grandee of his time and his popularity was next only to that of the nizam himself he loved to call himself a fakir in the sufi sense he was however careful to accommodate outsiders when necessary as the interest of the state and its people was uppermost in his mind he continued in the post for the next ten years up to his final retirement from public service in 1937 the influx of outsiders in large numbers who got the most coveted posts and were paid higher salaries on the grounds of supposedly possessing better qualifications had given birth to feelings of strong resentment among the locals maharaja kishen pershad succeeded to the hereditary post of peshkar in 1892 and was appointed divan prime minister in1900 shad hi jane azadi azad hi jane i am neither hindu nor muslim a patron of the arts and literature he supported numerous scholars who flocked to his palace seeking favours maharaja kishen pershad was undoubtedly the most prominent among iconic personalities who defined the culture and society of hyderabad in the last century by reorganizing the salary structure and making state service lucrative for the talented he took steps to ensure that the best candidates opted for government service the writer is a heritage activist throughout his life he meticulously maintained the timehonoured traditions of hyderabad prime among them being a fierce loyalty to the nizam and the state