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.

[4] A site consisting of 20 acres of land owned by a person called Shaikh Fayyaz Ali was selected for this purpose.

However, the connection between Sir Muir, Syed Ahmad Khan and Mahmud Manzil are unverified as different sources yield different results.

In a commemorative essay by Indira Gandhi, the latter recollects that the house was sold to Rai Bahadur Permanand Pathak, the Judge of Shahjahanpur during this period.

[8] Motilal Nehru named the house Anand Bhavan (meaning peaceful abode) and started to renovate the palatial residence.

He turned the mansion into a veritable palace, 'an elaborate replica of an English country estate … bifurcated between East and West', with a retinue of almost a hundred people in the house.

[9] Ironically, at the house-warming party in 1871, Sir William Muir hoped that this large palatial home in Civil Lines of Allahabad would become the cement holding together the British Empire in India.

Paradoxically, the house was bought by Motilal Nehru in 1900, and went on to become a cradle to the Indian Freedom Struggle which was to destroy British rule in India.

[13] Indira Gandhi, India's then Prime Minister, donated Anand Bhavan to the nation in 1970 and turned it into a museum housing the books and memorabilia of her father and grandfather.