Swaraj Bhavan
Coordinates: 25°27′36″N 81°51′38″E / 25.460097°N 81.860599°E
Swaraj Bhavan (formerly Anand Bhavan, meaning Adobe of Bliss) is a large mansion located in Allahabad, India. It was owned by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 19th century, it has served as the ancestral home of the Nehru Family— future Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was born there. The First Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru was however not born in Anand Bhawan.
It is managed by the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund', Delhi and functions as a museum open to the public. It has 42 rooms and a number of memorabilia including a charkha used by Mahatma Gandhi, photographs of the Indian freedom movement, personal belongings of the Nehru family and an underground room that is said to have been used occasionally for meetings.
The building at 1 Church road that is today called Swaraj Bhavan was originally called Mahmud Manzil. It was built in 1871 for Syed Ahmad Khan, the 19th century Indian Muslim leader and educationist, at the behest of the then Lieutenant Governor of the NWP (North West provinces) William Muir. The latter often took the advice of Syed Ahmad Khan in administrative matters which necessitated Khan's presence in Allahabad. However, since Khan lived in Aligarh, he did not have a place to stay in Allahabad for prolonged visits. Muir suggested that Khan maintain a house in Allahabad too, where he could stay during such official visits. A site consisting of 20 acres of land owned by a person called Shaikh Fayyaz Ali was selected for this purpose. It was located just 10 minutes drive from the Government House and Ali had received the land here as compensation for the losses incurred by him during the 1857 mutiny. Work to build a large house here commenced around 1868 and the house was completed in 1871. It was originally called "Mahmud Manzil" after Syed Ahmad Khan's son's name. It was later occupied by Syed Mahmud, who lived here as a tenant when he became the Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Fayyaz Ali continued to live on the estate till his death in 1873 in a bungalow called Bungalow Fatehpur Bishwa that he had made here. However, the connection between Sir Muir, Syed Ahmad Khan and Mahmud Manzil are unverified as different sources yield different results.
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