Noor Mahal was built in 1872 for Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV of Bahawalpur, designed in a neo-classical Italian style but threaded with Mughal and Subcontinental details — arched windows, ornamental plasterwork, and a symmetrical facade that could pass for a minor European palace if not for the desert light. The interior has been restored and is open to visitors, with period furniture and royal artefacts on display.
The palace sits in a compound with gardens and is one of the finest examples of the hybrid Indo-European architecture that the princely states of British India produced. Bahawalpur's nawabs were prolific builders, and Noor Mahal is the most accessible of their palaces.