The people, craftsmanship and commerce behind the jewellery of Hyderabad’s royal court
When the history of the Nizams of Hyderabad is discussed, the extraordinary jewellery associated with the royal family inevitably attracts attention. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls and elaborate gold ornaments became symbols of the wealth and refinement of the Hyderabad court. Some of these jewels are now among the most recognised pieces associated with India’s princely history.
Yet behind these celebrated jewels was another, less frequently told story. It was the story of the jewellers.
They were craftsmen, gemstone dealers, merchants, appraisers and established jewellery houses who operated around the royal court and the aristocratic society of Hyderabad. Their work connected the palace to the wider world of precious stones and jewellery, linking Hyderabad with commercial centres across India and, ultimately, international markets. To understand the jewellery of the Nizams, therefore, it is necessary to look beyond the jewels themselves and remember the people who handled them.
Hyderabad’s Royal Jewellery World
18th Century Iconic Gulzar Houz Circle in Nizam’s Era
18th Century Phatthar Gatti Commercial Hub in Nizam Era
Famous Laad Bazaar in Nizam Era (18th Century)
For much of the Nizam’s rule, Hyderabad was one of the most important political and commercial centres of the Deccan. The court attracted people with specialised knowledge from different parts of India. Merchants, financiers, craftsmen and gemstone dealers became part of an extensive commercial network surrounding the ruling household and the city’s wealthy nobility. Jewellery occupied an important place within this world.
For the Nizam and the aristocratic families of Hyderabad, precious stones were not merely decorative objects. Jewellery could signify status and ceremony, form part of family wealth and serve as a valuable store of portable capital.
This created demand for people who possessed knowledge that went far beyond simply making ornaments.A jeweller dealing with the court needed to understand gemstones, precious metals, design, craftsmanship and valuation. Just as importantly, such a jeweller needed to have earned the confidence of his clients.
The Jewellers Behind the Court
From L-R: Sri Jagatanand Sanghi (Zindamal Hiralal Firm), Papalalji (Totaram Papalal firm), Nithyanand Sanghi (Zindamal Hiralal Firm), Chaganlalji (BadriPrasad Chaganlal Firm), Mir Osman Ali Khan (H.E.H Nizam of Hyderabad), Mangilalji (Son of Chaganlalji), Manoharlalji Modi (Jaggimalji Manoharlalji), Murarilalji (Totaram Muralilal Firm), , Seth Nanuramji (Badriprasad Nanuram firm). Hyderabad State 1940 (now in Telangana).
The Nizam’s jewellers were not a single family or a single workshop.
The surviving record points instead to a network of different jewellery houses and specialists.
A particularly evocative photograph from around 1940 provides a rare glimpse into this world. The image is identified as a group portrait of the royal panel of jewellers associated with the court of the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
The men are shown in formal court attire, including the achkan and traditional headgear. Among the names recorded with the photograph are representatives associated with several established jewellery firms, including Zindamal Hiralal, Totaram Papalal, BadriPrasad Chaganlal and Totaram Muralil. Also identified in the group is Manoharlalji Modi, also known as Jaggimalji Manoharlalji.
The photograph is valuable for another reason.
It reminds us that the Nizam’s jewellery was not the work of an anonymous royal workshop. It was connected to identifiable commercial houses and individuals who formed part of Hyderabad’s specialised jewellery economy.
More than craftsmen
The word “jeweller” can sometimes create the impression of someone whose role was limited to designing and manufacturing ornaments. In the world surrounding the Nizam’s court, the role could be considerably broader.
Jewellers could act as merchants, intermediaries and gemstone specialists. They could source stones, commission craftsmanship, assess jewellery and connect buyers with suppliers. Their businesses could also overlap with the worlds of finance and precious-goods trading.
This was particularly important because exceptional jewellery involved exceptional values.A single gemstone could represent considerable wealth, and the ability to judge its quality and value was itself a specialised commercial skill.
The importance of gemstones
Hyderabad’s royal jewellery was not created from materials originating in one place. The city’s jewellery trade was connected to wider networks through which diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, pearls and other precious materials travelled.
Jewellers in Hyderabad could therefore be connected to merchants and specialists in other major trading centres. This wider network helps explain why the jewellery associated with the Nizam’s court displayed such a variety of materials and artistic influences.
Hyderabad was not an isolated jewellery market. It was part of a much larger Indian and international trade in precious stones.
A meeting of traditions
The jewellery of the Hyderabad court reflected the cultural character of the Deccan itself. Different traditions of craftsmanship came together in the city. Deccani techniques existed alongside influences carried by craftsmen and merchants from northern and western India.
Historical accounts of the Nizam’s jewellery have noted influences associated with regions including the Deccan, Rajasthan and Lucknow, while the stones themselves could originate from much farther afield.
The result was not a single style that can easily be labelled “Nizam jewellery.”Instead, it was a meeting of traditions. Royal taste, regional craftsmanship, imported gemstones and the individual skill of jewellers combined to produce pieces intended for an exceptionally discerning clientele.
Jewellery and wealth
There was another important connection: jewellery and finance.In a princely state where precious stones and jewellery represented substantial wealth, they could also become part of financial arrangements.
The financial difficulties faced by the Hyderabad State during the early twentieth century brought the worlds of finance and precious assets into closer contact.Jewellery belonging to royal and noble households could enter financial transactions, while financing houses and merchants could become involved in the movement of valuable jewellery.
This was not simply a story of luxury. It was also a story about how wealth moved. Jewellery could pass from a palace or noble household into the hands of financiers, merchants and dealers, eventually reaching entirely different markets.
From Hyderabad to the wider world
The movement of Hyderabad’s jewellery did not stop at the boundaries of the princely state. Gemstones and jewellery were part of established commercial routes connecting Indian cities with international markets.
Bombay, Madras and other major commercial centres were important nodes in India’s precious-goods trade. Historical accounts of the Nizam’s jewellery also mention jewellers and appraisers from outside Hyderabad. Among them were P. Orr of Madras and Dinshaw Guzdar of Bombay, with Guzdar associated with the appraisal and inventory of the seventh Nizam’s jewellery.
This wider network is an important reminder that Hyderabad’s royal jewellery belonged to a much larger world of commerce.
The value of trust
Perhaps the most important asset of a royal jeweller was neither gold nor gemstones. It was trust. Jewellers dealing with the court handled objects whose value could be enormous. Their responsibilities could involve sourcing precious stones, assessing existing pieces, commissioning new work and maintaining the confidentiality expected when dealing with royal and aristocratic possessions.
Reputation therefore mattered enormously. A jewellery house that earned the confidence of an important patron could establish relationships lasting across generations. This helps explain why established jewellery firms became such an important part of Hyderabad’s royal commercial landscape.
The royal court as a marketplace
It is tempting to imagine the Nizam’s jewellery simply appearing inside the palace. In reality, every extraordinary piece represented a chain of activity. A gemstone had to be sourced. Its quality had to be assessed. A design had to be developed. A craftsman had to execute it.
The finished piece had to be inspected and valued. And behind all of this stood merchants, jewellers and other specialists who made the transaction possible. The palace was therefore not separate from the commercial world outside it. It was one of the most important destinations within that world.
The changing world after the Nizams
The jewellery trade changed fundamentally as Hyderabad’s political circumstances changed. The end of princely rule meant the disappearance of the royal court as the dominant source of patronage.
But the jewellery industry did not disappear with it. The knowledge accumulated by generations of jewellers remained valuable.
The customer base simply became broader. Instead of concentrating primarily on royalty and aristocracy, jewellery businesses increasingly served merchants, professionals, families and a growing urban consumer market. The transition from palace to marketplace was underway.
From royal jewellers to modern jewellery houses
This transformation is an important part of Hyderabad’s modern jewellery history. The city did not suddenly become a jewellery centre after the Nizam’s era.
It already possessed generations of commercial knowledge, craftsmanship and trading relationships. What changed was the scale and nature of the customer. Jewellery that had once been closely associated with the royal household could now be encountered in commercial establishments and purchased by a much wider section of society.
The showroom increasingly replaced the royal court as the place where jeweller and customer met. Yet the fundamentals remained familiar: craftsmanship, knowledge of precious materials, valuation, reputation and trust.
Remembering the names behind the jewels
Today, it is easy to remember the jewels of the Nizams while forgetting the people who worked with them. The stones have survived in collections, museums, photographs and historical records. The names of many of the jewellers have not survived with the same prominence. Yet without them, the royal jewellery tradition could not have existed.
They were the people who connected Hyderabad’s court with India’s gemstone markets. They brought together craftsmen, merchants and suppliers. They understood the value of precious materials and the expectations of an extraordinarily demanding clientele. Their collective history is therefore an important part of Hyderabad’s history itself.
A name preserved in the record
Among the names recorded in the historical photograph of Hyderabad’s royal jewellers is Manoharlalji Modi, also known as Jaggimalji Manoharlalji.
For the Modi family, his name carries a significance that extends beyond this historical record: he belongs to the family lineage from which the Modi Pearls tradition would later emerge. But his presence in this photograph should first be understood in its wider historical context.
He was one name among several jewellers who formed part of the jewellery world surrounding the Nizam’s court. The broader story belongs to all of them.
The legacy of the Nizam’s jewellers
The royal court of Hyderabad is gone. The princely state is gone. The jewellery trade, however, continues.
Hyderabad remains deeply associated with pearls, gold, gemstones and traditional jewellery. The city’s modern jewellery industry operates in a world vastly different from that of the Nizams, yet it inherits a commercial culture shaped over generations. The jewellers of the Nizam were part of that history.
They remind us that behind every famous collection is a network of people: craftsmen who made, merchants who traded, appraisers who valued, financiers who facilitated and jewellers who earned the confidence to handle extraordinary objects of wealth. The jewels may be what history remembers first. But the jewellers are the people who made that history possible.
Part of the Modi Pearls Heritage Series
Exploring the people, places and traditions that shaped Hyderabad’s identity as the City of Pearls.
