Renaissance in the Punjab, Mahal Nagar Mal, Minchinabad
04 March 2013
As early as the middle years of the 19th century, when British rulers had just started to raise their first edifices in northern India, the moneyed class of the Punjab had become deeply enamoured of this new building tradition. It is known that elite families who retained their own mistri would instruct him to visit upcoming cantonments to study new and upcoming buildings. The design would then be duplicated for the homes of the rich.
At the dawn of the 20th century, the sea change of acceptance of vernacular architecture as an integral part of colonial buildings had already occurred. By this time, the mistri had acquired his own elaborate vocabulary of European architectural elements. He had developed his skill to a degree that he was blending the vernacular with the European to delightful advantage. Scores of little-known private residences dating back to the early 20th century across the country are breathtaking examples of local craftsmanship.
Read more »Labels: Book of Days 2013, Minchinabad, Punjab, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 10:58,
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Sense and Sensibility, Islamia College, Peshawar
03 March 2013
About the middle of the 19th century men like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the north and Hassanally Effendi in Karachi realised that the regressive mindset among Muslim youth was attributable mainly to their rejection of modern education. Working independently, these two dedicated men succeeded in the latter half of the 19th century in bringing English education to young Muslims in their respective areas.
In Peshawar, this shift had already occurred in the classrooms of Edwardes High School founded by the Church Missionary Society in 1855. In order to take education a notch higher, Sir George Roos-Keppel, chief commissioner of the province, floated the idea of a college for Muslims. This was around the end of the first decade of the 20th century, when there was no institution of higher education anywhere in the newly established North West Frontier Province.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, Peshawar, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 11:58,
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Sentinel Watch, Police Office Building, Jacobabad
Upper Sindh was challenging country to manage in the 19th century. To its west were the Bugtis and to the north the Mazaris – both formidable Baloch tribes. The first administrator that the East India Company sent out was a man of exceptional calibre and humanity who established his writ in this volatile region. For the local Baloch, John Jacob became a saint of sorts, on whose grave in Jacobabad they light oil lamps even today.
More than half a century after Jacob had brought order to the region, the men of the Raj thought it necessary to raise a new building to house the offices of the Superintendent of Police. The 20th century had dawned and mixing local and European architectural forms was widely acceptable. Completed in 1910, the Police Office Building in Jacobabad became yet another remarkable example of the amalgam.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Jacobabad, Sindh, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 00:00,
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Place of Penance, Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Eminabad
02 March 2013
It is a unique fantasy of arches, overlapping petals, Gurmukhi lettering, columns, minarets and domes. Fantasy, because it is made entirely of cut and moulded bricks. And unique as there is no other building in the Punjab that matches its flowing lines. This is the lofty gateway to Gurdwara Rori Sahib outside Eminabad town in District Gujranwala.
When the gateway was raised in the first decade of the 20th century, Antoni Gaudi, the Spanish architect was well-known and his inventive use of curvilinear art nouveau ornamentation was viewed with admiration throughout Europe. If the now forgotten architect of the Eminabad gateway was trained under the tutelage of Lockwood Kipling of the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore, it is possible he drew inspiration for this assignment from Gaudi’s work. On the other hand, if he was a traditional mistri – which seems more likely to be the case – he had an admirably original and innovative mind. Since this sort of work was not the norm, the originality was coupled with a boldness that came from a mastery of tradition architecture.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Gujranwala: The Glory That Was, Punjab, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 09:00,
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Facets of Fusion, Collectorate Building, Larkana
01 March 2013
In 1902, large chunks of Shikarpur and Karachi districts were carved out to form the new district of Larkana. Until then, this country was known as Chandka, after the well-established Chandio tribe. With natural and man-made canals that endowed it with rich forest, abundant agriculture and fruit farms, Larkana had already been noticed as the ‘Garden of Upper Sindh’. The men who were on their way to rule over the district knew it would be a source of plentiful revenue.
In keeping with the promise of a large levy, the administrators thought it appropriate that there be a building of impressive proportions where the proceeds be held in transit on their way to the central treasury. With its crenulated towers that come straight from a castle in Britain, its Greek columns and pediments and its Indian domes, the Collectorate Building in Larkana becomes just the fulfilment of this need.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Sindh, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 09:22,
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State of Grace, No. 4, Chaudhry Khaliquzaman Road, Karachi
28 February 2013
Walking westward along the railway line from the cantonment railway station, past the Clifton Bridge, lie a row of mostly decrepit residential bungalows. Built from the 1880s onward they seem to have come off a common template. All the houses are constructed of pale yellow sandstone with red tiled roofs, elegant porches terraced on top with stone balustrades and strongly accentuated arches. Their tall arched windows are shaded by wooden blinds that open or close as needed and the verandas are shielded behind timber fretwork.
About a century before these houses were built in Karachi, far away in Kolkata, the engineers of East India Company in Kolkata were either raising the most grandiose edifices to showcase their wealth and power or building homes for staff. Though in no way modest, the design of the residences did not warrant much concern for individuality. Or so it seems. Indeed, a complete template appears to have been used for all and sundry.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Karachi, Sindh, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 08:31,
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Bowling Stone, Gymkhana Cricket Pavilion, Lahore
27 February 2013
In a quiet corner on the east side of what was then Lawrence Garden – now Bagh-e-Jinnah – hot air balloon enthusiasts of Victorian years gathered on Sundays to soar the skies. During the 1870s, ballooning gave way to cricket and by the end of the decade the ground became an exclusive venue for the game.
In keeping with the English cricketing tradition, a pavilion was required for the purpose. Civil engineer G. Stone, who was at this time involved in the design and construction of a number of government buildings in Lahore, was called upon to design the cricket pavilion. Clearly a man who did not see eye-to-eye with promoters of the vernacular arts such as Lockwood Kipling, whose contemporary he was, Stone was a strait-jacketed English traditionalist.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Lahore, Punjab, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 09:27,
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Art Deco Rhapsody, Khan of Kalat’s Residence, Kalat
26 February 2013
Once upon a time, the Khan of Kalat in Balochistan lived in a massive medieval fort that sprawled over the hills above the town. Today, only a vestige of it remains for it was severely damaged by the great earthquake of 1935.
Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, then on the throne, ordered the building of a new palace for himself after the earthquake, this time not across the hills but in the meadows and orchards a short way eastward of the clump of houses and bazaars that made up his capital city. Those were the heydays of Art Deco, though the style was not known by that name until 1966. And as in Europe and North America, buildings raised in the subcontinent during the period between the wars boasted the curvilinear, sensuous lines typical of this new stylistic movement.
Labels: Balochistan, Book of Days 2013, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 10:31,
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Last Port of Call, Ziarat Residency
25 February 2013
Constructed in 1892 almost entirely with centuries-old juniper timber, the Residency of Ziarat, as it is now known, was initially meant to serve as a sanatorium. At 2450 metres above the sea and pleasantly located amid a forest where the air is even today richly scented by juniper, it could hardly have served a better purpose.
The end of the 19th century heralded the back-to-India movement in buildings and vernacular architecture elements in Raj buildings became generally acceptable. Yet this building situated virtually at an inaccessible edge of the empire has clean-cut and undiluted European designing. Sitting on a raised stone masonry plinth, its gabled porch and veranda, running around three sides supported by timber pillars, could well belong anywhere in the English countryside.
The end of the 19th century heralded the back-to-India movement in buildings and vernacular architecture elements in Raj buildings became generally acceptable. Yet this building situated virtually at an inaccessible edge of the empire has clean-cut and undiluted European designing. Sitting on a raised stone masonry plinth, its gabled porch and veranda, running around three sides supported by timber pillars, could well belong anywhere in the English countryside.
Labels: Balochistan, Book of Days 2013, Residency, Stones of Empire, Ziarat
posted by Salman Rashid @ 08:50,
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Hallowed Corridors, Sindh Madrassatul Islam University, Karachi
24 February 2013
Long ago, secular studies were as much a part of the madrassa curriculum. But things changed with the decline of Muslim power in the subcontinent. The decay gave rise to feelings of uncertainty and the notion that the downfall was due to the abandonment of faith by the Muslims. As a result, new stringency took over madrassa curricula and by the early 18th century most institutions provided grounding only in religious matters.
Hassanally Akhund, born in 1830 in Hyderabad, went to such a school to learn the Quran and Persian and Arabic languages. But this man, who was later accorded the title of Effendi by Sultan Abdul Hameed, the last Ottoman ruler, possessed exceptional talent. He taught himself English and rose quickly through a number of government jobs to become a lawyer and Public Prosecutor of the Sindh High Court.
Hassanally Akhund, born in 1830 in Hyderabad, went to such a school to learn the Quran and Persian and Arabic languages. But this man, who was later accorded the title of Effendi by Sultan Abdul Hameed, the last Ottoman ruler, possessed exceptional talent. He taught himself English and rose quickly through a number of government jobs to become a lawyer and Public Prosecutor of the Sindh High Court.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Karachi, Sindh, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 15:17,
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Going Gothic, Empress Market, Karachi
23 February 2013
The subcontinent was unfamiliar with the concept of a designated building housing a number of shops and businesses under one roof. Far from it, the local idea of a market was either the periodic bazaar in an open square outside town or the narrow, stuffy alley lined with shop fronts topped by residences. Indeed, British merchants who arrived in India during the 17th century comment on the bazaars with a touch of romance.
But when the engineers of the East India Company began to develop marketplaces in Bombay and Calcutta, as they were then called, they recalled the layout of markets as they were in their native land. This was a new movement and the pace was set by covered bazaars like Crawford Market in Bombay, now Mumbai, India.
But when the engineers of the East India Company began to develop marketplaces in Bombay and Calcutta, as they were then called, they recalled the layout of markets as they were in their native land. This was a new movement and the pace was set by covered bazaars like Crawford Market in Bombay, now Mumbai, India.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Sindh, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 12:58,
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Bahawalpur Baroque - Sadiqgarh Palace, Dera Nawab Sahib
22 February 2013
When Nawab Bahawal Khan Abbasi IV died in 1866, his son Sadiq was a child of five. Yet even as this youngster grew up in a time of uncertainty with a dowager mother fending off the intrigues of courtiers and pretenders to the throne, he managed a reasonable degree of education. On his 18th birthday, Sadiq received the traditional dustaar or turban and with it authority to rule over the rich and independent State of Bahawalpur as Nawab Sadiq Mohammad Khan IV.
Nawab Sadiq Mohammad Khan was a man cultivated and possessed of fine taste. He was a great builder of palaces and as a connoisseur of Italian architectural practices left behind a number of extravagant buildings that flaunt his style and wealth.
Read more »Labels: Book of Days 2013, Punjab, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 10:25,
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Mock Invincibility - Railway Station, Lahore
21 February 2013
Now, it was understandable for remote bridges to need protection but to design the station of a major city with elements of a strongly fortified place was rather odd, especially in times of peace. Not strange then that it was assumed the design was purely defensive. Closer study of the ‘fortifications’ shows that despite their formidable appearance, they are merely decorative.
Nevertheless, visually at least Burton created an English castle in the heart of Punjab. At either extremity of the wide frontage, separated from the main building by extended wings, sits a combination of two thickset towers topped by embrasures. The porch of the foyer is commanded by two slimmer towers with pitch-roofed garrets. Two similar arrangements with clock faces oversee the surrounding areas from a higher setting above the foyer. The parapet of the entire roof is loop-holed to add to the general effect of an impregnable castle. But other than the massive turrets on the sides and loop holes, the garrets are merely decorative and do not serve any defensive purpose.
Read more »Labels: Book of Days 2013, Lahore, Railway, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 21:34,
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Palladian in Full - Lawrence and Robert Montgomery Halls, Lahore
18 February 2013
Government civil engineer G. Stone was the man who ruled the construction roost in Lahore for much of the two decades from 1860 to 1880. Evidently, a rather grim keeper of English values, he had very fixed views on the design of Raj buildings in the territories of the jewel in the imperial crown. He firmly believed that everything he built must drip with ‘Englishness’.
The Lawrence Hall, named after the first Lieutenant Governor of Punjab John Lawrence, was paid for by donations from the European community. Facing the Mall and the Governor’s House, it was among Stone’s earliest buildings in the Punjab capital and took a year to build. When it was completed in 1862, it was the first-ever purely neoclassical masterpiece in the truest Palladian tradition in Lahore. Without doubt, its majestic proportions embodied the might of the empire.
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Lahore, Punjab, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 11:51,
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Clean Break - Governor’s House, Peshawar
16 February 2013
The final battle that undid the Punjabi empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was fought between the Sikhs and the British at Chillianwala in January 1849. The Punjab that was thus annexed by the East India Company at that time included the territories that we today know as Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa.
The East India Company moved in swiftly to establish its hold on the new territories and cities such as Mardan, Kohat and Bannu became headquarters from where the arm of governance stretched out to outlying areas. Peshawar, that had through the long and creative passage of time always been the principal city on the frontier, retained its position as the capital for the new rulers of the land.
Read more »
Labels: Book of Days 2013, Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, Peshawar, Stones of Empire
posted by Salman Rashid @ 19:22,
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