PRINCE KAMRAN LAHORI
THE FIRST SEEDS OF REBELLION

Kingship over-ruled brotherly love

All Lahore is familiar with the baradari of Kamran. Few may know about Kamran, but the baradari, right in the flow of river Ravi itself, attracts attention all the time. It has seen many vicissitudes within its lifetime. It is perhaps the earliest Mughal monument extant in Lahore, even in the region itself. It was once part of the palace garden of Prince Kamran, son of Emperor Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire. Considered as a sore on the eyes of some previous governments, many times ideas were made to remove it completely, and perhaps replace with a Japanese Garden for Lahore. I myself wrote to UNESCO, when its destruction was planned, and they stepped in to save it. The correspondence is on record here. Even the British cared little for it. It was a toll booth for a long time, as shown in old maps. The Sikhs had destroyed countless monuments near it, including the Garden of Mah-Afroze, wife of Prince Kamran. Its name still lingers near the Badami Bagh Lahore.

Prince Kamran was Governor of Lahore, and coins are found issued in his name, as the self-proclaimed Emperor too. Countless time Emperor Humayoun forgave him (for he loved his brother), but somehow or the other, the seed of rebellion was too much in him, and he stabbed Humayoun in the back, to many times. The Courtiers were adamant, be a brother, or be a King, the choice is simple. On Royal orders, to Sayyid Muhammed (given near Fort of Rohtas), Prince Kamran was BLINDED. Kamran bore the torture in a manly manner, but could not bear the weight of the man, who was pressing him down by the knees. Ultimately the blind Prince Kamran became a pilgrim, and went on a Haj to Mecca. He died in Mecca four years later, begging forgiveness from Allah for his actions in life.

Not much of Prince Kamran survives. A baradari, a few coins, hardly anything else. The most unique survival of the Prince is his personal DIWAN of poems. The only extant copy is in the Khuda Baksh Library Patna, and strangely it is a Royal copy, calligraphed by Mahmud son of Ishaq Shihabi of Herat. It was read by a row of Emperors, and endorsed by them. It was in the possession of Nur Jahan Lahori too. From the poems, we see inside the sensitivities of a Prince long gone, and realize, that given the chance, he too, could have been the ancestor of many other Mughal Kings. But that never happened. Prince Kamran is not alive due to his politics, but his literary skills as a poet.

CHRISTIANITY COMES TO LAHORE
MISSIONARY ZEALS TURN ZERO

The story of George Maxwell Gordon

Sir John Login was entrusted with the conversion of so called Maharajah Dallip Singh, a lost small boy, trying to recover his identity. Obviously a relation was crafted with the Queen of England, and the young Sikh boy embraced Christianity in Lahore. We have already talked about this in a previous blog. Now the missionary zeal was to convert all Lahore to Christianity. The Reverend T.V. French came here with a mission as other priests were there. The most famous is the missionary zeal of George Maxwell Gordon (1839-1880). Nothing wrong with that, but the saying stands, ‘You can take a horse to a trough of water, but you cannot force him to drink’.

Missionary Gordon’s own letters tell us a lot of things. For instance:

“Just think of a journey of 350 miles, from one end of England to the other, and only two Christians”.

He expressed difficulty in coping with ‘a race so naturally suspicious and alien, as the Hindus and the Mussulmans’, and was not content with sitting in the Church. He proposed bazaar propagation, so they hired a place as a chapel in Lahore, put chairs in front of it and invited people to listen to their sermons The experience, again, is told by him:

“One of the most curious features of the bazar preaching in Lahore is, that it has aroused opposition preaching on the part of the Hindus, Brahmans and the Mussulmans alike. It was commenced by the latter, and for weeks Mr French was annoyed by a Wahabi who took his stand at a particular place in the bazar, close to the little chapel, which we have built conjointly with the Americans. In front of this little chapel it is the custom of the missionaries to arrange benches for those who like to listen, and generally there has been a good attendance. Of course the preaching is not confined to this place, but as it was one much frequented, the Wahabi chose it as his point of attack, and often succeeded in drawing away all Mr French’s audience. By and by, a Hindu, ambitious of having his own voice heard, started a preaching on the opposite side, and attracted a large congregation. Then a Brahman followed , and the missionary of the Gospel was between these fires. Now (strangest of all) the Mussulman, Hindu and Brahman have made a joint-stock company, and they all preach from the same platform to the same audience.”

The real fact is that these missionaries were dedicated and believed in their mission, but the conversion of the local families became impossible for them, and in the end, all they could convert was the poorest rung of the ladder, and that all with promises of rewards of materialistic kind, as well as opportunities to develop.

An interesting story is there about the first Church built in Lahore in Akbar’s time. There is even a separate book on same. A report of Agra is there of a dozen people embracing Christianity. And then we hear the complaint of the Chaplain, that by the summer vacations, all had left, and there was not a single person left as a result of conversion. The same story seems to be repeated in Lahore. Muhammed Salih seems to be the exception. Chaplain Abdul Masih made history as a chaplain.

Everyone has a right to propagate their views and the missionaries were welcome to them. God bless them for their dedication! But how many Lahorites they converted, we do not know, but we can surely guess! The result is the composition of Lahore today in itself.

PATHAN GANGS IN LAHORE IN 1907
STEALING GUNS IN BROAD DAY LIGHT

Strange criminal behaviour of thieves

Sir Henry Craik , who later became Governor General of Punjab, wrote impressions of Lahore in 1908. I find some of these impressions most bizarre. Here we note Craik’s observation of gun thefts in Lahore. He says:

“One official will tell you of the strange devices of the Pathans in search of firearms, which it is his business to detect. They have to be tracked across the jungle; and in little groups of five or six, meeting at some distant point during the night, and by day wandering singly about the towns disguised as pedlars, they pass far south of Lahore after this on quest– the impounding of guns, which fetch about pounds 100 apiece in their own country. Their boldness is marvelous. They have been known to enter an English barracks in the quiet of the early afternoon, when Tommy Atkins is resting after dinner, and to carry out stand of arms without detection.”

And how they do it:

Feigning the carrying of dead relative back to their country, they loaded a coffin on a railway train. The respected officer suspected their motives and got the coffin opened at the Railway Station and found out that there was a dead dog in it, long with goodly store of rifles. Great care is being taken by the authorities to curb the crime of various criminal gangs operating in the city.

The obsession of arms and ammunition with our brethren the Pathans is recognized from ages. A Pathan is not complete without a gun. Men of war, they have to get their hands on such a source, as to enrich themselves with fighting power. The British, the Russians and even the Americans came face to face wit the dilemma of modern age. But the Pathan is not living in this age at all, it seems. Centuries have not made as difference in their love and use of guns. That is why when the British outlawed gun manufacture of Lahore, the Lahori bandook sazs migrated to the border areas and resumed their business there. Lahore served their brethren Pathans in more ways than one.