By Majid Sheikh

Dawn Oct 11, 2020

The story of Lahore in the colonial period, in my view, is a most ignored period. It is almost as if we have a complex about our ‘recent’ colonial past, forgetting that for almost 850 out of the last 1,000 years foreign invaders ruled over us.

What has happened in the past we just cannot undo. What we can do is to research and learn so we are more confident of ourselves. The more educated we are about our past the better for us. In the 98 years that the British ruled over the Punjab and Lahore, it was a period that changed Lahore beyond recognition, and what we see of Lahore today is built on the foundations set by the British. Mind you local inputs need to be appreciated.

Almost five years ago my column described the roads named after Sir Cecil Beadon, Sir Robert Eyles Egerton and Lord Mayo of Ireland, a man accused of ‘siding with the natives’. Ironically he was stabbed by an Afridi Pathan while inspecting the notorious Andaman Island prison. As we set off changing the names of roads and buildings of the colonial era, it betrays an inferiority complex that, undoubtedly, colonialism instils in the minds of our ruling classes. Amazingly, and happily, common citizens have always been comfortable in their skins. Be it invaders like Mahmud or Abdali or the British, the poor merely sacrifice and return to their ploughs. The rulers and the rich invariably compromise, both gaining in the process.

The menace of unchecked powers brings about a mental change, as refuge is sought in nationalism, with our communal tinge being a fatal flaw. Officials big or small are out to prove a point, and what better than changing old name to reflect their “imagined heroes”. So let us in this piece describe another three colonial persons after whom roads are named. The first will be Sir Donald Friell McLeod after which is named McLeod Road, with Lahoris pronouncing it as ‘Mclod Road’. It is ingrained in the minds of every Lahorite and even though it is officially renamed, on the very first day the long obscure Islamic name board was removed.

But just who was McLeod? As the name shows he was a Scot highlander from Edinburgh, and as Scots go he was very kind, yet blunt and if provoked resorted to bizarre things. As Lt. Governor of the Punjab his contribution to the city is probably among the most important, and foundational in a way. His father was serving in Fort William in Calcutta (Kolkata) where he was born in 1810, returning to Edinburgh with his mother. He came back to Bengal in 1828 as an East India Company officer and soon made his mark. He spent two years in the EIC administrative service and then was posted to Benares, where he stayed till 1849 as a Judicial Officer.

He was appointed as Commissioner of Jalandhar and in 1854 he was made the Judicial Commissioner of the Punjab based in Lahore. Here he made his name as a kind, but when suspecting foul play his ‘quirky’ Scottish streak came through. When robbers and financial fraud were proven in court he got many a scoundrel’s ear cut off, earning the name ‘Cancuttar’. Suddenly crime incidents fell dramatically.

During the events of the 1857 Uprising he worked tirelessly and in 1865 was made the Lt. Gov. of the Punjab. He started his service to Lahore as soon as the Uprising was quelled. He set in motion the rebuilding of the old city for which he is never acknowledged. He founded Donald Town, which were all areas to the east of the old walled city right up to The Mall and till the new railway colonies. A sewerage system was laid and good roads and pavements made up the expanded modern Lahore.

His emphasis on education led him to found the Oriental College, Lahore, as well as set the foundations for numerous schools and colleges in Lahore. His huge book collection on his death in 1872 was the beginning of the Punjab University Library, Lahore. It was no surprise that because of his contribution to the railways and the building of Donald Town led the central road being named McLeod Road. And so it should remain.

Next let us dwell on Davies Road, the name most pronounce as Davis Road. He was Welsh as the name Davies suggests and his name was Sir Robert Henry Davies. Born in 1824 in Wales he came to Bengal in 1844 and served his entire life in India, retiring only to become a member of the Council for India in London.

In 1871 he became the Lt. Governor of the Punjab and was instrumental is getting educational institutions made. His main contribution was in establishing the Lahore Zoo and getting the Mayo School of Industrial Arts (now NCA) established.

He was instrumental in establishing Murree as the summer capital of the Punjab Government in 1873, as also Simla the summer capital of India in 1976. In 1877 he organised the famous Delhi Darbar. He suggested the setting up of a Chief’s College in Lahore on the lines of the Wards School in Ambala, which came up after he retired. So when you are asked just where is Shahrah-e-Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan the Third, rest assured you will get a puzzled look.

In the same vein when someone asks about Shahrah-e-Abd Al Hameed bin Badees rest assured that they are referring to Empress Road. Just for the record Abd Al Hamid Bin Badees was a Berber of Sanhaji of Algeria but born in Istanbul. He taught religious studies at a mosque in Algeria that he got constructed. Also when someone asks just where is Shahrah-e-Khalifa Shujaudin Road, I am confident very few will know that they are talking about Egerton Road. Just why road names are changed, especially those that are ingrained in the minds of the common person? It is a complex that we should now get over.

But let us continue on our search for the brief history of colonial names used for Lahore road. Surely you must have heard of Danepur Lane in the GOR-1. Who was this man? His full name was Sir Louis William Dane who led to the establishment of Kinnaird College as Lt. Governor of the Punjab from 1911 to 1913. In this period he immediately delinked the Punjab from Delhi so as to make the Punjab free from central control, he led the Colonisation of Government Lands Act which led to the agricultural revolution of the Punjab. In his brief career as the head of the Punjab he was responsible for its bureaucracy and police becoming the best trained and effective in the whole of British India. It is a compliment to the man that the road named after him has not been changed.