Dürrüşehvar Sultan

She was sought by the Shah of Persia and King Fuad I of Egypt as a bride for their respective heirs, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Farouk, and by Prince Azam Jah (1907–1970), the eldest son and heir of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan.

Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan (خدیجه خیریه عائشه درشهوار سلطان), after marriage Durru Shehvar Durdana Begum Sahiba, Princess of Berar; (26 January 1914 – 7 February 2006) was an Ottoman princess, the only daughter of the last caliph Abdulmejid II, who was the last heir apparent to the Ottoman Imperial throne and the last Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate.

Dürrüşehvar Sultan was born on 26 January 1914 at the Çamlıca Palace in Üsküdar, then part of Constantinople, when the Ottoman Caliphate was passing through its last phase.

Her father was the future Caliph Abdulmejid II, son of Sultan Abdulaziz and Hayranidil Kadın.

Her mother was Mehisti Hanım, daughter of Hacımaf Akalsba and Safiye Hanım.

She had a half-brother, Şehzade Ömer Faruk, from her father's first consort.

At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Dürrüşehvar and her family settled in Nice, France.

The British Red Crescent Society, friendly with the deposed ruler, appealed to Muslim rulers around the world to come to the aid of the impoverished Caliph.

Persuaded by Maulana Shaukat Ali and his brother, Maulana Mohammad Ali, Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII the last Nizam of the Hyderabad State of India decided to send a life-time monthly pension of three hundred pounds to the deposed Caliph, and allowances to several individuals in the family.

As a teenager, Dürrüşehvar's beauty attracted many suitors, despite belonging to a fallen dynasty.

In 1930, Şehzade Mehmed Abid, son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Saliha Naciye Hanım also asked her hand in marriage.

However, her father refused, on the grounds of Dürrüşehvar being under age, but in reality Abdülmecid had already decided to marry her off to the eldest son of the Nizam.

In 1931, her father arranged her marriage to Azam Jah, elder son and heir to Mir Osman Ali Khan (7th Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan).

However, fifty thousand pounds in mahr was demanded for her, which the Nizam considered too much.

Upon the intervention of Shaukat Ali, he proposed to offer, for the same mahr, the hand of Mahpeyker Hanımsultan to the Nizam's younger son Moazzam Jah.

The Nizam readily agreed and sent his two sons to France to be married.

However, when they arrived in France, Şehzade Osman Fuad, his wife Kerime Hanim and his half-sister Adile Sultan arranged for Moazzam to meet Nilüfer Hanımsultan, Adile's daughter.

Nilüfer was so beautiful that Moazzam fell in love with her at first sight, and immediately decided to break off his engagement to Mahpeyker to marry her instead.

A day before the wedding, the princes arrived in Nice from London by express train, and stayed at the Hotel Negresco.

On 12 November 1931, at aged seventeen, Dürrüşehvar married Azam Jah, at Villa Carabacel in Nice.

The Nizam's younger son was married to Dürrüşehvar's cousin Nilüfer.

The marriage was performed by Damad Mehmed Şerif Pasha, husband of Abdulmejid's half-sister Emine Sultan.

The local newspapers were full of photographs of the Indian princes when they arrived for the weddings, with headlines like A Thousand and One Nights and A Muslim Wedding.

On that occasion, Dürrüşehvar received a diamond tiara as a gift from her aunt Nazime Sultan.

After the wedding the princes took their brides and the entourage back to the hotel where they had stayed.

After the religious ceremony, the newly weds went to the British consulate to complete their civil marriage, and validate their prenuptial agreement, according to which, in the event of divorce or death of the husband, Dürrüşehvar would receive two hundred thousand dollars in compensation.

Following the festivities in Nice, the princesses and their husbands set sail from Venice on 12 December 1931 to her father-in-law's court in Hyderabad, India.

Nilufer and Dürrüşehvar's mothers also accompanied them, with a French midwife.

They boarded the ocean liner Pilsna.

Mahatma Gandhi had boarded the ship after attending the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1931, and was travelling back to India.

It is reported that he met with the princesses.

On the way, they were taught how to wear sarees, and the expected etiquette in the presence of the Nizam.

After their landing in Bombay, they boarded the private train of the Nizam.

After they reached Hyderabad, a banquet was held at the Chowmahalla Palace on 4 January 1932.

They then settled down in their respective homes.

Dürrüşehvar and Azam Jah settled down in Bella Vista, Hyderabad.

She received the title of Durdana Begum from the Nizam, held the title of Her Highness The Princess of Berar.

She was taller than Azam Jah, and the Nizam thought that was a great joke.

He regularly used to point out the difference in their height at parties.

On 6 October 1933, she gave birth to her elder son, Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, Asaf Jah, the future Nizam of Hyderabad.