Evening Star Newspaper, January 17, 1932, Page 78

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 17, 1932. Daughter-in-law of the world's richest man. Princess Durri Chehvar, daughter of the former Caliph of Islam, and bride of Prince Azam Jah. NICE, FRANCE. HE Nizam of Hyderabad in Central India is the wealthiest man in the world. He has $500,000,000 in gold, so they say, and $2,000,000,000 worth of jewels and ores. He has a habit of doing extravagant things, although he also has a reputation for being stingy. His last sensational act was the spending of $1,200,000 to buy brides for his two older sons. Crown Prince Azam Jah and Prince Noaz- zam Jah hal nothing at all to say about the choice of their wives. Their father bought them each one. He chose cousins because he could get a special rate by taking two girls from the same family. Azam and Noazzam have been around. They ave danced with lots of girls in Paris and ndon. They have had English tutors, and they have learned a little about Western civ- ilization, although the kingdom where they live is as colorful and medieval as an Arabian Nights' tale So, for that matter, have the brides been around. In many ways they are thoroughly westernized, and just how they are going to like wearing veils and spending practically every moment in the luxurious but confining harems is something that remains to be seen. HE Niza 1 has stayed at home. The people in Hyderabad believe that their sovereign is too precious to leave India. Just the same, he didn't intend to risk letting Azam and Noazzam pick out their own wives. He sat in first one, then another, of his several palaces, and thought over the matter. He decided that he knew the very two girls for his sons. Prince Abdul Medjid Effendi, the former Caliph of Islam, head of the Mohammedan religion and spiritual leader of 300,000,000 Mo- hammedans, has a daughter, Princess Durri Chehvar. She is 18. The Nizam decided that she was just the right age for his son Azam. The former Caliph also has a niece, Princess Hadice Nilufer. She is 16. Hyderabad's mon- arch thought that she would do very nicely for his other son, Noazzam. ‘Besides, the Indian monarch knew $hat he could get both girls on the same transaction, for the deposed Caliph is poverty-stricken. MWobody knows it better than the Nizam, who has been giving him $1,500 a month for living expenses ever since Mustapha Kemal exiled Caliph Medjid from Turkey seven years ago. So the Nizam got in touch with the religious leader. He offered the Caliph a raise of $500 a month, bringing his monthly allowance up to $2,000. and he offered him a gift of $1,200,- 000 to boot, if the Caliph would let his daughter and niece come to live in the fabu- lously wealthy kingdom of Hyderabad. Caliph accepted all ofters . . . as who wouldn't . . . and the bargain was sealed. The ruler of Hyderabad then went down into the subterranean chamber of his chiet palace. He entered a secret cave, cut in solid rock and lined with steel exactly like a vault. He has baskets and baskets of jewels stand- ing around everywhere. Rubies and sapphires and pearls are piled together quite as though they were apples or turnips. Bottle after bot- tle glistens with diamonds. One room in this underground cave is fur- nished sumptuously, so the Nizam can relax and enjoy himself when he goes down to look at his jewels. He has discovered that the handling of the gems is very soothing to his nerves. When he can't sleep just the touch of the jewels makes him drowsy. The Nizam carried some of his treasures into this room. Then he picked up an emerald here and a ruby there and counted out some dia- nonds as doctors shake out pills. When he bd a million dollars’ worth of stones he Stopped. He had so many left he never missed the ones he had set aside. Then he went into the gold chamber. He has blocks of solid gold weighing as much as a quarter of a ton each. He has carloads of golden nuggets, and Aladdin’s lamp wouldn't have tried to turn out the golden coins he keeps stored away. The Nizam counted out $200,000 HE two princes weren't especially anxious &dm get married. The Crown Prince Azam e the remark not long ago that he prefers horses to women. “They are more dependable than woraen,” I.ove Had N()thing to DoWith the Matches Between the Indian Princes and Turkish Princesses, for the Famous Nizam of Iiydcr;lb;ui Arranged and Paid for It All-- $1,200,000 Down; and Millions More Due Later. he argues. “If a horse throws you it will stand by you until you get on your feet again.” However, he and his brother are obedient sons of the richest man in the world, so they started to Nice, in France, where the Abdul Merjid Effend1 has a palace. The prospective brides were very much ex- cited. The deposed Caliph’'s daughter, Prin- cess Durri Ct is very slender. She is dark, with thi v hair and flashing black eyes of the East But she is brainy as well as beautiful. She 1, Prench, German, Italian, Turk- 1 very fluently. She also is a good business woman, and has been acting as her “father’s secretary in order to cut down expenses. Furthermore, she had never worn the veil, as most Turkish girls had to until recently. She doesn’t approve of lipstick and rouge, but otherwise she is as up-to-date as any Ameri- can girl. But over in Hyderabad, where she is living now, women never are allowed outside the harem without veils. They cannot go to the sump'uous banquets that the Nizam gives. Only foreign women attend his parties. His own wives may watch through latticed windows. RINCESS HADICE NILUFER isn't as im- portant as her ccusin, of course. But she, too, has plenty of Western ideas. And both girls are sensible. They saw to it that their marriage agreement contained a clause whereby they will get the full sum of their dowers for their own in case of the termination of their marriages, either by death of their husbands e | W hen the Nizam’'s sons were married at Nice, France. Prince Azam Jah and his bride, Princess Durri Chehvar, are at the left, with Prince Noazzam Jah and his bride, Princess Hadice Nilufer, at the right, and the former Caliph of Islam seated in the center. or divorce. Princess Durri Cktehvar's dower is $200,000. Her cousin’s is $75,000. The Nizam had to stay at hcme while the double wedding ceremonies of his sons were being performed in Nice. The two Indian princes were decorated with all sorts of trappings and jeweled decorations exactly as their father wculd have wanted them to be. Gems sparkled in their swords and garlands of flowers hung around their necks. They had a gorgeous retinue to escort them. Pictures of the brides were propped up before tha two youths. For 30 minutes Azam and Noazzam knelt on their knees and grew familiar with the photographs while the details of the marriages were worked out. The local British consul at Nice then per- formed a civil ceremony. Then the former Caliph performed a religious ceremony. It was the first marriage ceremony that he had ever performed, he said. But he got along The world’s richest man, who spent $1,200,000 on brides for his two sons. The Nizam of Hyderabad wearing his monarchical regalia. very well when you consider that his fee was $1,200,000. The mutual consent of the two princes and of the two princesses in the presence of was all that was needed to make e binding. Since the Nizam and Caliph had already arranged matters, naturally the four young people had to agree. THE Mohammedan bridegrooms had to repeat the words: “I desire forgiveness from God.” After that the Caliph quoted the four briefest chapters of the Koran, and the creed, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet.” A profession of belief in God, the angels, the scriptures, the prophets, the resurrection, and the absolute decree of good and evil came next. The ex-Calipnh then asked the bride's attorney to take the hand of the bridegroom and the dowry was formally accepted. Then the ex-Caliph lifted both hands high. “O great God, grant that mutual love may reign between these couples, as it existed be- tween Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Zalikra, Moses and Zipporah, his highness Mohammed and Ayishah, and his highness Ali al Murtaza and Fatimatu 'z-Zahra.” S socn as this was over the two bride- grooms told -their wives that they would see them later, and went back to their hotel. The nuptial reunion didn't take place until they were all home again in Hyderabad, just the other day. Mohammedan ceremonies in India usually last three days. Fireworks, trumpets and drums and women who sing help to make them noisy. The bridegroom comes to the bride’s house in a procession much like the one which escorted the two princes to the ex-Caliph’'s villa. Once there, he is blindfolded and an herb called mayndi is fastened to his hands and feet to dye them a spectacular crimson. The bride, who has been painted up the same way, has to endure a large assortment of rings for her fingers and toes, and a special one for her nose, presented by her husband’s family. Her lips and gums and teeth are dyed tin-white. Just how the two princesses will react to the policy of being shut up in a palace remains to be seen. The Nizam has 300 wives, who are satisfied to drink perfumed coffee and gossip and play musical instruments. But the Princess Durri Chehvar is used to typing business letters. The princesses have worked up all the sun-tan they wanted to at Nice. Back in Hyderabad, where people still ride elephants, no woman ventures out without a veil. And the ladies of the palace are well guarded when they do go out. Church attendance by women is limited to once a week. Then they spend their time praying for male children. There is a difference, though, between being relatively poor and dining on a golden plate, with barefooted servants waving peacock fans to stir up a breeze while you eat, and a jeweled divan on which to recline. RINCESS DURRI CHEHVAR and Princess Hadice Nilufer have stepped straight back into a glamorous, feudal existence that is utterly unlike the modern world. They may be surprised, too, at the 21 guns that are fired whenever their royal father-in- law makes his appearance, They will soon learn that the British navy does it as a salute just because he is so rich. s The Nizam puts on good shows is his palace for his guests’ and his own entertainment. His dancing girls are slim and graceful and alluring. The dances which delight the Nizam have been handed down from generation to generation. v But these dances have never gone beyond the bounds of the court of Hyderabad. Other Eastern glamour has come West. Not the Nizam’s private entertainment.