Dilip Kumar's House, Peshawar: History and Access

Dilip Kumar's house is the birthplace of the Indian actor, born Muhammad Yousuf Khan, in Mohalla Khudadad, a lane of Peshawar's old city near Qissa Khwani Bazaar. It has been a protected national heritage building since 2014, but decades of neglect have left it badly damaged, and it is not open to the public. Visitors can only see it from the lane.

This guide sets out the house's history, its legal protection and real condition, and what to expect if you go looking for it.

Dilip Kumar and the house

Dilip Kumar, born Muhammad Yousuf Khan in December 1922, became one of the most celebrated actors in Indian cinema, active from the 1940s into the 1990s and widely regarded as a defining figure of Bollywood's early decades. He was born in this house, a modest four-marla property in Mohalla Khudadad, and lived there for about twelve years before his family moved to Mumbai (then Bombay), where he built his career. He died in Mumbai in 2021.

The house itself is not grand in the way Sethi House or Kapoor Haveli, a short distance away, were built to be; it is a family home of its period rather than a merchant's showpiece, which is part of what makes its connection to a figure of Dilip Kumar's stature notable.

From protection to disrepair

The house was declared a protected monument under Pakistan's Antiquity Act in July 2014, following its earlier designation as national heritage by the federal government. Protected status meant, in principle, that it could not be demolished, sold or altered for commercial use, and that the provincial government would work to acquire, restore and eventually open it.

In practice the building had already suffered real damage by the time of that declaration; it had been used for a period as a godown, or storage space, which harmed the structure, and disputes over ownership had stalled earlier attempts at acquisition. The years since have added monsoon rain damage on top of that earlier neglect, and by the mid-2020s the house was reported to have roofs caved in on some rooms and walls crumbling further with each rainy season. In July 2025 the provincial government approved funding, reported at around PKR 33.8 million, for the restoration of this house and the nearby Kapoor Haveli together, but as of 2026 the restoration had not visibly begun.

Can you visit?

Not inside. The house is not set up for visitors, and its condition makes going in inadvisable even informally. What you can do is find the house in Mohalla Khudadad and see its exterior from the lane, which is as much of a visit as is currently possible.

The lane is a working residential part of the old city, not a tourist site, so go respectfully, keep noise down, and do not expect a plaque, a guide or any facilities.

Getting there

Mohalla Khudadad is close to Qissa Khwani Bazaar, in the network of lanes that make up Peshawar's old city, near Kapoor Haveli. Neither house is signposted for visitors, and the lanes are narrow and easy to lose your bearings in, so this is easiest with someone who knows the old city or by asking locally once you are near Qissa Khwani.

Our old Peshawar walking tour covers the old city's main heritage stops in order; the Dilip Kumar house is a short, optional detour from that route rather than a planned stop, given that there is little to see beyond the exterior.

Is it worth seeking out?

For anyone with a specific interest in the history of Indian cinema or in how Peshawar's built heritage has fared since 1947, it is a worthwhile, if brief and sobering, detour. There is genuinely very little to see: a damaged building behind a wall, in a residential lane. It is not a sight in the way Sethi House or Gor Khuttree are.

If you would rather see comparable old city architecture that has actually been restored and that you can walk through, spend the time at Sethi House instead, and treat the Dilip Kumar house as a short stop on the way past rather than a destination in itself.

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