In 1752, after several clashes, Chanda Sahib's forces and his French allies were expelled from Arcot, officially declaring Wallajah as Nawab on 26 August 1765.

This palace, commissioned by British financier Paul Benfield, incorporates Indo-Saracenic architecture and became the main residence of Wallajah.

[1] His mother, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was the niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia.

by Imperial fireman on 5 April 1750. e Raised to the titles of Walla Jah[clarification needed] and Sahib us-Saif wal-qalam (Master of the Sword and Qalam) Mudabbir-i-Umur-i-'Alam Farzand-i-'Aziz-az Jan[clarification needed] by Emperor Shah Alam II in 1760, he was recognised by the Treaty of Paris as an independent ruler in 1763 and by the Emperor of Delhi 26 August 1765.

Sir John Macpherson, writing to Lord George Macartney in November 1781 declared:I love the old man... [Wallajah] mind me to my old Nabob [Nawab].

It is more than he did for me when I was fighting his battles.The Nawab was an ally of the British East India Company, but also harboured great ambitions of power in the South Indian arena, where Hyder Ali of the Mysore, the Marathas, and the Nizam of Hyderabad were constant rivals.

[2] For the defence of his territory, the Nawab paid the British 400,000 pagodas per annum (about £160,000) and 10 out of the 21 battalions of the Madras army were posted to garrison his forts.

Chanda Sahib, assisted by Joseph François Dupleix, had planned to besiege Muhammed there in 1749, but the need for funding and provisions led him to instead besiege Tanjore first, and movements of Chanda Sahib's Maratha enemies prompted him to lift that siege and move north to face the new threat.

On 23 September Raza Sahib entered the town and invested the fort with an army of 2,000 native regular troops, 5,000 irregulars, 120 Europeans, and 300 cavalry.

Where the moat was dry the assailants mounted with great boldness, but the British fire was heavy and well directed that they made no progress.

26 June 1753, Wallajah supported British forces against the French, assisted by Mysorean troops led by Monsieur Astruc.

According to historian S. Muthiah: "Paul Benfield, an East India Company engineer turned contractor, who had a good reputation[8] The Palace was completed in 1768.

He was succeeded by his son Umdat ul-Umara, who was later accused of supporting Tipu Sultan the heir of Hyder Ali during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.