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The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from 18th-through-20th-century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State (as of 2019 divided between the state of Telangana, Marathwada region of Maharashtra and Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title inherited by Asaf Jah I. He was the former Naib (suzerain) of the Great Mughal in the Deccan, the premier courtier of Mughal India until 1724, the founding of an independent monarchy as the "Nizam (title) of Hyderabad".
The Asaf Jahi dynasty was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-Din Siddiqi (Asaf Jah I), who served as a Naib of the Deccan sultanates under the Moghul Empire from 1713 to 1721. He intermittently ruled the region after Emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707. In 1724 Mughal control weakened, and Asaf Jah became virtually independent of the Mughal Empire; Hyderabad would then become a tributary of the Maratha Confederacy, losing a series of battles through the 18th century.
When the English East India Company achieved paramountcy _____ the Indian subcontinent, they allowed the Nizams to continue to rule their princely states as client kings. The Nizams retains internal power over Hyderabad State until 17 September 1948, when Hyderabad was integrated into the new Indian Union. The Asaf Jah dynasty had only seven rulers; however, there was a period of 13 unstable years after the rule of the first Nizam when two of his sons (Nasir Jung, and Salabath Jung) and grandson Muzafur Jung ruled. They were never officially recognised as rulers.
After the Independence of India in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad chose to join neither India nor Pakistan. He later declared Hyderabad an independent state as the third dominion, but the Government of India refused to accept this. After attempts by India to persuade the Nizam to accede to India failed, and due to large-scale atrocities committed by Razakars (who wanted the Nizam to accede Hyderabad to Pakistan) on the Hindu populace, the Indian government finally launched a military operation named Operation Polo. The Indian Army invaded Hyderabad on 13 September 1948 and defeated his untrained forces. The Nizam capitulated on 17 September 1948; that same afternoon he broadcast the news over the State radio network. The Nizam was forced to accept accession to the new Union of India. His abdication on 17 September 1948 was the end of the dynasty's ambitions. Still, he became the Rajpramukh, post-independence based on the public vote.
Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam, died on Friday 24 February 1967. All the Nizams are buried in royal graves at the Makkah Masjid near Charminar in Hyderabad except the last, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who wished to be buried beside his mother, in the graveyard of Judi Mosque facing King Kothi Palace.