This year marks a landmark for the Hyderabad House, being used by the Central government to host diplomatic banquets and meetings of visiting foreign dignitaries, in New Delhi.

The first step for the construction of the majestic building, the purchase of 8.2-acre land, was initiated by the Seventh Nizam of princely State of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, exactly a century ago. Construction of the building was necessitated after the British inducted the traditional rulers of princely states into a Chamber of Princes. These rulers needed accommodation in Delhi whenever they were supposed to attend the Chambers’ meetings convened by the British.

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The lavish expenditure incurred on furnishing the palace notwithstanding, the Nizam and his sons were, however, said to have disliked the palace for its totally Westernised outlook. 

The Nizam visited the national capital in 1936 and going by the records preserved in the archives here, the public works department had spent ₹19,117 in connection with the arrangements for the Nizam’s camp at the palace in March 1936.

The Nizam finally visited the palace, 10 years after its construction and was said to have disliked the manner in which the construction and decoration was made. An anecdote says that the Nizam described the Hyderabad House as “horses’ stable”, not a royal palace, and the visit was said to be his last.

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