Behind the Nizam’s 101 Seater Dining Table

Seven nizams ruled Hyderabad for over 200 years and left behind a dining table. Today, this 101-seater is one of the longest in the world, offering a fascinating window into Hyderabad’s past.

The Nizam’s 101-Seater Dining Table (Source: Bernard Gagnon CC By-SA 3.0)

You can tell a lot about a king by his dinner table. One such tale lies within the halls of Hyderabad’s 19th-century Falaknuma Palace. Here, inside the palace’s 101 Dinner Hall, an impressive 80-foot dinner table is believed to be one of the longest in the world. So much so that it can seat a shocking total of 101 guests.

Centuries ago, Mehboob Ali Pasha — the state’s sixth nizam — entertained his royal guests here. Known for his lavish lifestyle, the nizam would host visitors on beautiful rosewood chairs that were finished with green leather detail. Above them stood a chandelier. No expenses were spared for cutlery either, with gold and silver sets doled out for dinner — a meal that took three hours to set.

Despite its length, some report that a guest sitting on one end can hear the other person seated all the way across with little difficulty. Whether this acoustic feature exists or not, the table’s craftsmanship is still a marvel. Comprising seven pieces, it is surrounded by 28 paintings, or friezes, which offer a fascinating window into the room’s past. Rumour has it that the Nizam would use these paintings — each showcasing a different culinary dish — as his personal menu by pointing to the dish he wanted and having it brought out by servers.

To historians and Hyderabadis, this detail may be unsurprising as the nizams are known for their many curious dining habits, which to date, influence the city’s cuisine. In fact, the executive chef of 101 Dinner Hall today, Sajesh Nair, uses cashew powder in his dahi kabab, a quintessentially Hyderabadi dish, as a nod to the nizams’ taste for cashews.

Other delicacies served to customers here include lemongrass-marinated scampi and as many as five indulgent biryanis. Many dishes prepared back in the day by royal cooks, such as the slow-cooked stew called haleem, are also churned out for patrons today.

With such flavours added to the palace’s historic appeal, it's no wonder that the nizam’s table has hosted society’s elite. In fact, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump, also dined here during her 2017 visit to the country as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Today, the 101 Dinner Hall is more than a dining outlet; it’s a king-sized window into Hyderabad’s glorious past. Ruled by the nizams for 200 years, the city underwent significant changes, not just politically but also culturally. This includes literature, architecture, politics, and of course, food. As Prabhakar N. Mahindrakar, the in-house chief security officer and historian, says:

“To look out from the Falaknuma palace walls as the orange orb of the sun dips behind the silhouetted hills is to know that everything you see from horizon to horizon is yours to rule.”

Objects have always had a remarkable ability to hold onto history. The days of the nizams might seem like a thing of the past, but their legacy is permanently around us, proving that even the most unexpected objects — like the dining table — can record remarkable histories.