General Wali Kothi was an observatory commissioned in 1832 by King of Oudh Nasir-ud-Din Haidar Shah.

[1] It was not functional until 1841 when Colonel Richard Wilcox, a Royal Astronomer, was appointed.

The building was the headquarters of the Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah of Faizabad during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the insurgent council frequently held its meetings there.

Mr. Davis then the occupant bank manager, his staff and clients used boats to ferry them back and forth.

[3] Martin Gubbins described it as a handsome classical design building, protected by a regular guard of native infantry.