The Historic Boundary Wall

The Historic Boundary Wall – Defining Heritage of Aligarh Muslim University

Book Details:

Aligarh Muslim University is a Heritage Campus with several Historic buildings and structures. This book is an attempt to explore the importance of the Historic Boundary Wall, the first structure of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College started in 1876. The MAO College later became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. The purpose of this Heritage Boundary Wall documentation is to explore the structure’s architectural, associational and historic significance. The founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, perceived the boundary wall of the campus from three sides, i.e. Southern, Eastern & Western side and Northern side, to be kept free for future expansion. The Heritage Boundary Wall of the Southern side (In front of Naqvi Park) contains 177 panels on a stretch of approximately half a kilometre, with 164 donor names engraved on the Boundary Wall’s coping stone. On the Eastern side (Baab-e-Syed to Staff Club), there are 114 panels, of which only 13 panels were found to have names engraved on them, i.e. in front of Staff Club. On the Western side (Zahur Husain Gate Corner to Meston Swimming Pool), there are 225 panels and no names have been found engraved on the coping stone of this side boundary wall.

Author Details:

PROF MOHAMMAD FARHAN FAZLI works in the Department of Architecture at Aligarh Muslim University. He is a Research fellow at the University of Oxford; he has written 3 books, 12 book chapters and 21 research papers in journals of repute and has presented more than 40 papers in India and abroad. He has delivered over 50 expert talks on various national and international platforms. He is the Founder and Convener of the Heritage Cell of the AMU Campus and has restored several Heritage buildings to International standards. His skills are exhibited in designing several landmark buildings; the most important one is the Centenary Gate of Aligarh Muslim University, which was constructed in 2020 to commemorate the hundred years of the University. He is also involved in vetting several Smart City Projects. Prof. Mohammad Khalid Hassan is the Former Chairman of the Architecture Department at AMU.