Capital of Nawab Siraj Udd Daullah
Hazar duari is located in the Lalbagh area of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. This palace was built by Nawab Nizam Humayun ja from 1829 to 1837. Nawab Nizam Humayun jan who was a descendant of Nawab Mirzafar of Bengal. This palace was built 72 years after the death of Nawab Sirajuddaula of Bengal. Nawab Nizam Humayun was born in 1810 to his father Ahmed Ali and mother Najib Un nisha Begum. Humayun Zai’s real name is Syed Mubarak Ali Khan as he was known as Humayun.Who was Bengal Orissa and Bihari Nawab for 14 years from 1824 to 1838.
The Nawabs and Begums lived in the three floors built by 3 floor in Hazarduari Palace, the guest rooms and libraries were on the second floor and the car parking facilities and office rooms were on the lower floor. In 1980, Indian Archeology took over the palace as a museum. Built in the European style, this palace is spread over an area of about forty-one acres and is made of basat. The construction cost of Hazarduari Palace was 16.50 lakh gold coins.
Nawab Humayun gave the name of Hazarduari Bara Koti, later it was named Hazarduari. There are 1000 doors out of which 900 doors are original and 100 are fake doors. It is believed that the 100 false shames were created to distract the enemy’s gaze to avoid the arrival of enemies. The palace has 114 rooms and eight galleries.which is now a museum and is decorated with various objects used by the Nawabs.Hazarduari entrance has two cannons on either side of the stairs.The first floor of the palace houses the swords of all the Nawabs and various weapons used in the Battle of Palashi, numbering more than 2700. The Pas Chati de Pal has the Nawab’s throne with 161 chandeliers and regular objects such as Raphael, Queen Victoria’s gift of silver cradle, hidden mirrors, various clocks collected from home and abroad.
The three floors of the palace contain the gold-plated Koran, priceless scrolls, legal manuscripts, many books, and a collection of priceless letters. Although at present it is forbidden for tourists to climb up to the third floor because the structure of the palace is weakening day by day. If you look around the whole house, you can see that all the regular things used by Nawab Begum have been preserved. Here the entry fee is Tk 25 per head for Indians and Tk 200 per head for expatriates. It is open from 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM and is closed on Fridays.
On the opposite side of Hazarduari is the Imambara which is the largest Muslim Imambara in Asia with a length of about 680 feet. This Imambara was built during the reign of Nawab Sirajuddaula. About 100 years after its construction, the wooden Imambara was destroyed in a terrible fire. Subsequently, in 1847, Mansoor Ali Fera dun, son of Nawab Nizam Humayun ja , rebuilt the Imambara, spending about 7 lakh rupees. It was opened for travelers during Muharram. And for the people of Muslim religion, there is a big fair here at that time, it is closed all year round and tourists can see it from outside.
There is a huge cannon in front of Hazarduari. Nawab Nizam Humayun named this cannon Bacha Wali Kaman. He got it from Bhagirathi River. Legend has it that when this cannon was first fired, pregnant women up to 10 kilometers away were aborted by the sound of the cannon, for which Humayun named the cannon Bacha wali Kaman. In front of Hazarduari there is a tall full height clock tower located between JT Hazarduari and Imam Gara. Through which they could easily determine the fishing time of fishermen in Bhagirathi river.
1717 to 1773 AD and B Murshidabad city was the capital of Bengali Orissa and Bihar and West Bengal Orissa and Bihar Dewan was Murshid kuli after whom Murshidabad was named sometime. The famous palace in Murshidabad during the reign of Sirajuddaula from 1733 to 1757 was Hira Jhil. It was situated some distance from the site of Hazara Duari but it was submerged in the river Bhagirathi, the ruins of which still lie on the banks of river Bhagirathi. Murshidabad Hazarduari is the best tourist destination for world travelers.
Nearest station to Murshidabad is Murshidabad. Kolkata to Murshidabad distance is 197 km. Expresses from Sealdah are Sealdah-Lal gola Express, Bhagirathi Express. Expresses from Kolkata station are Hazarduari Express, Kolkata-Lal gola Express. Also there are many buses from Kolkata to Murshidabad and Baharampur.
