Forgotten prince of Oudh dies lonely death

Ali Raza, who claimed to be the last prince of the royal house of Oudh, was found dead at his Malcha Mahal near the forest area in Delhi's Chanakyapuri.

"There is no electricity or water here. He fell ill after his dogs died. His mother and sisters died several years ago," a forest official told ANI.

The Mahal is hidden under the thick flora deep inside the central ridge along the Sardar Patel Marg.

According to reports in 1985, Raza had shifted into the Mahal with his mother, Begum Wilayat Mahal, the child of the Nawab of Awadh or Oudh, his sibling princess Sakina, 11 labrador dogs, and a few servants.

The family had huge palaces. They lost their luck, but not their sense of power. Hence, somewhere in the 1970s, the Begum decided to take an action.

She sheltered herself in the First Class Waiting Room of the Delhi Railway Station together with her young son and daughter, seven servants, and a collection of huge and attractive Persian carpets.

After a few years, the government offered her a home at the Malcha Mahal. The place had no electricity or running water, no doors or windows. Yet the Begum decided to stay in the Mahal.

She hung a metal sign outside: "Entry restricted. Cautious of hound dogs. Proclamation: Intruders shall be gundown."

The Begum allegedly committed suicide in 1993 at the age of 62 by drinking a mixture laced with crushed diamond.