Hina Building of Nawab Istafa Khan

These are the photos of Hina Market which is located near Hina Chowk.  At Hina Chowk the mighty Hina building used to be located. This was a large building which was constructed by Shri Nathji’s devotee, Nawab Istafa Khan. He invited Shri Nathji to inaugurate this building. This building housed the office of his extensive perfumery business. With Shri Nathji’s blessings Istafa Khan become a very rich man and his perfumery business expanded as never before. He becomes a prominent landlord with many buildings in Lucknow and Mussoorie.  Istafa Khan who was a Haji and know as Haji Istafa was given the title of Nawab by Shri Nathji and henceforth he was know as Nawab Istafa Khan. After Partition he migrated to Pakistan. This legendry Hina Building  was located at the Chowk, which is named after the building and is called the Hina Bazar Chowk.  The original Hina Building was pulled down in 2003. This new shopping complex named Hina Bazar is now one of the modern remnants of the old Hina Building which was inaugurated by Shri Nathji. Efforts are being made by us to locate a good old photograph of the original Hina Building. That photo will soon be posted in this article in the blog. Now in place of the Hina building stands the Hina Market. It is a new building which has been made into a commercial complex and some residential quarters. The name of this area in central Lucknow is also named after Hina Building and is called Hina Bazaar. The roundabout in the area is also called  Hina Bazar Chowk. The Hina Bazaar is famous for readymade garments and shops selling the famous Chikan (embroidery) handicraft of Lucknow.

 Now Nawab Istafa Khan's family was originally from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh.  The perfume factory for the manufacture of oriental perfumes was established in 1839 by two brothers (Istafa's grandfather and his brother) Asghar Ali and Mohammed Ali when they relocated to Lucknow. Istafa Khan who inherited this business, prospered greatly with blessings of Shri Nathji and relocated the main office of his perfumery business at the new Hina Building in Chowk, sometime in early 1920's and got the building anaugurated by Shri Nathji. His clients included the rich and famous like the Nawab of Hyderabad. The perfumery labels of Istafa Khan always carried the names of Asghar Ali and Mohammed Ali, his ancestors who were the founders of this business, though the company was better known as Hina Scents. These are the photographs of the advertisements of his business published by Istafa Khan in the English newspaper that was published from Lucknow called   - "THE PIONEER"

Istafa Khan owned a distillation plant in Gunjan in Orissa, where the keora plant grows. It was one of  the main ingredient in many of his perfumes. Roses came from Barwana near Aligarh. Other fragrant flowers like  Motia, Bela, Chameli and Khus moslty came from Kannauj. Also he made perfumes of the spell of fresh rain. When the first monsoon rain fell on clay soil, this clay was boiled in huge pots and its perfume distilled to make the aroma of rain on dry earth.
  When Partition happened Nawab Istifa Khan and most of his children decided to go to Pakistan, so 75 per cent of the family property was taken over by the custodian of the Government of India as enemy property. The Government allowed the children who stayed behind to keep the factory since it was their source of livelihood. Thus Hina Building remained with the decedents of Istafa Khan. His perfumery business and Hina Building  was inherited by his son Kasim Khan, who chose to stay in India.
Like his father Istafa Khan, Kasim Khan, was an extraordinary man, with an eagerness to live life to the full. He was always immaculately groomed and carried himself like a dancer – in his younger days he was an expert at the tango, samba, rumba and foxtrot. He was a billiard player and an award-winning skater who created a sensation in the club in Mussoorie with his daring jumps and twists and other manoeuvres on roller skates, just like his father Istafa Khan, who used to entertain his guests by dancing with roller-skates on tables. He had a flamboyant lifestyle and drove a Plymouth convertible.
A mansion,   ‘Nadiya Kinare’ was built by Kasim Khan in the 1960s and was the only house in Lucknow with a billiard table in the basement.  This is were the decedents of Nawaf Istafa Khan still reside. In the main hall of the house a portrait can be seen of the young Kasim Khan dressed as Lord Krishna, complete with flute. A closer inspection reveals that he is dancing on roller skate.
These photos of Hina Market are provided by Shri Abhishek Nagar, Shri Nathji’s devotee from Allahabad. He went from Allahabad to Lucknow to take photos of places associated with Shri Nathji in Lucknow. He has this experience to share with us. When he was enquired about the Hina Building in chowk area, but was not getting any idea of it, a miracle happened all of a sudden. He and his father were walking and discussing between themselves about the perfumery business of Nawab Istafa khan at Hina Building and just then a person appeared, who was apparently standing on the road side. He overheard their conversation and came forward to show them the way to the Hina building. Shri Abhishek Nagar says that he knows that Shri Nathji had sent that man to make their search a success. When they were at the Hina Market, they enquired about Nawab Istafa khan and came to know that one of his sons is still alive and has been running a business of electrical appliances in Hazratganj area. So they went to his shop in Hazratganj but found it closed. The adjacent shopkeeper told them that the shop is closed since two weeks. Thus Shri Abhishek Nagar and his father returned back to Allahabad. We devotees will attempt to meet Nawab Istafa khan’s decedents on some latter date. We are sure to hit upon some interesting facts about the life and times of Nawab Istafa khan, which we will be posting in this article.
Some information mentioned in the article has been sourced from the information shared by the daughter in law of Kasin Khan, Mrs. Shamin with Nasima Aziz - who is a poetess and cookery editor from Delhi, for her article titled "A Mesh of Memories" which was published in the monthly magazine "Seminar" in its July 2007 issue.