Lonely in life, this Awadh prince dies a pauper in Delhi’s Malcha Mahal

The Malcha Mahal, hidden under thick foliage deep inside the central Ridge along the Sardar Patel Mar, has lost its last royal occupant who was also the only surviving descendant of Wajid Ali Shah, the 10th Nawab of Awadh.

Prince Ali Raza Oudh, the son of Begum Wilayat Mahal took his last breath on September 3 following a short illness at his home in the capital city.

According to reports, the body of Raza, who was reportedly 58 years old at the time of his death, was found in his home - 3 days after his demise.

Raza, who lived a lonely life after his sister Sakina died four years ago, was lonely even in death.

The 700-year-old Malcha Mahal which was occupied by the royal duo was built back in the 1300s by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.

The medieval monument had four to five arched chambers that had no doors and windows and could hardly be called rooms.

Raza, his sister Sakina, and their mother Begum Wilayat Mahal, had made it to the headlines in the 1970s by claiming to be the direct descendants of the last king of Avadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, according to Times of India.

However, the place where the royal family lived had no electricity, no doors, no windows and no water, and was less of a palace and more a reminder of the fall of their family.

According to reports, the Begum, the mother of the prince, committed suicide by consuming crushed diamonds, extracted from ornaments she never wore in 1993. She had poisoned herself by mixing the crushed diamonds with her drink.