Like most successful businesses in the history of mankind, Azad too had a humble beginning. It was founded by Meeran Pillai Pareed Kunju as a modest café at Vallakadavu at Trivandrum in 1940.

The idea was to serve an over 200-year-old delicacy which had a legacy of being served only on important occasions like weddings and parties, to the common man to celebrate life every day. This is how the story of the legendary Travancore Pakka Biriyani by Azad was born. And this is how the Azad business originated in 1940.

Inspired by the Indian Freedom Fighter Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, the founder’s friend S. M. Haneefa Sahib suggested the name Azad. Our founder changed his name to M. P. Azad and the Azad brand came into existence.

The business at Vallakadavu was shifted to Over-Bridge, Trivandrum and today it is probably the only place in India where the same dish is served from the same place for the last 8 decades. Azad Corporate House has rebranded this 85-year-old restaurant in 2024 as India Heritage Hotels by Azad to showcase the long history and culture of India.

The reins of the Azad Brand came down from the founder M. P. Azad to his son Abdul Nazar Azad. Today, its Corporate Chairman Abdul Nazar Azad and Corporate Managing Director Nazeera Nazar leads and inspires the Azad Corporate House and all its business verticals and brands.

Their sons Mahin Azad, Wazim Azad and Ozman Azad manage Azad Corporate House as Managing Directors of multiple verticals.

Azad Corporate House was launched in 2024 after consolidating all the Azad Group businesses and brands into different verticals and unifying them under one corporate umbrella.

1940 India by Azad was launched by Azad Corporate House as a tribute to the resurgence of a new India spirit from the global perspective and branded it with the year that Azad Brand was established.

The name 1940 also represents the most tumultuous decade in the history of India. The decade when Indian independence struggle reached its peak and won independence from the British Raj to be the Indian Republic.

The brand name 1940 is a memory of India’s past and a celebration of India’s future.

The unique and innovative 1940 India by Azad was launched in 2025 after profound study, deep research and conscious planning for over two years starting in 2023.