Hyderabad: Rumi Hat, popularized by Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, in a condition of Prince Hyderabad who used to be a fight against changing opportunities, modernity and mode to survive.
While Rumi Hats (Roman Hats) were banned in Turkey in 1922 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a cylinder red hat continued to be popular in Hyderabad and the parts were not divided in the 1980s.
With a limited manufacture on a handful of places in the world – Hyderabad is one of them – Rumi Hats will be forgotten, but thanks to those who use it on special occasions such as marriage and Eid prayer, it survives.
Rumi Hat, introduced to Hyderabad from Turkey, also highlighted close relations between Turkey Ottoman and Prince Hyderabad.
After the elimination of the Caliph System in Turkey, the last ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Mejid II, wanted that if the Caliphate had to be revived, his grandson Mukarram had to replace him.
Mukarram Jah also grandchild Mir Osman Ali Khan, and former Nizam VIII titular from Hyderabad.
Mukarram Jah also often uses Rumi Hats during his visit to Hyderabad.
Historians say while the hat is popular as Fez throughout the world, it is called Rumi Hats or Roman heads in sub-continents, when the Ottoman Empire has replaced the Eastern Roman Empire.
Historian Allama Ejaz Farrukh said that the position of tassel attached to the Rumi Hat connoted the wearer’s status.
It was once part of the OU student uniform.
Himayat Ali Mirza, grandson of Nizam’s man, said Mir Osman Ali Khan never wearing expensive clothes but wearing Rumi hats maybe to cover his short physical stature.
“Nizam advised his son, Prince Muazzam Jah, who was my grandfather, to always wear rumi-rumi and he did it because it was a symbol of respect,” he said.
Muhammad Ilyas Bukhari from Muhammad Cap Mart, maybe the only manufacturer of Rumi Hats in these parts, told Toi Rumi Hat requests never reduced.
“The price between Rs 250 and Rs 6,000, Rumi Hat continues to be in it,” he said, given how a senior politician ordered 1,000 topms during the separate Telangana movement.
Apart from Nizam’s family members, the general Muslim Hyderabadi, most of the old generation, preferred to use it in Eid al-Fitr.
Most of the old Telugu films identify Muslim characters with Rumi Hats.
In Tollywood, the former CM NT Rama Rao popularized it.