History of CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI)

The Royal Garden - Sikandar Bagh

The Royal Garden the Sikandar Bagh: NBRI owes its origin to the golden era of the great Nawabs of Lucknow when Nawab Saadat Ali Khan got a royal garden established in 1800 A.D. Later, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Oudh, honoured one of his favourite queens, Queen Sikandar Mahal Begum, and named this garden as 'Sikandar Bagh' during the first half of 19th century.
In 1932, Prof. Birbal Sahni, F.R.S. and Dr. S.K. Mukherjee of Lucknow University (Botany Department) transformed this public park to a 'Botanic Garden' by acquiring additional land. Professor K.N. Kaul, the founder cultivation and study of medicinal plants.

A proposal was submitted to the Upper Province (U.P.) Government in 1946 to transform the area as Botanic Garden. In 1948, U.P. Govt. approved the proposal for development of a Botanic Garden (BG). The BG was rechristened as "National Botanic Garden" (NBG) in 1948 with a grant of Rs. 50,000/- and some staff. Prof. K.N. Kaul, Professor of Botany at the Government Agricultural College Kanpur, was appointed its Honorary Director.
NBG was taken over by CSIR on 13th April 1953 and appointed Prof. K.N. Kaul as its first Regular Director. NBG witnessed a special patronage of Hon'ble Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. He promoted various development and visited NBG on several occasions.

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