NEW DELHI-
Fabulous rubies, huge emeralds and one of the world’s largest diamonds will be on display at India’s National Museum when a royal jewelry collection travels to India’s capital next month, a news report said.
The “Nizam’s Jewels,” a collection of the family treasures of the family that once ruled the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, is now owned by India’s government. However, government officials were tightlipped about details due to security concerns. “Yes, such an exhibition is being considered. The process is on. But I cannot reveal anything more than that,” R.S.S. Chauhan, a spokesman for the National Museum told the Times of India newspaper.
The Nizams, who ruled the princely state from 1724 until India gained independence from Britain in 1947, built a massive collection of jewelry that experts valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. The Indian government paid the family’s heirs $48 million in 1995 after a protracted legal battle aimed at preventing them from auctioning the collection. The jewels are currently on display in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.
