Chepauk palace

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1895

Chepauk Palace View From The River Cooum Madras, 1880

Muhammad Ali, 8th Nawab of the Carnatic (from 1749 to 1795) built the Chepauk Palace. 

The Palace included two blocks arranged in the form of “L”,The south wing was double-storied and was known as the Kalasa Mahal or Treasury

It contained the Dewan Khana, a magnificent audience chamber. 

 The property originally belonged to Mahfuz Khan, brother of the Nawab. 

The latter acquired it in 1767. Three years later he obtained a further grant of land from the Governor of Fort St George.

Whereupon he enclosed the entire site of 117 acres with a boundary wall. Extending southward from the bar of the Cooum River, and along its banks. 

The thirteenth and the last Nawab of Carnatic, Ghulam Mohammed Ghaus Khan, was childless. The British Government took over the palace upon his death.

The canal is a branch of the famous Cooum in Chennai. Unfortunately, this  is almost dead today. 

In 1859, the former Survey School became the Civil Engineering College and moved into part of Kalasa Mahal. The college was renamed College of Engineering in 1861.

In 1862 the accommodation for the college was extended to a part of the lower floor and the whole of the uppe floor. The Government Carnatic Agent occupied the remainder of the lower floor.

In 1904, a committee considering the re-organisation of the College recommended that it be moved to Guindy. This move finally occurred in 1923.