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The Indian Caliphate: Exiled Ottomans and the Billionaire Prince
The remarkable story of the last Ottoman Caliph, exiled by Ataturk, who tried to recreate the Caliphate in the Indian princely state of Hyderabad.
Abdulmejid II was a talented painter, music enthusiast and Francophile. He was also the last Ottoman Caliph, expelled from Istanbul in March 1924 when Turkey abolished the 1,300-year-old Caliphate.
From his villa on the French Riviera, Abdulmejid launched a plan to resurrect the institution and transform world history. Indian politician Shaukat Ali brokered a marital alliance between the Ottomans and the Nizam of Hyderabad, the world's richest prince, who governed a state the size of Italy in the Indian subcontinent.
This saw the union of Islam's two greatest houses, and of the Islamic west and east. It cemented Hyderabad's status as a global Muslim capital, and left Abdulmejid's grandson, the Ottoman prince and the designated Nizam-in-waiting, perfectly placed to claim the Caliphate. But Partition in 1947 and the annexation of Hyderabad the following year spelled the end of this prospect.
Exploring the lives, cultures and sensibilities of an amazing cast of players, The Indian Caliphate details this extraordinary history, which for decades has been consigned to near oblivion. This story of the downfall of two Muslim dynasties reveals a forgotten that India was, in many ways, the very epicentre of the Islamic world in the early twentieth century.
***
'A riveting story eloquently told that describes the interlinked histories of Ottoman decline and Indian decolonisation in a wholly original way.' FAISAL DEVJI, Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History, University of Oxford
'Richly researched and compellingly written, this book announces the arrival of Imran Mulla, not just as a meticulous and exciting historian, but as a voice that will be and should be heard through the coming decades.' MOIN MIR, author of The Prince Who Beat the Empire
'The abolition of the Caliphate by Ataturk in 1924 would have profound implications for the Islamic world. In this ambitious and engrossing book, Mulla forensically traces the intrigue and suspense that accompanied Abdulmejid's attempt to revive the Caliphate in India, much to the consternation of the British. As he takes the reader from Istanbul to the French Riviera, from the attar-scented palaces of Hyderabad to the dusty Australian Outback, Mulla introduces a bedazzling cast of characters, vividly bringing to life this important and largely untold story of empire and exile.' JOHN ZUBRZYCKI, author of The Downfall of India's Princely States
'Mulla engagingly explores the dynamic interactions among the colourful leading personalities of the final days of the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic Caliphate, the pre-1947 Muslim nationalist movement in the late British Indian Raj, and the fading Indian princely state of Hyderabad.' MICHAEL H. FISHER, Robert S. Danforth Professor of History, Emeritus, Oberlin College
Abdulmejid II was a talented painter, music enthusiast and Francophile. He was also the last Ottoman Caliph, expelled from Istanbul in March 1924 when Turkey abolished the 1,300-year-old Caliphate.
From his villa on the French Riviera, Abdulmejid launched a plan to resurrect the institution and transform world history. Indian politician Shaukat Ali brokered a marital alliance between the Ottomans and the Nizam of Hyderabad, the world's richest prince, who governed a state the size of Italy in the Indian subcontinent.
This saw the union of Islam's two greatest houses, and of the Islamic west and east. It cemented Hyderabad's status as a global Muslim capital, and left Abdulmejid's grandson, the Ottoman prince and the designated Nizam-in-waiting, perfectly placed to claim the Caliphate. But Partition in 1947 and the annexation of Hyderabad the following year spelled the end of this prospect.
Exploring the lives, cultures and sensibilities of an amazing cast of players, The Indian Caliphate details this extraordinary history, which for decades has been consigned to near oblivion. This story of the downfall of two Muslim dynasties reveals a forgotten that India was, in many ways, the very epicentre of the Islamic world in the early twentieth century.
***
'A riveting story eloquently told that describes the interlinked histories of Ottoman decline and Indian decolonisation in a wholly original way.' FAISAL DEVJI, Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History, University of Oxford
'Richly researched and compellingly written, this book announces the arrival of Imran Mulla, not just as a meticulous and exciting historian, but as a voice that will be and should be heard through the coming decades.' MOIN MIR, author of The Prince Who Beat the Empire
'The abolition of the Caliphate by Ataturk in 1924 would have profound implications for the Islamic world. In this ambitious and engrossing book, Mulla forensically traces the intrigue and suspense that accompanied Abdulmejid's attempt to revive the Caliphate in India, much to the consternation of the British. As he takes the reader from Istanbul to the French Riviera, from the attar-scented palaces of Hyderabad to the dusty Australian Outback, Mulla introduces a bedazzling cast of characters, vividly bringing to life this important and largely untold story of empire and exile.' JOHN ZUBRZYCKI, author of The Downfall of India's Princely States
'Mulla engagingly explores the dynamic interactions among the colourful leading personalities of the final days of the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic Caliphate, the pre-1947 Muslim nationalist movement in the late British Indian Raj, and the fading Indian princely state of Hyderabad.' MICHAEL H. FISHER, Robert S. Danforth Professor of History, Emeritus, Oberlin College
280 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 9, 2026
Thoroughly engaging, this book provides a compelling and emotive portrait of the lives of the Ottoman and Asaf Jahi royalty and the international Muslim cosmopolitan elite of the first half of the 20th century, a time of such tectonic shifts in the traditional political order. This is a story well worth telling and certainly well told and I am very grateful to have been able to play a small part in its composition. While my BA dissertation compelled me to wish for treatment of the Mamluks in the summary of caliphal history, that minor quibble aside, the book stands as a strong and soundly researched entry into the field of history.
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August 1, 2026Completed reading
'The Indian Caliphate'
by Imran Mulla
It is certainly one of the most fascinating books I have read in recent years. As someone deeply interested to know a bit more about #Hyderabad's history, I was amazed by how much of our recent past remains largely unknown, despite its global significance. This book brings to light a remarkable chapter that connects Hyderabad, the #OttomanEmpire, the #British Raj, the Indian freedom movement and the wider Islamic world in a way few readers would have imagined.
The story of the last Ottoman #Caliph, #Abdulmejid II, and his family's close association with the Seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, is extraordinary. The marriages of Princess #Durrushehvar and Princess #Niloufer into the Asaf Jahi dynasty are not narrated merely as royal alliances, but as events carrying immense political, diplomatic and above all, civilisational significance. The author has masterfully blended his archival research with engaging storytelling, making history read like a novel.
The book is a must-read for those who intend to know about the Hindu-Muslim harmony in this part of India. It offers insights into the Nizam's administration, Osmania University, Hyderabad's cosmopolitan culture, and the personalities who shaped the destiny of the princely state. Many anecdotes, from #RabindranathTagore's admiration for #OsmaniaUniversity to the impressions of foreign visitors and the intimate lives of the royal family, paint a vivid portrait of Hyderabad that was deeply connected to world affairs.
The author's meticulous research is evident throughout. Drawing from British archives, Ottoman sources and personal correspondence, he reconstructs a forgotten world with remarkable clarity and balance. Every chapter challenges long-held assumptions and encourages readers to rediscover Hyderabad's place in global history.
Like the author signed-off, this is truly a great work that highlights a chapter in our extraordinary and interconnected global history that deserves to be remembered.
'The Indian Caliphate'
by Imran Mulla
It is certainly one of the most fascinating books I have read in recent years. As someone deeply interested to know a bit more about #Hyderabad's history, I was amazed by how much of our recent past remains largely unknown, despite its global significance. This book brings to light a remarkable chapter that connects Hyderabad, the #OttomanEmpire, the #British Raj, the Indian freedom movement and the wider Islamic world in a way few readers would have imagined.
The story of the last Ottoman #Caliph, #Abdulmejid II, and his family's close association with the Seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, is extraordinary. The marriages of Princess #Durrushehvar and Princess #Niloufer into the Asaf Jahi dynasty are not narrated merely as royal alliances, but as events carrying immense political, diplomatic and above all, civilisational significance. The author has masterfully blended his archival research with engaging storytelling, making history read like a novel.
The book is a must-read for those who intend to know about the Hindu-Muslim harmony in this part of India. It offers insights into the Nizam's administration, Osmania University, Hyderabad's cosmopolitan culture, and the personalities who shaped the destiny of the princely state. Many anecdotes, from #RabindranathTagore's admiration for #OsmaniaUniversity to the impressions of foreign visitors and the intimate lives of the royal family, paint a vivid portrait of Hyderabad that was deeply connected to world affairs.
The author's meticulous research is evident throughout. Drawing from British archives, Ottoman sources and personal correspondence, he reconstructs a forgotten world with remarkable clarity and balance. Every chapter challenges long-held assumptions and encourages readers to rediscover Hyderabad's place in global history.
Like the author signed-off, this is truly a great work that highlights a chapter in our extraordinary and interconnected global history that deserves to be remembered.
Review of advance copy
(This title has already released in UK & India)
Those who know me know that the Ottoman Empire is my Roman Empire.
I had already gone down the rabbit-hole and read about Durrushehvar, about her father's intention to revive the Caliphate evident from her marriage and the document found in Hyderabad, about her son Mukarram's passing in 2023 and his burial in Hyderabad where the people mourned him and black flags were raised on streets. I also virtually tracked down the lineage to the present generation - Murad Jah.
Naturally when I learnt that a journalist from a newspaper I highly respect had written a book on the topic, I had to get my hands on it.
In school, we were taught a single severely downplayed line about how Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali started the Khilafat Movement to support the last Turkish Caliph.
In contrast, this book fully captures the political landscape of the Islamic world and leadership at the time and excellently delivers the truths that have been buried and glossed over.
Excellently researched and well written, I savoured it and even had a few laughs at the author's clever way of writing.
I highly recommend this!!
Those who know me know that the Ottoman Empire is my Roman Empire.
I had already gone down the rabbit-hole and read about Durrushehvar, about her father's intention to revive the Caliphate evident from her marriage and the document found in Hyderabad, about her son Mukarram's passing in 2023 and his burial in Hyderabad where the people mourned him and black flags were raised on streets. I also virtually tracked down the lineage to the present generation - Murad Jah.
Naturally when I learnt that a journalist from a newspaper I highly respect had written a book on the topic, I had to get my hands on it.
In school, we were taught a single severely downplayed line about how Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali started the Khilafat Movement to support the last Turkish Caliph.
In contrast, this book fully captures the political landscape of the Islamic world and leadership at the time and excellently delivers the truths that have been buried and glossed over.
Excellently researched and well written, I savoured it and even had a few laughs at the author's clever way of writing.
I highly recommend this!!
July 7, 2026
Full of things I'd never learnt before, and people that were, until now, footnotes in history textbooks to me. It paints a beautiful picture of the world in the early 20th century, a time that would have been so insane to live in. It also gives you a great sense of all the personalities involved. You get a great sense of who these people are, as whole people, not only as historical figures. With some of the terms being from such a different time, this book makes a lot of this period come to life in a way that hadn't before for me. It connected two moments in history I think a lot about: India's freedom and the World Wars.
December 24, 2025
I might be glazing the author but it's a splendid work of history, which like any good work in this domain, reads as a novel. One might even compare it to detective fiction, considering how much of this narrative was lost in history and gathered dust from London to Hyderabad but nevertheless through this tale is brilliantly uncovered by the author.
August 15, 2026
A truly fascinating narrative of a little-known bit of history.
Possibly the author is overly generous to the Hyderabad state, but it is nevertheless well written and engaging.
Possibly the author is overly generous to the Hyderabad state, but it is nevertheless well written and engaging.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews