Long ago – and I really don’t recall where – I read an article by someone that owing to the presence of Amir Mahal, Royapettah ought to be renamed Royalpettah. The idea is not far wrong, for apart from Amir Mahal, there are, scattered around the area, plenty of other royal residences, some still surviving and others remembered in name.

Let us begin with Amir Mahal itself. That former police court was converted into a grace and favour residence for the erstwhile ruling family of Arcot when the British Crown took over the administration of India from the East India Company, post the revolt of 1857. The building was modified by R.F. Chisholm on the lines of Queen Victoria’s Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, and named Amir Mahal. Set in a vast compound, the building proper, being a private residence, is not easily accessible. The most visible element is the entrance archway flanked by domed minarets, the red colour a striking contrast to the green of the wooden windows on the arch that served as a naubat khana or drum house.