The Mumtaz Mahal is the former

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka The Speaker of the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the presiding officer of the chamber. The current Speaker of the Parliament is Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, in office since 20 August 2020. The Speaker fulfills ...

, which now houses the

National Defence College, Sri Lanka The National Defence College, located in Colombo, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Sri Lanka Police and the Public Services. This is a very prestigious co ...

, located in Kollupitiya, a suburb of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Built in 1929, it was purchased in 1948 to serve as the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and served in that capacity till a new residence was built in 2000 in close proximity to the New Parliament Complex in

Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte (), is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a satellite city and located within the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, ...

. Since then the house has been used by various government entities.

History

The house was built in 1928, with work commencing in 1927 following the demolition of the French styled villa, St Margaret's, which was located on a plot of land, situated in Kollupitiya along Galle Road and stretching to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. St Margaret's was built for Mohamed Ali Mohamed Hussain by his father Mohamed Ali. However, Mohamed Hussain tore down villa and commissioned the architect,

Homi Billimoria Homi Framjee Billimoria OBE, (23 May 1901 - June 1956) was a Ceylonese architect of Parsee origin. He was the first Ceylonese to graduate from Liverpool University and be elected a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Homi Fra ...

, to build a larger Italian renaissance styled house. Count de Mauny was commissioned to design the gardens and furniture for the house. On the suggestion of

Herbert Sri Nissanka Herbert Sri Nissanka, QC (also known as ''Nissanka Herbert Mendis'') (7 December 1898 – 26 February 1954) was a Ceylonese lawyer and legislator. Elected to the first post-independence parliament, he was one of the founding members of the Sri ...

, Mohamed Hussain named the new house after his youngest daughter, Mumtaz. A few years after moving into the house, Hussain faced bankruptcy due to the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and rented the house to the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

. Following the fall of the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

in 1943, the French Consul left the island and the house was requisitioned for use by Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton,

Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon The Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon was a military post created during World War II to form a unified command for all British military, naval and air units in Ceylon. The first to be appointed to this post was Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, whose power ...

who lived in it till the end of the war. With Ceylon gaining independence, the house was purchased by the Government of Ceylon to be used as the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Sir Francis Molamure Sir Alexander Francis Molamure, (7 February 1888 – 25 January 1951) (commonly known as Sir Francis Molamure or A. F. Molamure) was a Ceylonese politician. He became the first speaker of both the State Council of Ceylon and Parliament of Ceylo ...

. It served in this capacity till 2001, when the Speaker moved to a newly built residence in close proximity to the new parliamentary complex at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. The house was subsequently used for the Constitutional Council and the Fiscal Ombudsman, until it was taken over by the Buddhist and Pali University. Since then it has become heavy dilapidated, with most of its original fittings and furniture either lost or destroyed. In 2021, it underwent a major restoration by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

as it was prepared to house the National Defence College.

References

External links

Parliament of Sri Lanka
Former official residences in Sri Lanka Government buildings in Colombo Houses completed in 1928 Houses in Colombo {{SriLanka-struct-stub

History

See also

References

External links