SEVEN THOROUGH BRED HORSES
ANCESTORS OF ALL ARAB HORSES IN PAKISTAN

A ship wreck in Rann of Kutch

The Hindu epic Mahabharata talks of the sacrificial HORSE in Bhadeswar, known as Bhadervati, and that is certainly an ages old reference. The legend continues that all thoroughbred horses of India and Pakistan belonged to this dry sandy area of Rann of Kutch. And it was called Kachacha at that time. And this news is not exclusive, it remained the folk lore of all ages.

The legend has it that an Arab Ship got wrecked on the coast of Ran of Kutch (Wars were fought here in modern times too). There were seven thorough bred horses on board. These ere rescued and from it, mating done with others. The result a lineage of thoroughbred Arab horses sprung into the region. Abu-Fazl at the Court of Emperor Akbar could relate this tale, and the details of it. It means that centuries later the legend was still intact. Other historians have talked of the same too.

Historians think that the ship wrecked on Rann of Kutch was a Shimali ship, or a ship of Ismaelis. That may or may not be the case, but the Shimalis were happily co-existing with the Jains and Hindus of that period much later in time. So the horses could have belonged to the Ismaelis. It may or may no be so! But here is one other aspect worth considering. The Ismaelis have always been in love with horses. The sacrifical horse mentioned in the Mahabharata and the horse used in the Shia rituals of mourning are already history, but there is more. The esteemed Agha Khan has always been a lover of horses and horse racing is literally in the blood of generations of Agha Khans. You see the Agha Khan horses racing in international events and winning races. In 1938 the famous horse SULTAN of Agha Khan was a Derby winner in England. So horses and Ismaelis are really hand in hand with each other.

Obviously the region was invaded by various parties over a long period of time. They brought in their horses and various breeds, inter-bed and resulted in the horses we see today. The Mule itself is an experiment of horse breeding of the region.

In Lahore we find the horse as a motif used by various potters over the centuries and various figurines of horses have been discovered with time. The figurines itself are a novel way of studying horses of Lahore, and a separate blog can be written about them. The aesthetics of horse design shows the technicality of horse breeding itself. It is interesting that M.A. Rahman Chughtai always lived from centuries in the Mohalla of Chabuk Sawaran in Lahore city, and by chabuk-sawaran we mean literally horse-riders of Lahore. Strange coincidence!

THREE CONSPIRATORS
PATHETIC ENDS

Allah’s Law of Mukufat

Quaid-e-Azam fought till the end for the dream of Pakistan. It was realized within his life time, while Dr Allama Iqbal missed the day for it. M.A. Rahman Chughtai of course experienced Pakistan and devoted his best for it. His contributions towards Aesthetics in Pakistan was recognized by the FIRST PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE in Fine Arts in 1958. And a little later in 1959, by the title of Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the highest for Fine Arts, for decades, till the awards became a joke in the hands of imbecile Governmental officials, and worthless politicians.

The artist visited East Pakistan in 1952, and later in 1965, to cement relations between Bengal and West Pakistan. The mood in East Pakistan was well. They had the intellectual back bone for the Idea of Pakistan. And tragically the artist also saw the break-up of Pakistan, which melted the core of his heart with utter regret.

Deprivations make people do different things. Street smart people evolve a compulsion for enhancing their wealth and political prowess. Power becomes a disease for them. Sheikh Mujeeb ur Rahman, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Indira Gandhi had all the symptoms of these manifestations.

The result that in cahoot with each other, they planned the break-up of Pakistan. And they succeeded with the active role of secret agencies of India, Israel, USA as well as USSR. East Pakistan was sprung away by brutal force from the rest of the country and millions of loyal Pakistanis executed by the rubbish Mukhti Bahinis. Indira Gandhi galoted over the so called destruction of the two nation theory, while the other two consolidated their hold on their geographical entities. The end result, all three died violent and shameless deaths at the hands of their own wrong doings. Who gained? No one. Allah unhappy with the satanic role of these politicians. Pakistan the first step towards an international harmony of thought was set back by years.

I also remember the hundreds of Bengallis we met, and the happiness at the dream of tomorrow. What the three did to them is heavy on the three even today. The curse of these families is there. The wrath of Allah is upon them. For generations they will see no rest and peace. Many will not die their natural death. That we see ourselves. Hasina Wajid has started another reign of terror. Her retribution is not far away. You will see it for your self soon! That is the Law of Mukufat. Good results in good, bad results in bad. Those people are brimming with bad now. Escape is impossible from Allah’s principles.

AKBAR’S RELIGIOUS EXPERIMENTATIONS
ABU-FAZL AS CONSPIRATOR

Legacy of religious hate

The world is full of various views on Akbar. He is full of praise by all but the wrong reasons. A young Mughal Prince consolidated a vast Empire on foreign soil, no mean achievement for any one at all. But the success of his rule meant the success of another Muslim Empire, and that was detested by all the  rivals. The object was simple, snatch from him his passion for his own way of life.

How did Akbar die? Jahangeer himself tells us of his last moments of his life. Akbar opened his eyes and recited the kalma, and died. Much to the chagrin of all, that was the Death of a steadfast Muslim as all Muslims would love to dIe. Reciting the Kalma is the ultimate vow for Muslims. When he was born a Muslim,  lived as a Muslim, and died as a Muslim, what was all that religious experimentations for? My uncle Abdur Raheem Chughtai and I used to discuss things like that. I just asked what was Akbar trying to achieve with all the loose talk about all religions? My uncle smiled, and said it was merely a clever politician, trying to unite the disparate believes in his domain, by making fools of every one. To every religion and its scholars, he was trying to say, ‘I am ready to opt for your way of life”. And that he never intended. Every religious fanatic at one time or the other, not only thought but proclaimed that Akbar had joined his religion. He fooled the Zoarastrians, the Jains, the Hindus, even the Christians with adopting some of their rituals and on verge of acceptance stepping back from it. All such people confirm this themselves.

And all these religious fanatics were saying wrong things. The Christian missionaries openly wrote:

“our ears hear nothing but that hideous and heinous name of Mahomet (GOD FORBID-our affix)….. In a word, Mahomet is everything here. Antichrist reigns. In honour of this infernal monster (ASTAUR KRILLA-our affix) they bend the knee, prostrate, lift up their hands, give alms, and do all they do.”

Is this talk healthy for co-existence? This is straight talk from the enemies of Islam. How could Akbar or anyone at that time accept this kind of talk? It send ripples of disgust in any Muslim of any time.

There is no doubt of the intellectual prowess of Abu-Fazl. His ancestors came from Yemen, and his father Sheikh Mubarak was a strange person. He could be a Sunni, Mahadavi, Naqashbandi or liberal, depending upon the ruler himself. This kind of hypocrisy was evident in Abu-Fazl too. Working in utter hypocrisy, he was undermining Akbar right from the start. And he never wanted Jahangeer (Prince Saleem) to succeed his father. His job was to drive a wedge between father and son. That is why Prince Saleem had him assassinated for this reason.

The Zikri Mahadavi, a sect which still exists in Pakistan, are actually outside Islam itself with their views, on same lines as the Ahmadiyah movement of the 19th century. It is strange that after every hundred years we come up with so called reformers who take us away from the principles of Islam itself. Our job is merely to analyze. Everybody welcome to their way of life, but no one has right to interfere in ours.

The conspiracy of Abu-Fazl in trying to foul the life of Akbar is evident but he has made himself so indispensable,that even Akbar could not see the consequences of his hidden actions. With four wives, many concubines, excessive eating habits (30 lbs everyday), he was having the time of his life and wanted to bring Prince Saleem in chains to the court. Fortunately the Mughal Empire was saved from devastation, and father and son agreed on peace. These conspiracies were ever there and are part of a political setup.

ROUND THE WORLD
CULTURES DIFFER, NEEDS SAME

Mitigating prejudice of differences

I used to read the classic ‘Around the world in eighty days’ and every time it would stun our reality, that there is a difference of one day in such a travel. Well that happened to us too. Travelling around the world, we found that in Japan, we spent the same day, TWICE. Yes, we gained one day in our life. We had raced against the Sun itself. Probably 22 cities we touched. Different people, different cultures. Yes, all with same needs.

The best society is that which asserts its identity but never imposes itself on any other. Co-existence is the key to things. World peace depends on acceptance of diversity. Diversity is good for the world. Diversity is healthy. But the Imperialistic view is different.

It is all about concentrating everything in your own hands. Politicians were adept at this thing. But the men behind these men are even more ruthless. By bedding with the devil so many times, they have become the reincarnated devil themselves.

An evil has been unleashed on the world. The Haves have no sympathy for the have-nots, and the have-nots obviously lay unconcerned about anything. The harmony of society is gone. In a music tone, you skip a tone, and there is discord.

In society you have skipped so many bare essentials, that society itself is at stake. People want to rum away now to the Mars and to the Moon. But will they take their same set of usurping ideas there too. An impotent UNO watches as a spectator to all its this silliness, with the bureaucrats happy in their perks only. Disorganized revolutions bring more discord in the world. The Intellectual with all his strengths remain impotent in an environment of sinews of government. Power rules! For how long?

HUJRA OF MIR MAHDI
OLDEST EXTANT MONUMENT IN LAHORE

A relic of Syed Mubarak Shah days

The year is 1421. Historians report that there was not a single person left alive in Lahore. Syed Mubarak Shah had seized control of the reign of power in Delhi. In 1398 Jasrat Ghakkhar had taken control of Lahore, and Sayyid Mubarak Shah himself came from Delhi, and routed him out. There was a need to rebuild the city as it was said that only OWLS inhabited Lahore. A programme of reconstruction was started and buildings came up, and people from all over the region, were invited to inhabit Lahore, and make it a city again.

The area of Miran de Kohi is a very ancient area of Lahore. It is said that the Saint Hussain Zanjani, preceded Hazrat Ali Hujveri (Data Darbar) here in Lahore. In Mughal times we have the magnificent mausoleum of Sultan Mumtaz Shikoh, son of Prince Dara Shikoh, who was buried in the garden of his mother. Nadira Begum is herself buried in the Mausoleum of Hazrat Mian Meer in Lahore, in a garden, which preceded the Saint himself.
In Mughal times, the area was very old, and occupied by some unknown person, by the name of Mir Mahdi, and it was known as Hujra of Mir Mahdi. Judge Muhammed Latif the historian of Lahore, calls it by this very name in his book. But what is really old in that area?
The IDGAH obviously, which is the oldest extant Muslim monument of Lahore.

We do not know its present condition but in the 1950s it was still there. A masjid to say the IDD prayers. It had all the aesthetics of 15th century, perhaps even earlier. The Kalma was there on it with a roundrel  of calligraphy in stucco. It was worth preserving in all its scale. There were other Idgahs of earlier period. One was in the village Baini Dhilwan near the Indian border, and the other near the Masjid Shaheedganj Lahore. But the officials are in no mood to preserve all this. Not even a NGO does it. All the NGOS can do is to destroy our identity. No relief in site. At least we can document it.

THEFT OF GATES OF SULTAN MAHMUD’S MAUSOLEUM

Silly aspersions of Hindu story-telling

The myth is evident even today. Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi stole the Golden Gates of Somnath. The accusation gets repeated again and again and has led to so many misunderstandings that it needs to be corrected once or all. Truth must prevail now about these actual Sandalwood Gates of the Mausoleum of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi.

The Mausoleum of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi was built by his son Sultan  Masud Ghaznavi, and in no way relics of a Mandir could have been placed on a sacred monument of the Muslims. Could his son have commit’ed this outrage against Muslim sentiments? Not in a million years.

The myth was perpetuated to the extent that the most silly Lord Ellenborough made it his personal ambition to get them back to India around 1845 AD. Some writers have written that the Gates were removed and taken to the British Museum. Others talk it of being placed in the Agra Fort. What was the truth? Captain Van Orlich published a detailed engraving of the same in his ‘Travels to India’, published in 1845. They were then in the Agra Fort. One look at the Gates should have made people hang their Heads in shame. Pure Islamic designs with Arabic Kufic inscriptions on them. Masud Saad Sulaiman the Lahori poet has given the existence of wonderful carpenters and naqashi carvers in Lahore. The illustration is self evident.

Syad Muhammed Latif in his ‘History of the Punjab’ eulogizes Lord Ellenborough for bringing them back after centuries , and places them in British Museum. Dr Nazim corrects the same in his history of Mahmud Ghaznavi by writing:

“the misguided enthusiasm of Lord Ellenborough who believed that the gates were of the temple, which the Sultan was supposed to have carried away.”

The image is rare and here we give it to you. The Gates of Somnath stolen from Mandir of Somnath are Islamic designed Gates with Arabic Kufic inscriptions. The temple of Somnath was a LINGAM carved out of mountain and that is a another story worth telling. What is next about story telling? Truth breaks the shackles of falsehood.

REDUCING STRESS OF LIFE
STOP WATCHING MEANINGLESS MEDIA

A recipe for sanity

Once upon a time there were rational newspapers run by thinking journalists. The aim was always to better society in all ways. The Pakistani Ideology was behind all these people. Then PTV came to Pakistan, and it too, followed same principles, setting standards, never set before in Pakistan. All good and everything in order. Then General Musharaff thought of bringing in mass media to Pakistan, in the hope that such a progress would be beneficial for the country.

Years later we now fully realize that it was an exercise in uselessness. The Breaking news phenomena has brought our nerves to an end. I can tell you the news for the next few decades of the Pakistani media. Bomb blasts, Strikes, Dharnas, empty promises, inauguration of useless public programmes, raise in prices of petrol, other things, cases against fellow politicians, opening of cases against corruption, quashing of cases against politicians, and what not? Full it up, there would be nothing else. Nothing else would be considered newsworthy. Elections, electoral fraud voting, you name it. There will be nothing new.  Many days will be spent on speculating about the new person coming in various posts and after they have won, many days in talking of the right and wrong of choices.

What am I losing here? My peace of mind, as a first. My rationality, for a second. And thirdly, all my hopes for the future. My advice. Buy some DVDs of your choice and watch them. Grab some news on Al-Jazeera and Russia Today. And watch if you must, watch PTV world. It is still a blessing. And if you have time, talk to your parents, to your wife or husband, to your children. Share moral and ethical values. Relate stories of the past. Read Aesop Fables again and again. Buy story books from the past. Read some good novels. Start a history course. And if nothing else, take out your board of CARAM or even your sheets of LUDO. Relax. And nothing else, kiss your spouse good night and have plenty of good night sleep. Wake up fresh in the morning?

Erase media hype from your life, once for all!

GOVERNMENTAL FOLLIES

BENAZIR BHUTTOS PLAN TO DEMOLISH LAHORE

The strangest vision of them all

It was hard to believe when we read it in the newspaper. The new Government of Benazir Bhutto (years ago) had thought of the most craziest idea possible. The idea to demolish Lahore completely (old city) and to build a new city on it, and to allocate that new city with its many quarters to their so called ‘jialas’. Is this possible for any sensitive person to dream of demolishing the entire history of a city, more than 1000 years old? It looked like a joke but was not. She was pretty serious about it, and perhaps nurtured a deep hidden  hate of the city. Those people were able to do anything and Lahore was lucky to escape the wrath of the PPP, otherwise this damage could have been greater than all the damage inflicted on the city by the combined wrath of the Sikhs and the British.

Hundreds of monuments are crumbling down into ruins. Many of them are uncharted by any archaeological department. Old buildings, and gardens, are still there for exploration. Every day some journalist turns up something new. It is reported to be lost again. The administration loves the British period buildings as the legacy of their Masters, not previous, even the present ones. TV channels show privately owned bridges, gardens and what not? No one cares. The education of bureaucracy is suspect, as for the politicians, it is actually not there. Stolen identities, stolen degrees that is all. When something is discovered, everybody tries to hide it, for fear of theft from the persons in power.

A  new scheme was put into place to revive the old Royal entrance into Lahore. But from where? Not one person had the common sense to know that the Delhi Gate made by Muhammed Sultan Contractor is not the actual Delhi Gate at all. It is a newly reconstructed Gate made in the 19th century on a new site. Mughal construction was such that the Gate would face the smaller Chitta Darwaza inside it as well as the Wazeer Khan mosque gate in a  straight line. Dr Abdullah Chaghatai has drawn a  straight line as to where the Gate must have existed in his book on the Wazeer Khan mosque and it needs to be referred, for analysis of the case. But then we are poor at history! Most present day archaeologists are merely clerks with little knowledge or passion for Lahore. The obsession with the Shahi hammam is good but it was in private possession for such a long time and no one really cared for it. Good that it is receiving greater attention now. And with it being discovered more and more riddles. Obviously Kamran Lashari is a man of work and needs to be congratulated for his personal passion in the scheme. More need to be done. But no restoration is better than poorer restoration. The results in the Lahore Fort testifies to this philosophy, that if you cannot do it correctly, leave it as it is. It is better that way.

For whom are you making this Lahore? Certainly not its residents, but for tourists and others who would walk in the lanes and eat the meals on the food streets. This would not make Lahore a living city again. It would make it comparable to Mohenjo Daro, the city of the Dead. Give Lahore back to Lahorites! Let the filthy rich and the corrupt enjoy themselves in posh areas. Give us our city back!

ISMAELIS IN PUNJAB
VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS

Sultan Mahmud and Multan

The Ismaelis had come to the region very early in Islamic history. We find relics of Ismaeli civilization in Bhadreswar, the oldest settlement of Muslims in the region. Old Hindu records speak of a stranded Arab ship which came here and resulted in a Muslim settlement. A detailed analysis of the area has been made and pillars speak of a time gone by. The advent of Islam through Sind was brought by Muhammed bin Qasim and he reached Multan itself. But later we find the Arab rule overturned and Ismaelis ruling both Sind and Multan.

Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi had a row with three generations of Ismaeli rulers of Multan. First was Hamid, then Nasr, then Daud bin Nasr there.  Daud bin Nasr, Ruler of Multan, rebelled against the Caliph of Islam and Sultan Mahmud was going there to teach him as lesson. Raja Anangapal of Lahore interceded on behalf of Daud bin Nasr Ruler of Multan and attacked the convoy of Sultan Mahmud. This greatly infuriated the Sultan when he saw the Hindu Raja hand in hand with the Ismaeli ruler. Sultan Mahmud eventually sacked Multan, and Daud bin Nasr  the Ruler of Multan fled for the mountains. Nothing else is known what happened to him. Of course some chronicles records of him being taken prisoner to Ghazni, but it seems that perhaps was not the case. We find Sultan Mahmud heading towards Bhadreswar on his way back from Somnath. The Sultan sacked Bhadreswar too.

A detailed study of Bhadreswar was made by archaeologists and they discovered the tomb of Ibrahim there and he turns out to be related to Daud bin Nasr, ruler of Multan.  The circle had gone full swing. Sultan Mahmud had sacked Sind too and upturned the Ismaelis rule there. It seems that the Jain, Hindu and Muslims (Ismaelis) were all well trenched in Bhadreswar.We quote a scholar of an inscription there:

“The identity of this personage is not known. The only well known figure who might be our Ibrahim is Ibrahim ibn al-Hussain al-Hamidi, who became ‘dai mutlaq’ of the Yemen and its neighbourhood, as well as in India and Sind in the year 536/1141, with his headquarters in Sana. As far as the name Abul Futuh is concerned, we know that at the time of Mahmud’s invasion of Multan in 401/ 1010 the Ismaeli ‘dai’ was Abdul Futuh Dawud ibn Nasr, who was taken prisoner and died in Ghazna.

“The interesting part is that both Ibrahim and Abdul Futuh are related to the Ismaeli sect as is mentioned in the historical background a mosque was built for the SHIMALI, which is suggested by Buhler to mean the Ismaeli community. The only reference n our inscription which might confirm the Ismaeli connection with the building is the phrase ‘May God bless the Prophet Muhammed and his family’, The word ALIHI reflects the Ismaeli in Bhadreswar.”

All this was before even the term of Assassins was ever related to the Ismaelis. Today the community is a pillar of respect in the world and concerned about spreading art and culture all over the world. Well done indeed!

A SULTANATE LAMP OF LAHORE
FILLING GAPS OF RESEARCH

Missed opportunities

It is a fascinating study to note the changes and development of shapes as a thing moves from one region to another. Obviously there is a harmony in Islamic Art everywhere, but the regional changes are always there. The Taj Mahal is based on prototypes in Herat and Samarkhand but in Agra at the hands of a Lahori architect, it developed a shape all its own. A butterfly defecates the individual flowers of the area. A honey-bee produces honey which is related in taste to that area alone.

Why lower placed domes become bulbous domes in another area is worthy of study? Of course the Euclid principles were there and designs based on geometrical equations were natural to those people. Some critics openly state that artists and architects are inspired by the aesthetics of womanhood, and as regional area houses women with larger bosoms, so did the heavy bosom had an effect on the shape of architecture too. A study of the Sultanate lamp of Lahore shows the same bulbous shape which characterizes this area. Although the naqashi on it as well as Fake Kufic script is still there, the over all shape is different to this area. But there is no doubt that it is an Islamic lamp with Islamic aesthetics woven in it.

Cultures do not clash, they actually intermix and form adaptations in the results. The architecture of the Hindu temples started using domes,  arches and gateways and naqashi designs of the Islamic buildings. The Sikh Gurdawaras are all Islamic in nature. Even the Samadh of Ranjit Singh is an Islamic design. The Golden Temple is an Islamic design, and many Muslim Architects are known by name, who worked on it. Even after the demise of the Sikh Maharaja, the people working on it were Muslims. Sikh testimonials record for instance the working of a few Muslim mimars of Amritsar (all real brothers), including Elahi Baksh Mimar.So the new culture is a welcome sign to aesthetics.

Dr Tara Chand wrote a thesis on Islamic contribution to Hindu Culture. Nowadays no one dares to even use this nomenclature as their topic.  A study of local culture even today shows the shortcomings of its environments. When a new stimulus is given to jaded ideas and thoughts, a new flower is sprung into existence. Natural Selection of Charles Darwin is replaced by Cultural Selection of modern man. The Buddhists from Central Asia enriched this area. The Mongols did the same. And the Turks brought new life into the region. Whatever the political reasons for debunking this contribution, it has stood the test of time and it cannot be in any way denied by any one. M.A. Rahman Chughtai once said that if a survey is taken of the reason of the abundance of tourists to this region, we find that the Mughal monuments are one of the biggest attraction which make them come here. The Taj Mahal  heads such a list of want to see monuments. So do not in any way undermine the contribution of Islamic Civilization to this region.