Category: Monuments & Places

A historic enclosure at Pilibhit

As we are celebrating the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of Gandhi Ji, this small square has an interesting connection with him.

Gateway of the park pic by Rehan Asad

Story of the neglected Ram Swarup park

Pic & Text |Rehan Asad

Located in the middle of the city, an old park without any plaques has an interesting story of its past. The gateway of a historic Ramswarup park got a recent facelift by a compromised municipal budget in a small city of Western Uttarpradesh (Pilibhit).  With few of the old remnants visible on the flank, almost the major portion of it has vanished with time. You will find traditional ear cleaners with red turbans wrapped on their imitating nineteenth-century occupational paintings left by the company painters. A small stall for exchanging torn currency & a man sitting for the repair of bygone days watch. This is the sight one can find in the front of Ram Swarup park located close to the ruined 19th-century colonial gateways build by British magistrate Drummond. Little is known about the exact date when this park was built. However it’s crumbled left kiosk with a cupola, the only left lakhori bricks structure in the historic square seems to be at least more than a century old. One could imagine its beauty when the nineteenth-century commercial enclave was adored by four beautiful gateways, & the square was nicely planned in the proximity of Northern & eastern gateways of Drummondganj.

The only remnant of old construction pic by Rehan Asad
Ram Swarup Park, July 2019, by Rehan Asad
Ram Swarup Park, July 2018 by Rehan Asad

It seems to be an extension of Drummondsganj. As we are celebrating the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of Gandhi Ji, this small square has an interesting connection with him. With a launch of famous non- cooperation movement Gandhi Ji took a tour to the small cities of United Provinces. On 31st December 1921, he visited Pilibhit after completing his tour to Shahjahanpur. He made several meetings with both Hindu & Muslim revolutionaries. The congress committees were formed even in the remotest corners of the district. It was here at this park, the father of the nation gave a speech to the audiences. From here he moved to neighboring district Lakhimpur. According to the district Gazette (1960), the visit made a huge impact & large number of British goods & clothes were boycotted. Along with the town, the village Sardarnagar (Amaria) & village Khamaria (Bisalpur) tahsil also witnessed active participation. Many of the youngsters from the district were arrested & jailed. Among them, my great grandfather, Sheikh Aminuddin & his cousin Sheikh Zakiuddin from village Khamaria were also arrested & put in district jail. Later on, they were shifted to District Jail of Lakhimpur for the next six months. The square of the historic park was surrounded by narrow lanes on its southern & eastern boundaries with old shops. Eighty eight-year-old Urdu writer & social worker Mr. Shams Jilani, a resident of Richmond City, Canada who was born (1931) at Pilibhit recalled that the square was known as Simons park in those days. Most of the shops were owned by the Punjabi Muslaman community. Still, the alley is filled with roadside hand-dyeing outlets, printing press & few old cloth stores running from generations.

Alley of Ram Swarup Park Pic by Rehan Asad

Another elderly resident of the city Ali Nazar Khan alias Abba Ji told: “I was seventeen years old when we were blessed with the gift of independence on eve of 15th 1947. I was among one of those who were engaged by municipal board to write on the gateway of the park “Yaume Azadi, with its date & year in Urdu script. The park was renamed after one revolutionary who laid his life in independence struggle as Ram Swarup Park”.

Portrait of Mr. Ali Nazar Khan, Pic by Rehan Asad

Slowly with the time, the boundary wall & gateway of the park crumbled. The enclosure left strayed for a long time. Till the last year, it was filled by the filthy waste material even though the new boundary walls & gateway has been erected. Fortunately this year some clearing of the waste took place even though the ground appears deserted. All the old plaques, construction dates have been lost in the ruins of the old buildings. Close to it, even the remnants of the Drumondsganj Northern gateway seem to be disappeared with time. The rest vanishes in history except the few heritage lovers & aged chroniclers were aware of the stories of its lost time.

Ram Swarup Park, July 2018, pic by Rehan Asad

Masjid Sheikh Kabir, a lesser known 18th century mosque at Pilibhit

Background: Masjid Sheikh Kabir is one of the foremost among the undocumented remnants of 18th-century Ruhela monuments at Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh. It seems to be one of the earliest constructed mosques of Ruhela settlement at Pilibhit. Prof. Iqbal Hussian cited Kabirpur in district Bareilly as the settlement named after the prominent Ruhela officer of Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan, Sheikh Kabir who rose to higher ranks in time of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. Syed Altaf Ali Barelivi, a 1931 history graduate from Aligarh Muslim University wrote in a Biographical account of Hafiz Rahmat Khan titled “Hayate Hafiz” that Sheikh Kabir was among the earliest friend of Hafiz Rahmat Khan and accompanied with him from Tor Shahmatpur to Rohilkhand on the invitation of Ali Muhammad Khan in 1739. The Pashtun history expert https://twitter.com/Pashz7  told me that Tor Shahmatpur is now the part of Mardan District in North West Frontier of Pakistan.  A small locality in Pilibhit city Kabir Ganj was also named after Sheikh Kabir.

The roof of the verandah has been replaced in modern times, & part of it was renovated by Sheikh Wasi Ahmad Alias Muhadith Surti during late 19th century| Rehan Asad

Description of Mosque: In Pilibhit as common with other Pashtun settlements in North India, each of the chief ( Sardar) has a mosque after his own. I was not able to find the exact date of its construction but it was constructed somewhere in between 1740 to 1750 as it predates from the construction of the Grand Jama Masjid in 1769. This mosque was built by Sheikh Kabir who was among one of the leading Ruhela Sardar during the time of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. Its located approximately one kilometer east of the Jama Masjid with its main gate located on the court road. The current name of the mosque derives due to the presence of the Bel (Wood Apple) trees present in the orchard of old graveyard lying on the eastern and southern flank of the mosque. With few modifications added in the later days, the main body of the mosque retained its old structure. Located on the plinth, the main section of the mosque is accessed by the ten steps from the northern gate. The old vaulted roof of the verandah seems to replaced during modern renovation. Five arched facades leads to the inner section of the mosque. The inner section still retains its vaulted roof, the arched facade for the entrance, mihrab & taakhs on the wall. Traditional lime mortar (Surkhi Chuna) has been used as the cementing substance for connecting  Lakhori/Kakiya (small) bricks.

The central arched entrance to the inner section of mosque| Rehan Asad
Mehrab of the mosque in inner section/Rehan Asad

All the three ends were surrounded by the gardens that have been replaced by thick human settlements by the centuries except the eastern end. The main entrance that might be added later on is now located on the Northern side of the structure. Built on the pattern of the late 18th century mosque on first floor, the Northern wall gave space to the couple of shops. The verandah open in the courtyard and this section has been replaced by the later stage renovations. It was in 1871, one of the notable students of Mufti Muhammad Masood Muhadith Dehalvi of Fatehpuri Masjid, Sheikh Maulana Wasi Ahmad alias Muhadith Surati opened a school of Hadith in the premises and extensions of Sheikh Kabir mosque. Sheikh Wasi Ahmad was buried outside the prayer section in the premises of the mosque in 1913 after his death. It was from here the second name of the mosque derived as Muhadith Sahab Ki Masjid. Interestingly while I was exploring for the mosque, I came to know that great Urdu legend Ale Ahmad Suroor offered his Friday prayers during his childhood days with his father Maulvi Karam Ahmad in this mosque when he was deputed at Pilibhit during Colonial days as a postmaster. During 1974, this was narrated by the legendary poet to my father when he got a chance to meet him at the home of Prof. Ansarullah Nazar Sahab at Aligarh. The crossroad near the mosque also derived the name Belon Wala Chauraha from the nearby Bel (Wood Apple) trees standing in the graveyard of Sheikh Kabir Mosque.

One of the few Wood apple trees left in graveyard close to the mosque/Rehan Asad
Multiple shops were opened in the southern wall of the mosque| Rehan Asad

The local community is not aware of more than two and half centuries old mosque carries many layers of the historical timeline with it. The cupola shaped merlons sandwiched in between the parapet shaped design on the walls of the mosque are some of the remnants from its old construction. More popular as Belon Wali Masjid, except the old generation, hardly people could recall it as Masjid Sheikh Kabir.

India & the World: A history of nine stories

A walk with Neel Dogra organized by INTACH

On 24th June 2018, I got an opportunity to attend the walk at National Museum with the walk leader Neel Kamal Dogra. It was a tour of the exhibition displayed at National Museum for a month with a title “India & the World: A History in Nine Stories”. Its a joint effort of National museum, Chatrpati Shivaji Museum, and British museum to display the rare artifacts from different parts of the globe with pieces of Indian history to find the evolving connection of human races from diverse civilization down in the timeline from ancient to the modern age. Other than these three museums, artifacts were also provided by many other museum & private collections.

Two hammers, first one from India (50,000 BC), the second one from UK British Museum (500,000 BC).

The National Museum, New Delhi was chosen as a tribute to seventy years of Indian Independence with an aim of showing audiences, how the human civilizations exchanged culture, art, and sprtituality in a journey of the historical timeline. It was a two-month exhibition that ended on 30th June 2018. Neel was leading the seventh walk when I joined the tour on 24th June.

A statue of women from Mesopotamia dated from 2400 BC

The walk started with the first theme “Shared beginning” that displayed the handmade axes of Quartzite, one from India & other from Tanzania dated (1.7 thousand to 1.7 Million years). Moving from pottery, then portraits of monarchs, tablets showing the evolution of written languages, religion (Picturing the divine), maritime trade and finally ending at struggle against colonial occupation & independence.

One of the oldest pot from Britain dated back to 4000 BC from Continental Europe. Brought from the British Museum

A portrait of Cemi (Taino God) from Jamaica dated back to 1451 AD. Source: British Museum

It also includes the rare Mughal paintings, totemic statues of Tanio God from the Carribean, Astrolabe & seventeenth-century Celestial sphere made by Ziauddin Mohammad in Mughal era.

A celestial globe made of brass from Paris, France dated back to 1659 AD. Source: British Museum

Within one & half hour, Neel gave a contextual orientation to the walk members of artifacts (1.7 Million years old up to Modern era) passing through every theme. Though the space at some themes was cramped and the group size was large but he managed to walk the talk as an experienced walk leader. Walking through the unique gallery that displayed around two hundred rare artifacts of history showed the collaborative growth of different civilizations around the globe. It also provided a clear picture that none of them is superior over other. More or less, in the same chronological stage, the similar developments took place in different parts of the world with some unique advancement in each of them from the formation of handmade axes up to the freedom from Colonial occupation.

 

After the walk, Neel offered a tea at the canteen located in the basement of National Museum. Designed in the old style with the paper tokens at the counter, it gave a nostalgic reminder of my bygone student days at Aligarh Muslim University where many canteens had the almost similar style of arrangement & coupons on cash counter.

Neel Dogra at National Museum canteen

Neel, an art and culture enthusiast who was previously a bank manager by profession. His love for theatre, art & culture compelled him to leave the job. Now he dedicated himself to conducting theatre plays and leading heritage walks. His webpage and facebook “Herithart” documented many events and play conducted under his supervision.