The keys to a kingdom

At the heart of Delhi’s dense ridge forest, Malcha Mahal has long been a place of intrigue. Once a Tughlaq-era hunting lodge, this structure stands as a relic of lost royalty and a contested historical legacy. A recent book, The House of Awadh: A Hidden Tragedy (HarperCollins), attempts to uncover this mystery. Written by Dutch journalist Aletta André and writer Abhimanyu Kumar, it delves into the saga of Begum Wilayat Mahal and her family who claimed to be the rightful heir to Awadh’s royal lineage, shedding light on their struggle for recognition, their self-imposed exile in the Mahal, and the broader historical and political context surrounding their lives. The book launch, held at Oxford Bookstore in Connaught Place, featured a panel discussion with the authors, historian Narayani Basu, and writer Karan Madhok.

Basu reflected on the importance of Malcha Mahal in Delhi’s history. She pointed out that while the story of a “lost queen” living in a ruined hunting lodge has captured the public imagination, it represents only a fragment of a much larger historical narrative. “History is not a series of isolated events. It’s a continuum where events bleed into each other. The story of Begum Wilayat Mahal is not just about one woman’s claim to royalty—it’s about the legacy of Awadh, the trauma of Partition, and the way we construct historical truth,” she said.

Joining the dots

The book emerged from Kumar’s fascination with the Mahal and a desire to challenge the sensational narratives surrounding the family. “It wasn’t just about debunking myths—it was about understanding the forces that shaped their choices,” he said.

The book took on new urgency when Prince Ali Raza (Cyrus), son of Begum Wilayat Mahal, died in 2017. “We immediately went to Malcha Mahal and found clues and papers,” said André. “One of the most important things we found was a phone number. We called, and one person picked up—someone who had worked for them as a servant. That led to key discoveries.”

Researching for The House of Awadh required extensive fieldwork across multiple locations, including Lucknow, Kashmir, and Pakistan. The authors structured the book in reverse chronology—starting with Malcha Mahal and gradually working their way back through time.

Tracing the family’s movements after Partition was particularly challenging. “We had an address for their residence in Karachi,” said André, “but accessing the area was nearly impossible. Property records were sparse, and much of the country’s documentation had been destroyed over time.” Despite these setbacks, the authors found valuable newspaper archives in the Nehru Memorial Library that shed light on the family’s arrival in Delhi in 1975.

The most difficult aspect of writing The House of Awadh was navigating the contradictions in the family’s story. Oral histories often conflicted with documented evidence, and many details remained elusive. “Memory is complicated. Sometimes, accounts contradict each other, but we believe that even contradictions hold meaning,” said André.

No sensationalism

Over the years, rumours have circulated about the Mahal and its residents. One persistent claim was that Wilayat Mahal was delusional, fuelling local beliefs that her spirit haunts the house following her suicide in 1993.

In 2023, the Delhi Tourism Board introduced public tours around Malcha Mahal, branding them as “haunted walks”. André criticised this framing as problematic. “Why choose this place, where people died just a few years ago, as a haunted site? It’s another way of dehumanising them—reducing her to the trope of the ‘mad woman’ haunting an old monument.” The book delves into how madness, real or imagined, can be an outcome of circumstances or imposed by by others. “It’s easy to dismiss them as ‘crazy royals’ who refused to move on,” André said. “But their story is about identity, belonging, and a refusal to be erased from history.” It also challenges Western narratives that have often depicted Begum Wilayat Mahal as an eccentric figure teetering on the edge of delusion.

Malcha Mahal remains a symbol of forgotten grandeur, its decaying walls echoing the unresolved fate of its most famous occupant. As André and Kumar emphasised, The House of Awadh is not just an attempt to solve a historical mystery but to question how we perceive lineage, legitimacy, and belonging in modern India. It explores themes of nationalism, post-independence nation-building, memory, and trauma, offering a deeply researched and nuanced portrayal of a family lost to history.

This article is written by Adithi Reena Ajith