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nature's gifts to the man of genius. However
short the time for preparation, he was never found
unprepared—another characteristic of greatness.
As in outward aspect, so in mental poise he re-
mained ever true to type—a great man.
After his untimely death in February, 1883,
there was an interregnum until the Nizam's
installation and the appointment of Sir Salar
Jung's son, Laik Ali Khan as Prime Minister.
During that period Maharaja Nirandhar Pershad,
the Peshkar, acted as Dewan. It was a period
of uncertainty and the record of it lies in obscurity.
I used to hear as a boy that the Maharaja received
the State officials and went through Government
work at night, and that people seemed to be
dissatisfied with the way in which the State
machinery was working in those days. The
contrast with the perfect management of the
great Salar Jung was too marked to remain un-
noticed. Maharaja Nirandhar Pershad belonged
to Raja Ghaixdu Lai's family and was the mater-
nal grandfather of Maharaja Kishen Pershad, who
became Peshkar after him, and subsequently
Prime Minister in 1901.
%**if£*W > -.
The death of the great Minister, Sir Salar Jung
in 1883, brought to a close that period of Hyder-
abad history during which there had been a steady
movement forward towards newer ideals. His
well-balanced mind with its great foresight -and
deliberate judgment and readiness to accept the
conditions of beneficial progress foreshadowed by