[3] Afzal-ud-Daulah died on 29 February, and a day later Mahboob Ali Khan ascended the throne, at the age of two years and seven months, under the regency of Dewan Salar Jung I with Shams-ul-Umra III as co-regent.

A special school, under the guidance of Captain John Clarke, a former tutor to the Duke of Edinburgh, was started in the Chowmahalla Palace.

[7] At the age of sixteen, Salar Jung I began introducing Mahboob Ali Khan to the administrative processes of the state.

[8] The regency of Salar Jung I and Shams-ul-Umra III ended when Mahboob Ali Khan came out of age.

Lord Ripon, the Governor-General of India, was present and gave him a golden sword, which was studded with diamonds.

The introduction of railways also marked the beginning of the industry in Hyderabad, and four factories were built to the south and east of Hussain Sagar Lake.

[12] Mahboob Ali Khan established the Hyderabad Medical College, the first in India, and commissioned for chloroform the first time in world.

When the Nizam distributed aid to famine victims in Hyderabad, tens of thousands of people fled Sholapur and other affected areas.

[14] The Nizam was a senior ruling prince present at the 1903 Delhi Durbar celebrations that marked the succession of Edward VII as Emperor of India.

During the event the Nizam was invested with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) personally by the Duke of Connaught, who represented his brother at the ceremonies.

He observed Chilla Khashi, 41 days of meditation, on the banks of River Musi to overcome the floods.

[20] The practice of Sati was the Hindu tradition of a widowed woman jumping into her husband's burning pyre.

That concerned the Nizam, who took serious note of it continuing in some parts of his kingdom despite its banning, and so he issued a royal firman[21] on 12 November 1876:[22] It is now notified that if anybody takes any action in this direction in the future, they will have to face serious consequences.

If Taluqdars, Naibs, Jagirdars, Zamindars and others are found careless and negligent in the matter, serious action will be taken against them by the government.According to the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, the Nizam was the object of the Diwan, Salar Jung I, a man who wanted to reduce Mir Mahboob Ali Khan to a cipher to hold the power of the state and remain concentrated in his own hands.

[23] He was married to Amat-uz-Zahra Begum, daughter of Salar Jung I with whom he fell in love while he was studying at the age of 18.

According to the book “Tulasī kī sāhitya-sādhanā:The Legacy of the Nizams", Muneeruddin Khan, titled Secunder Yar Jung, taught him the spell.