Chepauk Palace was the official residence of the

Nawab of Arcot The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...

from 1768 to 1855. It is situated in the neighbourhood of

Chepauk Chepauk is a locality in Chennai, India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium, also known as the Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk Palace, built in the Indo-Saracenic ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and is constructed in the

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

style of architecture.

History

By the end of the

Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763. The conflicts involved n ...

, the previously independent kingdom of the Carnatic had virtually become a protectorate of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. The Nawab

Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, or Muhammed Ali, Wallajah (7 July 1717 – 13 October 1795), was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1749 until his death in 1795. He declared himself Nawab in 1749. This position was disputed between Wallajah and Ch ...

(VIII) was a close friend and ally of the British and was dependent on Company troops for his protection. So, in 1764, he thought of constructing a palace for himself within the ramparts of

Fort St George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further s ...

. However, due to space constraints, Wallajah was forced to abandon his plans and instead constructed a palace at

, a few miles to the south of the fort. Known for its intricate carvings, wide arches, red brick walls and lime mortar, Chepauk Palace was built by the engineer

Paul Benfield Paul Benfield (1742–1810) was an English East India Company employee and trader, financier and politician. He is now known as a target for the rhetoric of Edmund Burke, and for his spectacular bankruptcy. Life Benfield went out to India as a ...

, who completed it in 1768. It was one of the first buildings in India to be built in the

style. According to historian S. Muthiah: "Paul Benfield, an

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

engineer turned contractor, made buildings to last, a reputation that made him rich." When the principality of Carnatic was abolished in 1855 as per the

Doctrine of Lapse The doctrine of lapse was a policy of annexation initiated by the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent about the princely states, and applied until the year 1858, the year after Company rule was succeeded by the British Raj under the ...

, the Chepauk Palace was brought to auction to pay off the Nawab's debts and was eventually purchased by the Madras government. The palace functioned as the office of the revenue board and the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(PWD) Secretariat. The palace comprises two blocks, namely, Kalas Mahal and Humayun Mahal. Kalas Mahal was the official residence of the Nawabs from 1768 to 1855. Humayun Mahal, the northern block, was virtually rebuilt between 1868 and 1871 by Robert Chisholm when assigned the work of creating a new records office and building for the Revenue Board by Governor

Lord Napier Lord Napier, of Merchistoun, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for Sir Archibald Napier, 1st Baronet. Earlier that year, he already held the Napier Baronetcy, of Merchistoun in the County of Midlothian, created in ...

. Originally Humayun Mahal had been single story with the Diwan-e-Khana Durbar Hall in its middle over which there was a dome. To transform Humayun Mahal, Chisholm removed the tower, added a first floor and Madras terraced roof. He also added a facade that matched the Khalsa Mahal, which can be seen from the Wallajah Road. To compensate for removing the dome he also added a new eastern entrance, also in the style of the Khalsa Mahal, that faces the beach. Rather than being part of the Humayun Mahal, this new entrance was built as a square block in front of the Mahal and was called the Records Office. In 1859, the former Survey School became the Civil Engineering College and moved into part of Kalasa Mahal. The college was renamed

College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations tha ...

in 1861. In 1862 the accommodation for the college was extended to a part of the lower floor and the whole of the upper floor. The Government Carnatic Agent occupied the remainder of the lower floor. File:Chepauk Palace.jpg, Chepauk Palace in Chennai, c. 1905 File:Chepauk Palace, Madras - Tucks Oilette (1907).jpg, Chepauk Palace, Madras - Tucks Oilette (1907) File:ChepaukPalace1.jpg, A panoramic view of Chepauk Palace In 1904, a committee considering the re-organisation of the college recommended that it be moved to Guindy. This move finally occurred in 1923. In 2010, a roof collapsed in the Humayun Mahal and as of 2013 the

, which was charged with the palace's maintenance, had not cleared the debris. Also in 2010, following an inspection, the building was declared not fit for occupation as it was structurally unstable. Commenting on this in 2013 an engineer said "We realised that it was beyond restoration." In 2012, a fire, which killed a member of the

fire service A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

, gutted the Khalsa Mahal. K. V. Ramalingam,

minister, said that as only the walls remained the building would have to be demolished. A descendant of the Nawab Wallajah, Nawab

Muhammed Abdul Ali Al-Hajj Nawab Ghulam Muhammad 'Abdu'l 'Ali Khan Bahadur (born 9 August 1951) is the current and eighth titular Prince of Arcot, holding this title since July 1993 after the death of his father, Ghulam Mohammed Abdul Khader. The family traces its o ...

, called on

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

to restore Chepauk Palace. Until the southern building, Khalsa Mahal, was gutted by fire, it had remained virtually as it was first built. It had at the west and south minareted entrances and was a handsome two-story building. In 2013, there was a further roof collapse in the Humayun Mahal. In 2017, Kalas Mahal was restored and will be the home of the

National Green Tribunal The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables the creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues. It draws inspiration from India's ...

, Southern Bench. Also in 2017 the PWD started the process of restoring Humayun Mahal.

Architecture

The Chepauk Palace comprises two blocks—the northern block is known as Kalas Mahal while the southern block is known as Humayun Mahal. The palace is built over an area of 117 acres and is surrounded by a wall. The Humayun Mahal is spread over 66,000 square feet and has ventilators on the terrace and a connecting corridor to the Kalas Mahal. In 2017, the Public Works Department submitted a proposal to the tourism department to restore Humayun Mahal at a cost of 380 million.

Notes

{{coord, 13.063363, 80.281713, display=title Buildings and structures in Chennai Palaces in Tamil Nadu Heritage sites in Chennai