ABSTRACT
Nawab Mehdi Nawaz Jung’s ancestors came to Hyderabad from Madras during the reign of the Fifth Nizam. His father was a respected noble in Hyderabad. Mehdi Nawaz was educated in Hyderabad; he graduated from the Nizam College. Almost immediately he was selected for government service and was first posted as district treasury officer, Gulbarga. After some other assignments, he was posted as assistant registrar of cooperative societies and sent to England and Ireland for study and training. Eventually, when Maharaja Kishan Prashad became Prime Minister, Mehdi Nawaz was appointed secretary to the cabinet.
Mehdi Nawaz extensively travelled in the state with Maharaja Kishan Prashad. He tried to promote many cottage industries in the state. But his lasting personal contribution to Hyderabad city during his tenure was the development of Banjara Hills, which was then simply a tract of barren land full of rocks, but, in course of time, became the costliest residential area in Hyderabad.
