Chowmahalla_Palace
Chowmahalla Palace or Chowmahallat is the palace of the Nizams of Hyderabad State located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.[1] It was the seat of power of the Asaf Jahi dynasty (1720-1948) and was the official residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad during their reign. Presently the palace is converted into a museum but the ownership still lies with the family.[2] The palaces is constructed at the location of an earlier existing palaces of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty and Asaf Jahi Dynasty[2] close to the Charminar. Construction of the palace as it stands today was started by Nizam Ali Khan Asaf Jah II[3] in 1769. He ordered to built four palace from which the nomenclature of Chau Mahalla was acquired.[4] The word chār or chahār, and its variation chow, means "four" and the word mahal means "palace" in Urdu, Hindi and Persian.[5 .
