Marvels of Delhi

Princely Palaces in New Delhi
Sumanta K Bhowmick
Niyogi Books
2015, pp 264, Rs 1,699

Delhi’s architectural magnificence has always been a subject of great fascination to many. Even the most philistine of visitors to the capital world would be left wondering about the grandiose architecture of the city.

Sumanta K Bhowmick’s fascination for Delhi’s opulence and grandeur prompted him to delve deeper into the history of each of the capital city’s 37 princely palaces and come up with his coffee-table book, Princely Palaces in New Delhi.

He says he often thought about the days when these palaces buzzed with activity. “It must have been a colourful procession with all kinds of regalia,” he says in the opening chapter of the book.

Assailed by numerous questions about the history of how New Delhi became the capital of the country, why was prime land allotted to princely states, construction of palaces, Bhowmick delved deeper, and in the process came up with some archival documents, correspondence between the government and the princely states, and a whole range of details.

His endeavour that finally fructified in this book was not smooth, he says.
Apart from the numerous difficulties in sourcing material for the book, he had to come to terms with the fact that these princely states, 600 of them, had their own distinctively different administrative patterns. Not all of them were careful about documentation. And that is evident in the chapters of the book. The author has been able to devote entire chapters to those princely states that cared about documentation.

Bhowmick says there are clearly two stages in the lives of these princely palaces in New Delhi, one before Independence during the British era, and the other post Independence.
The book commences with details of how Delhi became the capital of the country and the Royal Delhi Durbar of December 1911, aimed primarily at showcasing the “British Empire might and it’s right to don the Imperial tag by demolishing the Mughal myth.”

It then goes on to describe in some detail about palaces belonging to the princely states of Hyderabad, Baroda, Bikaner, Jaipur, Patiala, Travancore and Darbhanga.

Delving deeper into the history of each of the palaces, Bhowmick has managed to collect large amounts of historical information including architectural details of construction of these ornate buildings, floor plans, documents and photographs of buildings, people and gatherings at these palaces.

The book lives up to the image of a coffee table manuscript as it is replete with a large number of photographs, floor plans, documents, letters of communication, invitations and newspaper clippings.

With the end of Delhi Durbar and the decision to shift the country’s capital to Delhi from Calcutta, there was a scramble among ruling princes and chiefs to acquire land in the new capital.

By June 1912, the government was flooded with requests by many of these states for land in the range of 10-50 acres. Bhowmick then goes into procedural details that led to the acquisition of land in the new capital. The procedure of planning the princely palaces within Imperial Delhi was not an easy task, says the author. Even before the construction of these palaces started, the controversy over architectural style rode high, he says.

The chapters that follow lend details of the palaces of some of the princely palaces. The rationale for choosing these stems from the fact that information and a whole range of details including photographs, floor plan, letter of communication were available relatively easier than many of those princely states that find mention in the chapter titled, ‘The Other Palaces’.

Here the author offers a peek into Bahawalpur House, Bhavnagar House, Bundi House, Cochin House, Dholpur House, Faridkot House, Gwalior House, Jaisalmer House, Jind House, Jubbal House, Mandi House and Pataudi House among others.

Bhowmick says that architecture of a particular period has to retain its charm in the public mind to stay relevant. “The princely palaces were built for purposes that may not be of relevance to us at present.

But they speak of a time that was part of the continual process of knitting an unstitched destiny. We need to preserve them in their original beauty, if not with their associated glory,” he says.

Because of its size, one-time read of the book may be difficult. It is more of a multiple times read, or a reference handbook.

The book is certainly of great relevance to those interested in recent history and architecture. Undoubtedly, it is an engaging book not just for students of history or architecture, but anybody who is fascinated by Delhi’s architecture.