Paigah Palace is a palace in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, India. It was built by Sir Vicar-ul-Umra, a Paigah

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

. This was built after he gave the famous

Falaknuma Palace Falaknuma is a palace in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is on a hillock and covers a area in Falaknuma, from Charminar. It was built by Nawab Sir ...

to the sixth

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

Hyderabad state Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI Asaf Jah VI, also known as, Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911) was the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad state, one of the Princely states in India between 1869 and 1911. Early life Mahbo ...

. The Palace houses the Consulate General of the US in Hyderabad.

History

Between 1975 and 2008, the palace housed the office of the

Hyderabad Urban Development Authority The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) was created in 1975, vide an act of the State Assembly of Andhra Pradesh. Its jurisdiction was expanded in 2008 by merging it with the surrounding mandals to form the Hyderabad Metropolitan Deve ...

. In 1999, a four-storeyed annexe was added towards the rear side of the palace.

Paigah Family

In the hierarchy of nobles of Hyderabad, the

Paigah family Paigah is a noble family in the senior aristocracy of Hyderabad State, who were associated with the ruling Nizam since its inception and each maintained his own court, individual palaces, and a standing army of about fourteen thousand troops, ...

ranked immediately next to the ruling family of Nizams. The Paigahs were also the foremost palace builders of Hyderabad. As described earlier, the

was built by Nawab Viqar ul-Umra This was later acquired by the Nizam VI. Vikarul Umra also built the Paigah Palace in

Begumpet Begumpet ("Begum's Place") is a part of Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Begumpet is named after the daughter of the sixth Nizam (Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI), Basheer Unnisa Begum, who received it as part of her wedding dowry when ...

, presently the office of USA Consulate and having previously hosted the office of Hyderabad Urban Development Authority. It dates back to the 1900. Nawab Abul Fatah Khan Bahadur, the eldest grandson of Sir Vicar ul Umra and son of Amir e Paigah H.E. Nawab Sultan ul Mulk was the last member of the Paigah family to have stayed in this Palace. Near the Paigah Palace lies the Deoris of Nawab Muzaffar Nawaz Jung, Fareed Nawaz Jung, Nawab Nazir Nawaz Jung, Nawab Khair Nawaz Jung and Nawab Hassan Yar Jung who were grandsons of Sir Vikar ul Umra and

Vikhar Manzil Vikhar Manzil was a mansion of the Paigah nobleman and former Prime Minister of Hyderabad State, Sir Viqar-ul-Umra. He was amazed by the Hussain Sagar Hussain Sagar (alternatively referred to as Tank Bund; ) is a heart-shaped lake in Hydera ...

(all these seven Palaces were built by Sir Vicar between 1897 and 1901). The Deori of Nazir Nawaz Jung and Fareed Nawaz Jung or

Chiraan Fort Palace Aiwan-i Begumpet, also known as Chiraan Fort Palace (Chiran Fort Club), and Devdi Fareed Nawaz Jung, or Devdi Nazir Nawaz Jung, was built in 1880 by Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Amir of the Great Paigah Dynasty of Deccan who served as Prime Minister of ...

is a beautiful, two storeyed palace in Mughal style. It has wide verandas facing outwards as well as inwards overlooking a courtyard. The complex is partly converted into a club. The rest of the area is used as a residence.

US diplomatic mission

The palace was acquired from the descendants of Vicar-ul-Umra by the

in 1981. In 2008, the site was temporarily leased to the US to house the

Consulate General of the United States, Hyderabad The Consulate General of the United States of America, Hyderabad is a United States diplomatic mission located in Hyderabad. The consulate provides visa and consular services to the Indian citizens in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. It is ...

until 2012. The preparation work required by the US included felling 42 trees for security reasons, including a 200-year-old

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

tree. This came in for heavy criticism from Indian environmentalists and architects for disrespecting a heritage site in a way that would not be permitted in the US.

Description

The palace is spread over 4 acres of land. It is a large two storied neo-classical building with a portico, semicircular arches, unfluted Corinthian columns, projected and pedimented windows and deep arcaded verandahs on all four sides.

References

{{coord missing, Telangana Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India Palaces of Paigah of Hyderabad