Rai Lala Chunnamal ki Haveli (छुन्नामल की हवेली) is the only well-preserved haveli in the walled city of old Delhi in the Chandni Chowk area[1].
Lala Chunnamal and his family were Khatri[2][3] merchants (Chunnamal Saligram) of brocade and textiles during the Mughal period. When the first municipality for Delhi was formed in 1862, Lala Chunnamal was appointed Municipal Commissioner[4].
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After the 1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857, Lala Chunnamal emerged as the wealthiest person in Delhi[5]. Mirza Ghalib lamented on the plight of Muslims after the Ghadar, envying the illuminated mansion of Chunnamal[6]. Chunnamal was the first person in Delhi to acquire an automobile and a phone.
The British had auctioned the Fatehpuri Masjid after the 1857 war to Lala Chunnamal for Rs. 19,000[7][8], who preserved the mosque. Later in 1877 it was acquired by the government in exchange for four villages and was restored to the Muslims at the Delhi Darbar when the British allowed the Muslims back in Old Delhi. A similar mosque build by the Akbarabadi begum was destroyed by the British[9]
Rai Lala Chunnamal's haveli in Katra Nil section of Chandni Chowk is spread over one acre[10], with 128 rooms is built on the three floors. The tenth generation of the Chunnamal family currently lives in it. It is surrounded by 139 shops.
An inscription on the drawing room wall states that it was built in 1848. Parts of it were built in 1864.
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