Salman Rashid

Travel writer, Fellow of Royal Geographical Society

A forgotten page from History
07 September 2013

In the northeast corner of the first quadrangle of the Shalamar Garden in Lahore, right next to the fountains, there is an unpretentious yellow washed rectangular room on a high plinth. Entrance to the ground floor is through a door in the east wall, while in the west is a door and staircase leading down to the basement. The remaining arched alcoves all around are closed by a masonry filigree. Until about five years ago this room served as a tea and cold drink stall. But since then both doors have remained permanently locked.

Even when hundreds of visitors would have passed through its doors or lounged on the patio around it sipping their drinks, few would have noticed the plaque on the west wall commemorating the sojourn in this room of the ‘famous traveller William Moorcroft’ in May 1820. Even fewer would have known who this person was. But for those who have any interest in the history of the Great Game, that epic struggle between Russia and England for the possession of Central Asia, Moorcroft’s name shines bright.

Labels: History, Lahore, Prisoner on a Bus: Travels Through Pakistan, Punjab, Shalamar Garden, Travelers