The Banqueting Hall was constructed between 1800 and 1802 by John Goldingham, an astronomer and engineer with the British East India Company. The building was commissioned by Edward Clive, the then Governor of Madras, who envisaged the hall to be an extension of the Government House which was being renovated that year. The hall was built to commemorate the company's victory over Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and designed to be a venue for social functions. The construction of the hall cost about two and a half lakh rupees. The building was opened with a grand ball on 7 October 1802.