Around four hundred years ago, the Firangi Mahal has been residence of French traders. This beautiful old building actually belonged to a French Neal, who had  left  his entire trade and belongings and thereafter as per the  prevailing law , all the properties of Neal automatically went in to the government ownership. 

Later during the reign of Aurangazeeb, this splendid house was given to his Islamic consultant Mullah Asad bin Qutab Shaheed,  who developed this house into a full fledged Islamic school, which was often compared with famous Oxford and the Cambridge universities.  Since then the palace has been a seat of learning and called The Nadwa College in Lucknow. Once Maatma Gandhi had stayed here for many days and the room where he lived has been marked in his memory.