Inside The Rs 170 Crore Home Of World's Richest Man, Where Putin Is Being Hosted In Delhi

The Last Nizam of Hyderabad was the richest man in the world. Stories of his pearls that could fill Olympic-sized pools and palaces spread across Hyderabad are as widespread as were the riches in his kingdom. So, when the British had just moved the capital of India to Delhi, Mir Osman Ali Khan looked at a plot that fit his fame.

As a layout for Delhi was being drawn up, the princely states wanted to have their own signature on the capital. The maharajas showed interest in having homes in Delhi. The Viceroy was only too happy to oblige. It showed that the princely states were committed to the new capital.

An Outrageous Request From The Last Nizam

The Nizam of Hyderabad did not want just any pocket of land in the capital. He wanted one in the Princes' Park, near the Viceroy's House. The British weren't on board with that. So, only five states were allocated plots of land at the end of the King's Way, three-kilometres from the Viceroy's House, around the statue of King George V. These states were Hyderabad, Baroda, Patiala, Jaipur and Bikaner.

Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad. Photo: Wikipedia

Among these five, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Gaekwad of Baroda commissioned famed architect Edwin Lutyens the task of designing their respective Delhi homes. Hyderabad, a 21-gun-salute state, wanted Lutyens to create a house that was as grand as the Viceroy's House. Well, that wasn't to be, even though Mir Osman Ali Khan enjoyed an 'exalted' status among all the princely rulers, and was addressed as His Exalted Highness - the only ruler with the salutation in British India back then. 

The condition on which the plots were assigned was simple: the design of all these palaces were to be approved by the government. So, despite the Nizam's directive, Lutyens did not design Hyderabad House like the Viceroy's House. The only element he took from the design of the Viceroy's House was a dome in the centre.

A Butterfly Spreads Its Wings In Princes' Park

Hyderabad House was built in a unique butterfly shape, with its front doors facing the approach road on the hexagon. The 'wings' of the butterfly merged with the adjacent roads. This was the grandest of all palaces in New Delhi. For Hyderabad House, Lutyens drew upon his 'butterfly' plan from Papillon Hall in England's Leicestershire, which he designed in 1903.

Built at a jaw-dropping cost of 200,000 pounds back in the 1920s (inflation adjusted: 1.4 million pounds or Rs 170 crore in 2023), the palace was every bit in sync with the legendary Nizam's fame. Osman Ali Khan was the richest man in the world at the time. So, while he might not have been able to have the stature of the Viceroy's House replicated at the Hyderabad House, he ensured it was no less.

36 Rooms, A Zenana, A Standout Palace

Hyderabad House has 36 rooms. It boasts of courtyards, archways, majestic stairways, fireplaces, fountains - all in European style, but with some Mughal motifs in place.

Lutyens, known for landmarks like the Viceroy's House, drew on his expertise in grand public buildings to create a structure that balanced symmetry and ornamentation, making it a standout among princely residences like Jaipur House and Patiala House.​

The main architectural feature of the palace is the dome with an entrance hall, beneath which obelisks with symmetrical wings extend at 55-degree angles. It spans 8.2 acres near India Gate and has striking rhombic marble floor designs in its circular foyer and first-floor hallway.

Hyderabad House is a state guest house now. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

​Its round arches flanked by rectangular openings to the height of the impost was inspired by the Pantheon in Italy's Rome, a city where Lutyens stayed in 1909. For the first floor windows, Lutyens chose a combination of rectangular and round arches that were inspired by the Uffizi to the Arno in Florence.

The palace had a zenana too: it was a circular court with 12 or 15 rooms around it, "each the size of an ordinary horsebox with only one window close to the roof", observed Lord Hardinge on his visit to Hyderabad House. "A rough bed was the only furniture. There were six tiled bathrooms, but no baths, only taps of hot and cold water under which each lady has to sit! There seemed to be no means of mixing the hot and cold water, as it pours on to the ladies!" wrote Hardinge.

A Twang Of Envy In Delhi's Imperial Enclave

Hyderabad House was the largest and grandest royal palace Lutyens designed in Delhi between 1921 and 1931; surpassed only by the Viceroy's House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan). The opulence, the craftsmanship, the sheer audacity of the architecture reflect the Nizam's immense wealth. The design and the splendour of Hyderabad House was tailored to invoke pride, and perhaps a certain twang of envy, in the heart of New Delhi's imperial enclave. The Nizam's house had to stand out. Lutyens delivered. It was, after all, a house of the world's richest man.

The construction of Hyderabad House during the 1920s captured the peak of princely India's lavish patronage of architecture, funded by the Nizam's diamond mines and vast treasures, including the famed Jacob Diamond. The palace became a symbol of the Nizam's loyalty to the British Raj while asserting his sovereignty, despite very few visits from Khan.​

After Independence, the visits trickled to far and bare. It was the twilight of the princely rule.

A Changed Fate After Independence

India's independence in 1947 reshaped the fate of Hyderabad House as the princely states began being integrated into the Indian Union. Hyderabad, a Muslim-ruled Hindu-majority state, resisted accession until Operation Polo in September 1948 forcibly merged it.

Hyderabad House, rarely used by the Nizam thereafter, transitioned to government ownership through transfer or donation by the Nizam or his heirs. It became a Government of India asset without detailed public records of compensation.​

Hyderabad House was built at a cost of 200,000 pounds in the 1920s. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By the early 1970s, as India, a burgeoning republic, saw its diplomatic needs grow, the property shifted completely under Central control.

In 1974, the Ministry of External Affairs took over its jurisdiction and designated it for state visits and banquets. The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) managed catering, upkeep, and events to international standards. The handover of Hyderabad House, thus, transformed a dormant royal relic into a functional diplomatic hub.​

That House At 1, Ashok Road

Over the next decades, Hyderabad House at 1, Ashok Road solidified its role as the Prime Minister's state guest house. Global leaders from Bill Clinton and George W Bush to Gordon Brown and Vladimir Putin have all been hosted at Hyderabad House for high-profile banquets, joint press conferences, and meetings organised on behalf of the Prime Minister, Vice-President, and External Affairs officials. Its strategic location on Ashok Road, proximity to key ministries, and capacity for VVIP events made it ideal for India's expanding foreign relations.​

As India hosts Russian President Vladimir Putin again today, Hyderabad House plays a prominent role in his two-day itinerary. The palace that once played a seasonal retreat for the world's richest man, is now the setting for meetings between the world's most powerful.

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