Category Archives: Travel & Tourism

Lohri legends: the tale of Abdullah Khan ‘Dullah’ Bhatti, the Punjabi who led a revolt against Akbar

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PUNJAB :

The Punjabi festival of Lohri commemorates Dullah Bhatti for his act of defiance against the Mughal emperor.

Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

Lohri in Delhi has bonfires, popcorn, peanuts, pine nuts, gur or jaggery and til and sundry sesame sweets. Around the bonfire, people gather to sing a popular Punjabi folk song , Sundar munderiye, about a certain Dullah Bhatti who helped to rescue poor Punjabi women from the rather cruel zamindar, landlord.

In the big city, cut off from folk legends, most of the people who sing that song are unaware of who Dullah Bhatti was. Bhatti, though, is a historical figure, a contemporary of Mughal emperor Akbar who lived  in Pind Bhattian, a town about 50 kilometres west of Lahore.

Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti – to use Dullah’s full name and title – lived in tumultuous times. Akbar was just beginning to consolidate the Mughal state, setting in process a new order that would ensure that his dynasty would rule Delhi for the next three centuries to come. The Mughal state proceeded to implement a system of land revenue devised by Akbar’s brilliant Rajput finance minister, Todar Mal, called the Zabt system. The Zabt revenue system made Mughal officers responsible for both the assessment and collection of revenue.

Punjab in chaos

What was victory from Delhi, though, often meant chaos and destruction on the ground, as old ways of life were overturned. The Zabt system underpinned the Mughal state but proved to be the end of the road for local power centres in the Punjab, as all authority was concentrated in the Mughal administration. One of those local power centres was Dullah Bhatti’s family, a Rajput landowning clan made powerless by the financial scheme of Mughal finance minister, Todar Mal. As a result, the Bhattis rebelled against Akbar – and lost. Both Dullah’s father and grandfather were executed – at the time, Dullah’s mother was pregnant with him.

Legend now has it that Akbar’s son Jahangir and Dullah were born on the same day. To make Jahangir brave, Akbar was advised to have his son breastfed by a Rajput wet nurse who – in an incredibly filmy twist – happened to be Dullah Bhatti’s mother, in one version of the legend. A more prosaic explanation for this myth is that the Mughals initiated a policy of reconciliation with the Bhattis. By providing Dullah and his mother with royal patronage, the Mughal state hoped to assuage their hurt, win them over and – most importantly – prevent future rebellions.

Things, however, didn’t go according to plan. Bhatti grew up to swear revenge on the Chughtais, Mughals who had executed his father and grandfather. So fierce was this local resistance that, says historian Ishwar Dayal Gaur, Akbar had to shift his capital to Lahore from Delhi for two decades to try and get things under control. Gaur also adds that Akbar exempted the Bari Doab or Majha (the region between the rivers Beas and Ravi) from taxes and also made peace with the Sikh guru, Arjan Dev by visiting him in Goindwal – Bhatti’s revolt was so effective that the Mughals couldn’t afford to make any new enemies.

Dullah Bhatti becomes legend

Ultimately, though, Akbar prevailed, the Mughals capturing and beheading Dullah publicly in the main bazar area of Lahore. Till the last, though, Bhatti remained defiant and his final words as recorded by sufi poet  Shah Hussain were, “No honourable son of Punjab will ever sell the soil of Punjab”. His grave still exists in Lahore, although interestingly, there is no official recognition of the spot. Pakistan – a country which is dominated by Punjabis – still takes much of its national mythos from the Mughal state, making its recognition of Dullah Bhatti’s revolt against Akbar a rather delicate matter.

Nevertheless, Dullah’s revolt passed into popular Punjabi legend and his feats as a Robin Hood are still celebrated today in the popular song Sundar munderiye, which talks of how he protected Punjabi girls from being abducted by the Mughal zamindar. The custom of giving money and sweets to children, who go from door to door singing the song, is said to honour Bhatti’s acts of generosity, of looting the tributes and taxes sent to the emperor and redistributing them among the poor.

In 2015, Bhatti’s tale was even made into a Punjabi pop number, although the video of the song, interestingly, portrayed him as a Sikh battling the Mughals, rather than the Muslim Rajput Bhatti historically was. Given that our histories rarely talk of the complex nature of Mughal India, and reduce most situations to a mirror of the communal conflicts of the modern age, this, perhaps, is an expected error.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Festival Celebrations / by Shoaib Daniyal / January 13th, 2016

Women who patronised Delhi

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DELHI :

Grand design: A view of Fatehpuri Masjid | Photo Credit: V_V_Krishnan
Grand design: A view of Fatehpuri Masjid | Photo Credit: V_V_Krishnan

From Haji Begum to Qudsia Begum, there is a a long list of women who contributed to the city’s grandeur

Women who patronised Delhi and converted it into a centre of art and culture, besides making it verdant and floral by laying parks and gardens, can be traced right from the time of Bega Begum or Haji Begum who built the beautiful tomb for her husband in Nizamuddin, which became the model for the Taj Mahal. After her, the daughters of Shah Jahan made it a paradisiacal city (just as Nur Jahan had done so earlier in Lahore and Kashmir). They were followed by Qudsia Begum and in recent times, in a small way though, by Lady Willingdon, Aruna Asaf Ali, Indira Gandhi and Sheila Dixit, among others. From the mid-17th century, the social and cultural fabric of Shahjahanabad has borne the stamp of women as during the Mughal era they acquired considerable wealth and influence. Much of what survives in Shahjahanabad reminds us of them and their contribution, compiled from different sources.

The imperial city was given overall shape under the supervision of Shah Jahan himself. His diktat determined the encircling of the city wall and the two main streets, running north-south and east-west, respectively at their junction of the palace complex (Red Fort) and the congregational Jama Masjid. “Within the limits of this centralised plan, it was mainly individual enterprise that led to the creation of commercial, religious, public spaces and homes.” Among the landmarks of the city were its mosques, three of which were commissioned by the wives of Shah Jahan after the death of Mumtaz Mahal – Akbarabadi, Fatehpuri and Sirhindi masjids named after the three. Akbarabadi Begum of Agra built a grand mosque to the south of Red Fort which was demolished by the British after the Revolt of 1857. Akbarabadi Begum was gifted a garden by Shah Jahan to the north-west of the city which came to be known as Aizzabad or Shalimar Bagh. The Begum then built a sarai within it. It was in this garden that the coronation of Aurangzeb took place on the July 31, 1658, after he had deposed Shah Jahan and also the place where Gen Ochterlony caught a chill that led to his death. Another wife of the emperor, Fatehpuri Begum built a mosque at the western end of the street that led from the Red Fort, which is known after her name. The Sirhindi Masjid, just outside the city wall, was built by the third wife, Sirhindi Begum.

Women of influence

Shah Jahan’s elder daughter, Jahanara commanded great influence and resources. She was well-educated and also had leanings towards Sufism. Jahanara’s wealth enabled her to patronise works of learning, like commentaries on Rumi’s Masnavi and for commissioning architectural projects, in which the pride of place was taken by the moonlight square, Chandni Chowk.

Mughal ladies who continued the tradition of Jahanara and Roshanara were Aurangzeb’s wife, Aurangabadi Begum who built a mosque near the Lahore Gate. The emperor’s two daughters, Zinat-un-Nissa and Zeb-un-Nissa, were also great patrons. Zeb-un-Nissa is the author of poems composed under the alias ‘Makhfi’. A skilled calligraphist, she patronised many writers, poets and learned men and commissioned several important books and tracts. She was buried in the Tees Hazari Bagh, inherited from Jahanara, but her tomb is hard to find.

Her sister Zinat-un-Nissa built a grand mosque beside the Yamuna in 1700 which is called Ghata Masjid now, her tomb, north of the mosque, was demolished in the aftermath of 1857 while the mosque was used as a bakery for British troops.

Story of Sunehri Masjid

Qudsia Begum laid Qudsia Bagh to the north of the city in 1748 whose grand buildings and a mosque were badly damaged during 1857. She also constructed Sunheri masjid near the southern gate of the Red Fort in 1751, whose dome were originally gilt-covered. A noted Shia, she constructed a number of buildings in Jorbagh, at the Dargah of Shah-e-Mardan, the shrine of the footprint of Hazrat Ali. Fakhr-ul-Masjid, near Kashmeri Gate, was built in 1728-29 by Kaniz Fatima in memory of her husband, Shujat Khan, a commander of Aurangzeb’s time who was killed during a military campaign in Kandhar.

Rabia Begum built a palatial house south of the Jama Masjid in the 18th Century. She was the wife of Muhammad Khan Bangash, the Governor of Farukkhabad, Agra and Allahabad. Rabia also commissioned a number of other structures, including Pul Bangash. Some buildings are named after unknown women such as Burhiyas’ (old women’s) mosques, two other anonymous ladies built Mir Afzal’s mosque in the Lal Kuan area in 1806. In fact, there were a large number of mosques and temples built by women at that time. These included three mosques, a Kali temple and several Shiva temples. Mubarak Begum, a dancing girl, built a mosque in Lal Kuan which came to be known as “Randi-ki-Maszid”. But now it is known after her name. She was the chief mistress of Gen Ochterlony. Better known than her and other 18th Century women was Begum Samru, a Kashmiri dancing girl of Chandni Chowk who had married the European military adventurer, Walter Reinhardt ‘Sombre’. His nick name, Sombre, or ‘dark’ was corrupted to Samru. After his death, his begum inherited the estate of Sardhana. She also successfully led military expectations and made astute political alliances.

Zinat Mahal was the wife of Bahadur Shah Zafar who became a powerful influence within the palace, and controlled a good deal of wealth. In 1846, she built a mansion in Lal Kuan Bazar. Her aim was to establish herself in the city, so that when the emperor died, her property and person would not be under the jurisdiction of the new emperor, who might be one of his older sons. So how can one overlook the contribution of women (royal or not) to Delhi’s grandeur?

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture /  by R.V. Smith / December 10th, 2018

Treasure in a clay pot: The buried copper coins of Delhi’s Khirki Mosque

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DELHI :

The style of writing on the coins indicates that they might be from the Lodi dynasty. Photo: V.V. Krishnan | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
The style of writing on the coins indicates that they might be from the Lodi dynasty. Photo: V.V. Krishnan | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan

The discovery of over 250 copper coins at Khirki Mosque is expected to throw light on Delhi’s medieval period

Khirki is crowded, with narrow roads and tall buildings bundled together like Lego bricks stacked precariously. Smack in the middle of this chaos is Khirki Mosque, a 14th century fortress-like structure built during the Tughlaq dynasty.

The mosque is fenced in by high compound walls and the uneven ground is lower than the houses that surround the structure. It is deathly quiet inside, with its myriad archways partially lit by Delhi’s smoggy sunlight. Standing there, it is easy to imagine a priest, or a trader, furtively hurrying along the walls of the mosque to find a spot to bury treasure.

Treasure is what the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found two months ago in this complex — a hoard of small copper coins vaguely resembling those bite-sized Britannia biscuits from the 90s.

Happy chance

A team from ASI’s conservation wing was levelling the ground in early September as part of ongoing conservation work when one of the workers’ pickaxes landed on a mud pot. Work was halted and ASI archaeologists were called.

The office was abuzz when they learned about the discovery, says N.K. Pathak, superintending archaeologist, ASI-Delhi circle. “As soon as the coins were discovered, there was a big halla. For archaeologists, discoveries like this are always exciting, no matter the value. Everyone said, Khazana mil gaya!” he says, laughing.

The style of writing on the coins indicates that they might be from the Lodi dynasty. | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
The style of writing on the coins indicates that they might be from the Lodi dynasty. | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan

The discovery of these coins is what those in the field call a ‘chance discovery’, as opposed to a planned dig. The mosque is also the site of an earlier discovery of 63 coins in 2003, which was also a chance discovery. There is a possibility that both sets of coins might be from the same era.

Preliminary investigations of the 254 coins reveal that they are from Delhi’s medieval period — 13th to 16th century — the latter part straddling the early modern period. Proper identification can happen only after they are cleaned and studied, says Pathak. “However, some of the coins belong to the reign of Islam Shah Suri.”

Inscriptions on the coins

Islam Shah Suri is the son of Sher Shah Suri, who founded the Sur dynasty and ruled Delhi for seven years from 1538 to 1545. “Most Islamic coins have inscriptions (what we call legends) on them — the name of the ruler and their father’s name. In this case, some of the coins had ‘Islam Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah Suri’ inscribed on them,” says Shahmoon Ahmad, Assistant Archaeologist, ASI-Lucknow circle, who will be studying the coins further.

Notably, it was Sher Shah who introduced the precursors to the modern rupee and paise — the silver rupaiya and the copper paisa. The gold coins issued by the Sur dynasty were called mohurs. “Discoveries of gold and silver coins are rather rare. Copper coins are not that much of a surprise,” says Pathak.

That’s because copper coins were reused by the general populace; the gold and the silver ones had to be re-minted with the names of current rulers, adds Ahmad.

He suspects that this might be true for this hoard as well. There are several paleographic indications — the style of writing — that indicate that some of the coins might be from the Lodi dynasty, which fell less than two decades before Islam Shah’s reign.

However, any discovery, even something as small as a copper coin hoard, is quite significant. “The monument is of the Tughlaq period, but the coins are from the Lodi and the Sur periods. Once we date the coins, we can establish that people used money regularly from the earliest date on the coin to the latest,” says Ahmad.

Interestingly, the fact that there are coins from two different dynasties might mean that this was not the hoard of a single person. “It could be the savings of one or two generations of a family,” he adds.

These coins can also establish other things. “They tell us this area was populated, the jurisdiction of the particular ruler, the prosperity of his rule, the money usage patterns, and so on,” says Pathak.

The coins also show that the mosque was in use during the reign of that particular ruler.

If they were indeed minted during the time of Islam Shah, it would mean the mosque was in use even 200 years after it was built.

Khirki’s secrets

More than half a millennium later, however, the Khirki Mosque is in bad shape. The buildings that flout ASI’s 100-metre-rule is the least of the concerns. There are broken pillars, loose bricks, decaying stones, a decades-old bat infestation, and more. The boundary wall around the monument came up only in 2003, according to an earlier report in The Hindu.

Conservation work, which began roughly mid-August, started with clearing the debris to bring the lower plinth of the monument to an even level, says deputy superintending archaeologist, Sanjay Kumar Singh. “It was also to make the movement of water on the ground smoother, especially in the monsoon. So work began with levelling the ground,” he says.

When the coins were found, the area around the discovery was carefully cordoned off, while all the debris and mud excavated so far were sieved thoroughly for more surprises from the past. “There is possibility to get anything, even pot shards, at any important site in Delhi. Workers, supervisors, and other staff are trained to be vigilant. We tell them this work is different from what the Public Works Department might do,” says Pathak.

Conservation work will go on for another six months, during which time the broken pillars and the decayed chajja stones will be replaced. “We will also undertake ‘pointing and underpinning’ work to fix the loose bricks and mortar. We will be using the lime mortar mix that was originally used,” adds Pathak.

Detailed information on the coins, however, will roll in before work on the monument is finished. “We will first send them to the science branch for cleaning, after which our numismatics branch will come in to decipher the writing. It will take three to four months,” says Pathak.

What are the possibilities of finding more antiquities here? “That’s just it,” he says. “You can never predict what you can find in Delhi and when. What is beneath the earth, you never know.”

janane.venkatraman@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Janane Venkatraman / December 08th, 2018

A requiem for Ibn Battuta in Kozhikode?

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Kozhikode, KERALA :

IbnBatutaMPOs05dec2018

Morocco’s Ambassador says MP’s suggestion at Battuta conference ‘deserves our attention’

A proposal to build a memorial for 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta in Kozhikode, where he stopped over during his 24-year travel around the world, was made here on Tuesday.

Ibn Battuta wrote about this port city, then known as Calicut, much before the landing of Vasco da Gama. His accounts gave a glimpse of the arrival of merchants from various parts of the world here and the rise of the Zamorins to prominence.

The suggestion to build a memorial was put forward by M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, at the second international Ibn Battuta conference on ‘Travel, trade, tradition, and trajectories’ organised by the Malappuram-based Ma’din Academy. Mr. Raghavan said that along with holding conferences and discussions, a permanent structure such a museum could be built to commemorate Battuta’s visit to Kozhikode.

Mohamed Maliki, Morocco’s Ambassador to India, later told the media that the idea “definitely deserves our attention” and it could be the world’s tribute to the man who travelled around the globe 600 years ago.

Earlier, opening the conference, Mr. Maliki said Ibn Battuta’s trip was not for financial purposes as he was the son of a judge in Tangier, his home town. He was a well-educated person, a man of culture and religion, but especially a curious man “having an eye on the world”, as the saying in Arabic goes.

‘A free world’

“The journey of Ibn Battuta gave us a real illustration of a diplomacy that existed at that time in a free world. A world completely different from ours. A world where no one spoke of passports, visas, or special permits…. It was a world without hurdles for the lovers of travel and discovery,” Mr. Maliki said.

He pointed out that Battuta put down what he observed after he returned to Morocco. “Through his narrative, he allowed many generations of the bygone centuries and others to come to know of the 14th century history of the world, lifestyles, gastronomy, religion. etc. His description of places and people, traditions, and their way of life were so accurate that some of them are still valid,” Mr. Maliki added.

In her keynote address, Ross E. Dunn of San Diego University, US, author of The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveller of the 14th Century, said the Moroccan traveller was a participant among many in a huge trans-hemispheric web of Muslim social interaction that embraced a large part of ‘Afroeurasia’ in the 14th century.

The extensive growth of Islam in that period involved a social movement, the journeys, and migrations of individuals who possessed literacy and special skills, and who were needed in places where Islamisation of society was taking place.

The two-day conference will conclude on Wednesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Staff Reporter / Kozhikode – December 04th, 2018

A walk in the clouds

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, , , ,

Alipura Village (near Gauribidanaur &, Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

It was the most uplifting experience of their lives. Two young Muslim couples from Alipura village near Gauribidanur in Karnataka got married in a helicopter yesterday, thereby creating a first of sorts. “It was a combination of the two best experiences of my life: getting married and flying in the air,” said Zameen Abbas, one of the two bridegrooms, after he returned to the ground. The two teenage brides had to content themselves with just watching the whole show from terra firma.

Alipura is actually a small village with a large Muslim population. Most of its residents had never even seen a flying vehicle of any kind, even at election time when politicians like S Bangarappa zip around merrily in choppers. So the drama unfolding before their eyes brought out a record turnout from all the surrounding areas, and gave captain Jayanth Pooviah a few unpleasant moments as he tried to navigate around spectators.

The whole project was thought up by Abbas’s elder brother Kareem, a chilly wholesaler of Alipura. Kareem’s grandfather had had an elephant brought into Alipura for his wedding half a century ago, and had been known ever since as ‘Aane Sahibru’ (lord of the elephants.)

The story goes, in the village, that so many other young bridegrooms demanded the same pachyderm procession for their weddings that the original elephant, which Kareem’s grandfather had brought from Mysore, permanently made its home in Alipura!

Kareem himself had an elephant procession to mark his marriage some time ago. However, he decided that it was time his family created history again, and so he came up with this novel idea to mark the joint celebration of the marriages of his brother and sister. He approached Deccan Aviation, an aircraft charter firm in Bangalore that frequently advertises its availability for offbeat uses of this kind.

“When he first came to me some months ago, I thought that he was playing a practical joke on me,” says Vijay Athreye, general manager of Deccan Aviation. “Still, I told him to pick a Sunday as we are a little freer on that day and could offer him a better price. Sure enough, he came back a fortnight ago with a serious offer and the marriage date of December 13. Our rate per hour is over Rs 50,000. But when we realised that he genuinely could not afford that price, we cut our rates down by almost half.”

Kareem finally got himself a deal at Rs 30,000 for what took almost two hours. He was to report at the Jakkur helipad of Deccan Aviation before 1500 hours on Sunday, December 13, ready for take-off.

The aviation company promptly informed the local media, and even asked Kareem to accommodate a couple of television reporters on the helicopter, which was to fly almost empty to Alipura. An excited Kareem, turned out neatly in a shiny, new suit, clutching a plastic bag full of jasmines in his sweating hands, agreed readily.

A representative of the aviation company went to Alipura a few days earlier, marked out space for a helipad and had the area cleared by enthusiastic villagers. The local police were also informed, and asked to cordon off the helipad. As the chopper descended, Kareem scattered jasmines over the heads of the waiting marriage party and spectators. The helicopter came down with aplomb and was examined carefully by waiting villagers for a half hour as its engine had to cool off before the next flight. Rest time over, the maulvis, the two bridegrooms the fathers of the brides all crowded into the aircraft and took off into the air.

Pooviah circled the village carefully, in full view of the assembly, as the maulvis recited their prayers and conducted the wedding ceremony. “I could not really see what they were doing as I was too busy flying carefully,” he said later, talking to Rediff On The NeT. “I have flown a birthday party in the air some months ago, but this ceremony was so fascinating that it really took the cake!”

Wedding over, he circled the village a little more to allow the bridal party to enjoy the scenery and then brought them back to earth.

A grand wedding spread of biryani and sweets followed. “I have never seen anything like this,” remarked Abdul J, an elderly bystander. “How much did it all cost? Kareem told us that it was almost Rs 100,000.” Added another spectator: “Some more of us might like to repeat this exercise for weddings in our family, you see…”

A stony-faced Pooviah, who had already been sworn to secrecy by Kareem, made some non-committal noises. The women in purdah,who were clustered in a group nearby, took in the unfolding drama from a discreet distance, and the two brides refused to face the television cameras without their veils. The stuttering bridegrooms gasped out a few excited reactions. And then it was time to leave, at least for the two newly married couples and the helicopter.

The ecstatic couples boarded the craft along with aviation company Managing Director C R Gopinath and Pooviah. As they took the half hour trip back to Bangalore, Gopinath urged the veiled brides to look out of the chopper and see the passing scenery, a suggestion that they accepted with alacrity. It was over all too soon for them.

Pooviah gave them a further small aerial tour of the parts of the city close to Jakkur and then returned to his helipad. The young couples alighted quickly and were whisked into a waiting car, which took them off to spend their wedding night in a five-star hotel. However, when this Rediff On The NeT tried to contact them at the hotel later in the evening for a more leisurely chat, the hotel staff said that no such couples were registered with them!

Gopinath and Pooviah sat back in their comfortable office, sipping cups of hot sweet tea to make up for the wedding repast that they had had to forego, and talking to returning journalists, most of whom took local buses back to Bangalore.

The words of the modest, simply dressed Kareem, spoken a few hours earlier, still hung in the air. “Why should only the affluent jetsetters have experiences like this?” he had asked. “Ordinary people like us should also prove that it is possible for us to make our dreams come true.”

source: http://www.rediff.com / rediff.com / Home> News> Report / by M D Ritti – Bangalore / December 14th, 1998

Spectacular beauty of a serene mausoleum

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

The Paigah Tombs not only symbolise the nobility’s love for magnificient edifices but also represent different styles of architecture.

PaigahTombMPOs26nov2018

Tucked away in the quiet bylanes of the Phisal Banda suburb near Owaisi Hospital, Santosh Nagar, is an architectural marvel, a serene mausoleum which is the final resting abode of erstwhile Hyderabad’s celebrated nobility – The Paigahs. The word Paigah, which means pomp and rank in Persian, was a title given by the second Asaf Jahi Nizam of Hyderabad to the estate of Abul Fateh Khan Taig Jung Bahadur in appreciation of the royal services rendered by him. He was also conferred with the title of Shams-ul-Umra, which gives the tombs their name.

Although the Paigahs were noted and rewarded for their contribution as army officers, ministers and aristocrats, Sir Viqar-ul-Umra is popularly remembered as the man behind one of the finest masterpieces of Hyderabadi architecture – the Falaknuma Palace. Legend has it that the 6th Nizam Mahboob Ali Khan loved the palace so much that Viqar-ul-Umra gifted it to him.

One such masterpiece symbolising the Paigahs’ love for architectural edifices are the Paigah Tombs. The spectacular beauty of the mausoleum is said to have earned it a title of the Taj Mahal of South India among connoisseurs of art and architecture. The Paigah Tombs also include a mosque where prayers are held every day.

The Paigah Tombs were constructed in the late 17th century, and later it was made a family maqbara by his son Fakhruddin Khan Amir-e-Kabir – I. Later, some additions were also made by Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Sir Asman Jah and Sir Khurshid Jah. The tombs are magnificent structures decorated in stucco work and represented the Mughal, Greek, Persian, Asaf Jahi, Rajasthani and Deccani style of architectures.

PaigahTomb02MPOs26nov2018

The geometric designs in the Paigah Tombs are unique and the perforated screens are examples of the finest craftsmanship. Some screens have flowers and motifs of fruits; others have serpents, drums, and vases.

There is a great amount of effort put into the detailing of the walls, arches, pillars and even of the graves. Floral and geometric patterns are characteristic of medieval Islamic architecture.

The most striking element of the Paigah Tombs is the intricately carved teakwood doors as entrance to each tomb. The carving of the doors is so fine and so regal it only makes one wonder the way art was encouraged and appreciated in the Asaf Jahi era.

The tomb of wife of Khursheed Jah is the most beautiful of the tombs with exquisite marble inlay work. One can still see the hollows in the marble carvings where precious gems were once encrusted on the grave.

Nawab Bashir-ud-Daulah’s grave stands out with a beautifully carved marble chowkhandi which is adorned by a carved mysterious green stone. Legend has it that the lighting doesn’t strike the place where it is placed.

The Paigah Tombs are under the care of the Department of Archaeology and Museums. As one of the most marvellous symbols of Hyderabad’s rich culture and royal heritage, the Paigah Tombs deserve nothing less than the government’s attention to ensure that it is not just preserved and valued but also promoted and highlighted.

Historian Dr Anand Raj Varma says, “I don’t see much improvement and restoration taking place at the Paigah Tombs; it is in the same state for years now. If you see the entrance, it’s in a very shabby state. There is no significant deterioration but there is also no tourist attraction or promotion of Paigah Tombs either. Most people don’t even know that the Paigah Tombs are located there.”

However, says the historian, the contribution of Rahmatullah, the caretaker of the Paigah Tombs, is appreciable as he keeps it going thanks to his passion and love for the Paigah family and the tombs. “The Tourism Department or the government should take this up as a project. It is the heritage which connects us our past and to our present. It is our treasure, heritage our virasat, and it should be protected,” he adds.

Mohammed Safiullah, managing trustee of The Deccan Heritage Trust, says, “The Paigah Tombs are in desperate need for restoration as the structure is in a dilapidated state and deteriorating. Some places have grown moss all over.  The government should invest in the restoration of the Paigah Tombs because there is a scope of return on investment. Once proper restoration work is done, there will be easily about a 1,000 visitors every day.”

A nominal entry ticket would become a means for generating revenue which would help in future maintenance. Simple things like a cafeteria, a souvenir shop and proper toilets could make it more tourist-friendly.

(The writer is a heritage enthusiast)

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> SundayScape> Telangana Diaries / by M D Taher Hussain / November 25th, 2018

Lucknow: Now, ‘water gateway’ to Chattar Manzil unearthed

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Transport, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , ,

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Slice of history: Nawabs probably used fish-shaped boats for transport in 17th century, says historian.

The ongoing excavation work at Chattar Manzil reached another level on Monday as workers unearthed a ‘water gateway’ leading to this iconic structure.

The UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), the construction agency engaged in the restoration of the structure, termed it one of the major discoveries so far.

Officials said workers engaged in the excavation stumbled upon a ‘cylindrical structure’ that was lying buried for years.

On clearing the debris, it was found that the structure made of lakhauri bricks was a tunnel, which connects the over 200-year-old Chattar Manzil to river Gomti, flowing just a few metres away.

“This tunnel is around nine metres beneath the ground,” said Nitin Kohli, the contractor supervising the excavation work.

The task is being performed under the supervision of a high-powered committee comprising Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), State Archaeology Department and officials of the civil engineering department, IIT BHU.

Experts said once they are done with the excavation work, they would explore details like the total length of the tunnel and where it leads to.

Officials said the discovery of the tunnel would unravel another chapter from the history of Chattar Manzil and Kothi Farhatbaksh.

The tunnel would also demystify myths and folklore about the Nawabs using water boats to sail within the palace complex, they added.

However, historians have a different take on this tunnel.

PC Sarkar, a noted historian, said: “The structure seems more of a water gate than a tunnel.”

He said some old timers who have been to Kothi Farhatbaksh (Lakhi Pera), residence of major general Claude Martin, had mentioned the structural uniqueness of the twin structures. “In fact, it is on record that the structures were easily approachable from the northern (river Gomti) side by boat also,” added Sarkar.

“After Nawab Saadat Ali Khan bought the fortress-like structure, it was remodelled into a palace-like structure. However, the river side entrance remained the principal one, with the Nawab adding pavilions in the middle of the river itself,” he said.

He said Gomti was the main channel of transport – the nawabs used barges (boats) of various shapes and sizes, some looking like fishes, crocodiles, for transport in the 17th century. The famous ‘More Pankh’ boats were in vogue during that era, said Sarkar.

He said ‘water gates’ may sound unique now, but they were common in the olden days.

The Lucknow Residency too had a ‘water gate’. But it became defunct when Gomti changed its course and more means of road transport came up, he said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / by Oliver Fredrick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / November 20th, 2018

A common man’s labor of love: A mini-Taj Mahal for his beloved wife

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , ,

Kaser Kalan (Bulandshahr District) , UTTAR PRADESH :

Retired postman Faizul Hassan Qadri walks out out the monument he is building for his late wife, Tajammuli, in the town Kaser Kalan in India’s Uttar Pradesh on Nov. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Retired postman Faizul Hassan Qadri walks out out the monument he is building for his late wife, Tajammuli, in the town Kaser Kalan in India’s Uttar Pradesh on Nov. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

With 80 years of wrinkles and a beard that has long turned white, Faizul Hassan Qadri has been working away his golden days on what he calls a labor of love — a grave for his wife, his “begum.”

For years, the retired postmaster has been building a monument reminiscent of India’s ancient shrines outside his home in Kaser Kalan, a village in India’s Uttar Pradesh, pausing from time to time when he runs out of money for materials. He has sold farmland and his wife’s finest jewelry to get enough rupees to finish the job, according to the Hindustan Times . But it’s a promise he made to his wife, Tajammuli, who died from throat cancer in 2011.

Tajammuli had asked him who would remember her when she died.

“I will build a tomb that everybody will remember,” he replied.

The tomb has become known as a “mini Taj Mahal” and Qadri as a common man’s Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who built the original at Agra during the 17th century for his Persian empress, Mumtaz Mahal.

Visitors from all over have traveled to see Qadri’s mausoleum that sits on 5,000 square feet of ground in his garden, Press TV reported. “I traveled almost [15 miles] with my friends just to get a glimpse of this structure,” Pahasu resident Zakir Ali told Hindustan Times . “The efforts put in by him is really commendable.”

Qadri and Tajammuli married as teens in 1953, according to the newspaper.

“We were just a normal couple,” he told the Associated Press  last year.

Since Tajammuli’s death, Qadri has dedicated himself to preserving her memory. He said he designed her tomb on his own but got help with the construction from a local mason who “prepared the dome and constructed the four ‘minars’ around the central building, which is a little more than 27-feet in height,” he recently told the Hindustan Times. “The structure is built on my own land and I have also tried to plant some trees around it and have a small water body at the back side of the building.”

But construction has been touch-and-go, coming to a halt last year.

“Initially, I sold a piece of land for Rs 6 lakh [about 600,000 rupees or $9,000] and my wife’s gold and silver jewelry for Rs 1.5 lakh and got the ‘makbara’ [mausoleum] constructed with the help of a local mason named Asgar,” he recently told the Hindustan Times. “A total of Rs 11 lakh was spent, but now I have to get marble studded on the monument and also to build a lush green park around it, both of which is likely to cost me another Rs 6-7 lakh.”

Many, including the state’s chief minister, have offered him help but he won’t accept.

“The chief minister wants to meet Qadri to appreciate his efforts and to offer some financial help so that he can complete his unfinished building,” additional district magistrate Vishal Singh told the Hindustan Times.

“It is a proof of love,” Qadri told the Associated Press last year. “I have to do it on my own.”

He wants to finish the tomb before he dies, he said, and then he wants to be buried in it too.

“I have told my brother to bury me here by the side of my wife,” he told the Hindustan Times . “Everything that comes has to go away some day. My wife is dead. I will also die some day. The monument too might not stand forever. I just wish to see it complete before I die.”

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com / The Washington Post / Home> Sections> Modern Mix / by Lindsey Bever / August 21st, 2015

The last of eight generations of Rogan art in Kutch

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , ,

Nirona Village, (Kutch District ),  GUJARAT :

Abdul Gafur Khatri at work at his residence in Nirona village, Kutch | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Abdul Gafur Khatri at work at his residence in Nirona village, Kutch | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

The Khatris have practised the art for eight generations now

Sitting on the floor, Abdul Hamid carefully twists a thick spool of yellow paint around a metal pin. Stretched out before him is a piece of red cloth, pinned on either side to the legs of his trousers. He dabs the paint on the heel of his left palm — it’s a gummy mass and has to be worked into something more malleable. Hamid then brings the tip of the pin a few inches above the cloth, and as it hovers, an elastic strand of colour streams on to the surface. And the magic begins: an intricate pattern grows beneath the swirling pin that never touches the cloth. The floral design looks like needlework.

Hamid then folds the cloth and, just like that, a flawless mirror-image of the pattern appears and an exquisite piece of Rogan art is born.

“We have practised Rogan for eight generations now,” says Hamid. “The first six generations did not get their due for preserving the art, but now, finally it is widely recognised and we couldn’t be happier.”

‘Rogan’ in Persian means oil: the paint is made with castor oil. Rogan art is believed to have originated in Persia some 300 years ago and was traditionally used to embellish bridal trousseaus. As it crossed borders, it began fading from the collective memory of its creators. But nine members of the Khatri family in Nirona, a small village in Gujarat’s Kutch district, are the last surviving custodians of the art form.

The Khatri community once did Rogan work on the clothes of local animal herders and farming communities. But as machine-made textiles became a more affordable alternative and Khatri youth lost interest in learning the art, Rogan began to disappear. “But our family revived it in 1985,” says Hamid. In fact it is Hamid’s elder cousin, Abdul Gafur Khatri, a national award winner, who is credited with resurgence of Rogan art.

P.M.’s pick

The ‘Tree of Life’, an intricately patterned tree with hundreds of dots and dashes, is their signature painting and most in demand. A 14×17” painting can take 12 days to complete— Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose one to gift to the then U.S. President Barack Obama during his U.S. visit.

“Rogan art is 100% an artist’s imagination on a piece of cloth,” Gafur bhai, as he is better known, explains. “There is no tracing, no drawings to refer to.”

But preparing the base from castor oil is a laborious process and can take two days. The oil is heated and cooled in a (special) vessel and continuously stirred so it doesn’t burn. After two days, the residue left behind is mixed with cold water and it thickens into a sticky paste called rogan. Natural colour pigments are then added to the oil base. “Yellow, for instance, comes from a particular stone that is ground,” says Hamid. The pigments are added to the castor oil base and stored in earthen pots.

Wall pieces made by Abdul Gafur Khatri in Nirona village, Kutch | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Wall pieces made by Abdul Gafur Khatri in Nirona village, Kutch | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

The nine artists have six national awards and six State awards between them. They proudly show me photographs of celebrities — politicians, film stars, sports stars — who have either bought their art work or felicitated them at awards functions.

Men last longer

It strikes me as odd that all nine members of the family working on the art form are men. This could perhaps do with the belief that women, once they get married, would pass on their knowledge to their husband’s families, threatening the art with dilution. But as Rogan faces extinction, Gafur bhai, has taken upon himself the task of teaching the technique to 200 girls from his village. And this has breathed fresh life into the dying art.

“We taught most of these girls for free. They can now create at least the basic designs,” Gafur bhai says, adding that 25 girls also help the family with their work. In another effort to popularise Rogan, the family conducts live demonstrations for every visitor at their doorstep. During the 30-minute demonstration, artists patiently answer questions and explain the techniques they use. On an average, the family gets 150 visitors a day. And between November and February, during the Rann Utsav — the Kutch desert festival — the numbers shoot up to 250 or 300.

No tough competition

Unlike other forms of textile art such as Ajrakh that face are under threat by factory-made products, Rogan faces no such competition, but meeting market demand has been a challenge.

“You will not find Rogan art the way you find other arts in the markets. It’s not because we don’t want it to go out to the people, it’s because we have limited resources,” says Gafur bhai. We go to five or six exhibitions around the country in a year, and rest of the time we are at home, working.”

It has been a long journey for the Khatri family: from reviving the art to creating public interest to recovering from the Bhuj earthquake setback. But today, they are only seeing a huge resurgence of interest.

The writer is an independent journalist based in Gujarat. When not researching her stories, she is busy spinning tales for her toddler.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society – Rubric / by Azera Parveen Rehman / January 20th, 2018

The Pathan who saved Pathra’s temples

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism

Pathra, Midnapore District, WEST BENGAL :

Pathra’s ancient temples | Photo Credit: Ashok Nath Dey
Pathra’s ancient temples | Photo Credit: Ashok Nath Dey

Today, 19 of the 34 temples in Pathra in West Bengal have been restored to their former glory

“Bash on.” That’s probably what Yeasin Pathan says to himself when he wakes up every morning. You just can’t miss his never-say-die attitude when you meet the frail 66-year-old. How else do you explain the grit of a Class IX dropout, and a devout Muslim, who has been crusading for the conservation of 34 temples for the last 42 years?

Pathan has been in love with Hindu temples ever since he was a child. Looked upon with suspicion by both Hindus and Muslims for this long love affair, Pathan is today inured to the jibes, threats and hurdles.

The story begins when Pathan was a child. Captivated by the terracotta temples he chanced upon in Pathra, a village close to his own, in Midnapore district of West Bengal,  their dilapidated condition set him thinking. And by the time he was 17, he had kick-started his ‘save the temples’ mission. This was in 1971. He had no archaeology or history degree to show on his CV, but Pathan realised the temples were “part of our heritage, and people should be prevented from walking away with bits of it.”

Garnering support

To start with, Pathan got the villagers together, Hindus, Muslims and Adivasis. He told the people of Pathra it was in their hands to preserve their heritage for posterity. As expected, Pathan found himself up against opposition. People from his community were enraged he was advocating the preservation of structures where idols are worshipped. “The Hindus of the area were miffed too, because I prevented them from stealing the bricks off the temples and selling them,” he says, smiling.

Statues for sale

Even the descendants of the zamindars who had built the structures were trying to make money by selling carvings and statues. Pathan was, clearly, surrounded by a ring of fire. That’s when innate wisdom told him he must give the locals a vision to aspire for: that if Pathra became a tourist destination, “the village and its adjoining areas would get roads, electricity, water, and business.” The semblance of a truce followed.

Under his leadership the local community set about first clearing the wild growth of weeds around the monuments. Then, Pathan mobilised rallies at the district headquarters in Midnapore to demand funds. There were scuffles, and he would rush to Midnapore to bring the police to Pathra.

Yeasin Pathan | Photo Credit: Ashok Nath Dey
Yeasin Pathan | Photo Credit: Ashok Nath Dey

But his efforts began to bear fruit.

Money started trickling in; IIT Kharagpur stepped in to help with the conservation. Pathan set up an NGO, Pathra Archaeological Preservation Committee, which, apart from its core agenda, also became a forum for communal harmony. The then Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson, Pranab Mukherjee, sanctioned ₹20 lakh for Pathra. The biggest victory for Pathan was when the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took over restoration work in 2003.

Guide for tourists

Meanwhile, Pathan realised he needed a steady source of income. He now had a wife and four children. To make ends meet, in 1974 he became an attendant in a school in Hatiholka, his village. He also worked as a stringer for newspapers, and when curious tourists visited Pathra, Pathan became their guide. But he never wavered in his mission to conserve the temples.

Although Pathra’s residents acknowledged his pioneering work over the years, he has faced testing times. Gasping for breath ( he has two blockages in his heart), he recounts how he had to go into hiding after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. “Muslims wanted to lynch me for protecting temples while Hindus were breaking mosques.”

Only one guard

Today, 19 of the 34 temples in Pathra have been restored to their former glory. All under the eagle eye of Pathan, who says ruefully: “Such a big area, and only one guard to protect it.” Some 9.5 acres around the temples are being beautified by ASI. Pathan’s new fight is to get 70 farmers their compensation for the land they had to give up around the temple.

“You know how it is… unless we make a noise, the state will take its own sweet time,” he says.

Dressed in a cotton shirt, trousers and chappals, the bespectacled Pathan retired from his school job in 2012, and gets a pension of ₹9,600 per month. His family wants him to take it easy now. The years of travel, the erratic sleep and irregular meals, have all taken a toll on his health. He can’t afford treatment for his heart and kidneys.

“Stay at home; rest, they say. But if I stop now, all those years of fighting will go down the drain. Now is when everything should fall into place,” says a tired but eternally optimistic Pathan.

Professional procrastinator and looker out of window, the writer works at O.P. Jindal University.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> Rubric / by Priya Kannungo / October 27th, 2018