Tara Wali Kothi

Building in Lucknow, India

26°51′13.4″N 80°56′23.3″E / 26.853722°N 80.939806°E / 26.853722; 80.939806Current tenantsState Bank of IndiaConstruction started1832Opened1841

Tara Wali Kothi was an observatory commissioned in 1832 by King of Oudh Nasir-ud-Din Haidar Shah.^[1] It was not functional until 1841 when Colonel Richard Wilcox, a Royal Astronomer, was appointed.

It contained several excellent instruments. On the death of Wilcox in 1847, the establishment was dismissed, and the instruments disappeared during the Mutiny. It was said that once a brass pillar stood in central chamber through the roof.

The building was the headquarters of the Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah of Faizabad during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the insurgent council frequently held its meetings there.^[2] Later it was occupied by the Imperial Bank of India, being restored for use as a bank but, in October 1923, it was flooded for 15 days. Mr. Davis then the occupant bank manager, his staff and clients used boats to ferry them back and forth. Some years later, it was used for as a local court of civil justice. later it was occupied by the Imperial Bank of India (now, State Bank of India), and became the bank's headquarters in 1923.^[3] Now it is a SBI branch head office.^[3]

Martin Gubbins described it as a handsome classical design building, protected by a regular guard of native infantry.

References

^ "Nasir". 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
^ "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 16, page 190 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library". Dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kirti, Khushbu (5 March 2023). "From a royal observatory to SBI branch: Know all about the 190-yr-old Tare Wali Kothi in Lucknow".

External links

"Lucknow - Tare wali Kothi". Lucknow.me. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
"The Majestic Kothis of Lucknow". Lucknowpulse.com. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2018.