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Kishen Pershad

Hereditary Peshkar and twice chief minister of Hyderabad: Prime Minister under Mahbub Ali Khan and Mir Osman Ali Khan from 1901 (confirmed 1902) to 1912, and President of the Executive Council from 1925. A descendant of Chandu Lal through his mother, born in AH 1281 (1864–65), he was a poet in Urdu and Persian. He founded literary journals and held large jagirs near Hyderabad.

Full-length studio portrait of a moustached man in a jewelled turban and richly patterned robe, seated with a sword beside a small table.
Full-length studio portrait of a moustached man in a jewelled turban and richly patterned robe, seated with a sword beside a small table. · A. Claude Campbell (ed.) (opens in a new tab) · Public domain

Kishen Pershad was twice the chief minister of the Asaf Jahi state. He held office first under Mahbub Ali Khan and Mir Osman Ali Khan from 1901 to 1912.123 He held it again as President of the Executive Council from 1925.123 He was the heir of the family of Chandu Lal, which held the hereditary post of peshkar, deputy to the minister.4

Family and education

Campbell, writing in 1898, says Kishen Pershad was born in AH 1281 (AH is the Islamic way of counting years).5 He was the son of Raja Hari Kishen, and the grandson and heir of Maharaja Narain Pershad.5 Narain Pershad, Chandu Lal’s grandson, was peshkar from 1853 and senior administrator after the death of Salar Jang in 1883. He left no male heir, and Kishen Pershad was the son of his only daughter.6

Mudiraj’s Pictorial Hyderabad (1929) calls him a great-grandson of Chandu Lal.7 Campbell says he studied Arabic and Persian under tutors in his grandfather’s house.5 He studied English at the Madrasa-i-Aliya, the school for nobles.5 Campbell adds that “he is well acquainted with Telegu and Marathi”.5

Poet and Peshkar

Campbell describes him as a poet who had published several works in verse and prose. He had started two journals, the Dabdaba-i-Asafi in prose and the Mahbub-ul-Kalam in verse, to which the Nizam himself contributed. He submitted his poems to the Nizam before printing them, and bore the title “special pupil of His Highness”.5 In AH 1310 he was appointed hereditary peshkar and Military Minister. He inherited his grandfather’s jagirs (land grants), which brought in several lakhs a year.5 In them he held full civil and criminal powers.5

Campbell prints his photograph as “the Peshkar and Military Minister”.8 The Imperial Gazetteer lists his jagirs among the largest estates in the state.9 Mudiraj notes that the village of Alwal, just outside Bolarum north of Secunderabad, was one of them.10

Prime Minister

The treaty collection of 1909 says he succeeded Sir Vikar-ul-Umara, who left office on leave in August 1901.11 He was made a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire on 1 January 1903.11 Mudiraj dates his formal appointment to 15 November 1902, after officiating (acting) from 25 August 1901. He says Kishen Pershad received the Grand Cross of the same order in 1910.7

The Imperial Gazetteer of 1909 records that he “still holds that office”.1 In July 1912 he asked to be relieved. Mudiraj prints the Nizam’s order of 11 July 1912, which gave him six months’ leave and relieved him of the prime ministership. It added that “he will continue to be the Peshkar as usual”. Salar Jang III took his place.12

In 1925, with the Viceroy’s agreement, he was made President of the Executive Council.32 He held this office when Mudiraj wrote.32

Footnotes

  1. Imperial Gazetteer of India: Hyderabad State (1909), p. 19 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. K. Krishnaswamy Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad, Vol. I (1929), p. 180 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad (1929), p. 245 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions (1898), p. 127 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions (1898), p. 27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  6. Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions (1898), p. 319 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad (1929), p. 223 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. A. Claude Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam’s Dominions (1898), p. 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Imperial Gazetteer: Hyderabad (1909), p. 52 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad (1929), p. 290 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, Vol. IX (1909), p. 15 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  12. Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad (1929), p. 226 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Photos

References

Sources (4)
  1. A. Claude Campbell, Glimpses of the Nizam's Dominions, Being an Exhaustive Photographic History of the Hyderabad State, Deccan, India (opens in a new tab), C. B. Burrows, Bombay, 1898, pp. 26–27, 127, 319. [Public domain]
  2. Government of India, Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Hyderabad State (opens in a new tab), Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1909, pp. 19, 52. [Public domain]
  3. C. U. Aitchison (compiler), A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads relating to India and Neighbouring Countries, Vol. IX: Hyderabad, Mysore and Coorg (4th ed.) (opens in a new tab), Superintendent, Government Printing, India, Calcutta, 1909, pp. 15. [Public domain]
  4. K. Krishnaswamy Mudiraj, Pictorial Hyderabad, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Chandrakanth Press, Hyderabad (Deccan), 1929, pp. 180, 223–226, 245, 290. [Public domain]

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