THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI; 13TH DECEMBER 1944 KISHWAR IQBAL BANO IN AMRITSAR

THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI;
13TH DECEMBER 1944 KISHWAR IQBAL BANO IN AMRITSAR

Nikah nama Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Life is a series of coincidences. The maternal (from his mother’s side) cousin of Abdur Rahman Chughtai, mainly Meraj ud din, was very concerned about his beloved cousin and friend. The marriage in 1911 with Wazeer un nisa had borne a son, who died at birth. The lady was never again in a position to conceive. Even she was lonely without children in the house and also imposed on her husband, to seek another marriage for children. Paa Maja (Meraj ud din) along with his wife were trying their best for same. A marriage proposal of a would-be bride in Amritsar, whose name was Kishwar, was under consideration. A party went to the house of this lady Kishwar, whose father used to work in the Railways. The proposal did not work out. At that reception was also present Bhou Din Muhammed, also a Railway Goods Clerk, who liked the presence of Chughtai Sahib. He asked them to pay a visit to their house, for a possible marriage, with his daughter. The visit materialized, and the wife of Bhou Din Muhammed, namely Ayesha Bibi, also liked the prospective groom, and accepted the proposal of marriage. The daughter was Kishwar Iqbal Bano, destined to be the wife of the artist, by a mere coincidence.

The marriage took place on 13TH DECEMBER, 1944. The wedding party came back to Lahore, and Meraj ud din hosted them at his house in Shahi Mohalla.  The first wife insisted that the newly wed wife be brought to the house and arrangements were made for her. From the house of Meraj ud din, Kishwar Iqbal Bano, shifted to the Chabuk Sawaran house in Lahore. Soon after the shifting was done to the newer house. A new era in the life of the artist had begun. But many were unhappy with this development, as they eyed the wealth of the artist for personal gain. And this marriage proved a threat to their ideas. But that is a separate tragic story. This marriage had brought the legacy of M.A. Rahman Chughtai to a new footing. Kishwar Iqbal Bano brought not only happiness in the life of the artist, but enhanced the legacy of the family with a next generation. Blessings of Allah be upon all who made this possible!

THE TRADITION OF CLOTH PUNKAS IN LAHORE – HUMAN LABOUR IN MOVING SAME FOR HOURS

THE TRADITION OF CLOTH PUNKAS IN LAHORE – HUMAN LABOUR IN MOVING SAME FOR HOURS

As time rolls, we completely forget the previous circumstances of life. Today for comfort we have so many facilities.  Air-conditioned rooms for summers, as well as heaters for winters. Obviously change of weather affected all of us. To find a solution for it different systems were tried by people. I remember not long ago, in Lahore city, you could still see cloth fans fixed on ceilings and moved by the ladies as well by the children of the house. It used to amuse us with electric fans in our houses. But going back these were common in the region, but in aristocratic houses. We tried to trace some images, and even found one of an old man in Lahore, who used to pull these fans. Sharing them is real fun in our times, when the amount of labour required to move them was phenomenal. 
Surely such kind of hard work cannot even be imagined in our times. So share the fun of another time in our times of affluence.

A VERY SAD DEATH OF AYMANN AL-TAHER IN JORDAN 15TH NOVEMBER 2020 – SON IN LAW OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI, EX-HUSBAND MUSSARAT CHUGHTAI

A VERY SAD DEATH OF AYMANN AL-TAHER IN JORDAN 15TH NOVEMBER 2020 – SON IN LAW OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI, EX-HUSBAND MUSSARAT CHUGHTAI

Aymann al-Taher

An emergency death of the son in law of M.A. Rahman Chughtai, and husband of his daughter, Mussarat Chughtai. A true son in soil of Pakistan, and in tradition of support of Quaid e Azam for the state of Palestine, M.A. Rahman Chughtai allowed this marriage, with the late Aymann, who was a Palestinian driven from his home in Nablus by occupation. He was the father of Saffi al-Taher and Osama al-Taher. It is easy to talk about ideals, and difficult to implement them in real life.
May the soul of Aymann rest in peace! The Blessings of Allah be upon him!

ALLAMA IQBAL’S FIRST FAMILY MISSED BY OUR JOURNALISTS – FOR REASONS UNKNOWN. AFTAB IQBAL INTELLECTUAL SON.

ALLAMA IQBAL’S FIRST FAMILY MISSED BY OUR JOURNALISTS – FOR REASONS UNKNOWN. AFTAB IQBAL INTELLECTUAL SON.

Aftab Iqbal and wife Rashida Begum

A couple of days back, an unknown Sabahat Khan asked me for identifying the photograph of Aftab Iqbal. I had written about this family back in 2006 on Facebook, instead of my usual blog. So, I thought the best thing would be to clarify things again. Obviously, there are many family members, but they miss the media hype generated by others in same family. M.A. Rahman Chughtai had great respect for Aftab Iqbal and shared with him his publication, Amal e Chughtai. It is a decent family and deserves love and respect of the people. There was tension between Allama Iqbal and his son Aftab Iqbal, and Aftab Iqbal with great love for his mother Kareem Bibi, protested the next marriage of Allama Iqbal. But that does not mean anything more than a personal family issue. Marriages were a routine in those times. No harm was done anywhere. In their own way, both father and son, were right.

YES, HALAKU KHAN INDEED DECIMATED A PUTRID STATE OF ISLAM – AND HOW PURE ISLAM CONQUERED SAME FAMILY OF MONGOLS: CONQUESTS AND CONVERSIONS THE NEW DIALOGUE OF HISTORY

YES, HALAKU KHAN INDEED DECIMATED A PUTRID STATE OF ISLAM – AND HOW PURE ISLAM CONQUERED SAME FAMILY OF MONGOLS: CONQUESTS AND CONVERSIONS THE NEW DIALOGUE OF HISTORY

Battle of Baghdad

Islamic history is full of contradictions. It is clear from this that history of Islamic civilization is distorted in many ways. Various historians at work so that the truth never comes to light. The main reason was that the last days of the city of Baghdad tells us clearly that the wholeness of Islam was put to test by rancid sectarianism. It is clear from the famous legend that when Halaku Khan with his army was outside the city of Baghdad, there was heated discussion going on in mosques by the Maulvis of that time, whether the word Ameen should be uttered in loud manner or in a slow whisper. Understand the confusion in the minds of that putrid state of Islamic capital. The Caliph was encroached in administration by sects not happy with an important factual record.

The whole record of the Government in previous hands, from the Prophet (PBUH) himself, to the first and later Caliphs was there in black and white. Literally miles of record keeping under sacred hands and clearly going contra to the various Hadees manufactured otherwise. Halaku Kham would not have even an idea of this but the ministers of the Caliph, as well as the advisers of Halaku Khan were in cahoots with each other. To retard Islam’s progress, there was a need to put this record on fire. And it was done most ruthlessly. It was not the library which was the target, for there is record of manuscripts discovered, which were there in the library itself. Even some manuscripts were discovered floating in water. The famous astronomer Nasiruddin Tusi was part of the set-up. People still hesitate talking of this important aspect.
It is proverbial how the Caliph was wrapped in a carpet and crushed under the hoof of the horses of the Mongols. But then the strangest thing happened. The ferocious Mongols soon saw the spirituality of Islam and within a few decades many of them had embraced Islam. One civilization crushed under hoofs, and another civilization born, to spread Islam all over the world. But that is another story.

A FOREIGNER GERTRUDE BELL’S TRAVEL DIARIES IN LAHORE 1905 – PASSING REFERENCE TO PERCY BROWN OF MAYO SCHOOL OF ARTS

A FOREIGNER GERTRUDE BELL’S TRAVEL DIARIES IN LAHORE 1905 – PASSING REFERENCE TO PERCY BROWN OF MAYO SCHOOL OF ARTS

Dr Percy Brown

A reference dated 28th January, 1903, of Gertrude Bell, with reference to Percy Brown, of Lahore. First read the original note, near Wazeerabad.

Diary dated 28th January, 1903.
Wed 28. [28 January 1903] We were separated, I in a carriage to myself. Chota Hazri at Wazirabad where I fed the crows and kites on my toast. H [Hugo]’s travelling companion was Percy Brown of Lahore. He fished me out at 9 to come and talk to him. A keen intelligent young man with no hs. He has been away for a year travelling over India for the Durbar Exhibits. He says the Burman is the finest artist, but like an artist he works when he pleases. The Sikh is a good man but a bit thick headed. The best they get in the N is the Muhammadan like Sher Muhammad. He seems most anxious to follow in L. Kipling’s steps and his object is to turn out men like his. They get more boys now, he doesn’t pay much attention to the lowest class, but when they get into the second he begins to keep his eye on them. He discourages non attendance and turns out all but the regular boys.

Percy-Brown-and-his-artists

A first-hand report by a travelling lady in a carriage near Wazeerabad, where she met Percy Brown of Lahore, and heard his comments about the famous Master Sher Muhammed of Mayo School of Arts, who later became the Vice Principal of the school. This kind of first hand reports are rare in art literature. This report is rare too:

AN URDU MAGAZINE OF LAHORE CITY PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHS – LAHORI IMAGES RECOVERED FROM FADED OLD LITHO BLOCKS

AN URDU MAGAZINE OF LAHORE CITY PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHS – LAHORI IMAGES RECOVERED FROM FADED OLD LITHO BLOCKS

An Urdu magazine on medicine printed by a Chughtai family of Lahore of Gujar Gali, with remedy treatments for different diseases and discourses on varied subject. Block printing at that time but not that common. Plates of personalities printed in magazine discarded to the rubbish dump. We used to see one such old press on Aibak road known as Patanga Press. It is probably still there under new machinery. But printing came in vogue long time back. But Photo-lithography was rarer than that.

This family of Hakeems traditionally known as Bindri-gars were actually descendant of the Kabul group of Qazi Lutufullah who came to Lahore in Mughal times. The famous Gumti group of painters belonged to this family and thy were related to M.A. Rahman Chughtai by marriage. Even his eldest brother Muhammed Hussain was married into the same family. Girls from this family were traditionally considered absolutely beautiful and had the ‘maina’ eyes, which were extremely seductive to boys and men of those times. Budding Casanovas passed the street in hope of catching a glimpse of them. Perhaps some of the photographs are of that family.
Files of the magazine preserved were later sold to second hand book sellers. A legacy lost in time.

THE EMERGENCE OF THE DOUBLE DOME IN INDO-PAKISTANI REGION – BULBOUS DOME VERY DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS SULTANATE DOMES

THE EMERGENCE OF THE DOUBLE DOME IN INDO-PAKISTANI REGION – BULBOUS DOME VERY DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS SULTANATE DOMES

Mazar Pirzada Mahim Haryana

A certain kind of dome on Mughal building is evident from the architecture of those who built same. Some of the domes which come in mind are related to the Taj Mahal of Agra, Mausoleum of Rabia Durrani in Aurangabad, Mausoleum of Asif Khan in Lahore, as well as the Badshahi Mosque of Lahore. A study of these domes show that these domes are generated by the same family of Ustad Ahmad Mimar Lahori. But these are all later dated. If we try to go back to the origin of all of them, we come to the Pirzada Masjid, in Haryana, India. And here is the first bulbous dome of the region. And who made it, it is no other than Ustad Yusuf Mimar, who came to this region with Emperor Babar.

Aerial view Mazar Pirzada

Very few creations of Babar are known in this region, and the Babari Masjid has become controversial under the hands of extremist Hindus. But there is another Babari Masjid in Haryana, Punjab, and rather unknown by most. It is not even a protected monument, although two inscriptions found on it, record it as having been made in 1529. Milk sellers surround the place, with their cattle (cows and buffaloes), bent upon bringing it down, and occupying the place. Not only they are in a qabza frenzy, they have made walls, and literally destroyed the inscriptions. If it was not for Professor S.R. PHOGAT, who recorded same, everything would have been lost. One of the inscriptions is recorded in the professor’s book on Haryana. The other seem totally lost. Let us first study the one saved:

“In the time of the reign of his Majesty the king of kings, the refuge of the world Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar. “Ghazi Badshah-may God perpetuate his kingdom and his reign!

The slave of the court of the Sun,

“The humble, base Janyu Sunu Agha, son of Shaikh Sunu, an inhabitant of the town of the joy, (Hisar)

“Through the grace of God Almighty found grace to build the mosque of the town of Mahim-May God Almighty, “Make him accepted and favoured through His kindness and His wisdom-
On the fifth Rabi’al awal 936, (7th November 1529].”

Strangely although the other is lost, it is remembered and written by most people, as having the name of Sheikh Yusuf of Hisar as the builder of the mosque. Hisar-e-Firoza is the name of the Fort of the Tughlaq period. Now who is Janyu Sunu Agha. Agha is a title given by Turks to their Military and Civil Officers, so here we have a link to Turkey. Turkish historians record two architects who were students of Ustad Sinan of Turkey, and it seems with Babar here in 1529, these two are linked to the same. And who was Sheikh Yusuf of Hisar? Simply Yusuf, the fugitive architect, who was trying to find patrons in this region. Ended up in Lahore and getting married here. He begotted a son here, who he named Ahmad. Not knowing that this child would make waves in this region, by becoming Ustad Ahmad Mimar Lahori, the architect of the Taj Mahal of Agra.

Now the shape of the domes can be better understood. Bulbous domes the specialty of the Mimar family of Lahore. This was the new addition to the architecture in the region. Starting from a square base, the same evolved into octagonal settings. Innovation part of any evolution. Lutufullah Ahmad Muhandis in an exercise in his famous book Khulasat ul Hisab, gives the fundamentals of making a bulbous dome in architecture. Well done family!