ONE LOOKING AT PICTURES IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE;
VARIOUS VIEWS OF CHUGHTAI ART IN LOCAL CONDITIONS.

In 1977 Basil Gray, Curator of British Museum was our guest here in Lahore. It was not only an entertaining visit but enlightening for me in various ways. Many discussions were held with him. An important aspect of any pictorial art is, who is viewing it, and in which circumstances. I never thought that would be important but I was in store for great revelations.

ART FOR RELIGIOUS SAKE

We could start from pictorial art in caves, anything from a few thousand to thousands of years back. Even twenty thousand years back. There are works on walls, or on ceilings, but who gets to view same? Why viewed at all? Obviously dark conditions,  camp fire lights, or hand held torches? Gifts to evoke gods to  be kind for hunt, or engender motivation in fellow hunters. Or to drive away evil spirits. But the idea never changed. Religious worship. Same applied to enhanced cave art on walls like Ajanta and Ellora. And even still for events. From Cave to Churches. In Churches artists like Michelangelo carried out his magic for delicately placed candles to pray to God for blessing. In all ways Art for religious sake. Never forget that all the West or Hindu traditions carried was Art for Religious sake.

ART FOR ART’S SAKE

On other hands, Muslims started things in different ways. A normal development for more than 200 years and then rigid Mullahs created fancy stories, which overshadowed Quranic convictions, and outlawed pictorial art itself. It was not the Quranic truth but engendered by obstinate Mullahs for centuries.  Once forbidden for them was having photographs taken, now delighted themselves on live TV all the time. The allergic Mullah fell in love with his own image, and even rickshaws on street roads carry a plethora of Mullah faces.

The story of Islam goes further. Umayyads sponsored paintings on walls but were meant for enjoyment of Kings and Queens. Ghaznavis had horse ridden warriors and ministers painted on walls and throne rooms. Even Sultan Masood Ghaznavi sponsored an erotic room works for sexual enjoyment. Threat from father made him destroy the room. But later on the terms led to miniatures for the Kings and the nobility to enjoy volumes on elephant back or on horseback or campfires. Meant for individual viewing. Or few gathered around albums. A new age was meant to come eventually.

Basil Gray told me the concept of paintings hanging on walls in frames is a new phenomena. It is not ages old. And for the first time the pictures were meant to be hung in a gallery or a museum, for view of many. He added Chughtai Art is essentially a development in hanging wall art. To be viewed at a minimum distance, under artificial light conditions. This determines a larger size for the painting and details which will match the exposition circumstances.

The Art of M.A. Rahman Chughtai can be divided as:

1. Watercolour paintings.
2. Pencil sketches.
3. Etchings and Aquatints.
4. Dust covers for books.
5. Insignias for organizations.

Looking at them requires different perspectives. We have talked of watercolor paintings as a framed hanging art in a museum gallery. Pencil sketches require lesser viewing distance because of the delicacy of the work. Etchings and Aquatints fall into hanging art but their viewing distance is lesser too. Dust covers are books distributed and are a one to one view of the reader. Insignias are spread over the Media like PTV, Radio Pakistan, Alhamra, Pakistan Flower Society, and even aspects of PIA. Art and designs used for cards of various types, are distributed on a much larger scale. An example is given of each. Enjoy them at all levels.

In looking at pictures the light is very important too. In a leading museum abroad, they had to remove Rembrandt for some reasons. They were surprised that each Rembrandt picture changed meaning in different lights. Daylight, artificial light, all mattered. Harry Norman Eccleston told me that they experimented with different bulbs, but the best bulb, least damaging and brilliant, was the simpler household bulb. Full credit to the old one.  We will talk of the materials used in Chughtai Art later. OfCourse that matters too.

Chughtai Art is best viewed in original at a distance of five to six feet. And so if it is framed. Plastic non reflective is not good for it. Glass is best, but genuine quality with no streaks in it. Once Belgium made, now China has caught up with quality. Looking at Chughtai Art is a unique experience, and inevitably the viewer falls in love with the Chughtai World.

A FOURTH CENTURY GUPTA SEAL FROM LAHORE (QUESTION)
MAHARAJA MAHESVARANAGA SON OF NAGA BHATTA
SOLD BY BAHADUR SHAH OF MOCHI GATE LAHORE

The story narrated by J.K. Fleet, recorder of Gupta Inscriptions goes like this. Yes, sixteen hundred years ago, there was Gupta period King by name of Maharaja Mahesvaranaga son of Naga Bhatta. There was a copper seal made by him. It was 1 1/4 inches high, 1/16 inches thick, oval shape of 1 7/8 inches by 1 5/8 inches, with a weight of 2 1/4 ozs, and it was unique in many ways. Obviously it had a cow on it, sitting on a straight line upturned at ends, with a hooded snake (No head to this snake, perhaps a stick of some mythological source) on its lower end and the name of the Raja as we know it. But the strangest part is that it had a CRESCENT on it. A crescent, a rising moon, the sign of Islamic civilization. In Hinduism we have the celebration of AMAVASYA and PURNIMA and I wonder if a coin legend is named after same. But if it was sixteen hundred years old, where did the Islam came from? The 1600 years conjecture is due to paleographical evidence only. That means the evidence of the writing and as it is Sanskrit, the presumed period of that writing. The writing is rather rough and not very calligraphic or beautiful in its flow. I think we can go further than that.

In 418-419 AH Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi issued a silver dirham at Lahore, at that time named as MAHMUDPUR. It had both languages on it. Islamic represented by Arabic and Hinduism represented by Sanskrit. We hear of Raja Jaipal ruling Lahore who was of BHATTI origin. Even today a gate of Lahore is named after Bhattis, namely Bhatti Gate, Lahore. Here we are told of a Raja by the name of NAGA BHATTA, a missing link in the history of Lahore.

The story of antique dealer Bahadur Shah is well known to us. He was the only person in Lahore dealing in antiques at that time. He had no penchant for getting things from elsewhere. His sources were Lahore itself. When General Cunningham bought this SEAL from him, and did not record its source, it is established that the source of the Seal was Lahore itself. A Bhatti Maharajah of Lahore is no coincidence. It is very well possible. In 1888 it was not possible to gather other evidence, but in the present times, more reliable dating can be given to the Seal. For us it is the earliest record of a Maharajah from Lahore itself., To confuse his use of the name NAGA as with the semi divine race of Nagas, who lived according to legend under the earth, is a mere speculation. Naga is a symbol of respect for Hindus and named after a snake is no confusion for divinity. The name of this Raja appears nowhere else. For us it is a rare break through of knowledge about Lahore.

THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY IS OF MANY LAYERS:
WITHOUT NEED TO EXPLORE ALL, RELY ON ONE,
THAT DEFINES YOUR NATION AND SUPERSEDES,
YES, CHUGHTAI ART IS DEFINITELY ONLY PAKISTAN. 

After the grand founding and inauguration of Alhamra Arts Council in Lahore, the world cultural event of the Chughtai Show in 1949, when all the Ambassadors in Karachi flew to Lahore to see the same. Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin was the Chief Guest. An event took place where Chughtai Art became a subject of discussion. Extended by his friend Dr Muhammd Din Taseer, the intellectuals of the city gathered around a gathering to discuss the same. A great event in pictorial art was led by a great event of discussion. Nobody could question the Identity of the Event. But all spoke on positive scale. No one doubted the Identity of Pakistan. 

The direction of the Ideology of Pakistan was as clear as crystal. International lobbies understood this well. There was a need to displace everything that had ideological mooring. Art was under direct scrutiny. A group of young artists were engendered, imported and forced onto the audience. Their claim was very wide. Western art was to be forced onto Pakistan by imitating it in one way or the other. Even their costumes reflected same in shape of jeans, french beards and smoking pipes. National preferences unaccounted. Modern artists wished to give modern images of themselves. Another great change was the shift of water colour painting to oil based works in Pakistan. Various artists handled it in their way, but certainly they were being patronized to upset the existing reality. The 1949 grand show of Chughtai artist upset-ed Shemza. Anwar Jalal Shemza boldly said at Alhamra that he was there to uproot Chughtai artist, and he was heard not by few, but even by my cousin, who tells me the same all the time. Although Chughtai does not take the name, an attendant (guess whom?) of a lecture, he gave at Alhamra, heckled him about his art being Indian and not Pakistani. The reply of the artist was simple, “It was Chughtai Art then, it is Chughtai Art now!”. Did they achieve their goal? They tried their best, now lobbies are trying their best for them.

One big difference between Chughtai Art and others was the fact that M.A. Rahman Chughtai was well known particularly in Muslim world of India as an exceptionally great artist.  He had a big following not only in artistic circles but was groomed famous in the public too. It can be ascertained from the fact that his news was carried by magazines, newspapers as well as films. The bizarre thing was that when the hero used to address the heroine, in praise of her he would refer to her as Chughtai Art. The most extraordinary thing was that in the Urdu lexicon the term Chughtai Art was itself synonymous with beautiful. So not only the term but the artist was well known. In fact he was so much a legend that it was often confused as to which age he was a part off. This identity naturally transformed itself as a NATIONAL IDENTITY of Muslim India. On other hand as Chughtai Art was an evolution of other arts well familiar with the masses like the Sultanate and Mughal Art. Chughtai Art was even before the birth of Pakistan termed the Identity of Pakistan. And Lahore was always the Art and Cultural Center of India. The artist always attached Lahore with his name, even in his signature. 

The idea of an Arts and Cultural centre was formed in Lahore at the house of Begum Shahnawaz. In all cases Abdur Rahman Chughtai was there. And not to miss all Arts Councils in Pakistan were a result of his thinking as well as inaugurated with Chughtai Shows. These included Lahore Arts Council, Peshawar Arts Council, Karachi Arts Council and even Dacca Arts Council. His great friend General Azam Khan was Governor of East Pakistan and Dacca Arts Council was opened with two artists Zainul Abedeen and Abdur Rahman Chughtai. In his speech General Azam Khan narrated the importance of Chughtai in the field of art in Pakistan. Today Chughtai Art is well respected in Bangladesh and geographical separation did not separate the Ideological togetherness of both wings.

Today Chughtai Art is represented all over the world. For instance there are four Chughtai works at the Pakistani desk in the US State Department. A painting at International Court of Justice Peace Palace Hague. A painting in Kennedy memorial in Boston. Museums all over the world. And they speak of the Pakistani Identity in a big way. The same way the first postal stamp of Pakistan paved the way for many others. 

Most artists require signatures and seals of authenticity. Not so for Chughtai Art. Stack a Chughtai design in a pavement of books and magazines. Display a Chughtai insignia anywhere. Stamps or on media. Hang a Chughtai art work with hundreds of others. And you can pick a Chughtai even with a blind dye. He was hesitant in putting a signature to his art. He claimed my art in itself is a signature. It is enough to be recognized. Call it Islamic Abstraction, or Pakistani Identity, or anything else. It is Chughtai and it can be recognized. And a lot of pseudo artists and critics are paved in hell with that recognition. Masters do not come after some days. As Dr Allama Iqbal said, “The flower Narcissus cries for a thousand years without light of insight; With great difficulty is born an insightful one in the garden.”

PSEUDO CRITICS WITH NO CAPACITY FOR AESTHETICS; 
SOCIETY UNTRAINED SYMBOLISM OF PICTORIAL ART.
OBSESSIVE FOREIGN WRITERS UNDOING FOUNDATIONS;
CHALLENGING ICONIC ARTIST M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI.

My father the artist M.A. Rahman Chughtai was the gift of Allah to this society. After a visit to Europe in 1932 and 1937, he came firmly to believe that he would create Art Revolution in Pakistan. Malik Shamas the Curator of Lahore Museum used to say this society can dissect a poetic verse in a hundred and one ways, but they have no capacity to do the same for pictorial art. I see that here in my fifty years of exhibition shows and innumerable  people visiting us. Our people dress in most fashionable ways possible and stand in the center of gallery to attract attention to themselves, and in one sweep can look at all the paintings, and literally get nothing from them. The word can be “Beautiful” and things like that and this was the complaint of my father. You need to look at a painting for a period of time to understand it. Leonardo da Vinci created the Mona Lisa and to this day people talk about its intricacies and unsaid messages. A layer of meanings in works of all Masters, and certainly the same applies to Chughtai Art. I have myself seen a British artist and critic, Heather Bolton spending hours on five of Chughtai’s unfinished works, relishing the pleasure of same, and even thanking me with a note after flying home.

The most amazing thing about people with low aesthetic levels  and no capacity for art appreciation, is that they jump on the conspiratorial wagon. Certainly a Pakistani lobby is working for a British agency. How can anyone jump to opinion without even looking at a handful of works? Throughout I invited people posing as critics and art appreciators to come and view Chughtai Art in original. About eighty percent of his creation is with us. People form an opinion by looking superficially at some of his published works. They see nothing, for their perceptions are not cultivated by culture and history. Influx of Western world and ideas have already dulled their own cultural spirit. The world of Chughtai Art is a world on its own. No relation to any other world. The figures are unique and belong to all categories of life, rich and poor, kings and faqeers, young and old, men and women, individuals and groups, dressed and undressed, and expected and totally unexpected.  Endless parade of a vision. He had to create a platform for his work. Of Course the works are all related to the East, more particularly Islamic East. But the visuals are all designed by him, based on particulars of no actual period. It is a Chughtai’s world. It remains so, untouched by time itself.

As Chughtai has said himself, all his works start from a story, which comes to his mind. A story of interaction of people both in family home settings as well as pastoral surroundings. Or any other imagined situation. But the same is not representational as a photographic record. It has two unique features unknown to Islamic art. It has a behavioural element to the interaction of people. And this psychological impact is best expressed by him through a millionth variation of mouth and eyes. Gentle twists of mouth, as well as eyes, from closed ones to open ones, and various in-between. Expressions which belie a great or ordinary painting. No one can copy these even if they decide to trace the original. The difference is so minute. The second impact is the composition of the body. A body which is not truly representational of human body with elongated fingers, hands, legs, and postures. The Chughtai world is a world where he fashions the body to his own perfection.

The Artist of the East was in a position to mock Aristotle’s Golden Mean, with a body fashioned in his art ranging from both extremes, the most or the least. We note that:

“The golden ratio, also known as the golden mean or divine proportion, is a mathematical ratio (approximately 1:1.618) found in nature and art, believed to create visually pleasing and harmonious compositions. It can be used to determine the proportions of elements within a piece, creating a sense of balance and aesthetic appeal.”

The proportions in Chughtai art capture its most harmony. On this back note, the artist spins his story.

So after the story what happens, on a small scrap of paper the work is roughly conceived in perception. Chughtai never sits idle. He has a number of these scraps to play with in time. Eventually he decides to dive in one and enlarges it to his regular version of cut position of Imperial size paper. The form is there, the details missing. An archive of 3000 pencil sketches tells us how busy he was, as he himself stated that if his life is limited by eighty years of age, he cannot complete even his already drawn works if he lives to another eighty years. And the subjects are overwhelming. At times they look unbelievable. His photographic eyes move in positions unimaginable by most artists, and least of all pseudo critics, who have no aesthetics to understand them.

Once upon a time the world viewed artist Chughtai in different light. The newer world view is different. Stressing on some vague concepts as Global art, the point of view is to ridicule anything that brings identity to a nation. In Pakistan the National Identity is the first step towards a Modern Islamic Identity. This was a small note in the ideas of critic Ms Simone Willie in 2015 and 2017. She wrote in her book “Modern Art in Pakistan”:

“Despite his contact with Calcutta and the Bengal School, Chughtai emphasized his connection to Lahore and promoted the idea of a Punjab School, or Lahore School, consisting of Muslim artists. With decolonization, the growing consciousness of a Muslim cultural position as opposed to a nascent Hindu nationalist construction came to define an important element of modernism  for South Asian artists.”

This new “sense of place” was certainly resented by modern critics pining to undo all identity feeling from the new country Pakistan by placing it as a mere step of a 5000 years old heritage. Ms Simone Willie did call here to discuss same with me, but could not undo my firm belief in the Identity crisis being deliberately created, by resuscitating the forlorn world of Shakir Ali and others as champion of Pakistani forward movement. Most of these artists came to Pakistan much later 1947 with their brand of mission, sponsored by agencies to undo the spirit of Pakistan. Copyists copying the West, aping things which had no relevance for them or for Pakistan. These artists engendered despair in the country. Their own record is open to research. Less said here!

A lot of world critics concentrate on me as well. Ifftikhar Dadi has written to me often and sought help in matters. Partha Mittar called here and went very happy. And some have mixed reactions. Perhaps the agenda is different. A very nice lady, Gemma Sharpe is an English woman, teaching art in an American University. A strange dilemma she is working on with a message of Global arts. She visited us and would not agree on concepts of National Art. It is best to let her reproduce her views in her own words:

My ongoing book project, Modernist Agencies: Art and Cold War Culture in Pakistan is forthcoming and has been supported by the Modernist Studies Association, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, among others.  

“My scholarship is invested in global exhibition and museum histories, legacies of Cold War internationalism, and modern art’s relationship to institutions, especially of the state. My specific area of focus is modern and contemporary art from Pakistan and its diasporas.

My in-progress first book, Modernist Agencies: Art and Cold War Politics in Pakistan, shows how artists in Pakistan and by extension pre-1971 Bangladesh navigated the shifting, overlapping, and often contradictory concepts of the “nation” and the “state” during the late-colonial and postcolonial decades. The book offers a deeply archival study of modernist art in Pakistan and pre-1971 Bangladesh that uses exhibition and institutional case studies to provide a synthetic view of modernism in this context. It shows how artists moved knowingly and strategically through forces of institutional and state co-option in the postcolonial decades. Gemma Sharpe. “

A series of discourses on Chughtai Art follows and must be read one by one. Obviously the written agenda is bigger than a blog can capture in few words. I will try my best to pick up all the necessary narrations. There is Art in Pakistan and there is Pakistani Art. It is time to take the Art Gimmickry at its roots of destroying the foundations of a growing nation. Modern definition of Pakistan. Blessings of Allah be upon us!

THE STRANGE HISTORY OF AN INSCRIPTION IN MARGALLA;
REPRESENTING LOST BUILDING REST HOUSE ON HIGHWAY,
WORK OF MUHABBAT KHAN BY LUTUFULLAH AHMAD MUHANDIS.

“A very dangerous area, recognized by authorities, including Emperor Jahangeer as an area of “MAR GALLA”, means that dacoits used to cut the necks of travellers and were in the attention of authorities. Some translate it as “Mar” plundered and “galla” as goods caravan. It was decided by Governor Muhabbat Khan to make this place safe by building a palace type of rest house on this important highway. The Chief architect Ustad Ahmad Mimar was dead by 1649, but his son Lutufullah Muhandis was there, and given the job of construction of same. In time all the construction vanished but high above the mountain, the inscription remained for all to see.

It was noticed by passersby and most importantly by many scholars.The list includes Delmerik in 1871, Rehatsek in 1874, and then Shams ul Ulama Jivanji Jamshidji Modi in 1918. Being a person of some distinction, he had it copied and he printed his version of same. With time various scholars mentioned it and wrote their version of its transliteration. People like Dr Abdullah Chaghatai, Colonel Rasheed, and even Ahmad Nabi Khan. The problem was that various important words were chipped off and led to confusion in its translation. But Ahmad Nabi Khan took the bold step of removing it and placing it in the corridors of Lahore Fort. It was seen there for some years, and then disappeared again. Not traceable at present moment.  

The only issue was the architect. Governor Muhabbat Khan’s name was obvious. The Margalla pass was obvious. The poet who wrote it was named “Mughal” and that was obvious, but not known at present. The architect was challenging, as the named Ustad Ahmad Mimar was not alive in 1083 AH. He had died in 1059 AH. Colonel Rasheed came up with the solution PUR AHMAD MIMAR. It was ascertained that at times the person who wrote his name as that SON OF AHMAD MIMAR was no one else then Lutufullah Ahmad Muhandis, his beloved son. He was in the habit of writing his name like that, particularly where it would be on public display.

Life changes. Time passes. Written things outlive other things. Inscriptions and manuscripts beat the test of time. Who could have understood that the whole monument would disappear and the inscription would remain. It too travelled with time. I  always search for it. Perhaps it will be discovered again. But few care. Most people do  not care about anything. But history remains!  

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.