Our History
Mahmudabad was one of the largest Taluqdaris under the Mughal rule and the House of Mahmudabad trace their lineage to the Banu Taim - the tribe of the first Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr.
They migrated to India in the first half of the 13th Century and their ancestor Qazi Nasrullah was Chief Qazi or Religious Judge of the Abbasid Caliph of the time. He came to India as an Ambassador of the Governor of Baghdad and settled at Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh. Subsequent generations served under a number of dynasties as judges, ministers and military commanders.
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The family finally settled in Mahmudabad in the 16th century - named after Nawab Mahmud Khan, who was invested with robes of honour and heredity titles of Nawab and Khan Bahadur by Emperor Akbar for showing exemplary courage in battle.
In 1857, Muqimuddaulah Raja Nawab Ali Khan of Mahmudabad supported Begum Hazrat Mahal in the rebellion against the British. He was fatally wounded and martyred on the battlefield. The Kothi was completely destroyed in the uprising and the Qila, as it stands today was reconstructed immediately thereafter, on the original foundations. The Qila is also the center of various traditions and rituals throughout the year. The Muharram commemorations of Mahmudabad, in particular, are famous all over the world. The Kothi of the Qila is divided into the ladies' apartments or the 'mahalsara' and the men's apartments or 'mardana', where Muqim Manzil and Tedhi Kothi are located. There is a family mosque in the Qila as well as a number of Imambadas.
