The erstwhile official residence of the Nawab of Arcot, Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, during the 16th century, will soon become a permanent place for the Arcot site museum that is now functioning from a rented accommodation in Arcot town, around 15 km from Walajah. “The bungalow will be advantageous for the museum due to its central location in the town, bringing in more footfall, especially school students, to know the region’s rich past,” J. Ranjith, curator in-charge, Arcot site museum, told The Hindu.
Local historians said that Arcot, which includes present-day Walajah, Melvisharam and Vellore towns, was the capital of the Carnatic region when Zulfiqar Khan was the Nawab appointed by Aurangazeb in 1690. Since then, buildings and other structures in the region, especially during Carnatic years, were mostly influenced by Mughal architecture. The dilapidated bungalow remained the official residence for Nawab Ali for many years before he decided to move to Madras to be closer to the British army. He vacated the bungalow after he built his Chepauk palace in 1768.
Spread over 80 cents, the bungalow was used by many government departments like forests, revenue, agriculture, and labour since independence. The taluk office in Walajah was functioning from one of the rooms of the Nawab’s bungalow until two years ago, after it moved to its own building. At present, a treasury, a sub-jail and Adi Dravidar, and Tribal Welfare Department are functioning in a portion of the building.
Among its over 1,200 rare artefacts, the site museum has stone sculptures, terracotta figurines, coins, Islamic antiquities, porcelain ware, iron implements, wooden artefacts, and antiquities from excavation in the region that dates back to later Mughal period, around 500 years ago.
Based on a request from the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, Ranipet Collector S. Valarmathi has written recently to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), which maintains the bungalow, in Chennai to allow the building to be used for a museum. Efforts are being taken to relocate the museum to the bungalow soon.
