i68
I remember his personal appearance, his dig-
nified manner and his ' awe-commanding ' pre-
sence to this day. He was a man of few words,
and spoke in a grave, impressive tone. One
could not forget in his presence that he belonged
to the highest nobility and was related to the
Nizam, His figure and his broad whiskered face
reminded me of the poet Gray's lines : " Lion
port and awe-commanding face/' He left two
sons, Nawab Sultan-ul-Mulk and Waliuddin Khan,
Nawab Wali-ud-Dowlah.*
The latter, after having been educated at
Eton for sometime, returned to Hyderabad,
joined the Imperial Cadet Corps, and in course of
time was made Military Minister by His Exalted
Highness the Nizam, and later, a Member of the
Executive Council where he was one of my col-
leagues for many years. He acted as President
of the Council more than once, and with his good
nature and pleasing manner was liked by all of
us. In 1935, by a sudden impulse he made up
his mind to go on pilgrimage to Mecca and started
a few days before I did. When I reached Kara-
chi, I was informed that a radio message had been
received at Hyderabad informing the Nizam of
his sudden death at Medina. I am mentioning
these facts to show how the great family of Shams-
ul-Umara was rapidly reaching a stage at which
its prestige would be lost and its importance
diminished—perhaps for ever.
* See p. 230.