SALAR JUNG, SIR (1829-1883), Indian statesman of Hyderabad, born in 1829, descendant of a family of officials under the Adil Shahi kings of Bijapur, then under the Delhi emperors and lastly under the Nizams. Sir Salar Jung's personal name was Mir Turab Ali ; he was styled by native officials of Hyderabad the Mukhtaru 'l-Mulk, and commonly known as the Nawab Sahib. He succeeded his uncle Suraju 'l-Mulk as prime minister of Hyderabad in 1853. Salar Jung disciplined Arab mercenaries, the more valuable part of the Nizam's army, and employed them against the rapacious nobles and bands of robbers who had anni hilated the trade of the country. He then constituted courts of justice at Hyderabad, organized the police force, constructed and repaired irrigation works, and established schools. On the out break of the Mutiny he supported the British, and although un able to hinder an attack on the residency, he warned the British minister that it was in contemplation. The attack was repulsed; the Hyderabad contingent remained loyal, and their loyalty served to ensure the tranquillity of the Deccan. Salar Jung took
advantage of the preoccupation of the British government with the Mutiny to push his reforms more boldly, and when the Cal cutta authorities were again at liberty to consider the condition of affairs his work had been carried far towards completion. During the lifetime of the Nizam, Afzulu'd-dowla, Salar Jung was con siderably hampered by his master's jealous supervision. When Mir Mahbub Ali, however, succeeded his father in 1869, Salar Jung, at the instance of the British government, was associated in the regency with the principal noble of the state, the Shamsu 'l-Umara or Amir Kabir, and enjoyed an increased authority. In 1876 he visited England with the object of obtaining the restora tion of Berar. Although he was unsuccessful, his personal merits met with full recognition. He died of cholera at Hyderabad on the 8th of February 1883.
See Memoirs of Sir Salar Jung, by his private secretary, Syed Hossain Bilgrami, 1883.