An old man sits in his shop at the entrance of Rang Mahal. He points to a narrow winding passage that leads to a dilapidated structure. “I think there is still some house inside where the Nawabs are said to have held mujras,” says Abdul Hameed.

Rang Mahal is one of the three mahals near Sui Walaan in the old city that were once homes of the Nawabs. Rang Mahal belonged to Nawab Khairuddin. “He was one of the brother-in-laws of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar,” says a resident, Nazeer. “But he was a namakharaam (traitor). He went over to the British side,” he adds.

“These mahals were intact till Partition but after that they were gradually demolished,” says Abdul Hameed. “Now the only thing left of these mahals are its names,” he adds.

Rang Mahal shared a wall with Chandni Mahal, the home of Begum Taimoor Jahaan who left India after selling the house to the government “for a few lakh rupees”. “Begum Saab left for Pakistan years after Partition. I think it was sometime in the Sixties,” says a resident, Nazar Mohammed. “But she used to come here till recently,” he adds.

Chandni Mahal now houses the Chandni Mahal Thana. Except an old brick wall, nothing remains of the mahal. “Earlier a neher called Neher-e-Faheeshat used to run here,” says Varun Kumar, a resident. “The mahal was also famous as noble women used to play holi here.”

Sharing a wall with both Rang Mahal and Chandni Mahal is Sheesh Mahal, which was demolished a long time ago. “It must have belonged to some relative of the Nawabs,” says Hameed.