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ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY occasion of his leaving it can be ascertained, but about chap. the latter end of the reign of Shah Jehan he is to be v v -' t found at the Court of Delhi, where he seerns to have been N izam ' s

Ancestry.

favourably received by the emperor.

The other tradition of The Nizam's ancestry to which I •refer is that the family is of Tartar origin, and claims de- scent from Baha-ood-Deen — a person much celebrated for his devotional zeal as well as for the austerity of his life. He took the appellation of Khajeh Nukshbund, and was the founder of the order of Nukshbundee Dervises which still prevails in Turkey and Tartary. His descen- dants to this day generally prefix the word Khajeh to their names, and distinguish themselves by the appellation of Nukshbundee. Khajeh is a term of honour usually applied to persons who are eminent either for their sanc- tity or learning. The literal meaning of Nukshbund is fixing an impression ; and the term was figuratively adopted by Baha-ood-Deen to signify that the impression of the Deity was fixed on his mind. Baha-ood-Deen was contemporary with Timour, and died towards the close of the fourteenth century. Azeem Khan, otherwise Khajeh Abeed, was the first of the family who visited India ; he went from Samarcand to Delhi in the reign of Shah Jehan.

Whatever doubt or difficulty about the remote ancestry of the Nizam, these two traditions now join issue as to the particular progenitor who paid homage to Shah Jehan. Before entering upon that progenitor's biography, it were desirable now to notice that the title acquired by his grand- son from his sovereign, the Emperor of Delhi, of Nizam- ool-Moolk — Eegulator of the Country — has been con- tinued in the person of his descendants who have held the government of Hyderabad, much in the same way as the J>2