Chowmahalla Palace

Chowmahalla means 'four palaces', and the complex was built across more than a century, each Nizam adding to it. The Khilwat Mubarak durbar hall, the political heart of Hyderabad state, held the silver throne where every Nizam from Mahbub Ali Khan onward received ambassadors and signed state decrees. Its Belgian crystal chandeliers and marble floors made it the grandest reception space in the Deccan. When the last Nizam died in 1967, the complex passed to his family and fell into disrepair until a Taj-funded restoration returned it to public use.