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Begum Samru's Palace |
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| Begum Samru's Palace can be reached by taking
the road just before the Kumar Cinema Hall on the main Chandni
Chowk Road when coming from the direction of Red Fort. Popularly
known as the Bhagirath Palace and North India's biggest electrical
goods wholesale market, Begum Samru's Palace is located just
behind a Hindu shrine surrounded by trees. |
| Now a very busy commercial place, it is difficult
for a visitor to imagine the building in its original grandeur
with a lovely sprawling garden stretching till Chandni Chowk,
when it was owned by an witty Kashmiri Muslim woman, Begum Samru.
Born in 1753, Begum Samru proudly lived in this large white
mansion that was considered one of the grandest houses in Delhi
with massive columns and large rooms. She commanded great respect
in the city as Mughal Emperor Shah Alam could call upon her
trained private army when in need. |
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| Soon, she married an English mercenary soldier
from Luxembourg who was holder of the fief of Sardana in Meerut
District. His name was Walter Reinhard whom his friends lovingly
called 'Sombre' because of his long brooding face and thus the
title 'Samru' was derived and became locally popular. A good
administrator, the Begum held the fief after Reinhard's death
and converted herself to Christianity for strategic and personal
reasons in Agra, in 1781. Her new name became Joanna but she
was still popular as Begum Samru in the area. Begum Samru was
also famous in the European social circle for throwing lavish
social gatherings at her residence, in the early 19th century,
before her death in 1836. |
| The building is also the same place where the
last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah was brought as a captive after
the 1857 war. He was later sent to Rangoon in exile. |
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