THE ORGANISATION OF SPACE IN

THE HAVELĪS OF RAJASTHAN

Salim Zaweed
It is unfortunate that for the pre-modern period emphasis had only been reserved for
either Imperial structures like palaces or buildings of religious provenance like
temples, tombs, mosques or chhatrīs. Some of these structures, besides being used as
residences, were also used to house the manufactories and workshops. Taken
together, they provide us with some scanty information regarding the utilitarian
architecture of the region.
Shikha, in her recent work1deals with different type of residential
structures, their facade composition, construction of aedicules with their variations
and similarities as well as the methods of their construction.
The term havelīis employed for a residential complex which was also a
place where the service gentry was housed. Though essentially associated with an
aristocratic ‘mansion’ of the Mughal nobility2it couldbelong to various categories
like, thethakursof the thikanas(estates), traders, the marwarisor banias, ministers,
royal doctors or hakims. Brahmin royal priests called rajpurohit, in-charge of
various royal departments, known as kothari(treasury incharge) or bhandari.3They
were generally surrounded by the smaller residences of the retainers and the
subordinate staff including the soldiers. According to John Jordain: ‘the greate man
must have his house by himself, because round about his house lyeth all his servants,
everyone in his own house, with their horses...’.4
The design and construction of a houserarely conformed to the straight cut
jacket of geometric symmetry as itdepended, to a large extent, on the topography
and the climatic conditions of the place where it was planned. It also depended on
the social ethos and the economic viability of its builders and occupants.
The first example of a typical ‘Rajput’ havelīcomes from the second half of
the sixteenth century when the Bhatt Havelī was builtat Amber. At Jodhpur
[Marwar] and Udaipur [Mewar] theearliestt examplesare that ofAsop Thakur
havelī[1627 A.D.] and Amethavelī [1628 A.D.].5
Some idea of how a mansion was conceived is got when in 1526 Babur
informs us that nobles like Mir Khalifa, ShakhZainKhawafi, Yunus‘Ali and others
got their residential gardens constructed.6According to Babur first the gardens were
laid out and only then the ‘khilvat-khana’ or residence was built.7
The central courtyard of the havelīknown aschowk, provided light and air to
the rooms grouped along its three or four sides both at the ground and upper
floors.8Such a plan, known aschatuhśalaplan, appears to have been followed in India
since the very ancient times.9The courtyards in such a plan were either square or
rectangular depending on the availability of space and need.10
The havelīs of Rajasthan like those under the Mughals,ranged from a single
courtyard house to an assemblage of multiple courtyards. The majority of the
havelīshowever comprised only one or two courtyards. A higher status of the owner
 IHC: Proceedings, 75th Session, 2014 1091

or an increase in family members resulted in an increase in either the extent of the

havelī or the number of courtyards. Smaller towns or thikanasnormally had one or
two courtyardhavelīswhile the capital towns generally hadhavelīs with one to eight
courtyards.11
A survey of the excavated structures reveals thatevery havelīis internally
divided into at least two distinct portions, a mardānkhāna (male quarters) and a
shielded zanānkhāna (female quarters),12each having its own courtyard.Thesehavelīs
always had a direct entrance into the front or malesection and an indirect entrance
with a baffle wall into the femalesection.13An example may be given
ofMammayonkihavelī in Udaipur, Pal Thakur havelī in Jodhpur and
DiwānNathmalhavelī in Jaisalmer etc.14The main entrance or portal is marked with
two sitting platforms or gokhaon either side, followed by a transitional space poli.
While some havelīs of eastern Rajasthan has an ottaor a sitting platform in the front
such as Patwahavelī, Jaisalmer.15Generally, each havelī has direct entrance which
opened unto the first courtyard or male section. Similarly, the fivehavelīstructures16
within the Kalinjar fort17 belonging to the BundelaRajputs,18 are double storied and
rotate around a centrally located courtyard. The double storied portalswere self-
flanked by chabutras or gokhas leading to a baffled wall or deorhī, which opens to
the courtyard.
The first court or male sectionin Rajasthan comprisesbaithak(literally place
to sit), mahal(or sheesh mahal) and rang mahal.19 The baithakcould be a regular
room or a tibariwith an overlooking balcony above. It functioned as a status symbol
of the household and was generally a lavishly decorated area.20Male members used
the tibari21in the outer court as a sitting space. The mahal (literally, palace) or mol,
was the most ornate space in the havelī, usually located on the first floor
overlooking the street. The lavish baithak on the ground floor and molon the first
floor are adorned with gold plated ceiling as at the PatuaHavelī in Jaisalmer. These
halls were also termed as diwānkhānain Marwar and darīkhānain Hadoti and Mewar
region. Both Pelsaert and Bernier stressed this fact while describing the nobles’
houses in Agra: “outside the mahal, there is only the diwānkhāna22, or sitting place,
which is spread with handsome carpets and kept very clean and neat.23 Sometimes,
the mardānkhāna of the Mughal nobility accommodated a personal library. Babur
gave an excellent account of the library in the house of Ghazi Khan, an Afghan
noble.24 However, the havelīs of Rajasthan lack such arrangement.
The rang mahalwas used for various entertainments by the performers as
noticed in MathurHavelī, Jodhpur and DhabhaiHavelī, Jaipur where it was located
on the ground floor. The upper double height balcony is generally connected with
the women’s court to watch the performance. The rooms behind the baithakand on
the first floor are used to sleep and receive guests. In some grand havelīs of late
eighteenth century, rooms of similar size and shape were dispersed around the
courtyard and were used, basically, at ground level for manufacturing, trading and
keeping animals.25 They are clustered together sometimes regularly, and sometimes
with what seems complete randomness.26The first floor contained men’s sleeping
and reception rooms and were embellished with additional decoration, for special
1092 Archaeology

members of the family. The second floor was for women, for cooking and sleeping.
The open flat roof was meant for the whole family.27
The centre or the core of the havelī is always the inner zanāna court which
was separated from the mardānkhānathrough a high baffle wall or angled
entrance.28Sometime the inner zanānacourtyard was usually at a higher level.29The
corner and other small rooms of the ground floor in this part were used for storage
(called kotha) and as living quarters of the maid. The tibariand interior rooms on the
second floor are used for sleeping by the women of the household. The top open
spaces surrounded by high-protected wall interspersed with lattice stone screens
within the false arches or chandniwere used for sleeping in the summer nights.
There were three other significant spaces for the zanāna were the water,
meditation and kitchen space.Parindawas the space for keeping water, usually a
small room on one side of the inner court. In the Brahmin havelīsof Bhatt and
Kasliwal in Jaipur, parindais formed as a small enclosure near the staircase landing,
probably because the kitchen in Brahmin havelīs is often on the upper floors.30 A
number of havelīs like Boherahavelī in Udaipur,Bagorhavelī in
Udaipur,Bapnahavelī in Jhalrapatan,Bohrahavelī in Jhalawar and Bhatt havelī,
Amber had a well within the building complex. In most havelīs, the prayer space or
puja was located in one of the small corner or side rooms. In some cases, the Tulsi
plant in the court also served as a prayer space. Some havelīshad separate temples or
mosques within the complex.31 The Marwaris who were Hindu traders had a kitchen
or rasodawith the chulha(hearth) on one side of the court. In the Brahmin havelīs
the kitchen was usually on the upper floors.32 The staircase as a transition zone was
often in the form of dark narrow passage constructed generally within the thickness
of the wall.
As far as the latrines are concerned, the Mughal mansions had separate
lavatories both stepped and sandas type attached to both the sections of the mansions
in such a way that a door connected with them directly led to the outside. More
frequently, a lavatory was also provided near the main gate.33 In most havelīsof
Rajasthan however, no toilets were made and in a few cases, an outside space or the
nohrawas used for ablutions.34
In contrast to the Mughal havelisthose in Rajasthan have very fewexamples
where a havelī is provided with a garden. A partial attempt has been made at
Johrihavelī in GhatkiGuni, Jaipur, where one finds stepped terrace gardens slowly
moving down in the Aravalli range. It was probably the only havelī of its type in the
whole of Rajasthan.35AtHaldia House at Jaipur the first courtyard of the havelīhas a
garden in Mughal fashion.36
The architectural remains of the BundelaRajputs37 in and around Orchha
comprise a large number of residential structures, havelīs and kothis inhabited by the
nobility and the elites. Out of the ten or eleven residential structures, the
ShyamDuakiKothi in front of the Raja Mahal, has a house garden towards northern
end with a well in the first courtyard to feed the water channels, and a
tehkhānatowards the west.38
Only some havelīs had a big outer court used for keeping the rathand
palanquins and for tying horses, elephants or cattle. It was termed as
 IHC: Proceedings, 75th Session, 2014 1093

nohra.39Generally, the ground floor rooms, especially in the zanānaportion had

quarters for maids. In bigger havelīs, a separate court was provided for servants like
in Sangam Singh’s havelī at Udaipur.40 We have very few examples of ahavelī
where an entourage of professionals, artisans, soldiers, and servants under the
patronage of the noble were accommodated within the walled enclosure. An
example can be given of the Haldia House in Jaipur, where a courtyard with rooms
was used as a stable courtyard.41
The havelī was also likely to have quarters for labourers, grooms, cart
drivers, torchbearers, camel drivers, elephant grooms, blacksmiths, and others who
worked under the protection of the noble.42
A study of the havelīs in medieval Rajasthan and the Mughal mansions in
various places suggests that apart from the difference of dimensions and the need of
space in constructing them, the basic component and the plans of these houses
hardly differed from each other. The urban houses under the Rajputs were
essentially utilitarian and took into the account the daily chorus of life. The decline
of the old nobility was accompanied by the rise of a mercantile class. As commerce
and specialized trades proliferated in the city, the havelī were further reduced. Some
were actually used for residence, but many were used to house workers or became
sites for manufacturing activities.43 The elaborate women’s quarters in the grand
mansions became multifamily tenements houses.44

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1
Shikha Jain, Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, Shubhi Publications, Gurgaon, 2004; The other works are Kulbhusan
Jain and Minakshi Jain, Indian City in the Arid West, AADI Centre, Ahemdabad, 1987; Sarah Tillotson, Indian Mansions;
A Social History of the Haveli, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1998; Ilay Cooper, Havelis of Rajasthan, India Book House,
2004.
2
t is essentially a dwelling type with an enclosed central open space called the chowkthat is used for various day to day
activities. All rooms and other component of the house are clustered around this courtyard making it an inward looking
space and the centre of all household activities. For details, see Meenakshi Kumar, Envisioning A Cultural Landscape-
Mansagar Lake Project, Jaipur, India, thesis submitted in the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 2009, pp. 34-36.
3
Shikha Jain, Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, pp. 21.
4
John Jordain, Journal of John Jordain, 1608-17, ed. William Foster, Cambridge, 1905, p. 161.
5
Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, p. 177.
6
Zahīruddīn Muhammad Bābur, Bāburnāma (c.1530), trans. Annette Susannah Beveridge, vol. II, London, 1921, p. 532.
7
Ibid., pp. 531-532.
8
The origin of the courtyards can be traced to the Indus Valley Civilization. With the shaping up of various cultures, there
was a transition from the cluster court to the private court. The entry of Mughal rulers (16th century) into the northern India
brought the key issue of treating open space in building design, to respond to the harsh climate. See Shikha Jain, Havelis: A
Living Tradition, op. cit., p. 39-41.
9
For the details of nobles mansion constructed in the ancient period, see Amita Ray, Villages, Towns and Secular Buildings
in Ancient India, c. 150 B.C- c. 350 A.D. See also B. B. Lal, India 1947-1997: New Light on the Indus Civilization, Aryan
Books International, New Delhi, 1998, p. 21; NiazRasool, ‘Architecture of Moenjodaro’, Proceedings of International
Symposium on Moenjodaro 1973, edited by Ahmad Nabi Khan, National Book Foundation, Karachi, 1975, p. 116; John
Marshall (ed.), Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization, Vol. I: Text, First Published, London, 1931, Asian Educational
Services Reprints, New Delhi, 2004, p. 18
10
For details, see John Marshall, A Guide to Taxila, Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1936, p. 85.
11
Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, p. 22. In Shahjahanabad, Qamar al-Din Khan’s havelī covered an entire block and
Safdar Jung’s contained room for five thousand soldiers and five hundred horses within several centralized courtyards.
Stephen P. Blake, Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639-1739, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1991, p. 31.The Jaipur City Palace Map of 1720s of Agra, shows as much as twenty havelīs within and beyond
1094 Archaeology

the fort. For a detailed analysis of these mansions of their surviving ruins see Ebba Koch, The Complete Taj, Thames and
Hudson, New York, 2006, pp. 30-81; The river site plinth and the boundary of the havelīof Agha Noor is still visible and is
presently called DassahraGhat. The remains of the only other haveli which survive till date are those of Wazir Khan. It is
various nomenclated as ‘SheronWalikothi’ or as the ‘Library of DaraShikoh’. Some noble’s mansion survive within the city
as well. Mention may be made of a mansion, now known as Kala Mahal [probably a corruption of kalān(large) Mahal]
situated in PipalMandi. It is attributed to Raja Gaj Singh, the son of Raja Suraj Singh of Jodhpur who lived during the reign
of Jahangir. Saeed Ahmad Marahravi, Muraqqa-i Akbarabad, Agra, 1931, p. 215, cited from SalimJavedAkhtar, Mughal
City of Agra and Its Environs: An Archaeological Survey’, unpublished thesis submitted in the Centre of Advanced Study,
Department of History, AMU, Aligarh, 2009, pp. 79-80; For a detailed study of urban residential structures in the Mughal
Empire, see S. Ali Nadeem Rezavi, Urban Middle Classes in Mughal India, Ph. D. Thesis, Department of History, AMU,
Aligarh, 2006, pp. 337-68.
12
Khāna, a Persian term for a section or department was used to name different rooms such as naūbatkhāna(room with
trumpets at the entrance), toshkhāna(treasury), tēhkhāna(basement), āsalkhāna(store for weapons), and diwānkhāna(for
receiving visitors). Similarly, in Rajasthan, the term Mahalwas commonly used to denote the section or portion of the
building, such as bādalmahal, rangmahal, sūkhmahal, chandramahal, chitramahal.
13
These features are encountered not only in the houses of the bureaucracy and nobility constructed throughout the Rajasthan,
but also in the merchant houses at FathpurSikri, Cambay and Baroda in Gujarat and the settlements of Kuldhara, Khaba,
and Manpiya in Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan. S. Ali Nadeem Rezavi, ‘Kuldhara in Jaisalmer State: Social and Economic
Implications of Remains of a Medieval Settlement’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Calcutta, 1996.
14
Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, pp. 27-28.
15
Ibid. p. 74.
16
In Kalinjar fort, the havelīsare locally named as Mahal. These are ChaubeMahal, Rang Mahal, VenkatBihariMahal,
ZakiraMahal, MotiMahal. See SalimZaweed, ‘Fort of Kalinjar and its Medieval Structures’, Proceedings of Indian History
Congress, 67th Session, Farook College, Kozhikode (Calicut), 10-12 March, 2007, pp. 1021-1028.
17
Edwin T. Atkinson, Statistical Descriptive and historical Account of the North-Western provinces of India, vol. 1,
Allahabad, 1884, pp.446-73; A. Fuhrer, The Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions in the North-Western Provinces and
Oude, Varanasi, reprint, 1969, pp.149-54.
18
Probably it was the period of Raja Aman Singh Bundela, was a grand grandson of Chhatarsal who succeeded to the throne
in 1752. Gazetteer of India, M.P. (Panna), Sinha, Bhopal, 1944, p.65; Atkinson, op.cit.,p.455.
19
Havelis: A Living Traditions, op. cit., pp. 67-69. This was done by adopting the cellular form of construction: one
courtyard, with its own rooms and verandah, leading to another courtyard, both linked to each other, yet both enclosing a
semi-detached space subsisting on its own. Havelīs often extended themselves in an adhoc manner along this cellular
pattern, responding to additions in the family or the need for more space. See also Pavan K. Varma&Sondeep Shankar,
Havelis of Old Delhi, Bookwise (India) Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1992, p. 33.
20
Havelis: A Living Traditions, op. cit., pp. 67-69.
21
Literally, ‘opening on three sides’ in local language. This is also called dālānin some areas. The spaces are basically defined
according to the number of sides or the number of arches.
22
The name given to this principal room is varied in different regions and cities. The baithakin the Rajput havelīsis referred to
the same diwānkhānain a Mughal havelī. Sarah Tillotson, Indian Mansions: A Social History of the Haveli, Orient
Longman Limited, New Delhi, 1998, p. 17.
23
Francisco Pelsaert, Remonstrantieor Jahangir’s India, translated by W. H. Moreland and P. Geyl, W. Heffer& Sons Ltd.,
Cambridge, 1925, (Reprint Delhi, 1972), p. 67.
24
Bāburnāma, II, p. 460.
25
Sarah Glynn, ‘The Haveli- A Social History’, in Architecture of Rajasthan, edited by Giles Tillotson, Marg Publications,
Bombay, 2001, pp. 102-111.
26
Here again we can used the Babur’s notice towards the mansion constructed by Indian masons, that “Their residences have
no (good) disposition, no order or regularity, no symmetry or proportion, no purity (polish), no good air”. Then he says,
“They [Indian] have no skill or knowledge in designs or architecture”. Zain Khan, Tabaqāt-iBāburī, op. cit., p. 132.
27
Frances Anderlon, ‘Learning from Jaipur’, Journal of Architectural Education, Vol. 42, No. 4, Summer, 1989, p.
19.KhandelwalHavelī on TripoliāBāzār, Jaipur is consists of three floors, wrapped around two or three courtyards which are
proportioned in such a way as to minimize direct radiation by shadows.
28
Under the Mughals, in the upper middle class houses, care was taken to cordoned off the quarters meant for the lodging of
women, either with the help of a wall or raised on a high plinth, so that one had to approach the doors by ascending six or
seven steps. This was to provide them privacy and security. See Tavernier, Travels in India, tr. V. Ball, New Delhi, 1977,
vol. I, pp. 78, 79, 86; William FinchEarly Travels in India, 1583-1619, ed. W. Foster, Vol. IV, New Delhi, 1968, pp. 27, 52.
Security and privacy was also provided to these houses by their being detached and separate from each other with lawns or
common grounds in between. See Tavernier, op. cit., I, pp. 85, 141; Hamilton, A New Account of the East Indies (1688-
1723) contained in A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in all parts of the World,
John Pinkerton, Vol. VIII, London, 1811, p. 414; The courtyards were provided also with a raised platform where
 IHC: Proceedings, 75th Session, 2014 1095

presumably the noble or the lady of the house rested. In case the house had a single courtyard, as in one of the FathpurSikri
houses, these platforms were constructed in such a manner as to partition. An all encompassing wall around the mansion
and its gardens separated it from other structures as well as provided security and grandeur. See Travels of
SebastienManrique 1629-43, Hakluyt Society, Oxford, 1927, II, p. 207.
29
In the havelīs of Amber and Dausa, the inner zanānacourtyards were usually at a higher level. See Shikha Jain,
‘DundharHavelis; Amber and Jaipur’, in Architecture: Time, Space and People, The Magazine of the Council of
Architecture, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, February 2008, pp. 34-41.
30
Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, pp. 62-63.
31
The NawabSahbkihavelīin Jaipur and Mahmud Khan havelīin Tonk had mosques in the complex. The Boherahavelīin
Udaipur there would be a big temple within the havelīcomplex. Ibid., p. 66.
32
Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan, pp. 62-63.
33
Indian Archaeological Review, New Delhi, 1978-79, p. 55; S. A. N. Rezavi, ‘Urban Housing in Mughal India- Based on
Documentary and Archaeological Evidence’, Indian History Congress, p. 130; K. K. Muhammad, p. 95.
34
Shikha Jain, Havelis: A Living Traditions, p. 69. She states that ‘these activities were related to soiling of the house and
were always performed outside except, in circumstances of birth’. This shows that the concept of purdah was not strongly
absorbed unlike the Mughals. In Jaipur and post Jaipur havelīs, there were toilets on the terrace, with a duct going down to
the service lane (gandigali) on side of the havelī.
35
Shikha Jain, Havelis: A Living Tradition, p. 35.
36
For gardens in Mughal havelis seeS. A. N. Rezavi, FathpurSikri Revisited, p. 110; see alsoStephen P. Blake,
Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639-1739, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991, pp. 48-50
37
Bundelas were a spurious tribe of Rajputs, who gave its name to the province of Bundelkhand.Edwin T. Atkinson,
Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Accounts of the North-Western Provinces of India, Vol. I, VishwaBhartiPrakashan,
Nagpur, 1984, p. 1; N. S Bose, History of the Chandellas, Calcutta, 1956, p. 10; Purohit Gore Lal, ChhātrāPrākāsh, pub.
KashiNagariPrachareniSabha, Varanasi, p. 66.
38
SalimZaweed,Marvels of Bundela Architecture: Temple, Palaces and Other Structures at Orchha, Shubhi Publication,
Gurgaon, 2014, pp. 71-73, 76-79.
39
Shikha Jain, Havelis: A Living Tradition, p. 69. This term was used for the annexe area.
40
Ibid., p. 69.
41
This large havelīis privileged in having an entrance directly into Johari Bazar. The front chowkwas a traditional
chahārbāgh. The zanānaoccupied the upper floors of the eastern chowk, while the ground floor houses carts, carriages and
palanquins, stores for fodder and grain, and stables for favourite horses. There was a well in this chowk. Servants lived in
the ground floor rooms off both chowks. The Haldia House also owned an adjacent stable area for horses and elephants,
which included further stores and a second well. Sarah Tillotson, Indian Mansions: A Social History of the Haveli, Orient
Longman Limited, New Delhi, 1998, p. 83, 183.
42
MaulviZafrurRehmanDehlavi, Farhang-iIstilabat-iPeshavaran(a technical dictionary of handicraft occupations), vol. 1
(Hyderabad, 1940), cited from JyotiHosagrahar, ‘Mansion to Margins: Modernity and the Domestic Landscapes of Historic
Delhi, 1847-1910’, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar. 2001), p. 29; James Forbes,
Oriental Memoir: A Narrative of Seventeen Years Residence in India, 2nd ed. (London, 1834), p. 429.
43
MouezKhalfaqui, ‘Indian Architecture: Social and Political Challenges’, pp. 81-94 in P. Nowak and P. Nowakowski (eds.)
Language, Communication, Information, Sorus Publishers, Poznan, 2009. He brilliantly reassesses the central factors,
which have shaped the nature of havelīto a bungalow type in terms of socio-economic situations.
44
Such as the Patwa Haveli of Jaisalmer, once housed the large numbers of household servants, were converted to warehouses
and shops and rented as tenement houses. Generally, two or three courtyard havelī fragmented to yield shops, workshops
and warehouses.