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Farangi Mahal

Farangi Mahal HistoryLucknow is among few places in India, which is also known for several Islamic architecture that showcase Muslim and Nawabi cultures. In the list of several architectures, the building called the Farangi Mahal is one of them. Farangi Mahal is basically a house that showcases education, which originally belonged to a French businessman Neal and it was later given to Mullah Asad Bin Qutub Shaheed. This place has also been denoted as the prestigious learning institution unlike the ones found in Harvard and Cambridge in terms of quality education. It was very much popular learning place wherein a number of foreign students used to enroll for various programs and even students hailing from countries like Saudi Arab, Egypt and China.

History of Farangi Mahal


Farangi is a Persian terminology, which has its root from Franks or the European. This term was denoted to people who came from France to carry out business during the reign of King Akbar and also visited Lucknow for the same purpose. At the this juncture, when French gradually established themselves and ruled Lucknow for limited amount of time when this place came into existence and Neal from France was given an official decree to run Farangi Mahal as a learning place. The term Mahal simply means Palace, which eventually became the official property of Mughal Empire and later was gifted to a learned person man called Mullah Nizamuddin Sehalvi by Aurangzeb in the year 1695. As the entire family of this person shifted to this place the roots of teaching entered here that gradually developed Farangi Mahal as an important learning place in India. Thus till 18th century it was known among the best learning institutions in the country wherein students even from faraway lands visited. As Lucknow was ruled by French, Mughal and British Empire, this place was seized by the respective rulers like a government treasury.

Farangi Mahal - A Learning Centre


During the regime of Mughal Empire this flamboyant place called Farangi Mahal was gifted by Aurangzeb to Mullah Asad bin Qutabuddin Shaheed and Mullah Asad bin Qutab Shaheed. The duo then developed this place as an Islamic school that maintained a very high standard unlike seen at universities abroad. It became a very famous Islamic Institution during 18th century that played its part in securing the long traditions of Islamic culture far and wide. This institution followed a curriculum and the board syllabus covered a number of subjects. This learning centre has been a great place to securing the Islamic values even during the colonial rules. Thus Farangi Mahal has always played its part in preserving the spirituality in the most oriented lifestyle.

As said the duo brother left no stone unturned to transform this little place into an incredibly high standard learning institution to which the entire Muslim world took pride in it. Apart from the two learned brothers the other known teacher of Farangi Mahal during 20th century was a known Urdu writer, Abdul Haleem Sharar. Similarly the students who passed out from this prestigious institution included Maulana Abdul Bari who had role in Khilafat movement. The other students include Chief Justice Supreme Court Mohammad Moinuddin Ansari (Rampur state), poet Altaf Husain Hali, President of All-India Muslim League M.A. Ansari. After partition however, the Farangi Mahal family shifted to Pakistan while other decadents of the family are even found at countries like the UK and the USA.

You can visit this palatial building resembling Islamic architecture from its interiors and exteriors. You can certainly explore this great monumental building, which was once upon a time an important learning institution in the east attracting students from all over the world. It is located in between the Chowk area and Victoria Road in Lucknow.

Address: Address: Water Works Rd, Old Labor Colony, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - 226004

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