Written by Soudip

June 7th 2014

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Chowmahalla Palace Historical Facts and Pictures

Chowmahalla Palace or Chowmahallat (Four Palaces) was the official residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad when they ruled the state. The Nizams have always been regarded as patrons of art, architecture and science with the Chowmahalla Palace bearing testimony to the same.

Nizam Salabhat Jung is often credited with conceptualizing and initiating the construction of the palace complex in 1750, though it was Nizam Afzar-ud-Dawla Bahadur who oversaw its completion between 1857 and 1869. Originally the palace spanned over an area of almost 45 acres but today only 12 acres of it remains. The complex itself is believed to have been modeled on Shah of Iran’s palace in Tehran. The palace is considered as a unique piece of architecture because of the elegance and style exhibited in its construction.

The oldest part of the complex is the Southern Courtyard and comprises of the four palaces Afzal Mahal, Mahtab Mahal, Tahniyat Mahal and Aftab Mahal. The Aftab Mahal, a two storeyed palatial building, is the grandest of them all and boasts of a European façade of Corinthian columns. The Northern Courtyard consists of the Bara Imam, which is a long corridor of rooms on the east side and housed the administrative wing of the Nizams. Opposite to the Bara Imam is a building called the Shishe-Alat or mirror image and was used to house the officials accompanying the visiting dignitaries.

At the heart of the Chowmahalla Palace is the Khilwat Mubarak, the grand Durbar hall. It has a pure marble platform on which the royal seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty was laid. Here the Nizams held their durbar and other religious ceremonies. The clock above the main gate of the palace, called the Khilwat clock, is a hand built mechanical apparatus and has been ticking for last 250 years. The Council Hall of the palace has a vast collection of rare manuscripts and books and was used by the Nizam to meet important officials. The Roshan Bangla, named after the sixth Nizams mother, also forms an exquisite part of this courtyard.