Wehar is a sizable village near the Indus river, some few kilometres from Mohenjo-daro, in Sindh province of Pakistan. At one time, Wehar used to be a bog entrepot or depot, for riverine trade on the Indus, or 'Sindhu' as it is called here.
Most of this trade was carried out between Sindh, Rajasthan and Mewar (Jodhpur), Gujerat Kathiawar, Baluchistan (Kalat state and beyond) and even as far as Afghanistan and Southern Punjab areas of Multan and Bahawalpur, possibly even till Peshawar.
It is interesting that most of this trade was in the hands of local Hindu ''baniyas'' (business caste) from quite ancient times. In the 19th and early 20th centuries AD/CE the most famous of these business families in this place, were the family of Set Tehl Ram (who along with his brother Vidoomal had a big trading company) and the Sangat Rai family. Both these families built palatial red-brick 'havelis' (mansions) here, at which sites they lived and also carried on business.
Now, both havelis are in bad shape, although occupied and lived in by settlers from India, who came here as immigrants in 1947, at Partition. One wonders where the rich 'seths' went? Do they still have families and descendants living somewhere in India, who went there at that same terrible time? These present occupants have tried to maintain the old mansions as they were, although they are falling in places. According to the plates on the mansions, they were built in the 1930s, and with some love and care, can be easily restored to their former glory.
Most of this trade was carried out between Sindh, Rajasthan and Mewar (Jodhpur), Gujerat Kathiawar, Baluchistan (Kalat state and beyond) and even as far as Afghanistan and Southern Punjab areas of Multan and Bahawalpur, possibly even till Peshawar.
It is interesting that most of this trade was in the hands of local Hindu ''baniyas'' (business caste) from quite ancient times. In the 19th and early 20th centuries AD/CE the most famous of these business families in this place, were the family of Set Tehl Ram (who along with his brother Vidoomal had a big trading company) and the Sangat Rai family. Both these families built palatial red-brick 'havelis' (mansions) here, at which sites they lived and also carried on business.
Now, both havelis are in bad shape, although occupied and lived in by settlers from India, who came here as immigrants in 1947, at Partition. One wonders where the rich 'seths' went? Do they still have families and descendants living somewhere in India, who went there at that same terrible time? These present occupants have tried to maintain the old mansions as they were, although they are falling in places. According to the plates on the mansions, they were built in the 1930s, and with some love and care, can be easily restored to their former glory.
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