BIZARRE HISTORY OF CHABUK SAWARS IN REGION;
SPREAD OVER IN LAHORE AND SHAHJAHANABAD;
AND EVEN HAVING MAZARS IN PLACES LIKE BIJAPUR.

There is a traditional Mohalla Chabuk Sawaran in Lahore. I presumed that it exists only here. A little research unravelled the Chabuk Sawars spread all over Mughal kingdom. Images crept up from far away places. Even families of Chabuk sawars got in touch with me. It was exciting to know so much more about them.

Lahore is a strange city. It has everything historical attached to it. Take the Mohalla Chabuk Sawaran inside the city. Maulvi Ahmad Baksh Yaqdil (18th-19th century), explains the area as:

“Diwan khana Faqeer Khana waqia Darul Sultanat Lahore; Mohalla Qazi Saderuddin Marhoom; Haveli Adina Beg Khan; Guzar Chabuk Sawaran, Kakey Zai; Mutasil Kocha Allama Hazrat Muhammd Sharyar Maskoor Lahori; Mutasil Masjid Chinay Wali, mubia Bahadur Shah Alamgeer Badashah; Feil Khana Shahnawaz Khan; Takia Sadoan; Katra Haji Amanullah; Chotta Mufti Baqir, etc.”

What exactly is KOCHA CHABUK SAWARAN? The dictionary defines Kocha as a Galli, guzargah, or piece of land as “Bara” or exhibition centre. We know that the word Chabuk Sawaran is obviously HORSE RIDERS and what had the horse riders in common with this Bara of land. We know there was a market place for horses outside Taxalli Darwaza Lahore, as well a market of horses outside Delhi Darwaza,. But this is inside the city itself. It means an exhibition ground or a stable, enclosure of horses. And with the Mohalla are the few house attached to its exhibition place of horses there. They must be even giving performances of some kind. But the other names are all historical.

Qazi Saderuddin was the Qazi at the time of Emperor Akbar, who rebelled against the religious policies of the Emperor. He was very popular with the people and could not be handled in a drastic way. So Emperor Akbar had him expelled from the city forever. A rebel scholar in all cases.

Allama Shahryar was Imam of the Wazeer Khan Mosque, and he too rebelled against Ahmad Shah Abdalli, and openly insulted the King for his actions. Abdalli said his prayers behind him and could say nothing to him.

Adina Baig Khan was of course for some time Governor of Lahore and part of the conspiracy in the Abdali and the Mughal period of Lahore. A very interesting figure who got married in Lahore to a Syedzadi of this Mohalla and later divorced her for fear of marriage to a Syed family.

There are a few Shahnawaz Khans in the Mughal period. Mufti Baqir was of course a Mufti of Lahore in the times of Emperor Shah Jahan and there is a Chotta Mufti Baqir still named after him in Lahore. Haji Amanullah may be many persons.

Masjid Chinay wali is the famous mosque in the Mohalla, now totally destroyed and rebuilt. But very strangely Yaqdil associates it to Bahadur Shah, Shah Alam, son of Aurangzeb Alamgeer. Sadoos were famous for residence in the city area and were responsible for publication houses, publishing old manuscripts in book forms.

In Mughal time the FEIL KHANA meant there was a stable for elephants in this very area. Elephants traversing the Mohalla would be a unique sight under any circumstances.

Yaqdil associates Chabuk Sawaran with ethnic Kakay Zais, but there is much more to it. Documents prove the transfer of some horse dealers from Kanpur in India to this Mohalla in 1855 extra.The names of them are known, and some of them were highly educated and could even write in English. These horse dealers had bought portions of Mian Khan Havelli. Afzal Khan had two wives Noor Jan and Mahbub Jan., He died and these two ladies sold the property.

Recently a group of documents have been discovered which shows us more details of the horse riders. We have a Bakatarabu Begum along with a registrar Abdur Rahman Khan Afghan settled in the city of Kanpur (now in India) in 1855. Then we have references of Qasim Khan son of Munawar Khan Afghan again in Kanpur in 1870. Then we find them shifting to Havelli of Mian Khan and we hear of Afzal Khan and Wazeer Khan Pathans. We hear of Bobo Begum wife of Afzal Khan as well as two other ladies later, Noor Jan and Mahbub Jan, widows of Afzal Khan. Then we hear of Akbar Khan, son of Afzal Khan, who signs himself as a horse dealer in English. Then the haveli is bought by a certain J Rustam, who signs an affidavit of two pages, handwritten completely in English language. That means the horse dealers were educated people. The final transfer is dated around 1915. That is one family of Chabuk Sawars in the Mohalla, and they had a stable and a ground to show off their horse stock and it was called Kocha Chabuk Sawaran. That’s history in full!

Haveli Mian Khan of course is RANG MAHAL or the haveli of Nawab Lutufullah Khan son of Nawab Saad ullah Khan, Prime Minister of Emperor Shah Jahan.

It boggles the mind as to the kind of historical personages surrounding this area. And to top it all the area belonged to a mimar family of Lahore. We have record of Karam uddin Mimar buying this house, and successive generations living here.The last of this was Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mussawar e Mashriq, Artist of the East. who again put this Mohalla on the historical map of Lahore.

The year is 1909, and it is the Mohalla of Chabuk Sawaran. It is probably the house of Mian Kareem Baksh (perhaps portion not bought at that time), but his name is missing, as well as names of other persons of family. The year 1909 means that all the Chughtai brothers were mere children and had nothing to do with this agreement. Some of the names on it are Karam Din, son of Munshi Dil Muhammed (but the year means that it is not Mian Salah’s father), and strangely Karam Din signs his name in English. The other lady Roti maker PEEPO WIDOW OF KALA JEWOR has a thumb impression, as well as Nizam ud din son of Ghulam Rasool. The terms include tenancy of the tandoor, as well as conditions of eviction, when necessary. There are certain points that need to be clarified after study of same. It is an agreement between Peepo, widow of Kala Jewor, and Haji Allah Din, son of Nizamuddin Kake Zai.

THE SECOND VISIT OF M. A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI TO EUROPE;
ACCOMPANIED BY SISTER-IN- LAW, MRS MAHMOODA CHUGHTAI.

The best way to trace the travel of a person is the passport. Although a passport was issued to him on 14th April, 1924, for the Wembley exhibition, but he was  not able to avail it for lack of funds. A new passport was issued by Home Secretary Punjab on 10th February 1932, for a period of 5 years. It was renewed on 10th February 1937. The date of his first visit is easily recorded by even the ticket of the Ship he travelled on. As far as Germany is concerned we have a visa stamp on 24th June 1937. A poem in his praise by a German poetess on 27th June 1937. Another date is 3rd July 1937 departure from Germany. He landed back in Bombay on 15th July, 1937. We are able to access his second visit.

In 1932 in his first visit to Europe, he had befriended a German girl, by name of Elza Huiffner. They remained in touch even after he came back to Indo Pakistani region. His second visit apparently boiled down to February/March 1937 to July 1937. He landed back on 15th July, 1937, in Bombay. But this time he was not travelling alone. His brother in law Gulzar Chughtai had requested that he accost his wife Ms Mahmooda, to London. So on ship they were travelling together. The Huiffner sisters knew of his travel plans, and were there at Marseilles port to receive him. They did not know that his sister in law Ms Mahmooda was with him. He introduced her to them as Mrs Chughtai. The Huifner sisters were shocked at the idea that he was now married and disappeared from port. This interesting episode was narrated to me by Mamee Mooda herself in a sitting in Lahore. This event was not in my record, so I thought it best to put it in historical perspective. Why this happened? No one really knows.

Elza Huiffner was contemplating a very serious relation with the artist. Chughtai Sahib was not in a position to make that commitment. He thought it best to evolve this situation in the best interest of all. In short he was not ready to desert Lahore for an easy life in London, or in Berlin. The commitment to National resurgence was ever strong in him. There are people who are averse to Nationalism, but this was not parochial nationalism. This was in the belief that Pakistan was the first step towards the Islamic resurgence of the Iqballian dream. In fact the next year 1938, we see the loss of his guide and friend Dr Allama Iqbal’s death. Serious financial problems were mounting with him, and he was ready to print the first edition of  “Chughtai Paintings”. The rest is history. In 1936 at the house of Begum Shahnawaz a small show had been organized, and Razia Sirajuddin wrote its introduction. Now revised, it led to the first edition of his famous book. As she said:

“His paintings are in truth the geometry of beauty. He knows art begins at the point where the thousandth of an inch makes all the difference.”

A FORGOTTEN EPISODE OF LAHORE IN 1845;
COW RIOTS ERUPTED AND SILENCED IN 1871.

A concept generated in Lahore in recent times is that there was total harmony between various communities. That Hindus and Muslims were living as long time brothers. It was forgotten that the way of life of both nations were totally different and toleration of each other, did not mean harmony, as contrived today by writers. Obviously some broadminded persons on both sides learnt a certain level of co-existence.There were sects of Sikhs in Lahore, where it was even dangerous to pass by them with any ease. Fear of an unprovoked reaction from them. Yet life existed in its bad and good forms.

In this turmoil extremists reactions started after death of Ranjit Singh in 1839. Not that it was not there in his times, but he could ruthlessly curb it in any way he liked. The KOOKA sect was formed by one Baluk Ram in the year 1845. A carpenter named Ram singh inherited the position. They were interested in going back to the Pristine qualities of their religion. The Sikhs and the Hindus joined hands in this tirade and in 1845 a number of Butcher shops were raided in Lahore and some Butchers put to death. The aim that there should be no display of beef meat at Butchers shop as it was against their principles. The British were in a quandary as to what to do. Full control of Lahore was not in their  hands yet. The young puppet Dallip Singh was being groomed for complete takeover. The  Cow riots as they were called were becoming more and more destructive.

An ultimatum was issued to the KOOKAS to mend their ways and they kept quiet for some time. But it was a mum before a storm. By 1871 the riots had spread to Amritsar, and a group of 12 Kooka assassins butchered again a group of Muslim Butchers. The British were in no mood to accept the challenge to their authority, and the Kookas were ruthlessly pursued and captured by them. Out of perhaps a following of fifty thousand Kookas, 300 kookas were taken into custody, and quickly executed by the authorities. Everybody believed that it was an excess but that excess unless controlled would have left a scar on the reigning policy of the British. Anybody disturbing the status quo was a risk to their rule.

Rennell Taylor ICS Commissioner Amritsar

The people who think that there is no Two nation theory, should wake up to the fact that even in Lahore, there were separate Mohallas of the Hindus and the Muslims, and nobody dared to traverse the domain of others. And this division was always there. The theme of the Hindu mohallas was very different from the Muslim ones. The ‘SHARM’ or ‘HAIYA’ we talk of was alien to the Hindus living here, and strangely it is reported by many people of that time, that literally the Hindu girls were naked from the top and wearing flimsy dresses from the bottom. It was indeed a threat to the culture of the Muslims. And this invasion of the undressed person is something we see in our media today, and forget that it was always so. Sex was one of the ways to reach the Divine reality in that religion. In the Muslim area the approach was totally different. That is why Quaid e Azam gave us the famous saying about the two nation theory, which we repeat all the time. A simple one is:

“We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, legal laws and moral codes, customs and calendar, history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions: in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation.” –

And Quaid e Azam further clarified:

  “It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are, in fact, different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality, and this misconception of one Indian nation has troubles and will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, litterateurs. They neither intermarry nor interdine together and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their aspect on life and of life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Mussalmans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes, and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other and, likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built for the government of such a state.”

The riots get repeated and flared up again in 1893:

The “cow killing riots” of 1893 were a series of violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in British India, fueled by religious tensions surrounding the slaughter of cows, which are considered sacred by Hindus. These riots were a significant event in the history of Hindu-Muslim relations in India and were marked by intense conflict, particularly during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when animal sacrifice is a common practice.”

The conflict lingers on even today. Solutions hardly possible. And yet India exports it is said of billions of dollars beef every year. Hypocrisy of the worst type. Cows linger over rubbish heapos all over India. Cleaning their front yards required to move forward any time.

THE FIRST PAINTING OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI
NUR JAHAN MOURNING AT JAHANGEERS TOMB

A teenager’s fantasy and birth of Chughtai Art

Art activity was in full swing in Lahore. A Punjab Fine Art Society was established here and various exhibitions shows were being arranged at the Lahore Museum. A show of paintings was held and that was seen by M.A. Rahman Chughtai. Instinctively he felt that he could do better than the acknowledged Masters of Hindustan, which included the Bengal School, as well as the great Master, Abindaranath Tagore, the accepted giant of Indian Art. Indeed his assertion was simple, those people had no concept of Muslim Culture and depicted it wrongly all the time.

After his Eighth Class Certificate and education at Railway Technical School Lahore in 1911, the artist had joined Mayo School of Arts for diploma in Photo lithography. Samarendranath Gupta was too vain and arrogant to teach to a Muslim set of students. And there was personal dislike between the two persons at Mayo School of Arts. A three piece English suit Gupta was versus a Sherwani shalwar and turban phag of Master Abdur Rahman, as he was called at that time, and ethnic and religious bigotry was self evident.

It was the years of the photography of M.A. Rahman Chughtai. Armed with a wooden Box camera of his own and a set of glass plates, he was experimenting all the time. His portrait of the Director Education became very famous for its portrayal at that time. Also busy with stone work for his lithography, and printing same in one form or the other. Designing of Eid cards was there as well as aero work for some of his portraits of people. He used to colour the photographs himself, and there is a record of same to this day.

The idea of a painting with Nur Jahan mourning at Jahangeer’s tomb came to his mind. He first did something which he never did all his life. Asked his wife to pose in a praying posture, and photographed some poses of her. These photographs he kept on one side.

Next was to be a factual record of the tomb itself. The artist was a regular visitor to the Mausoleum of Emperor Jahangeer with other boys to frequent the place. There in early years M.A. Rahman Chughtai copied the sarcophagus of Jahangeer for his proposed painting. We attach here an image of that earliest drawing of the artist. Writings state the colour of the stones used for the purpose. Indeed a unique record in our archives.

Armed with both a photograph of his wife praying and a sketch of the sarcophagus, he completed a painting of the great Queen of the past mourning the loss of her husband. With big fanfare M.A. Rahman Chughtai exhibited the work at a neighbour’s house in Chabuk Sawaran and the family of the neighbour still remember the event. Everyone liked it and praised it. But the artist himself was unhappy with it for his own reasons. Finally he got tired of it and tore it himself. He was also sincere in tearing things that he did not like, much to the regret of family and friends. Children used sneak in his studio to steal torn paintings but he would not allow that. So a cousin of ours had a torn painting but he lost it in a ship wreck in the sea when coming back from England.

The first painting that got published in Modern Review in January 1916, can be compared to his first painting, that was created but could not remain. Other works on the same subject came afterwards but never that painting itself.

THE AESTHETIC IMPULSE
THE CHILD M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

Things hardly known by anyone

The first marriage of Mian Kareem Baksh Mimar was within the family. The wife begot him a son, and he named him Muhammed Hussain. The father even with his meager circumstances gave the best education possible to his son, who was a graduate of those times. Then his wife died, and father and son were left alone. Mian Kareem Baksh married for the second time, Chiragh Bibi, and Chiragh Bibi gave him three sons, Abdur Rahman, Abdullah and Abdur Raheem.

The Quranist view of life was there in Chinay Wali Masjid, near Mohalla Chabuk Sawaran and there Abdur Rahman received his Quranic education.This was before the mosque was captured by the Al Hadees group in Lahore. There Abdur Rahman started the lessons to HIFAZ the Quran that his internal desire to become Hafiz ul Quran, just like his elder half-brother Muhamed Hussain. Soon after Baba Miran Baksh volunteered to Mian Kareem Baksh to start teaching naqashi to the three boys and all three enrolled in the Masjid Wazeer Khan hujra class of the Baba. Baba Miran Baksh was married to the sister of Kareem Baksh, that is Karam Nisa and they lived in Kocha Buzurg Shah. For few years these lessons were the first lessons that Abdur Rahman Chughtai learnt in the traditon of aesthetics. Later the brother of Chiragh Bibi, the Mama (uncle) Elahi Baksh enrolled him in the Railway Technical School, near Railway Station, which was in fact the site of the mosque of Qudsia Begum, wife of Prince Dara Shikoh. Creative impulse would not go away.

One day Abdur Rahman was working on his home work for school, that a Crow came and sat on the minaret of the Mullah Ghaus mosque opposite their home. The crow intrigued Abdur Rahman as a subject and on a paper he drew a crow on the minaret of a mosque, and later had the courage to show his drawing to his father. Mian Kareem Baksh was a busy worker, and was absent from the house from Morning till late night. The boys used to play but as soon as the wooden kaaparas (shoes) of the father would sound in the galli, all three would jump n the bed. Mian Kareem Baksh had brought a Muhajir couple from Kashmeer, Ama Tabbi and her husband to the house to give them shelter. It was Ama Tabbi who was more of a mother and father to the kids. One day Abdur Rahman had caught a baitara (bird) on the roof and put it in the kameez of his father. When the father came home to put it on, he was shocked to see the Kameez jumping up and down. Abdur Rahman was obviously caught and reprimanded but things were smooth. In one incident a hundred rupee note got misplaced and the boys were blamed for putting it somewhere. It was later found by chance that a mouse had taken the note to his hole in the wall and it was discovered there, much to the relief of all, for 100 Rs at that time was in all terms a great sum for the family.The past times were enormous, as when there was nothing to do,the brothers with horde of girls and boy cousins, would go over on the roof in the Havelli of their Mama Elahi Baksh and used to bath in the rain and frolic with each other. There was no gender consciousness and at that time, the girl cousins used to jump in the rain, after removing their shirts. A proper romp, naughty but never amorous.

A physically active child, Abdur Rahman Chughtai was fond of swimming in the river Ravi, in the canal Degh, visiting Mughal monuments, hunting, fishing, flying kites on his roof top, and even just playing cricket, outside the mosque of Maryiam Zamani, wife of Emperor Jahangeer. Picnics were often held at Jahangeer’s mausoleum. But these physical activities, never impaired his aesthetic impulse.

Abdur Rahman himself recalls that on his way back from School, he used to see a painter paint in the Gumti Bazaar and used to stop and watch the man paint at his shop. The Gumti Bazaar painters were a famous painting family which had migrated from Kabul a long time back and were called Moortian walay. A section was called Bindari-ghar, and the artist’s first wife was from that section of the family.

The first aesthetic impulse for the child was that when the mother made him wear a RED JORA to attend a marriage and MARC refused to go out in that jora. He rejected its bold colour, as well as style. He thought it unsuitable for wearing. He was scolded, reprimanded but went on crying and would not budge an inch. So they left him on the stairs crying. When the parents came back from marriage, he was still on the steps, where he had cried for hours, just at the thought of an inappropriate dress for him. His aesthetics were showing their colour.

The death of his father in 1913 made the brothers do many things. One was the opening of a FIREWOOD SHOP in their owned shop inside Yakki Gate Lahore. The two brothers used to sell firewood while Abdur Rahman seated on a charpai at the back of shop used to write dramas, imaging himself to be a great playwright for dramas one of these days. Photography and photo-litho work became his obsession. And he used to paint them with his AEROGRAPH pen giving a coloured work to his clients for his bread earning.

At the Mayo School of Arts, he saw a show of National Paintings at Lahore Museum and felt the inadequacy of the works. He thought he could make better works than that. That led to a spurt of making paintings. The first work was NUR JAHAN MOURNING AT JAHANGEERS TOMB, which he tore after exhibiting in his Mohalla home to friends. Later on some paintings were made while he was in Gujranwalla and sent for publication in Modern Review Calcutta, courtesy of Chatterjee Sahib, the Principal of the Govt Mission School Gujranwalla. And orginally he found fame at the first show of his at Lahore Museum in 1920.

The question always remain. What made him stand outside the common environment? Was it genetic? Was it environmental? Was it a combination of both. Here in Lahore, it is simply said that it was a GIFT OF ALLAH.

A SERIES OF EXPOSition OF CHUGHTAI ART;
FOR THOSE WHOSE EYES AND PERCEPTIONS;
LOST IN TIME WITH TOTAL BIGOTRY OF RACISM..

The exposure of Chughtai Art on the Indian scene came with the printing of the 1916 work, in “Modern review” in January and February, 1917. We still have it. The work PASSING OF SHAH JAHAN in 1918 had broken all records And then there was the exhibition at Lahore Museum in 1920, and with all the other Indian Masters there, all the works of M.A. Rahman Chughtai were not only appreciated but also sold. It led to bigger things like the publication of MURAQQA in 1928. The rest is art history.

A lot of Indian art critics were famous for writing their bullshit about him, but those are forgotten in history. After partition a new wave of ignoramus critics were created, who found fault in everything. To the extent that they were blinded with fury of racial hatred, and promoted by lobbies to undo our ideological content.  The division of Lahore and Karachi was created when the capital moved from Karachi to Islamabad. A wave of anti Pakistani lobbies were created in Lahore, but here they could not do much. Criitics like Dr M.D. Taseer, Malik Shamas, and Dr Abdullah Chaghatai, were here to disband them.  They moved to Karachi. Karachi the capital of Pakistan supported Abdur Rahman Chughtai and his art, at that time. To the extent that Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan called him the National artist of Pakistan. The Lahore group moved to Kaerachi included Ali Imam, who opened a gallery there. Ali Imam spun his own stories. The modern artist, turned  critic, was busy smoking his pipe, in a French beard and in his blue jeans, he cast aspersions on the artist. One sees ridiculous copies of Chughtai being endorsed by him.  In the end he did start seeing originals, but casting doubt on them was his forte.  It is said that final years, his perceptions cleared too. Then there were persons like Dr Akbar Naqvi , the Beatles boy from Liverpool, and Patna, considered Chughtai as irrelevant after partition. Then he stooped so low that in an article in Dawn, he criticized our presentation of the magnum opus Amal e  Chughtai, to loved and respected ones on behalf of the late artist, as an act of desperation, for there were no buyers of the book. So being given free. It is perhaps the most valuable book created in Pakistan. Was it a deliberate act or was he really ignoramus? And who rose his pedestal to being doyen of art criticism. In fact most of these people had no idea of  Chughtai, as they had no chance to see Chughtai Art, nor did they make efforts for same. I invited Dr Akbar Naqvi to visit us and get acquainted with Chughtai Art. A saying comes in mind from our culture, “Put a load of books on a donkey, and the donkey remains a donkey”. I Hope it was  not true for these people.I made this offer to many others.  In London a lot of forgeries passed through the auction houses, mostly made by a Karachi maverick artist, as well as by a Christian advertising artist, where both innovated methods that would perplex people.  And no ability to understand the intricacy technique and symbolism of Chughtai art. One wonders if it is individual racism or lobbies undermining the fear of ideological strength of the artist. The famous critic Basil Gray in a confession in 1977, blamed it on British lobbies in perceived threat of ideology. Eventually everything gets exposed with time. Basil Gray wrote the article on Chughtai, which we published many times. Another person Dr Marcella Nesom Sirhindi, did write a sentence, which we can quote here:

“The art of A.R. Chughtai must be recognized as the earliest and truest form of national expression. Chughtai use of colour, skill  as a draftsman, originality, imagination, and sense of humour (in his art) have yet to be equalled in Pakistan.  Ohio, 1992.  

Enjoy our first presentation of pencil sketches of Abdur Rahman Chughtai. Seen by thousands here. Critics do not have time to see original art, but rely on misgot perceptions to generate their attempt to spit on the moon, and the spit falls on them. Enjoy!

WHEN GOVERNMENTS OF PAKISTAN WERE CONCERNED ABOUT ARTISTS
BIZARRE STORY OF PENSION GIVEN BY TWO PRIME MINISTERS PAKISTAN

The story of partition is about the worthy becoming poor and the corrupt ready to file notorious claims. Financial throwback was there for M.A. Rahman Chughtai and he rendered meritorious services for the Government of Pakistan, like designing flags, insignias, mausoleums, postal stamps, icons for organizations, coins, and gifts for foreign Heads of State, etc etc. In various interactions with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, financial help for publication of the book on Dr Iqbal was under discussion.  But the assassination of the PM on 16th October, 1951 upset all schedules. An editorial appeared in Daily Imroze about the same, which we enclose as rare thing. At this time another lover of Chughtai Art, Khawaja Nazim-uddin was the Prime Minister. He did not stop proceedings on same.

An editorial appeared in the newspaper IMROZE about the financial condition of artist M.A. Rahman Chughtai.  Strangely Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan was fully familiar with the artist, as well as Khawaja Nazimuddin. On instructions from Quaid e Azam, the artist had submitted many designs, which included the flag of Pakistan, insignias for the Government of Pakistan, Postal stamps, and what not? All this meritorious service was free of any charges. To put the country on the art map of the world was the aim here. The designs were appreciated by Quaid e Azam and some were used for same. The Postal Stamps won award in the world, as the most beautiful stamps of the world. The foundation of Pakistan’s first Art Council Alhamra was due to him. The show art Alhamra in 1949 won international laurels as the diplomatic community flew from Karachi to attend the same here. Chughtai was offered visit lectures from both USA and USSR. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan presented Chughtai’s art works to President Truman in USA as well as to the National Art Gallery in Canada (still there). But the artist was not in good financial condition.

An idea was to award a monthly stipend to the artist. The proposal was read by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and he seconded it. But before he could initiate it, he was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was then picked up by Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin and in January, 1953, it was approved as a pension for Rs 500 per month. It was to start from 1st July, 1953. It went on till 1975, and the last one was picked up in January, 1975. The shame was that Rs 500 was a lot of amounts in 1953, but it was not a lot of amounts in 1975. It was the habit of the artist to pick up his finances after three months, every time, in form of Rs 1500.

The news of the pension was reported locally but also in foreign press. For instance, the Lethbridge Herald, 6th November 1953, carried the news internationally.

On 1st January, 1975, I drove him to the State Bank of Pakistan. The realization never came that would be his last pension. Actually 16 days after the same, M.A. Rahman Chughtai died at home in the evening. An era had come to an end.

P.S.

The pension report came in international newspapers too. For example, Lethbridge Herald reported same on 6^th November, 1953.

PHOTOGRAPHY REIGNED IN CULTURAL CAPITAL LAHORE;
MANY FAMILIES OF PAINTERS PICKED NEW TECHNOLOGY.

It pains me to think that, shunned by West for a long time, knowledge about Lahore became more and more scarce. This adds to most things, and photography is one of them. Certainly world famous photographers stationed in India were visiting Lahore, It applies to Bourne and Shepherd too, like Samuel Bourne. One finds various photographs of people and monuments of Lahore by these photographers. Add to it the other casual visitors who were too bringing in their cameras and shooting personal photographs of Lahore. Most of them ended up being printed in books and journals. The way inward of photographic equipment was taking place.This was a replacement of traditional manuscripts with illustrations, and later by printing versions.

It is probable that the first batch of photographers and equipment was related to the influx of Archaeological survey of India, as well as the Mayo school of Arts. In any case there were a number of studios operating in Lahore, and they included both Hindu and Muslim owners. Studios like P. Girdhar Roy and sons in Anarkali around 1880s and Shankar Dass and Co, around 1911. Muslim owners Andrabi (Mcleod road) and Beg studios (Owner Rashid Beg) again in Anarkali. In Baghbanpura, Abdur Rahman Ejaz and his son Mian Majeed were there. Here also started Photo litho department at Mayo. A commercial requirement of the time. And the most interested was Abdur Rahman Chughtai. Somehow, he got access to a wooden camera with a big Zeis lens and with glass plates in it. He also got his hands on an aerograph pen and air throwing pedal compressor. He achieved fame by making an official photograph of Secy education, an Englishman, and the photo was used at various places. Family portraits became his speciality. But strangely he was also asked by publisher Mian Sirajuddin to make nude photographs of his favourite prostitute in Heera Mandi. The assistance was provided by Miran Baksh, Vice Principal Mayo School of Arts.

There was a Punjab Photographers Association and contests used to be held of various works. M. A Rahman Chughtai  used to send his chosen photographs and later used pseudonyms for contests in photography. Others participated too. A new media was largely being innovated here.

MARC undertook massive photographs of monuments in Agra and Delhi and had his dark room on the roof of his house. Dr Zafar Chughtai, his nephew, had a complete album of his monumental works. Various families asked him for group photos and many still had records at present. On 12th February, 1929 Abdur Rahman Chughtai made a number of photos of Dr Iqbal and his son. He colored one with his aerograph pen. In 1930s later a Parsee photographer Rustom P. Kharas made portrait of Dr Iqbal. He signed the same and it was published in Narang Khiyal magazine (a few times), and we have a record of same with his signature. There were also professional copyright photos done by Egyptian Photo Co, on 20th September, 1932. Not much is known about these Photo studios, but we can surmise the background of some.

Egyptian Photo Co, Lahore:A fresh research takes us to a famous personality, known as Meher Baba, who had an Ashram in Nashik, near Bombay. Intercession was also with Ahmedabad. One of his disciples, Rostum K, Irani was born in Ahmedabad in 1898, and disappeared in the Himalayas in August, 1941. He was the son of Kaikhushru Sarosh Irani. A devoted follower of Meher Baba, and possibly his nephew too. He was indulging in photography as well as film making. He appeared in front of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1931 or so. But he signs his name as Rostum P. Kharas. Being son of Kaikhushru, we can understand him writing as Rostum Kaikhushru, but where has Kharas come from? And he adds P, knowing that as Secretary of Meher Baba, he was known as PENDU. And he stops writing Irani with his name. Although it is understood that the whole family had Iranian background. But the remarkable thing is a photograph done in a studio of Dr Allama Iqbal, on 20th september, 1932, and it is copyright by Egyptian Photo Co, Lahore. Why does a company or  a studio names itself as Egyptian, when there was no contact with the same.But there is. Meher Baba is seen in Devonshire in 1928, but in 1931, he is pictured in Egypt. A visit which seems to be repeated in 1932, and 1933. To pay homage to him, Rostum K. Kharas named his company in Lahore as Egyptian. There is a trailer available of a film he was making, and it is 1932. So the sequence of same can be explained. But why was Abdur Rahman Chughtai absent from the scene? Very simple the  artist was visiting Europe in 1931 and 1932, and was not in Lahore.  in his formal dress. it is naturally Dr Allama Iqbal. Obviously the photographs tell us a lot about the photographer and its studio. The initial photos of 1929 and 1931, it is same Allama Iqbal, but the different use of the chair, the carpet (or the Dari), and the expression as well as composition tells us a lot about the photographer. Strange two photos of Rustom P. Kharas are with us, returned from some Photo contest, and are with us and establish a line between both photographers. Perhaps returned as he had disappeared from scene.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai, has a record of many noteworthy photographs of various families and various monuments. Many professional photos were taken by him. This includes his favourite theme of Father and Son, as exhibited in many photographs. On 12th February, 1929, the photograph of Dr Iqbal with his son was taken by him on Eid day at Havelli Nizamuddin. The artist used to frequent the Haveli, because of his connection with its various inmates. In particular Dr Muhammed Taseer, nephew of Mian Nizamuddin.

Rostum P. Kharas (Rostum K. Irani).P stands for Pendu, and K for Kaikhushru: Professional photographer took the sitting photograph of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1931 and the copyright one in 1932 in Western dress. Made the Egyptian Photo Co in Lahore. Later in Havero, Amritsar, participated in Photo Shows. Disappeared in Himalayas in 1941 and never seen again.

Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia (1870–1954) was an Indian aristocrat, scholar of Sanskrit and philosophy, and photographer. He was known as one of the pioneers of photography in India, leaving behind over 3,000 prints, including the hundreds of family portraits and over 80 self-portraits staged in a mise-en-scène style.
Amrita Sher Gil, the famous artist took a photograph of Dr Allama Iqbal in Paris, and she was daughter of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia. Necessary for record of that period.

With the death of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1938, the photography craze and had come to an end and led to sketches of him done by Abdur Rahman Chughtai, as well as the famous etching of him. Painted representation is in the book Amal-e-Chughtai. However detailed writing of the meetings are in various articles. There is a signed book of Bang darya, signed Afghan visit, a letter to Narang Khiyal, a letter condoling the death of Chughtais mother in 1925, as well as other letters. The original Foreword of Murraqqa e Chughtai is missing but advance copy is there. Iqbal’s tick of his best verses of Ghalib are there too. May both great men rest in peace!

WHO SPINS THE NARRATION OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY?
EVER HELL BENT ON PROMOTING HINDU, SIKH, NARRATIVES;
ANOTHER  BOOK ON LAHORE BY NEELUM CHAUDRI, IGNORANT,
OF NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN, AND HIS CHUGHTAI MUSEUM.

It is noticeable for a long time. There was an elite  who fostered our country and its ideology. And there arose another group of elite, who continuously spoke of our country in perspective of geography only. It started with the role of MI 6 itself. The British left with their cronies behind, to muddle the Ideology of Pakistan. And to steal the Art treasures of Pakistan. This was told to me by Basil Gray, former Curator of British Museum, who inaugurated one of our shows in 1977, and was looking forward to curating a show of Chughtai Art in Teheran of the Shahbanou Foundation. I have written about it many times.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai died on 17th January, 1975, and we immediately began a world tour of promoting him. On 17th January, 1976, we held our first show. We have held more than 65 shows in the last fifty years. We helped hundreds of students and scholars to research on Chughtai Art. From many who did their PHDS on Chughtai Art, to even high school students writing on Chughtai Sahib. Endless list and signed affidavits with us. We started various publications on Lahore and Abdur Rahman Chughtai. First for  some years BEAUTY series. Later NATIONS IN ACTION series. We invited world class scholars from all over the world here to give lectures on Chughtai art. Later we started a blog which to date was seen in 204 countries, with total views of 696,727 from all over the world. For instance 77,975 views from USA and 79,306 views from even India. A few hundred views from even Israel and Cuba. And yet there are groups who totally ignore us.

So who is behind controlling our adverse narrations? Foreign lobbies with their paid agents here.

A number of so called morons struts the streets of Lahore, looking for any signs of Hindu temples and Hindu Havelis. Not understanding that decline of Muslims in Lahore started after the 1857 Mutiny. The walls of Lahore were brought down, the gates demolished, and the gallis widened so that no uprising could take place. Muslims were stressed out, a poverty class overnight.Muslim households could not even sustain the houses they lived in. We are not merely patriotic p[eople, we are patriotic to the Spirit of Islam. Dr Allama Iqbal wrote the RECONSTRUCTION lectures to guide us for future at all times. All we and the adverse group can think of is belittle our national icons, including Dr Allama Iqbal and Quaid e Azam. It is a fight between SOULS and SOULLESS people. Even Amrita Sher Gill honoured Dr Allama Iqbal by making a photograph of him in Paris. Romance is created of atheists who do not even believe in Allah, how can they believe in Pakistan? 

Abdur Rahman Chughtai, the legend who introduced the word Chughtai Art for a beautiful girl in Urdu vocabulary, as reflected in many films of that time, when the hero calls his beloved as  Chughtai art.  The artist who put Lahore on the art map of the  world again. An artist who designed insignias for Pakistan, and an art which western scholars called him MODERN MASTER OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION. A true native of Lahore from the last many generations, and spineless authors are afraid of even giving his name, for retribution from Masters. A spotless character, who Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, designated as the NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN.

CHUGHTAI MUSEUM faced the wrath of various governments in Pakistan, at both Federal and provincial level. Not for anything we have done, but our motivations of welfare of not only Pakistan, but its Ideology. When two penny junkies speak against our country, it boils us down. Stop it! Love Pakistan, or leave Pakistan. We do not need lunatics like you here, who cut the branch on which they stand. Pakistan is the Islamic Republic, the first step towards a better world.

P.S.

Poet Neelum Chaudri, please learn more about Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Chughtai Museum. It is not a world of ignorance.

THE SPIRITUAL GODDESS OF MUGHAL KINGDOM JAHAN ARA
DAUGHTER OF AN EMPEROR LIFE DEDICATED TO COMMONERS
MOTHER BURIED IN TAJ MAHAL, SHE BURIED IN SINGLE GRAVE

Books can be written on Jahan Ara and books have been written, but she herself wrote books and also wrote verses. No Diwan has come out so far, but her takhallus was BEGUM SAHIBA and verses have been recovered from various sources. Some of her books are found here and there, mostly on Muslim Saints of our region. Chughtai Museum is proud to possess one of her books, written probably by Dara Shikoh himself and the final copy, her presentation to her father Emperor Shah Jahan in Jamia Masjid, Delhi. All this is recorded on the manuscript itself.

The calligrapher is AINEE. No Ainee is known, but we do know that due to her love for brother Dara Shikoh, she used to call him Ain, or in more personal terms as Ainee. The reference to Dara Shikoh in the book is written simply and she in her own hands has corrected the attributes, which shows that Dara did not regard his name in a royal way and she corrected it.

The Manuscript of Munis Arwah is only one of three 17th century manuscripts known to exist. As the book was written in 1049 AH 1640 AD, the two others found are different. An Autograph copy is known to exist in Lucknow but of a later date. There is a beautiful Ms in Azamgarh dated 1068 AH. But ours is the earliest Manuscript known and is dated 1051 AH, although the presentation part to Emperor Shah Jahan is later, both in Ajmer as well as in Jamia Masjid Delhi. Ours stands as the rarest and very very beautiful and elegantly written.

A lot is said about Jahan Ara and we will write more but where we introduce a rare manuscript of hers, we also reproduce the verses she wrote on the death of her father:

“Oh thou Sun of mine that hast hidden thyself from my eyes,
Will there ever be a morning to this night of separation.
Thou monarch of the world and qibla of existence,
Open thine eye of mercy and behold our condition.
I cry in sorrow and it availeth me nothing,
I burn like the candle in anguish and there is smoke in my head.”

Jahan Ara is the epitome of our women hood and to this days fathers love to name their daughters after the spiritual goddess of Mughal kingdom.