Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Bahadur Yamin us-Sultanat GCIE (1864 – 13 May 1940) was an Indian noble who served as Prime Minister of Hyderabad twice.

Nine years later, Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan appointed him dewan (prime minister).

During his first tenure as dewan, he was credited with increasing the state's revenue and helping victims of the Great Musi Flood of 1908.

During this period, he passed the Mulki regulations, which favoured local citizens over British for administrative positions.

A proponent of the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (culture of the central plains of Northern India), Pershad also wrote Urdu and Persian poems, which were influenced by Sufism.

[2] Pershad's ancestor, Rai Mull Chand, migrated from Delhi to Hyderabad with Asaf Jah I.

His grandfather Narinder Pershad served as dewan and peshkar (deputy minister) during the reign of Mahbub Ali Khan.

[3] Pershad studied the Sanskrit language because of his Hindu faith and accountancy because he had the hereditary charge of the royal treasury.

He also fulfilled his responsibilities as a peshkar, which included him constantly attending to the Nizam to help him complete the formalities of state.

[7] He was also conferred with the title "Yamin us Saltanat" (English: right hand of the realm) and his status was raised from that of a raja to a maharaja.

In 1908, a flood occurred in the state when the Musi River overflowed killing people and destroying property.

[citation needed] Pershad wrote Persian and Urdu poems under the pen name "Shad" (English: happy).

[15][16] He wrote I am neither Hindu nor a Muslim My faith reposes in every religion Shad alone knows of his religious beliefs As none but the free can fathom the essence of freedom.

[5] The Times of India wrote the following about him: His charismatic personality and legendary largesse endeared him with the masses.

His eminence as the supreme personification of all that was good in erstwhile Hyderabad has ensured that 'Maharaja' implies none other than Kishen Pershad.

[21] Upon his death, Nizam Osman Ali Khan said "society has witnessed the departure of the last vestige of the Mughal empire".