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review On a
forgotten Highway
Glimpses
into Islamabad's Soul By Fiona Torrens-Spence In the past travel writers have been dismissive of Islamabad, passing it off as 'sterile' and 'dull'; somewhere to be got through before visiting the real Pakistan. And the local joke 'Islamabad, twenty minutes from Pakistan' also belittles the country's capital city by implying it is essentially foreign to the rest of Pakistan; a soulless, high rise city full of diplomats and other feather bedded foreigners. As Fauzia Minallah writes,
Islamabad and its surrounding villages have both a soul and an immensely long
and fascinating story. It is sometimes hard to locate historic sites and
harder still to find I would recommend any visitor to Islamabad to invest in a copy of her book, particularly if they will be living in Islamabad for long enough to get out and about and explore. The book has the best map of Islamabad and surrounding areas which I have yet seen. The map explains the city's grid system and how it extends beyond the currently developed areas and shows the location of the places she describes in such a way that it would be comparatively easy to find them on one's own. (Maps of the surrounding areas of Islamabad were non-existent when we lived in Islamabad which filled me with sadness as I am a very visual person.) Her book also has a very good timeline which puts the sites she describes into a historical framework. Fauzia Minallah's book has beautiful photos of Islamabad and reproductions of the paintings of the well-known Islamabad artist, Gulam Rasul illustrating the exceptional beauty of "the garden city" and its surrounding villages. The photography and arrangement of the art work is a tribute to Fauzia Minallah, who is a well known artist in her own right successfully exhibiting throughout Pakistan and Europe. The book is more than a
tourist guide, a coffee table book or a nice memento of a stay in These "show pieces" are designed to appeal to V.I.P visitors but I think the visitors would much prefer to see authentic historical sites which are well maintained. Food street in Lahore was a great success because it highlighted history and preserved a collection of fascinating historic buildings which might otherwise have been demolished, but some of the plans for 'prettifying' Islamabad are extremely destructive of irreplaceable heritage sites. Fauzia Minallah maintains that it would be more worthwhile to maintain and explain historic areas of Islamabad and incorporate them into development by placing them in strategically placed parks than to bulldoze priceless and fragile examples of ancient architecture. Fauzia Minallah has filled in an enormous gap by producing her book. She has not only produced very interesting and well researched descriptions of historic places around Islamabad but has identified artisans who are producing ceramic ware in Saidpur village in a way which has probably not changed greatly since the days of Alexander or earlier. She gives a particularly
good stage by stage description of how a traditional wedding gharoli (water
container) is produced and concludes that presently potters have given up
making these unique Besides looking at issues
of heritage, and traditional craftsmen, Fauzia Minallah is concerned with
protection of the environment and preservation of some of the ancient banyan
and pipal trees which provided the "the tree of life" carpet motif.
Sadly, some of these trees which have been providing people with welcome
shade for over 1,000 years, have been wantonly vandalised by young people.
Others have not been given sufficient space to grow properly. As an artist
myself I Fauzia gently points out the sadness of excluding poor people from public parks in the city centre, particularly as they have no other space in which to relax and (if they are children) play. I lent Fauzia Minallah's book to my mother who was born and reared in Rawalpindi before Islamabad was built. She visited me, when I lived in Islamabad, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience as it bought back many childhood memories. She enjoyed the book as much as I did and commented that the only thing that is missing from this book are the smells!! Fauzia Minallah should brings out a pocket edition of the book in paperback for those who want to visit the places she describes. She could leave out some of the beautiful photos and artwork if necessary. Most importantly, all the members of the C.D.A should read Fauzia Minallah's book.
Lodhi Mosque of Begumkot is a fine example of 15th century architecture and a priceless reminder of the forgotten greatness of Eminabad By Salman Rashid After annexing the entire
subcontinent, the planners of the Raj laid out the new alignment of the From Lahore en route to Wazirabad (Gujranwala did not exist then) the road swung past a town called Saidpur. Under the Lodhi kings (1451-1525), and certainly even earlier, this was a rather prosperous way station with a good inn or two handling a substantial volume of transiting traffic. This was that same town that came to be called Shergarh after Sher Shah Suri ousted the spineless Humayun and eventually Eminabad after a nobleman of Akbar's court. My theory that this was a busy staging point receives credence from William Finch, that peripatetic English merchant who spent three years travelling about India between 1608 and 1611. He writes that on the way from Lahore to 'Raulpendee' one stops at the serai of 'Eminbade.' Finch being a merchant and not a geographer or travel writer mentions nothing more of his Eminbade, nor indeed does any other traveller of that period. British road-builders
shifted the Grand Trunk Road some eight kilometres to the south of Eminabad.
With that, and also because of the laying of the railway line, the rice trade
that once enriched the town, moved to the new market of Kamonke. From a busy
market junction and way station, Smack by a huge pond that measures about two hundred metres square and reflecting in its placid blue waters is a brick building with a squat dome. Famous as the Lodhi Mosque of Begumkot, it is a fine example of 15th century architecture. Because the last twenty-five years of Lodhi rule were troubled by the growing threat of the looming presence of Babur, the mosque was obviously built in the earlier and more prosperous years that the Lodhis had seen. I would therefore assign it the period of the 1470s. This would make this among the oldest surviving mosques in Pakistan. Archaeologists would tell us lay-people that they see evidence of Jehangir period work around the pond, particularly in the ramps leading to the water. But I am certain that this pond was here long before the mosque was built, because across the rutted road there is another pond with some obvious Hindu features. Emperor Jehangir may have ordered some renovation work. When I first saw it back in 1991, it was in a state of neglect with collapsing arches and a large irregular tear in its dome. But the interior of the dome still preserved some very interesting cut-brick corbelling, pendentive and squinches. The bricks were bare and the plaster or whatever frescoes that would have lent colour to the interior were all gone. Shortly after that the Department of Archaeology bolstered up the more badly damaged arch which kept the structure from collapsing. But not equipped to repair the intricate corbelling of the dome, the Department thankfully left that part alone. Facing the facade of the mosque is a walled in compound. Unkempt and thickly overgrown, the compound contains two graves. One of these is said to have been the wife of Ahmad Beg Khan, a Moghul who was passing by this way when his wife took ill and passed away. It is after this unknown Begum that this little suburb of Eminabad has been known as Begumkot. As for the Khan himself, he served emperor Jehangir as governor in Kabul as well as Kashmir. At one point he fell out of favour and was confined for a short while in the fort of Ranthambore. Released again, he was sent back to Kashmir when he promised to conquer for the crown Tibet and Kishtwar within two years. He failed to keep the timetable and was once again unceremoniously removed from office. In the summer of 1618, shortly after this disgrace he died. Referring to his death the Tuzk e Jehangiri refers to him as the governor of Kashmir, an office he had already relinquished to Dilawar Khan Kakar. This was perhaps the king's way of acknowledging the past services of the man. We do not know where Ahmad Khan's death occurred. But certainly during his tenure in Kabul and again in Kashmir he would have several times sojourned at the halting place of Eminabad and there might be some truth in the death and burial of his wife in front of the Lodhi Mosque. Over the years I have returned to Begumkot several times, the last time being about eight years ago. From a derelict hulk, the mosque has moved on to become, once again, a place of worship, but the compound of the Begum's tomb remains as unkempt as ever. The tank has never been devoid of water for, as a local elder told me, it is deeper "than three men standing one upon the other's shoulders." The setting with the ruins, the picturesque pond and the lovely acacia and shisham trees makes for a perfect picnic. But I have never seen anyone there -- not even the young men of Eminabad. Strangely enough, the importance of the monument is also not generally recognised. I wonder how long before Eminabad also falls into the maelstrom of 'development' and some sharks find the historical pond a waste of real estate. Then, even before students of architecture and history can avail the opportunity of appreciating it, the Lodhi Mosque and the Begum's enclosure will be gone.
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information about them so I wish that I had been able to read Fauzia
Minallah's book before living in Islamabad as I know I have seen many sites
around Islamabad, such as the prehistoric shelter which can be seen from the
Kashmir Highway, and entirely missed the story behind them.
Islamabad but not without a message for the reader: many sites and
traditional crafts are now under threat as a result of the speedy development
of the capital. She is particularly concerned about lavish plans for Bari
Imam and for Saidpur which will destroy genuine history and put American
style Disney theme parks in its place.
and beautiful wedding gifts as people are unwilling to pay even Rs15 for
them. The elderly potters struggle to make a living and have no younger
potters who are willing to learn the art. It might be worth trying to
organise apprenticeship grants for young potters from Lok Virsa, or
encouraging art students to spend a semester studying traditional pottery
production before the skills disappear. The potters are national treasures in
themselves who should be cherished and helped. However, it would seem their
traditional workshops are now under threat as they may be 'demolished' as
part of the C.D.A programme for improving Saidpur.
share Fauzia's sadness at the loss of these trees which are literally
irreplaceable, especially in the short run. They too are part of Pakistan's
rich heritage. Her photograph of a group of boys climbing an old banyan tree
and clearly having a lot of fun is particularly attractive.
Grand Trunk Road that ran from Bengal to the Khyber Pass and beyond. Strictly
speaking, it was hardly a 'new alignment' because it generally followed the
old road. But every here and there, because of problems of widening and
suitability for wheeled traffic, it had to be shifted to this side or that of
the ancient highway of which we first hear three centuries before the birth
of Christ.
Eminabad virtually overnight became a neglected little town in the
countryside of the newly established Gujranwala district. All that recalls
its past splendour are a couple of glorious havelis -- one of which is some
three hundred years old. But a few kilometres to the east of town in the
locality known as Begumkot there is one priceless reminder of the forgotten
greatness of Eminabad.