Former Shahzada Bukhara House, Abbottabad

(by IH Malik, adapted from online sources)


This house was once the property of Shahzada (Prince)  Abdul Malik Tura,son of Amir Muzaffar of Bukhara, in Central Asia (now in Uzbekistan).

Abdul Malik escaped from Bukhara, after he showed antagonism to certain policies of his father Amir Muzaffar. The main issue over which Abdul Malik Tura fought was his father's lack of resistance to Russian influence and increasing interferance in the affairs of Bukhara principality.It was the time of the "Great Game" played between Russia and Britain. According to one historical source:

" Russia monitored the instability that resulted from the activities and set-backs of the Amir carefully. In the south, the Amir's son, Abdul Malik Tura, rose and captured Qarshi.. In this, he was aided by the khans of the Manghit tribe, the very tribe on which Amir Muzaffar hoped to draw to defeat his son. In the north, two Kazakh princes, who had been allowed to enter Bukhara and who had been given administrative positions, rose against the Amir. Calling themselves the true descendants of Chingiz Khan and the rightful claimants to the throne of Bukhara, they captured Karminah. These rebellions were put down but were followed soon by the defeat of Bukhara by the Russians in 1866. Further Russian successes also followed, in Bukhara and Samarkand, 1868. The Bukhara Amir now appealed to the Amir Afghanistan for help, and received a ploite but negative reply in August 1868. Thus, the Bukhara ruler had no option but to make very humiliating terms with the victorious Russians''.

Meanwhile, afraid that the Russians would exact a strong vengeance against him for aopposing them, Prinec Abdul Malik Tura fled to Kashgar (Chinese Turkistan) in late 1868 or early 1869.  The full details of the flight of Abdul Malik Tura to Kashgar, are available in a British Report from there, dated 25th Jan 1870 (Brit Lib IOR/OIOC records No L/PS/5/264 , Sec 8, pp 144A-144HH). Later, however, Abdul Malik requested British help and shifted to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he received a house and an allowance from the Afghan king. But he was not happy there and requested to be shifted to British India, and this was done in 1872, and regular allowances for him were fixed by both the Govt of British India and the (then) Afghan Amir, Abdur Rahman Khan, which he and his exiled descendants kept receiving. After a short time in Peshawar, Abdul Malik Tura and his family and the few followers/retainers, were allotted a house in Abbottabad in the cool hills, and this house was then extended and renovated as per the Prince's wishes, into its present form, with Central Asian style embellishments, and was popularly called 'Bukhara House' or 'Shahzada Bukhara House'. The Prince, or 'shahzada' also spent generously in building a famous mosque and religious school/madrassa near his home, called 'Shahzada Masjid (mosque)' which still stands, albeit it has been marred by later construction.

Sadly, all the Shahzada's sons except Shahzada Sikander died young, and he never married. He sold off this house and lived in another house nearby,where he died later on. Thus, this property came in the possession of present owners. It was purchased by one Baluch Sardar, Dur-Muhammad Leghari, who was settled in Abbottabad, and who was married to Shahzada Sikandar's sister, and the house then remained with their family. It is now claimed in Abbottabad (2015) that the 'Bukhara House' is now for sale, but we could not confirm this on trying to contact the owners.

What is the status of this house now? Who owns it and what is its situation and condition? Surely, this historical place deserves to be preserved.

Gulzar Mahal , Chiniot, Punjab, Pakistan

(online sources)

Omar Hayat Mahal (palace) or as it is better known, 'Gulzar Palace' (now a nominal Library) is an early 20th century unique mostly-wooden structure in Chiniot town, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a true architectural wonder.

Omar Hayat Palace is a five story building which stands in the heart of the city. Two upper stories were removed in 1993 due to heavy rainfall and storms which may have affected the adjoining buildings. It is a great tourist attraction for both local and foreign visitors.

Members of the Seth (Shaikh family) migrated from Calcutta, Bengal,  to Chiniot around the 18th or 19th century. Omar Hayat was a successful trader born in one of these rich business families. He decided to construct a magnificent palace for his newborn son in 1923.

Syed Hassan Shah a local architect, was assigned the task of this palace's construction. He gathered many famous artisans from different places who continued working day and night for 10 ten years. Rahim Bakhsh Pirjha and Elahi Bakhsh Pirjha who were masters in traditional 'manabat kari ' did the woodcarving.

Gazeteer No Vol XXXII, Jhang district 1929 states, "The house built by Sheikh Omar Hayat is a sort of local wonder, as it's cost was Rs 400,000 to make and rises high above all other buildings of the area".The construction of the palace completed in 1935 and Seth Omar Hayat expired in same year just a couple of months before its completion.

History claims that Mr Hayat's only son Gulzar Muhammad's marriage in 1938 brought an ironic twist of fate in the shape of death . He (Gulzar) was found dead in the palace the very next day of his marriage. The news of son’s death lofted loads of grief on mother who died remembering him. Both the mother and the son were buried in the courtyard of the ground floor of the palace.

Mr Hayat's relatives left the palace thinking it as a subject to bad luck for sheikh family, while servants continued living for a couple of years and then parted from it. An orphanage was established by some religious leaders and then it was evacuated when its top story collapsed. Next came the 'Qabza groups' (illegal land-grabbing mafias)  who got shops and houses constructed on the piece of land lying next to it.

The palace's building is perhaps the last of a Mughal Revival style building ("revival" buildings are interpretations of an old architectural style by people of a later era). Unique carving cuts on the doors, windows and 'jharokas' (alcoves)  reflect a colour of their own. The roofs, balconies, stairways, terrace and the stucco designs make a perfect interior. The facade of the building is decorated with a fine inlay of bricks, the dazzling shine of marble and picturesque shades.

In 1989, M. Athar Tahir, the then Deputy Commissioner of Jhang, took the palace into his custody. He removed the encroachments and started its renovation with an expenditure of Rs1,700,000.

It was handed over to local municipal committee and a library, cultural centre and a museum were new additions which regained some vigour. A rare collection of thousands of books and subscription for seven dailies was introduced to learners and It was publicly opened the then Punjab Governor, Mian Muhammad. On 7 June 1990,it was decided that the Gulzar Manzil be acquired for the people,be conserved and conservatively restored,not completely renovated.It was also decided that it should be accorded a more dynamic role in the life of Chiniot(Pakistan)thus the massive fund-raising drive was initiated for its conversion into a library and cultural centre. with the help from philanthropists,interested agencies and the Municipal Committee,Chiniot the conversion efforts commenced on 14 August 1990. Keeping the vision and wishes of its owner in view,the library in the Gulzar Manzil was named after Seth (Shaikh) Omar Hayat.. In Year 1997 the municipal committee refused to bear the expenses and terminated the subscription of newspapers and other reading materials. At present the palace is very much out of sorts. Its walls have developed cracks rainy water pours in. The woodwork has lost colour. Maybe, someone will still save this treasure for the sake of the people of Chinot, while it still stands?

Heera Ram Khattar haveli, near Bagh Nilab (Attock)

Here is another article on an old 'haveli' (mansion) of Attock area of North Punjab. This was built in late 1880s by Heera Ram Khattar, a prominent Hindu merchant of the area of Bagh Nilab , close to the River Indus (Sindhu).

As already discussed in earlier articles, the Khattars are an ancient indigenous tribe of Pakistan and India, who are probably either of Rajput or Jatt origins, or even Khatris, according to some people. During the time of the invasion of the Muslim Sultan Mahmud Ghazni, a large section of this tribe, under their leader or chief Khattar Raja, embraced Islam and the same chief became 'Khattar Khan' after conversion. While majority of these Khattars became Muslims henceforth, some remained either Hindus or became Sikhs later on. At different times, many of the non -Muslim Khattars shifted to other areas e.g to India (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh) and Afghanistan (Kabul, Jalalabad) and set up businesses or agricultural activities etc. Today famous Indian Khattars include CM of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, famous Indian actor Rajesh Khattar and others.

One family of such Hindu Khattars who migrated to India, were the family of late Heera Ram Khattar,  who was during the late 19th century a prominent merchant of Attock district of North Punjab (then in British India). His family had lived for centuries close to Bagh Nilab on the Indus, one of the ancient homes of the Khattar tribe, even in pre-Islamic days. Later on, this place Bagh Nilab also became famous historically as in 1221 AD, the Muslim Sultan Jalaludin of Khwarezem (a kingdom in Central Asia) escaped from some place nearby, by crossing the river Indus. He was being chased by the armies of the Mongols, led by Chengiz Khan. It is said that some local Khattars helped Jalaludin with food, hospitality etc, after his bold escape.

Anyhow, some Hindu families of Khattars went on living in this area at that time and they had a good trade in grain and food stuffs, and also supplied the British Indian Army, during the 1840s till 1930s. Perhaps, the most well-known and prosperous of  these Hindu Khattars, was late Lala Heera Ram Khattar, who died in 1902. Heera Ram developed his family business and expanded it in many fields and made a lot of wealth and , as still a middle-aged man, in late 1880s (probably between 1887 and 1890) made a small but beautiful typical style 'haveli' mansion close to his native village. From that time , till the 1930s, this 'haveli'; saw the hey-dey of this Khattar family.

Lala Heera Ram himself died in 1902 but his sons carried on the business, but in 1932, due to some reason, there was a family split and his two surviving sons, Kirpa Ram and Mangat Ram, went into litigation against each other--thus nearly bankrupting the family business. The decline began and , in 1947, when the partition of India and Pakistan occurred, the heirs of this family moved away to India. Nothing more is known about them.

Meanwhile, their fine 'haveli' was left to rack and ruin, and today, only some small features or portions of it still survive. A sad story indeed.

                                       Heera Ram Khattar circa 1880s-90s

                      The fine surviving entrance to Heera Ram haveli, today 

Barrister's House, Gurdwara Galli, Abbottabad

by Ilyas Khan

In Abbottabad town, in the hills of the North-West Frontier (KPK now) , in Pakistan, there is a famous old street called 'Gurdwara Galli' (lit Temple Street) .

In the pre-1947 days, when lots of Sikhs and Hindus used to live here, this street had a 'Gurdwara' --a Sikh temple (hence its name) -- and also a Hindu 'Arya Samaj' sect temple. In addition, it had residential houses of some prominent Sikh and Hindu residents of the town, both notable businessmen and professionals, such as lawyers, doctors and such. Unlike the majority of local Muslims, the Sikhs and Hindus of Abbottabad were well-to-do, prosperous and educated, and they tended mostly to live in urban areas.

One well-known , and still somehow surviving, house in Gurdwara Galli, is the small but quite quaint looking house that once belonged to the lawyer/barrister Madan Mohan, and which used to be called 'Barrister's House'. This house was built in the early 1930s, and was coloured a delightful azure hue.

By some miracle, this house, still coloured a nice blue, continues to survive in Abbottabad today, where most of the old houses and buildings have either been knocked down or are in the process of being knocked down, in the mad quest for 'development' i.e.  modern tasteless but commercially viable construction. Money is the local god now, for the so-called 'Muslims' of Abbottabad town. Nothing else matters.

It's only a matter of time before Barrister Madan Mohan's house also goes the way of other old houses here. It doesnt matter who lives there now, or if it is lying empty- it's on valuable commercial land in the heart of the town and that's that. So, enjoy this sight while you still can.

              View of Barrister Madan Mohan's house, Gurdwara Galli, Abbottabad. By Ilyas Khan, also shared with engineer Mehmood Aslam at 'Environmentalist' online 

Old Sindhi Havelis, Wehar, Sindh

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.