Fakir Khana (Urdu: فقیر خانہ) is a private museum and house located in Lahore, Pakistan, owned by the Fakir family. Fakhir Khana contains over 20,000 objects, and is the largest privately owned museum in South Asia.[1][2]
The Fakir family settled in Lahore around 1730, and established a publishing house.[2] Their status in Lahore society derived from its connections to the Sikh Empire - three of the family's ancestors, Fakir Nooruddin, Fakir Azizuddin, and Fakir Imamuddin, served as emissaries to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.[2] The family amassed a collection of objects, including many bestowed to the family by Ranjit Singh.[2] The family opened their house as a museum open to the public in 1901,[3] and the site receives some government funds for its maintenance.[4]
The museum's collection consists of approximately 20,000 pieces of art and artifacts mostly from the 18th to 20th centuries,[3] including a small collection of Gandharan artifacts.[3] The collection also contains numerous gifts bestowed to the Fakir family by Ranjit Singh,[2] as well as 10,000 manuscripts, 180 displayed miniature paintings, Sikh era textiles, statuary, pottery, and carved ivory pieces.[2] The collection also includes a 12 by 6 inch painting of Nawab Mumtaz Ali, that was painted with a single hair and required 15 years to be completed.[3]
The house in which the museum is located offers insight into the lifestyles of upper class Lahori families during the Sikh and British eras.[3] It was originally owned by Raja Todar Mal, finance minister to the Mughal Emperor Akbar.[3]
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