he monitored it constantly he came back studied archival material and understanding the tourism and heritage potential of the jheel laid out plans for a revival after the sanction and funds came his efforts doubled motijheel was also the home of warren hastings when he became the political president at the durbar of nawab nazim to his surprise nawazesh found only fragrant flowers when he opened the pot within a bend of this lake there was a beautiful palace called sangidalan stone palace a lofty gateway a mosque a mahalsarai harem and exquisite gardens said to be one of asias best at that time built by shahmat jang the nephew and soninlaw of nawab alivardi khan the folklore surrounding these two buildings is also interesting the lake derived its name from the extensive cultivation of highly prized goldentinted pearls carried out there and the palaces were unrivalled in their beauty but it turned into a rubbish dump after independence says local resident mofidul islam who had earlier spearheaded the motijheel bachao campaign religious amity at the western end of motijheel stands the nationally protected kaala masjid and cemetery built in early 18th century siraj marched out to plassey from motijheel on june 23 1757 back in the 18th century however motijheel pearl lake lived up to its name in less than a year the transformation that happened across 350 acres of land and lake is unbelievable says an officer associated with the project tourism potential we see huge employment opportunity in motijheel if we target both national and international tourists rao says it helps of course that it is just 9km from the district headquarters the begum used her massive wealth and influence to stitch together a coalition of forces comprising mir jafar jagat seth and the british to overthrow the young nawab this is where lord clive and warren hastings lived for a considerable period rao says nawab nawazesh ahmed khan who built sangidalan the stone palace out of black marble from the ruins of gaur for his wife ghaseti begum the eldest daughter of nawab ali verdi khan used to get disturbed by the sound of clashing cymbals and conch shells during puja at the radha madhab temple motijheel was also backdrop to a turning point in british rule in india also known as company bagh because it was under the occupation of the east india company it was here that lord clive stayed for six days in 1765 to negotiate with the nawabs to transfer the dewani to the company in april 1766 clive who had returned to calcutta after securing the dewani again stayed at motijheel and even held the first english poonneah the ceremony of commencing the revenue collections sitting with the nawabs this is the place where the plot to defeat nawab siraj uddaulah was worked out the aftermath of the battle saw the transition of the trading company into a political power that sealed the fates of new nawabs rao explains