Explore the Lives of the Towering Scholars of the Farangī Maḥall Tradition.
South Asia’s Farangī Maḥall tradition became the predominant force in shaping Muslim scholarship across the subcontinent for centuries. Sayyid Ghulām ʿAlī Āzād al-Bilgrāmī (d. 1786 CE), reflecting on his time, noted that most Indian scholars traced their scholarly lineage back to this tradition—and took pride in doing so.
Even today, it is difficult to find a scholar in the subcontinent who is not connected in some way to the Farangī Maḥall through Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn al-Sihālawī, his sons, or his students.
The scholars within the immediate family of the Farangī Maḥall alone number in the hundreds. Yet, due to colonial erasure, many of these names—and the groundbreaking contributions they made—have faded from collective memory.
Khairabadi Institute has launched an initiative to revive the legacy of each of these scholars, documenting their biographies, books, commentaries, and glosses one by one.
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Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Sihālawī al-Anṣārī al-Shahīd
Mullā Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shahīd, deeply immersed in the intellectual traditions passed down through the ages, was in reality the inspiration behind the eventual development of a curriculum that gave rise to the Farangī Maḥall tradition — a body of scholarship that went on to shape the intellectual landscape of the subcontinent to this day.
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Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Sihālwī al-Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī, the namesake of the Dars-i Niẓāmī curriculum stands tall as Ustād al-Hind (Teacher of India). His refinement of the instructional method at the Farangī Maḥall was so impactful that the curriculum there came to be known after him as the Niẓāmiyyah.
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Mullā Baḥr al-ʿUlūm ʿAbd al-ʿAlī al-Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā `Abd al-`Alī Farangī Maḥallī, the illustrious son of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī was one of the pioneering scholars of the Farangī Maḥall and is revered as Baḥr al-ʿUlūm (The Ocean of Knowledge). Such was his scholarly stature that prominent rulers like Sultan Tipu extended formal invitations to him, requesting that he honour their domains with his presence.
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Mullā Ḥasan Farangī Maḥallī
After the migration of Baḥr al-ʿUlūm Mullā ʿAbd al-ʿAlī from Lucknow, Mullā Ḥasan Farangī Maḥallī became a central figure for students of sacred knowledge. He taught at the Farangī Maḥall for nearly two decades and authored works that became integral to the traditional Dars-i Niẓāmī curriculum.
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Mullā Muḥammad Mubīn Farangī Maḥallī
After Mullā Ḥasan's migration from Lucknow, Mullā Mūbīn became the central figure at Farangī Maḥall, so much so that it began to be said of him, “Now, in all of India, there is no scholar equal to Mullā Mūbīn.” He is especially revered for his commentary on Sullam al-ʿUlūm by Mullā Muḥibbullāh Bihārī.
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Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī
Mullā Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī was the distinguished student and nephew of Mullā Niẓām al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sihālawī (d. 1748 CE). He played a pivotal role in the early establishment of the Farangī Maḥall and is venerated as a saint within the family.