175
All went peacefully and prosperously till the
unexpected and untimely death of the Nizam in
September 1911. It was a dismal day for Hyder-
abad. Almost everyone of his subjects felt his
lamentable death as a personal loss, and it can
easily be imagined what his favourite, the Maharaja,
must have felt. It proved ominous for him.
After the installation of the present Nizam it
seemed as though the Minister was losing ground,
rapidly and unaccountably, so far as relations with
his new master were concerned. In 1912 it became
evident that he would not be able to retain office
long. I happened to be officiating for Sir Faridoon
as Political Secretary in those days and used to
see the Minister twice a week, and I could gather
from his conversation that he thought a change
imminent. Not many days had passed when the
change did occur, and so suddenly and so quietly
that it seemed to have been planned beforehand.
One morning when I went to see the Minister at
iSaroornagar, I found his palace almost deserted—
j silence everywhere, no visitors in the anterooms
*and no' chobdars' or servants to be seen anywhere.
And when I was announced at last, and the Maha-
raja himself came down to see me, the very first
words he uttered were that he had sent injtns^
papers !
A few days before his fall he had shown me an
anonymous letter received by him, in which it
was said that some people were secretly preparing
a forged document in order to make him suspected