Amazing Havelis
BEGUM SAMRU'S PALACE
Commonly known as the Bhagirath Palace and North India's biggest electrical goods wholesale market, Begum Samru's Palace was originally owned by a witty Kashmiri Muslim woman, Begum Samru. Born in 1753, Begum Samru pompously lived in this mammoth white mansion that was considered one of the grandest houses in Delhi with huge columns and large rooms. Mughal Emperor Shah Alam called upon her trained private army when required.Begum Samru married an English soldier from Luxembourg named Walter Reinhard, who was lovingly called Sombre by his friends because of his long brooding face and thus the title Samru was derived and became locally popular. .
KHAZANCHI HAVELI
The Khazanchi haveli, like many others of Shahjahanabad, lies in ruins, its whitewashed archways covered with black dirt that routinely emanates from the small scale establishments in its vicinity. However, this takes away little from the mystique of this haveli that belonged to Emporer Shah Jahan's accountants and book-keepers and was used to stash away its money, in those days, coins and mohurs. Since the haveli had to be close to the Red Fort (and is fabled to have been connected to the Red Fort through an underground tunnel), it happens to be close to the entrance of Chandni Chowk.
HAVELI OF ZEENAT MAHAL
The Haveli of Zeenat Mahal is situated in the Lal Kuan Bazaar.The Palace or Mahal was constructed in 1846 by the order of Empress Zeenat Mahal, the third and most favourite wife of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II who ruled as the last Mughal Emperor of India between 1837 and 1857 and hence, was named after her as the 'Zeenat Mahal Ki Haveli'. She gave birth to a son named Mirza Jawan Bakht who was one of the heirs to the Mughal Empire while the other three wives of the Emperor also bore him sons and daughters. He had a total of 54 children including 22 sons and 32 daughters; however, no one knows the real reason of how Zeenat Mahal became the most loved and favoured wife of the Emperor amongst the rest.
HAKSAR HAVELI
Haksar Haveli is one elusive haveli. After getting off at the Chawri Bazaar metro station, you will find yourself smack in the middle of Sitaram Bazaar, where after a bit of practice, you will be able to successfully manoeuvre yourself around to get by. We say manoeuvre because, there will be all sorts of living and non-living things trying to take you down- if a rickshaw comes charging at you from behind, get out of the way or crash. Adapt or die. But that’s the magic of Delhi-6, it teaches you that there’s a lot more to Delhi than Khan Market and Modern school and Select Citywalk (not that there’s anything wrong with them, of course). Asking around for Haksar Haveli will not give you much, but as soon as you mention the words Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, or marriage, you will see an excited nod, a dawn of realization, and then you will have hit your jackpot.
CHUNNAMAL HAVELI
Rai Lala Chunnamal ki Haveli is the only well-preserved haveli in the walled city of old Delhi in the Chandni Chowk area.
After the 1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857, Lala Chunnamal emerged as one of the wealthiest people in Delhi. Mirza Ghalib lamented on the plight of Muslims after the Ghadar, envying the illuminated mansion of Chunnamal. Chunnamal was the first person in Delhi to acquire an automobile and a phone.
Rai Lala Chunnamal's haveli in Katra Nil section of Chandni Chowk is spread over one acre,with 128 rooms built on the three floors. The tenth generation of the Chunnamal family currently lives in it. It is surrounded by 139 shops.
An inscription on the drawing room wall states that it was built in 1848. Parts of it were built in 1864
HAVELI OF MIRZA GHALIB
Ghalib lived in this Haveli for a long period of his life after he came from Agra. While staying at this Haveli, he wrote his Urdu and Persian‘diwans’.
Mirza Ghalib’s Haveli is located in the Old Delhi and is a heritage site declared by Archaeological Survey of India. It offers an insight into the Mirza Ghalib’s lifestyle and architecture of the Mughal Era. After the takeover by the Delhi government the haveli was made into a permanent memorial museum housing objects related to the poet and his times. It also houses various hand written poems by the poet besides his books. The museum also houses a life size replica of the poet in a realistic setting with a hookah in his hand.
