Mohit8811 at 17:58, 21 March 2026

2026-03-21T17:58:40Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Koti Residency
| image = British Residency of Hyderabad 3.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Front [[façade]] of the Koti Residency
| coordinates = {{coord|17.3837248|N|78.4847522|E|format=dms|display=inline, title}}
| building_type = [[Ambassadorial residence]]
| architectural_style = [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]]
| structural_system =
| location = [[Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh|Hyderabad]], [[India]]
| completion_date = ''Circa'' {{start date and age|1805}}
| opened_date =
| main_contractors =
| architect = Samuel Russell
| structural_engineer =
| current_tenants = [[University College for Women, Koti]]
}}
'''Koti Residency''' or '''British Residency''' or "Hyderabad Residency" is an opulent mansion built by [[James Achilles Kirkpatrick]] in the [[princely state]] of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]]. Kirkpatrick was [[British Resident]] of Hyderabad between 1798 and 1805. Today it is part of the [[Osmania University College for Women]] and has been converted into a museum. It can be visited with prior online booking.<ref name="Rangan">{{cite news |last1=Datta |first1=Rangan |title=A visit to Hyderabad’s British Residency — home of the White Mughal |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/places/a-visit-to-hyderabads-british-residency-home-of-the-white-mughal/cid/1998314 |access-date=20 February 2024 |agency=My Kolkata |publisher=The Telegraph |date=4 February 2024}}</ref>

The building with its classical [[portico]] is in the style of a [[Palladian villas of the Veneto|Palladian villa]] and is similar in design to its near-contemporary in the United States, the [[White House]]. It features in the 2002 [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] book ''[[White Mughals]]''. The house was designed by [[Lieutenant]] Samuel Russell of the Madras Engineers and construction began in 1803.<ref name="Rangan"/>

The building has been included in the [[Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India|list of heritage structures]] compiled by INTACH. [[World Monuments Fund]] has included the building in ''2025 World Monuments Watch''. <ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/news/hyderabads-heritage-sites-make-it-to-2025-world-monuments-watchlist-1854558|newspaper=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|title=Hyderabad's Heritage Sites Make it to 2025 World Monuments Watchlist|first=Mrittika|last=Banerjee|date=2025-01-16|access-date=2025-03-06}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:British_residence,_Hyderabad.jpg|thumb|The British Residency photographed by [[Lala Deen Dayal]] in the 1880s.]]
[[File:The_arched_gateway_of_the_then_British_Residency,_partially_in_water_during_the_Great_Musi_Flood_of_1908.jpg|thumb|The arched gateway of the then British Residency, partially in water during the [[Great Musi Flood of 1908]].]]
Kirkpatrick built the mansion for himself and his Indian wife Khair un Nissa, who bore him two surviving children who were sent to England by the age of five and never saw them again due to the early deaths of their parents.

The building was once the embassy of the [[East India Company]] to the court of the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]], and the residence of James Kirkpatrick, the British Resident, as well as his successors. Within its compound there were several quarters, including a ''[[zenana]]'' (women's quarters) where Khair un Nissa lived. Within the compound is a miniature model of the building- legend has it that this was so Kirkpatrick's wife, who remained in [[purdah]], could see the entire mansion, including the front. This scaled model has recently been beautifully restored.

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a group of rebels, led by [[Maulvi Allauddin]] and [[Turrebaz Khan]], attacked the residency. After the events of 1857, the British erected [[Martello tower|martello towers]] at the residency, which were demolished in 1954.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://libraries.mit.edu/img/libs/rotch/HyderabadGuide_2009.pdf|title=A Guide to Architecture in Hyderabad, Deccan, India|last=Khalidi|first=Omar|publisher=Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture|year=2009|location=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|pages=115|author-link=Omar Khalidi|access-date=31 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313131458/https://libraries.mit.edu/img/libs/rotch/HyderabadGuide_2009.pdf|archive-date=13 March 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After independence in 1947, the building became vacant. In 1949 it was converted into a women's college, [[University College for Women, Koti|Osmania University College for Women]].<ref name="Rangan"/>

After a court directive to the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], it is now a protected monument.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/31/stories/2006083123110400.htm | title=Court directive to Archaeological Survey of India | newspaper=The Hindu | date=22 March 2012 | archive-date=23 December 2007 | access-date=19 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223003743/http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/31/stories/2006083123110400.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the building suffered much damage over the years and part of the ceiling had collapsed.<ref>{{cite web|title=The British Residency in Hyderabad|url=http://www.minorsights.com/2014/04/the-hyderabad-residency.html|publisher=Minor Sights|access-date=23 July 2014|date=May 2014|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225035447/http://www.minorsights.com/2014/04/the-hyderabad-residency.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was placed on the [[2002 World Monuments Watch]] list.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nanisetti |first=Serish |date=2023-02-10 |title=Of romance, rebellion and restoration |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/of-romance-rebellion-and-restoration/article66484593.ece |access-date=2023-04-20 |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420213533/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/of-romance-rebellion-and-restoration/article66484593.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> Restoration works were completed in January 2023, the result of an effort spanning over 20 years.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mollan |first=Cherylann |date=28 January 2023 |title=In photos: A makeover for 200-year-old India heritage building |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64300791 |access-date=29 January 2023 |website=BBC News |archive-date=28 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128225426/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64300791 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== List of British Residents ===
[[File:Residency 20.jpg|thumb|Photos and names of British Residents of [[Hyderabad]]]]
From 1786 - 1947 [[Hyderabad]] had 34 British residents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Names of British Residents of Hyderabad |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Residency_21.jpg |website=Wikimedia Commons |publisher=Wikimedia |access-date=3 August 2023}}</ref>

#John Kennaway (1788 - 1794)
#Major-General [[William Kirkpatrick (East India Company officer)|William Kirkpatrick]] (1794–1797)
#Major [[James Achilles Kirkpatrick]] (1797–1805) (The residency building was built during his time)
#Captain Thomas Sydenham (1806–1810)
#Sir [[Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet|Henry Russell]] (1811–1820)
#Colonel Martin (1825 - 1830)
#Colonel Stewart (1830 - 1838)
#General J S Fraser (1838 - 1852)
#Colonel Cuthbert Davidson (1852 - 1853, 1853, 1825 - 1835)
#General Sir John Low (1853)
#G A Bushby (1853 - 1856)
#Colonel William Thornhill (1856 - 1857)
#Sir George Yule (1863)
#Sir [[Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet|Richard Temple]] (1867–1868)
#H A Roberts (1868)
#J G Cordery (1868, 1883 - 1884, 1886)
#C. B. Saunders (1868–1872, 1872 - 1875)
#Sir [[Richard John Meade|Richard Meade]] (1876–1881)
#Sir Stuart Bayley (1881 - 1882)
#W B Jones (1882 - 1883)
#A P Howell (1888 - 1889)
#Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick (1889 - 1891)
#Sir Trevor Chichele Plowden<ref>{{cite news | first=David | last=Smith | title=letters Reveal Heartbreak of Young Winston | newspaper=The Guardian | date=9 November 2003 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/nov/09/booksnews.redbox | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305174001/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/nov/09/booksnews.redbox |archivedate=5 March 2016 }}; see also {{cite news | first=Ramachandra | last=Guha | title=Churchill in Bangalore | magazine=The Hindu Magazine | date=21 December 2003 | url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/12/21/stories/2003122100040300.htm | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930152336/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/12/21/stories/2003122100040300.htm |archivedate=30 September 2007 }}</ref> (1891 - 1900)
#Colonel Mackenzie (1899)
#[[David William Keith Barr|Sir David Barr]] (1900 - 1905)
#Sir Charles Bayley (1905 - 1908)
#[[Michael O'Dwyer]] (1908–1911)
#Colonel Alexander Pinhey (1911–1916)
#Sir [[Stuart Fraser (diplomat)|Stuart Fraser]] (1914, 1916–1919)
#Sir Charles Russell (1919–1924)
#Sir William Burton (1924 - 1930)
#Sir Terrance Keyes (1930 - 1933)
#Sir Duncan George Mackenzie (1934–1938)
#[[Arthur Cunningham Lothian|Sir Arthur Lothian]] (1942–1946)

== Architecture ==
The building is in the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style, with a classical portico. Six [[Corinthian columns]] support the roof. Within its compound there were several quarters, including a ''[[zenana]]'' quarter.

== References ==
{{commons category|British Residency, Hyderabad}}
<references/>

[[Category:Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Hyderabad State]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Royal residences in India]]
[[Category:Residencies of British India]]
[[Category:1805 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:Palaces in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in India]]

{{India-palace-stub}}{{Hyderabad topics}}

British Residency Hyderabad - Revision history

Mohit8811 at 17:58, 21 March 2026