Victoria Memorial Home or Yateem Khana-e-Victoria, officially known as Victorial Memorial Home Residential High School is a historic school and

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

located in

Saroornagar Saroornagar is a suburb in Hyderabad. It is located in the Rangareddy district of Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Saroornagar mandal of Kandukur revenue division. This circle (5) comes under L. B. Nagar (East Zone) of Greater Hyderab ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in the Indian state of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. It is housed in Saroornagar Palace, a palace of the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

. The building is located 70-acre campus, located close to the

Victoria Memorial metro station The Victoria Memorial Metro Station is located on the Red Line of the Hyderabad Metro, India. It is part of Corridor I of Hyderabad metro starting from Miyapur and was opened to public on 24 September 2018. Etymology This metro station is nam ...

History

The

Mahboob Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI, also known as, Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911) was the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad state, one of the Princely states in India between 1869 and 1911. Early life Mahboo ...

, had drawings made for a hunting lodge as early as 1882. The building was completed in 1903. However, the Nizam abandoned the palace on account of a superstition, as he fell ill soon after visiting the unfinished palace. The building remained deserted for a some time. In 1904, on occasion of the death of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, the British Resident asked the Nizam to set up an institute in her memory. The latter issued a royal

firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

to set up the Victoria Memorial Orphanage at the Saroornagar Palace. The orphanage opened officially on 14 February 1905. In 1953, the word "orphanage" was replaced by "home" due to a request by Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. In 2017, the government announced a plan to hand over a part of the orphanage to house the

Rachakonda Police Commissionerate Rachakonda Police commissionerate is one among the three Police commissionerates located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. History It was formed in June 2016 by bifurcating Cyberabad Metropolitan Police Cyberabad Metropolitan Police, popular ...

. This resulted in widespread controversy and a case was filed in the High Court against the government. Several activists including

Mir Najaf Ali Khan Mir Najaf Ali Khan is a grandson of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. He manages a few trusts of the last Nizam, including the Nizam's Trust. He is also an enthusiast of the Heritage of Hyderabad, and has also criticized the ...

protested against the shift.

Building

The building is rectangular in shape, with a length of 420 feet and breadth of 285 feet. It has two floors. It is surrounded by thick greenery. It has an arched entrance, and high-ceilinged large rooms.

References

External links

Blog on Victoria Memorial Home
Schools in Hyderabad, India Palaces in Hyderabad, India Orphanages in India Educational institutions established in 1903 1903 establishments in India Houses completed in 1901 Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria {{Telangana-school-stub