The Hindu : National : Habib Mian, 138, dead

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Habib Mian, 138, dead

Special Correspondent

Habib Mian

JAIPUR: Habib Mian alias Rahim Khan — perhaps the oldest man in the world — died here on early Tuesday morning after a brief illness at the age of 138.

He was suffering from fever and dysentery and he breathed his last at his small house in a resettlement colony here. He leaves behind a family of 32.

The grand old man was a witness to the life and times of two kings of Jaipur, the dominance of the British Raj and the decades after the Jaipur princely state of the erstwhile Rajputana merged into the Indian Union after Independence.

The Limca Book of World Records recognises him as the oldest living man in the world in its 2005 edition. But the Guinness Book of Records did not give him this recognition because his pension papers say he was born on May 20, 1878 at Rajgarh in Alwar district.

Habib Mian also held the distinction of being the oldest Haj pilgrim — he went to the Mecca in 2004 — and the longest beneficiary of old age pension — since 1938, first from the Jaipur princely state and from the Rajasthan government after Independence. His monthly pension, which started at Re. 1 and 86 paise, gradually rose to Rs.2,698.

He was buried at the Ghat Gate graveyard here after the “Zuhar” (afternoon) prayers.

Habib Mian was a clarinet player in the royal band of the erstwhile ruler of Jaipur, Sawai Madho Singh, and he retired from the Man Guard platoon in 1938 during the reign of Sawai Man Singh II. Except for his vision, which he lost 50 years ago, he enjoyed a generally good health. His mobility was limited in recent years.

Nawab Faiyaz Ali of Aligarh, who had come to Jaipur on the king’s invitation, died when Habib Mian was 10 years old. The Nawab’s grave in the main burial ground in the city bears the year 1300 of the Hijri calendar. The current Hijri year is 1429, which establishes that he completed 138 years this year.

Though his birthday had become a public event ever his age came to people’s notice, Habib Mian did not celebrate the day this year as he was distressed by the May 13 serial blasts in the city that claimed 68 lives.

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