Type Royal mansion Completed Circa 1798 | ||
 | ||
Similar Afzal Mahal, Basheer Bagh Palace, Nizam Museum, King Kothi Palace, Public Gardens - Hyderabad | ||
Koti Residency or British Residency or "Hyderabad Residency" is an opulent mansion built by James Achilles Kirkpatrick who was British Resident of Hyderabad state between 1798–1805. It is a minor tourist attraction located in the suburb of Koti, Hyderabad.
The villa is in the palladian style and similar in design to its near-contemporary in the United States, the White House. It features in the 2002 William Dalrymple book White Mughals. The house was designed by Lieutenant Samuel Russell of the Madras Engineers and construction began in 1803.
History
Kirkpatrick built the mansion for himself and his Indian wife Khair un Nissa, who bore him two surviving children who were sent to England by the age of five and never saw them again due to the early deaths of their parents.
Koti, meaning a mansion, is a huge mansion built in Palladian Georgian style. The building was at once the embassy of the East India Company to the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the residence of James Kirkpatrick, the British Resident, as well as his successors. Within its compound there were several quarters, including a zenana (women's quarters) where Khair un Nissa lived. Within the compound was a miniature of the building- legend has it that this was so Kirkpatrick's wife, who remained in purdah, could see the entire mansion, including the front. This scale model is now beautifully restored.
In 1949 it was converted into a women's college, Osmania University College for Women.
After a court directive to the Archaeological Survey of India, it is now a protected monument. However, the building has suffered much damage and part of the ceiling has collapsed.
British Residents at Hyderabad included:
