Khas Mahal

Delhi, India

The Khas Mahal is the pavilion of imperial apartments in the palace of the Red Fort of Delhi. It is the third pavilion from the south, in the row of palatial pavilions that stands along the eastern edge of the fort. To its south lies the large zenana, the Rang Mahal, and to its north is the Diwan-i-Khas, the hall of private audience. The Khas Mahal is relatively small, and divided into four main parts. On the south, facing the Rang Mahal, is the Baithak, or sitting room, which is a veranda painted in lavish white and gold floral patterns, with accents in blue and green. Three chambers make up the bedroom suite, or khwabgah. On its eastern side, overlooking the fortress wall is the Mussaman Burj (or Burj-i Tila), an octagonal tower from which the emperor showed himself to the people in a daily ritual. The tower is also the point from which the emperor would observe spectacles performed below. To the north of the khwabgah is the Tasbih Khana, or the 'place for telling beads', for private prayer by the emperor. This room is separated from the khwabgah by a delicate perforated screen, below which the Nahr-i-Behisht runs. Above the screen is a gilt relief showing the scales of justice surrounded by floral ornamentation.

Sources:

Asher, Catherine. 1992. The New Cambridge History of India: Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press, 198.

Mukherji, Anisha Shekhar. 2003. The red fort of Shahjahanabad. Delhi ; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 140-141.

Tillotson, G.H.R. 1990. Mughal India. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 60-62.