Beauty Of Delhi- Walking in Bhagirath Palace Chandni Chowk New Delhi India 4K Video

Beauty Of Delhi- Walking in Bhagirath Palace Chandni Chowk New Delhi India 4K Video
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The Bhagirath Palace electrical market is one of Chandni Chowk’s most famous bazaars, visited by thousands in search of lamps, lights and electrical knick-knacks. However, not many are familiar with the intriguing history of not only the 19th-century building that was once a symbol of power and sex, but of its enigmatic owner Begum Samru. We trace the story of Bhagirath Palace, also known as Begum Samru ki Haveli (Photo Source: Varun Shiv Kapur/Flickr)
Many lanes and localities in Delhi-6, or Old Delhi for many, have earned themselves the distinction of being specialised markets in their own right. And like the many thousands of stories that add to the enchantment of Chandni Chowk and its surrounding areas, these markets too have fascinating histories. Take, for instance, the dusty, tightly packed Bhagirath Palace-now one of Delhi’s key electrical and lights wholesale markets-which was once the haveli of a Kashmiri nautch girl, who led a band of mercenaries and was a close aid of Mughal emperors.
Also known as Begum Samru’s Palace, it’s hard to imagine by looking at the dilapidated façade with ‘Lloyd’s Bank Limited’ plastered across it, that just two centuries ago, this was a symbol of power and sex. The spaces between its columns that now resound with the cacophony of bargains and traffic noise, were once privy to conspiracies in hushed voices and soft whispers between lovers. This transition makes for a fascinating story-one that starts back in the mid-18th century with a little girl.
From Farzana to Begum Samru
Farzana was born to ‘an impoverished Arab nobleman’ in the 1750s. She spent her early years in Shahjahanabad and soon became a popular figure in the brothels of Chawri Bazaar.[i] At 15, Farzana became the concubine of 45-year-old Austrian mercenary, Walter Reinhardt (famously known as the ‘Butcher of Patna’ as his troops had killed over 150 Englishmen there). Reinhardt had acquired the sobriquet ‘Le Sombre’ during his time with the French army in current-day Puducherry because of his dark complexion. The name was distorted and Indianised to Samru (also spelled Sumru), and soon, Farzana too came to be known as Begum Samru. After Reinhardt’s death, she converted to Catholicism and was christened ‘Joanna Nobilis Sombre’. However, she continued to be ‘Begum Samru’ to everyone around.
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