan or prime minister, decisively shaped Hyderabad's political and economic history for nearly three decades in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was Salar Jung who, by his reforms of the medieval oligarchy that was Hyderabad, ushered the state into the modern era. This account is not merely a chronicle of his life but also a history of Hyderabad-both social and governmental-and gives the reader an encompassing view of the man who has been called the founder of modern Hyderabad. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, this biography introduces Sir Salar Jung I to a new generation, even as it rekindles the memory of a man who has become the victim of collective amnesia.

Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy is the author of seven books which include the best-selling Jeh: A Life of JRD Tata, Sugar in Milk: Lives of Eminent Parsis and the critically acclaimed Barons of Banking: Glimpses of Indian Banking History. His most recent book was Zubin Mehta: A Musical Journey, the authorised biography of the international music conductor. Dadabhoy has also contributed to newspapers and magazines and did a daily column 'This Day in History' for the Hindustan Times and HT Next for five years. He has also written the script for Nani: The Crusader a documentary on legal luminary Nani Palkhivala. He currently resides in Mumbai.