John Zubrzycki , the best selling author of his first book The Last Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback , is a Sydney-based author, journalist and researcher, specialising in South Asia, in particular India.
It was during working on first book he came across the fascinating story of Mr Alexander Malcolm Jacob, the man who was once owner of the Imperial Diamond, which is now called the Jacob Diamond.
As it is known, Mr. Jacob was a jeweler and the leading dealer of antiquities and gemstones in India. He started with nothing and became the most famous antique dealer in India. His famous shop was in Shimla. He was to sell the diamond to the Nizam of Hyderabad. But the transaction went terribly wrong and he was accused of fraud by the Nizam. This led to a sensational trial in the Calcutta High Court and it made into headlines around the world.
"Things went terribly … terribly wrong for him afterwards. So you know, he went rags to riches and ended up rags in Bombay … he had all those dramas in his story", John said
Book authored by John Zubrzycki Source: John Zubrzycki
Mr. Jacob was a mysterious man. No one knew about his origin. There had been many mysteries around him that he had the power to turn invisible, he was rumoured to be rich beyond imagination. He started with nothing yet he was the most famous antique dealer in India.
"So many fascinating aspect of his story like who he was, where from he came and what happened to him. No body knew who he was. I thought it would make a great story." said John.
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Was it very difficult to trace the facts?
"Yes, It was very difficult to search about his life. He was a private person, he didnt give many interviews. Separating facts from fiction was quite difficult", said Mr. Zubrzycki
John researched about him in London, Turkey where he was born. He traveled to many places of India - Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shimla and many more places. Gradually, he could link all the dots and put all the pieces together.
"I spent a great deal of time in India too trying to find the traces of his life. Unfortunately, the house where he lived in Simla was demolished short after I got there so, I was very lucky to having seen that His shop was disappeared and many people tried to locate where it was not there. But the process of search helped me to understand the character and gave me the different aspect of his life", said Mr. Zubrzycki
John could see the Jacobs diamond in 2008 when the jewels of the Nizam were on display. As it is known, the last Nizam Osman Ali Khan found this diamond in his fathers shoe after his death. Osman later used it as paper weight for a long time without realising its worth. Now currently, this diamond is owned by the Government of India.
Jacob Napkin holder Source: John Zubrzycki
Going to Shimla holds a special memory to John as he could find many of the landmarks which were there during Jacobs time. Probably the most powerful part for him was going to Mr. Jacob's house.
"That house was kind of abandoned. Many different occupants lived there but you could stand there in the dinning room, where he entertained his guests and did some amazing magic and you can imagine that slightly dim and smoky room which would be full of amazing artefacts … precious things from all over the world which he dealt with and collected … that was the probably the most special part of me", John fondly recalls the most cherished memory of his journey to write this biography.
John was fortunate to get this opportunity to visit Jacob's house as soon after, it got demolished to make way for new surrounding.
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His word of wisdom for buddy writers who would like to take a plunge in biography writing is that first one must choose a character which has enough colour in personality, who could generate wide interest in that persons life. And then, one must be able to access enough information to carry the research to sketch the life and paint the picture of that time. The most important is to have a great story to tell.
John is next working on a book on Indian Magic … the extraordinary characters like P C Sarkar … many lesser known but extraordinary magicians - the Jadoowalas of India
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