Harking back: A view of the ‘ancient’ city as it changes

To truly understand the working of ancient, and old, Lahore, it might be a useful exercise to walk through two lanes – galis – and have a view of the place and the people present and past.

But first just why has the old walled city been classified as ‘ancient’ and ‘old’? It’s really very simple. The original ancient walled city is well over 4,000 years old, and is located on a series of mounds. The fort nearby was similarly located. Around both the river Ravi once flowed and then moved on from the south-western edge to join the main river by passing by where today is Santnagar.

In days of old there were just three main gates and they all had drawbridges, traces of which no longer exist. The ancient people, all Hindus, cremated their dead outside Mori Gate. In fact, the Hindu Shahi ruler Raja Jayapala was also cremated there. He was a proud Rajput who committed ‘Johar’ after three defeats at the hands of the Afghan invader Mahmud.

Over time as the river meandered westwards the river outside the city walls also moved away. Then came the Mughal emperor Akbar, who made use of starving local people suffering from a famine caused primarily by his high taxes, to make bricks and build the wall. Dullah Bhatti was a product of those taxes. This gave the ‘old’ city its present wall alignment. Tragically, today nothing of the wall exists and no effort has been made to rebuild it. But that is another story.

Now let us walk through two lanes in the ancient city. This space is between the eastern alignment of Bhati Gate Bazaar and the western alignment of Shahalami Bazaar. They meet at Chuna Mandi. That was the ‘ancient’ original walled city with mud walls.

If you enter Mori Gate and walk through its main bazaar, you will reach a crossroad, and just head towards Said Metha Bazaar. Also once you enter Lohari Gate Bazaar you head eastwards and reach Gali Pir Bhola. Now we will walk through both these streets and will recall, as my late father narrated to me over 55 years ago, the people who lived there and where they came from.

First Mori Gate and Said Metha Bazaar. In this bazaar lived for a short period the great classical singer Bare Ghulam Ali Khan. He had moved in from Kasur and this provided him access to the nearby music quarters in Taxali. He also had two ‘baithaks’ in Taxali and one outside on Bansaanwala Bazaar. The latter was, allegedly, where the great Tan Sain lived. Today outside a stinking mini tannery exists.

Two houses away from this house in Said Metha lived the famous write Rajinder Singh Bedi. His family later moved to a larger house outside the city, for his father worked in the Lahore post office. For that matter initially so did Rajinder Singh Bedi. He was a great friend of my late father so when we visited, neighbours remarked: “You have come after a long time”. I remember his response: “Bedi has moved so have we friends. When the Guru moves his ‘chellas’ also move”.

After almost 45 years later I walked alone through this street again and talked to local inhabitants. Most of the people have moved away outside the walled city to the newer faraway colonies. The area, once a residential area, is now fully commercialized. The ancient city has changed beyond what it once was. The trader classes have had their fatal effect.

Now let us move to Lohari Bazaar and move along and reach Gali Pir Bhola. Now this was once a posh walled city area and has the old house of my great thrice removed grandfather. He was a general in the army of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Sandhu Jatts of the Nilli Bar, and he participated in every battle the Sikhs fought, including Jallianwala. My grandfather married in the famous Chishti family of nearby Kucha Chabakswaran inside Mochi Gate.

But then as the family expanded they moved to better houses. Near this famous house were those of a few scholars – Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. My father knew every house by name which I did not. When I returned there a local shopkeeper informed that almost every old resident has moved out. Some got educated in posh schools and were now ‘rich’ businessmen. “They sometimes return with their children to show them their original houses”, he commented.

So from the ancient portion of the walled city almost every original resident has moved out. All that is left in the minds of the original inhabitants are memories, and very fond ones at that. They cherish the finest foods and have an immense respect for the neighbours. If anyone passes away they invariably return to pay their respects. Naturally, the younger generations have no idea of these values.

But what else has changed? Let us take a brief view of the ancient portions of the once walled city. Firstly, probably only five per cent of the original inhabitants who lived there 70 years ago still have traces there. The rest have moved out. Given the size of the houses and the need for transportation to faraway places, it does not make economic sense. Plus, families now have become so-called modernized. In a way those remaining are today culturally very different.

Secondly, with the expansion of the trading classes taking over almost 65 per cent of all housing, the damage to the old way of life has been telling. To encourage cheap labour to work in the new bazaars, Afghan refugees provided the ideal cheap solution. Today well over 65 per cent of the population is now Pushto-speaking Afghans.

So we have a situation where the traditional Punjabi-speaking population, and Lahori Punjabi at that, face a challenge from the Pushtoons. But to the credit of our ancient language we also see Pathan children now speaking Lahori Punjabi.

On the cultural side the local population no longer is sensitized to the architectural history of Lahore. Also they knock down old houses at random. This damages a heritage beyond measure. To put a stop to this carnage the Walled City of Lahore Authority was created. Their effort is before everyone. Surely there is a need for a greater investment in conserving the hundreds of old houses that stand threatened.

So we have the original inhabitants moving out, and then we have an almost alien population speaking a different language moving in, we have an extremist view people taking over our cultural sites, small in size that they may be, and we have a decaying old houses falling by the day. Not a pretty picture by any account.

What must be done to reverse this negative situation. Our young, especially schoolchildren, need to study our city’s past in greater detail. For that we need sensitized teachers. Now where do we get such teachers in a country with the lowest functional literacy rate in the world. The challenge is massive … but a way out must be found.