Salim Singh, the minister Jaisalmer feared
But the feelings are real. Two centuries later, families in Jaisalmer still speak of him with a mixture of fear, disgust and a certain grudging fascination, and his house is the stage on which all of that is played out.
His office: prime minister, or diwan, of Jaisalmer during the long reign of Maharawal Mulraj II, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
His family: they had served the court as ministers, and he rose to enormous power over the state's revenue and much of its government.
- Built
- Early 19th century, probably around 1815
- Built by
- Salim Singh, prime minister of Jaisalmer
- Open
- Open to visitors; rules set by its owners
- Allow
- About an hour
- Best time
- Morning, or late afternoon for warm light
- Photography
- Usually welcome; best from the lane or a rooftop
- Getting there
- On foot, in the old town near the foot of the fort
- Hard years: the caravan trade was beginning to decline, the treasury needed money and the state's neighbours were restless.
- His answer: to tax, and to tax again.
- The town's memory: he squeezed merchants with heavy levies, seized property and punished anyone who resisted.
- Families who left: many rich trading families are said to have left the state for good because of him.
- The Kuldhara legend: he wanted to marry the daughter of a village headman, and rather than give her up, the Paliwals left their villages around Kuldhara in a single night.
- The historians' view: they point to other causes for the end of the Paliwal villages, including taxation, drought and failing trade. In town, the legend is the version everyone knows.
- His end: his power ended with his death in the 1820s, and Jaisalmer's stories make his end as dark as his life.
- Tales as tales: the archives are thinner than the legends, and a man in his position would have had enemies happy to blacken his name.
A house that saves its drama for the top
Plain below: the lower storeys are tall, narrow and fairly plain, with small windows and simple carving.
Then the crown: the top floor widens out over the street on carved brackets, in a crown of balconies, screens and little arched roofs.
The Moti Mahal: the pearl palace. From below it looks almost too heavy for the slender house beneath, as if the building were holding something up for the whole town.
- Lower storeys
- Tall, narrow and fairly plain
- Top storey
- The Moti Mahal, the pearl palace
- Roofs
- Curved bangaldar eaves
- Balconies
- 38, say local guides
- Bangaldar roofs: the balconies have curved, drooping eaves named after Bengal, a shape that began with the bent bamboo roofs of Bengali village huts and was taken up in stone by Mughal and Rajput builders.
- Peacock brackets: the carved brackets beneath have long been described as peacocks, the bird of Rajasthan.
- Count them: each balcony is a little different. Local guides say there are thirty-eight.
- Narrow and wide: narrow at the bottom in a crowded lane, wide at the top where it looks over its neighbours.
- Buying sky: a rich man could not easily buy more land in the old town, but he could buy more sky.
- His view: from the top floor, across the roofs of the merchants he taxed, and up to the palace of the ruler he served.
- Against the Patwas: the merchants a few lanes away carved their facades top to bottom, as if every inch were a display of credit.
- The opposite: Salim Singh kept the lower floors severe and put all his display at the top, seen from far away and from the fort itself.
- Showmanship: whatever you think of the man, it was brilliant, and it is why this house stays in the memory when so many carved fronts blur together.
Inside the haveli, floor by floor
The street front and the door
Stand back: as far as you can in the lane, and look up the full height from the plain base to the crown of balconies.
- Rising richness: the carving gets richer as the house rises.
- The door: set low and solid, built to be shut and barred.
The lower rooms and courtyard
Cool and dim: thick walls and small openings.
- Turned inward: as in every Jaisalmer haveli, the house faces an open court, so light and air come from above rather than the street.
- Their use: storage, servants and the daily work of the household.
The stair
- Narrow and steep: turning tightly as it climbs inside the walls. Take it slowly and use your hands.
- Part of the experience: you feel how private a house like this was, and how deliberately its owner kept the best rooms out of reach.
The Moti Mahal
At the top: the house opens into the rooms of the pearl palace.
- From inside: the balconies you saw from the street become windows and seats, filled with light filtered through the stone screens.
- Look at: the ceilings, the carved arches and the remains of decoration on the walls.
- Sit in a balcony: and look down into the lane, as the household once did.
The roof and the view of the fort
If it's open: go up. You are almost level with the fort's lower walls.
- The view: the old town, the havelis and the bastions on their hill.
- Why height matters: you understand at once why the story of the house's height is told so often.
The legends of the house
The house that grew too tall
The plan: Salim Singh meant his house to rise as high as the royal palace on the hill, or higher. Some say he planned extra storeys of wood on top.
- The ruler's order: a minister's house could not look down on his own, so the upper storeys were cut back.
- Easy to believe: whether or not it happened, the shape of the house makes the story convincing.
The bridge to the palace
The dream: to link his top floor to the palace with a bridge, so he could go to court without walking through the town.
- Never built: if it was ever planned.
- Why we like it: it captures how the town saw him, a man who wanted to be above the people and close to the king.
The merchants who left
Family memory: Jaisalmer families will tell you their great-great-grandparents left the state because of his taxes, and that his house was built with their money.
- Fortunes elsewhere: some of those families went on to make them in the trading cities of India.
- Their own history: when they talk about him, they are talking about their own family.
How the stone was made to fly
The problem: stone is strong when you press on it and weak when you pull it. So how does a top storey stick out over the street?
Corbelled brackets: long blocks set deep into the wall, their outer ends carved and projecting, each carrying a little of the weight.
The chain: brackets carry beams, beams carry the balcony floor, and the balcony carries its own light screens and roof.
- Held in place: the weight of the wall above presses down on the inner ends of the brackets.
- A shelf on a wall: the same principle, scaled up and made beautiful.
- The stone helps: Jaisalmer's yellow sandstone is fine-grained and even, so it can be cut into thin screens and long brackets without cracking.
- The silawats: carvers who shaped each piece by hand, often on the ground, then raised it into place.
- The jaalis: stone lattice screens that keep sun off the rooms, let the breeze through, and let people inside watch the street unseen.
- Read the details: our pages on Rajasthani architecture and the jharokha.
- Not just show: the overhanging floors shade the walls and the lane, and the screens catch every breath of wind.
- Cooler inside: where summer can pass 45 degrees, a house built this way stays far cooler than one with flat walls. The beauty and the comfort come from the same idea.
Jaisalmer in Salim Singh's time
A changing world: in the late eighteenth century Jaisalmer was still a trading town, but the overland routes between Sindh, Persia and northern India were fading.
Trade moved: to the sea and the British-controlled ports.
Falling income: a ruler who wanted to keep his court and defend his borders needed money from somewhere.
- His era
- Late 18th and early 19th centuries
- His ruler
- Maharawal Mulraj II
- Patwon ki Haveli
- Begun 1805, within sight
- British treaty
- 1818
- His death
- 1820s
- Bound to be hated: the minister who found it.
- A time of building: the Patwon ki Haveli cluster was begun in 1805, within sight of his house, by families who knew him best.
- A last burst: the great havelis rose in the same decades as the city's economic decline, in a final show of confidence and display.
- 1818: Mulraj II signed the treaty with the East India Company that made Jaisalmer a princely state under British protection, and a quieter age began.
- Within a few minutes' walk: the merchants' houses, the minister's house and the royal palace on the hill.
- Together: they show how power, money and pride were shared in a small desert kingdom. Our Jaisalmer Fort guide fills in the royal side.
A walk through power, money and pride
Begin at the palace on the hill
- The Raj Mahal: start at the palace of the Maharawals in the fort and climb to its terraces.
- Find the crown: look down over the old town and pick out the Moti Mahal. This is the view the story turns on.
Walk down to the minister's house
Down the ramp: leave the fort by its winding ramp into the old town.
- Look both ways: from the lane, look back up at the palace. Then climb the haveli and look up again from the Moti Mahal.
- How close: you will see how near the two buildings come.
On to the merchants
- Nathmal and the Patwas: walk on to Nathmal ki Haveli and the Patwa cluster, the houses of another minister and of the merchant families whose money paid for it all.
- Compare: notice how differently each family chose to show its wealth.
Finish with tea and a story
- A rooftop: end with a glass of sweet chai, the fort in front of you, and the rest of the stories from your guide.
- More walks: our page on heritage walks in the old cities describes how we plan them across Rajasthan.
Who will love it, and who won't
You will love it if: you like a good story, architecture that does something surprising, and imagining how people lived in a house.
History with a villain: wonderful for anyone who enjoys one.
Children: those who like ghost stories and wicked ministers remember it long after the temples have blurred together.
- Less rewarding if: you have little interest in the legends, or dislike steep, dark stairs.
- Then: look at the facade from the lane, which is the main sight anyway, and save your energy for the fort and the dunes.
- Never skip it: it is a short stop on any walk through the old town, and even the most impatient traveller stops to stare at the top floor.
- Photographers: see the house from a nearby rooftop as well as the lane.
- Architects and designers: often most taken with the brackets and the overhang.
- Older relatives: the climb is the only difficult part, and they can enjoy the stories and the facade without it.
The best hour and season
Morning: our first choice, with a quiet lane to stand back and look up without being jostled.
Late afternoon: a good second, when the sun warms the stone and the Moti Mahal's carving stands out in deep shadow.
- Avoid midday: flat light, and the lanes at their busiest and hottest.
- October to March: the season, with warm, clear days and cool evenings.
- February: the Desert Festival fills the old town, and early mornings are the only quiet time.
- April and May: the heat makes the climb hard work by mid-morning, so go early.
- Month by month: our best time to visit Jaisalmer guide.
How to visit the haveli
Walk: the haveli stands in the old town near the foot of the fort, in lanes too narrow for cars. Your driver drops you close by.
Go with a guide: the house means much more with its stories, and a local guide knows which other havelis nearby are open that day.
- The stairs: steep, narrow and poorly lit, with few handrails.
- Without the climb: the facade from the lane is the main sight anyway. Our page on accessible travel has more advice.
- Photography: usually welcome. The best pictures of the facade are from the lane with a wide lens, or from rooftops nearby.
- A private house: the rules for visitors are set by its owners. Check with your guide on the day.
- Shops nearby: they will invite you in. A polite no is enough, and our guides keep you away from commission shopping.
How long to allow, and how to plan it
The facade alone: a few minutes in the lane, standing back to take in the house from base to crown. No one should skip it.
The full visit: about an hour, with the stair, the Moti Mahal and the roof if it is open.
- The facade
- A few minutes in the lane
- The full visit
- About an hour, with the climb
- With a rooftop
- Add the last hour of light
- The walk of power
- A long, cool morning
- The rooftop view: come back in the late afternoon to a nearby terrace, when the carving stands out in deep shadow.
- The walk of power: the palace in the fort, then this house, then Nathmal ki Haveli and the Patwa cluster, a long, cool morning.
- Where it sits: in the old town near the foot of the fort, so it falls naturally on the walk down from the gates.
- Bring your guide: the stories are half the visit, and a guide knows on the day which other havelis are open.
What most visitors miss
The contrast between top and bottom
- By design: the plainness of the lower floors is deliberate.
- See it whole: stand back and take in the house at once, and the crown becomes far more powerful.
The brackets
- Look closely: at the carved brackets under the balconies of the Moti Mahal.
- The key: their shapes, long said to be peacocks, hold up the whole structure.
The view from a neighbouring roof
- Eye level: from a rooftop café or terrace nearby you see the Moti Mahal straight on.
- The only way: to really see the carving, and the light at the end of the day is lovely.
The story on the faces of the town
- Ask a local: a shopkeeper or an older resident, what they think of Salim Singh.
- What you'll get: a story, and probably a strong opinion. That is part of the visit too.
Nearby sights to pair with it
Patwon ki Haveli
- Five merchant houses: begun in 1805, a short walk away.
- Same morning: seeing the merchants' houses and the minister's together makes both richer.
Nathmal ki Haveli
Whose: built around 1885 for Diwan Mohata Nathmal, another minister of the state.
- At the door: two stone elephants.
- The brothers: two are said to have carved it, one taking each half, which is why the sides differ in detail.
Jaisalmer Fort
- The rival: climb to the palace that Salim Singh's house is said to have challenged.
- Look back: at the Moti Mahal from the ramparts.
Kuldhara
- The Paliwal story: if it has caught you, drive out to the abandoned village, about eighteen kilometres southwest of town, on the way to the dunes.
- When: in the soft light of early morning or late afternoon.
Where to stay nearby
Suryagarh: for most guests, Suryagarh, a modern fortress in Jaisalmer stone about thirteen kilometres out on the Sam road, with a pool, a spa and broad courtyards.
The Serai: couples and guests who want the desert's silence go to The Serai, SUJAN's tented camp on private desert land off the Jodhpur road, about forty minutes from town.
- Most guests
- Suryagarh, about 13 km out
- Desert silence
- The Serai, about 40 minutes
- Walk in
- Heritage hotels close by
- Walking distance: heritage hotels in converted havelis and palaces close to the old town.
- Compare them: our guide to luxury hotels in Jaisalmer.
- What else nearby: our things to do in Jaisalmer guide.
