imported>HAUDesiree at 03:01, 21 March 2026

2026-03-21T03:01:41Z

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{{Short description|Former palace, now monument and museum, in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Hazarduari Palace
| native_name =
| native_language =
| former_names = Bara Kothi
| alternate_names = Nizamat Kila
| image = Hazarduari01 debaditya chatterjee.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| image_alt = 
| caption = The palace illuminated at night
| pushpin_map = India West Bengal
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_mark =
| pushpin_label =
| pushpin_relief = 1
| map_caption = Location of the palace in [[West Bengal]]
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| coordinates = {{coord|24.1864|88.2687|region:IN-WB_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| building_type = [[Palace]]
| architectural_style = {{ubl|[[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]|[[Italianate architecture|Italianate]]|[[Doric order|Doric]]}}
| client = [[Mubarak Ali Khan II|Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah]]
| etymology = {{nowrap|Place of 1,000 thousand doors}} {{nowrap|(of which 100 are false){{superscript|{{small|[see [[Hazarduari Palace#Notes|note a]]]}}}}}}
| location = [[Kila Nizamat]], [[Murshidabad]], [[Murshidabad district]], [[West Bengal]]
| location_country = [[India]]
| years_built =
| groundbreaking_date = 9 August 1829
| construction_start_date =
| construction_stop_date =
| topped_out_date =
| completion_date = December 1837
| opened_date =
| inauguration_date =
| relocated_date =
| renovation_date =
| closing_date =
| demolished_date =
| cost = 16.50 Lacs gold coins
| owner = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| height = {{cvt|80|ft|m|order=flip}}
| material =
| grounds_area = {{cvt|41|acre|ha}}
| floor_count = 3
| floor_area =
| architect = Colonel Duncan MacLeod
| architecture_firm =
| parking = Available
| public_transit = train: [[Hazarduari Express]]; and bus
| website = 
| references = <ref name=NCF>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncf.nic.in/projects/ongoing-projects/hazarduari-palace |title=Up gradation of Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad, West Bengal |work=Project NCF |publisher=National Cultural Fund of India |date=2024-08-29 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref>
| footnotes =
| other_dimensions = {{ubl|length: {{cvt|424|ft|m|order=flip}}|width: {{cvt|200|ft|m|order=flip}}}}
| embedded = {{Infobox historic site
| embed = yes
| image = Hazarduari palace painting.jpg
| image_size = 250
| caption = A {{circa|1814}} painting by William Prinsep of the [[Kila Nizamat|Nizamat Fort]] area, showing the old and small Nizamat Fort, from the [[British Library]]
| mapframe = yes
| designation1 = MANI
| designation1_offname = Hazarduari Palace and [[Nizamat Imambara|Imambara]] (Murshidabad)
| designation1_type =
| designation1_criteria =
| designation1_date = 1977
| delisted1_date =
| designation1_partof =
| designation1_number = N-WB-122
| designation1_free1name =
| designation1_free1value =
| designation1_free2name =
| designation1_free2value =
| designation1_free3name =
| designation1_free3value =
}}
}}
The '''Hazarduari Palace''', earlier known as the '''''Bara Kothi''''',<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Murshidabad |url=http://murshidabad.net/history/history-topic-humayun-jah.htm |date= |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610063712/http://murshidabad.net/history/history-topic-humayun-jah.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> is a former [[palace]] and now a national monument and public [[museum|cultural museum]], located in the campus of [[Kila Nizamat]] in [[Murshidabad]], in the [[India]]n state of [[West Bengal]]. It is situated near the bank of river [[Ganges]]. Based on designs by Colonel Duncan McLeod, the palace was built in the nineteenth-century [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] style with [[Doric order]] influences, by [[Mubarak Ali Khan II|Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah]], the [[Nawab]] of [[Bengal]], [[Bihar]] and [[Odisha|Orissa]] between 1824 and 1838.

Together with the [[Nizamat Imambara]], the palace is a [[List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal|Monument of National Importance]] since 1977,<ref name=NCF/> and administered by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] since 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://asi.nic.in/alphabetical-list-of-monuments-west-bengal/ |title=List of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains of West Bengal: Item no. 122 |publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] |date= |access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="Palace handed over to ASI">{{Cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100813/jsp/bengal/story_12806034.jsp |title=Palace handed over to ASI |work=Telegraph India |date= |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924145113/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100813/jsp/bengal/story_12806034.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Handed over to ASI">{{Cite web |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_museums_murshidabad.asp |title=Handed over to ASI |publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] |date= |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-date=7 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507095350/http://asi.nic.in/asi_museums_murshidabad.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Kila Nizamat==
{{main|Nizamat Imambara#Old Imambara{{!}}Kila Nizamat}}
The ''Kila Nizamat'', also known as the ''Nizamat Kila'' and the [[Nizamat Imambara#Old Imambara|Nizamat Imambara]] (Nizamat Fort), was the site of the old [[fort]] of Murshidabad. It was located on the present site of the Hazarduari Palace, on the banks of the [[Hooghly River|Bhagirathi River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Nizamat Kila |url=http://www.footprinttravelguides.com/asia/india/west-bengal/north-of-kolkata/murshidabad/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730130917/http://www.footprinttravelguides.com/asia/india/west-bengal/north-of-kolkata/murshidabad/ |archive-date=30 July 2012 |access-date=30 March 2012}}</ref> The fort was demolished to make way for the palace.<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021"/>

==Etymology==
The palace draws its name from ''hazar'', which means "thousand", and ''duari'', which means "the one with doors". Hence, the name means "the one with a thousand doors". The palace was known as ''Bara Kothi'', named as the palace that has one thousand doors, of which one hundred are false.{{efn|The [[Archaeological Survey of India|ASI]] states that the building ''"...contains about thousand real and false doors."''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asikolkata.in/murshidabad.aspx |title=HAZARDUARI PALACE & IMAMBARA TOGETHER WITH ADJACENT AREA |work=ASI, Kolkata Circle: Monuments |publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]]. Government of India |date=2012 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref> However, the number of false and real doors varies widely, depending upon source. Some sources state that 100 doors are false;<ref>{{cite web |author=Gahatraj, Diwash |title=Hazarduari Palace |work=Atlas Obscura |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hazarduari-palace-thousand-doors |date=17 February 2023 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |title=WEST BENGAL'S HAZARDUARI PALACE IS A CRAFTY LITTLE TRICKSTER; HERE'S HOW |work=[[Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/west-bengals-hazarduari-palace-is-a-crafty-little-trickster-heres-how/photostory/100272159.cms |date=16 May 2023 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://murshidabadpolice.wb.gov.in/PlacesofInterest |title=Places of interest: Hazarduari Palace |work=Murshidabad Police District |date=20 May 2024 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref> another source that 110 doors are real;<ref>{{cite web |author=Chavan, Akshay |title=Murshidabad's Palace of Illusions |work=Peepul Tree Stories |url=https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/monuments/murshidabads-palace-of-illusions |date=22 May 2017 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref> and some that 100 doors are real (and, hence, 900 doors are false).<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021">{{cite news |author=Paul, Santanu |title=HAZARDUARI PALACE, THE FAMED HISTORICAL MONUMENT OF BENGAL |work=Bengal Chronicle |url=https://www.bengalchronicle.com/2021/06/01/hazarduari-palace/ |date=1 June 2021 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://unacademy.com/content/ssc/study-material/general-awareness/hazarduari-palace/ |title=Hazarduari Palace |work=UN Academy: SSC |date= |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref><ref name=Christies>{{cite web |author=Cruden, Alexandra |url=https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5714634 |title=AN INDIAN IVORY MODEL OF THE HAZARDUARI PALACE, MURSHIDABAD, CIRCA 1835 |work=The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. |publisher=[[Christie's]] |date=19 September 2023 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Yasmin, Nilufar |title=THE IMPACT OF HAZARDUARI TOURIST PLACE ON ECONOMY OF RURAL PEOPLE OF MURSHIDABAD DISTRICT IN WEST BENGAL |journal=Universe International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research |url=https://uijir.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2411007-1.pdf |doi= |issn=2582-6417 |volume=5 |number=6 |date=November 2024 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref> }} They were built so that if any thief or robber tried to steal something and escape, he would be confused between the false and real doors and by that time he would be caught by the Nawab's guards.<ref name="Hazarduari Palace">{{cite web |title=Hazarduari Palace |url=http://murshidabad.net/history/places-topic-hazarduari-palace.htm |work=murshidabad.net |date= |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-date=23 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223040922/http://murshidabad.net/history/places-topic-hazarduari-palace.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Architecture ==
Hazarduari Palace is a three-storied palatial building, set on a {{convert|41|acre|ha|adj=on|order=flip}} site, built in the Neoclassical Italianate style. The palace was designed by Colonel Duncan MacLeod, a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] architect of the Bengal Corps of Engineers, between 1829 and 1837. The palace is characterised by its symmetrical [[façade]] and triangular [[pediment]] [[portico]] supported by 52 Doric columns.<ref>{{cite web |author=Agrawal, Ridhi |url=https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/classical-columns-in-murshidabad-west-bengal/ |title=Classical Columns in Murshidabad, West Bengal |work=Paper Planes |date=17 June 2022 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}</ref> The main gates are adorned with ''Naubat Khana'' (musician galleries); and each gate is large and high enough for an elephant to pass, with its ''[[howdah]]''. The palace can be accessed by a flight of 37 stone steps on its northern side,<ref name=NCF/> with a base step that is {{convert|108|ft|m|order=flip}} wide, with a stone lion statue on either side.<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021"/>

The former palace building is {{convert|424|ft|m|order=flip}} long, {{convert|200|ft|m|order=flip}} wide, and {{convert|80|ft|m|order=flip}} high. Inside the palace, there are 114 large and lavishly decorated rooms, that include Durbar Hall, a banqueting hall, drawing rooms, sitting rooms, billiard rooms, a ballroom, library, committee room, and portrait gallery. The library has more than 3,000 manuscripts in [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], and [[Urdu language|Urdu]], almost 12,000 books in English, Arabic, and Persian. The library contains a copy of the [[British Constitution]], a hand-scribed [[Quran]] that is {{convert|4|ft|m|order=flip}} long, {{convert|3|ft|m|order=flip}} wide, and weighs approximately {{convert|20|kg}}, and a large range of other historical texts and maps of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal era]].<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021"/>

In 1977 Hazarduari Palace was declared a Monument of National Importance, initially managed by the [[Government of West Bengal]]. The Archaeological Survey of India has administered the site since 1985, to enhance preservation.<ref name="Palace handed over to ASI"/><ref name="Handed over to ASI"/> The former palace has been transformed into a museum which houses collections from the Nawabs including paintings, furniture, and other antiquities, including a secret mirror and large [[chandelier]], that used to accommodate 1,001 candles, and now 96 light globes.<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021"/>

Located adjacent to the palace, are the [[Nizamat Imambara]], the [[Murshidabad Clock Tower]], both the old and new [[Madina Mosque (Bengal)|Madina Mosque]], the [[Chawk Masjid]], [[Bacchawali Tope]], the Shia complex, [[Wasif Manzil]], the two Zurud Mosques and Nizamat College.<ref name="bengal chronicle 2021"/>

==Miniature==
A miniature of the palace,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://murshidabad.nic.in/history1.htm |title=Palace's miniature |work=murshidabad.nic.in |date= |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106125513/http://murshidabad.nic.in/history1.htm |archive-date=6 January 2012 }}</ref> made by Sagore Mistri in ivory, along with portraits of His Highness and his son, among other presents, were sent to [[William IV of the United Kingdom|King William IV]]. He honoured the [[Nawab]] with a full-size portrait of His Majesty and an autographed letter, and conferred upon him the badge and insignia of the Royal Guelphic and Hanoverian order,<ref name=Christies/> which are still preserved in the former palace.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Hazarduari1 debaditya chatterjee.jpg|The clock tower with the palace in the backdrop
Clock Tower at Hazarduari Palace Complex.jpg|Clock tower
Hazarduari A2.jpg|Hazarduari Palace
Hazarduari A1.jpg|The palace gardens
Hazarduari Palace Backside.jpg|Hazarduari Palace from the back
Hazarduari2.JPG|The palace's chandelier is the second largest in the world after that in the [[Buckingham Palace]]
Nizamat Fort Campus.JPG|A map of the [[Hazarduari Palace#Kila Nizamat|Nizamat Fort Campus]], showing the [[Nizamat Imambara]] in yellow and other buildings
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{stack|{{portal|India|Architecture}}}}
* [[History of Bengal]]
* [[History of Bangladesh]]
* [[Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Hazarduari Palace (Murshidabad)|Hazarduari Palace}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Murshidabad#See|Hazarduari Palace}}
* {{YouTube|id=n5qBe9yftMk|title="Wonders of India: Hazarduari Palace"|link=no}}
* {{cite web |url=https://asimustsee.nic.in/hazarduari-palace.php |title=Ticket website for Hazarduari Palace |work=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] |date= |access-date=4 March 2025 }}
* {{cite web |url=https://shop.museumsofindia.org/node/437 |title=Hazarduari Palace |work=Museums of India |date= |access-date=4 March 2025 }}

{{Tourist attractions in Murshidabad}}
{{Bengal Zamindars}}

[[Category:1837 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Murshidabad district]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in India]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1837]]
[[Category:Italianate architecture in India]]
[[Category:Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Museums in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Nawabs of Bengal]]
[[Category:Nawabs of Murshidabad]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in India]]
[[Category:Neoclassical palaces]]
[[Category:Palaces in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Murshidabad]]
[[Category:Greek Revival buildings]]

Hazarduari Palace - Revision history

imported>HAUDesiree at 03:01, 21 March 2026