OUR SHARING WITH OTHERS, LEAD OTHERS SHARE WITH US
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST SENT BIZARRE IMAGE FOR REFLECTION

In some ages past, a Buddhist woman decided to pay homage to Lord Buddha. Homage could be anything but the best homage was considered to be sacrifice. One could sacrifice anything, but the more close the sacrificed, the more the spirituality. So she cut her ear and placed it in a Stupa and then closed the enclosure after her offering. Powder resin was put on her ear to stop the bleeding. That is one version. Another version that the said lady did something evil in the eyes of the Head monk and he had her ear cut and placed in the Stupa as homage to Lord Buddha. There could be other versions. But a fossilized ear flesh, with perforations for many rings. Some silver, blackened with age. Some in gold ever fresh. Some pearls still shining and blue topaz ever bright. And decayed fossilized flesh for the ages.

The turmoil of war, the fighters leaving things in dust. Razing stupas to the ground. One of them putting his hand n a small clay enclosure and senses metal. The ear came out and he put it in his pocket. The Kabul market, foreigners from all over the world buying trinkets. Haggling and things like that. The result the ear leaves the home country and fly away to another land. The man who bought it literally forgot it for years and years. It had to come out. The supposition is some garage sale.

We love to share things on the internet and people love to share things with us. We were sent this bizarre and fantastic image of a cut ear of a Buddhist woman long dead and gone. It was an omen of love on one hand and repulsion on the other hand. A degraded human flesh is not easy to digest. But we saw the image. We inspected the image. Our blog is about Art and Pakistan. The field of Buddhism is not our field, We are no scholars. We are no experts. But there is a dignity in the ear. Centuries after the death, a Buddhist homage still there.

The lady made an offering to Lord Buddha and asked for his help in her daily life. Perhaps we too can ask Lord Buddha to help us in our hour of distress as we fight the rancid corruption of our times, out to demolish an iconic museum of Pakistan. The will of Allah is in all things. The Divine Principles. Perhaps the sacrifice of an ear of a woman will help us in our time of need.

THE SO CALLED ALI SINBADE KING OF LAHORE 1795
FRENCH OFFICER CAPTAIN TRINQUART ACCOSTS HIM
A DYNAMIC SCENE FROM THE UNKNOWN PAST

On 23rd June, 1838, the National Library of France added a PRINT to their register of prints in the library. The subject was a French Army Officer Captain Trinquart, and his disposition in India. He is being presented to the King of Lahore, whose name is given as King Ali Sinbade. Apparently the French Officer had been sent to India by General Napoleon Bonaparte. We do know that Napoleon Bonaparte had offered military support to Sultan of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, and had sent contingents there too. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 and died in 1821. His reign in featured as from 1804 to 1814. Captain Trinquart period would be around that period. Tipu Sultan was born in 1750 and died in 1799. Captain Trinquart should be there in India from 1795 to 1799. Details are anybody’s guess.

Our concern is that the meeting of Captain Trinquart with the King of Lahore. Is it mere a legendary meeting or it is concerned with historical facts. We do know that the period of 1795 to 1799 is a period of acute disturbances in Lahore. The three Sikh Chieftains had captured Lahore, but to what degree, Actually nothing is very clearly known. Were there pockets of previous Muslim rule still there? Anybody’s guess. The name Ali Sinbade looks imaginary too. But the Print does not. The mosque at the back is very clearly of Lahori origin. More like the Badshahi Mosque Lahore. The King also looks very real as well as his subjects. Not one Sikh in the audience. All faces look Mughal. Even the dresses are more appropriate as well as the tent of the King. Contrary to many prints made in those days, there are features of reality here.

Our effort is to introduce unknown documentation of Lahore. If we do that, we feel successful. Obviously it is meant for research, but till then, it is also meant o be enjoyed as a missing chapter of Lahore.

We add details from the National library here:

… HAS yielded 3 references in the listings of prints and photographs of the newspaper Bibliography La France (1811-1881), ict predecessor General Journal of Prints and Libraries (Dec. 1810 to Sept. 1811), the registers of the legal deposit of prints , 1795-1811, and the surviving registers of prints and photographs which were refused authorization for publication prior to 1870. Copies of most Of the works of the National Library of France, where they may be discovered today. Please note:

ImofFr no. 28817.   Bibliog. Of 23 June 1838 , no. 533 – Beautiful actions of Captain Trinquart, n. 1 to 4, lithog. In Paris, at {Maezani}, rue de la Cité, n. 25.

AND

Tipu again made a proposal in October 1797 through Malartic, the Governor of Ile de France (Mauritius).^[19] Malartic, who could not deplete his forces in Ile de France, sent a group of 150 volunteers in the frigate La Preneuse, on 7 March 1798.^[20] La Preneuse arrived in Mangalore in April 1798.^[21] A group of French officers numbering 124, under the Command of Michel Raymond, was also leading an army of 14,000 for the Nizam, Subhadar of the Deccan Ali Khan Asaf Jah II, but they were neutralized following British diplomatic intervention.^[22]

AND

There exists a French cemetery in Harohalli, where the French who came to aid Tippu Sultan are buried. The beautiful cemetery is more than 250 years old, but sadly lies in a state of neglect, with most graves vandalised by the local people. The French soldiers and family members died either by malaria, fatigue or in battle. The land for the French cemetery was granted by Tippu Sultan. Only 35 graves exist at present and most of them in a bad state. The locals have vandalised the graves to remove the iron grills, bricks, metal plaques and expensive marble. Many graves are left without any headstone.^[33]

A PRIVATE DIARY OF QUAID E AZAM’S VISIT TO LAHORE 1940
RARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF PUBLIC EXUBERANCE AND NAMING
MUHAMMED ALI JINNAH AS QUAID E AZAM FOREVER

Photographs say everything. The crowds not there for any monetary advantage as in today’s world, or even eating free meals. The exuberance of the crowd for the Pakistani Identity. However enough vested interests may malign it today, it is in the heart and soul of people and it come s alive after every martyrdom. Beware enemies of Pakistan! The flame of love for Pakistan is not gone anywhere. You have stifled it with crushing the people in harassment of every days life. Making every official venture difficult, standing in lines. No jobs or remuneration in sight. BUT LOVE REIGNS! Want to test it. Make some foolish attempt again and we will wipe you away from the face of earth. That is our promise to all enemies of Pakistan.

AN UNRECORDED AUTOGRAPH QURAN OF HAZRAT MIAN MEER LAHORI
IN THE ARCHIVES OF CHUGHTAI MUSEUM AWAITING PROPER RESEARCH
PERHAPS THE BLESSINGS OF ALLAH THROUGH HAZRAT MIAN MEER BE UPON US!

History records many things. Many facts are lost in history. That is life. We have never heard of Hazrat Mian Meer Lahori as a calligrapher but certainly a person who has studied the Quran as well as Deeni books, must be well versed in writing same. It came as a total surprise when we came across a Quran, the initial part somewhat damaged, with a couple of pages missing in all. But the Surat Fateh is there intact. It is sprinkled with gold throughout and has seven golden naqashi pages. The calligrapher has his own individual way of writing his name, different from the usual calligraphers. It is clearly written SHEIKH MEER LAHORI. The date was written but only KHUMAS can be read with ease, meaning Five. The numerical THREE as separate can also be read too. As Hazrat Mian Meer died in 1045 AH, it lead to our research in the date as follows. The word Khumas means FIVE, and we see the THREE fit in like this. The Quran is dated 1043 AH and means FIFTH JALOOS. The date 1043 AH translates as 1633 AD, and as Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1628 AD, it clearly means the fifth year of his reign. A word can be read as zil ul QAD. This clearly shows that it was written about two years before his death.

The calligraphy is of thicker line, not that of a professional calligrapher with a thinner line to work on. It is the work of a calligrapher who is not a professional one, as most calligraphers would write in a different way. The calligrapher instead of the usual way of expression is writing of himself in a different way too. Not Katba Malik ul Wahab but Baid Al-Mazneeb. The calligrapher endorses the Prophet (PBUH) as well as Hazrat Ali in his elucidation. The Khatimah Quran is slightly different than the normal one elucidated in Hadees literature. These small points all point to the special nature of writing of the Quran.

The Quran was damaged in time but some follower and well wisher repaired it in his own way, but not up to the mark in any way. Even chips missing of the text were filled with missing writing. Surprisingly the binding is intact with a big poetic SEAL on it. We have not been able to read all of it but individually many words can be read, and it means a poetic stanza of same. One clear word is QALANDER, one is LUTUF, one is ILM, one is perhaps KHADIAM, and so on. It is there as an attachment. A rough reading could be KHADIAM AHAL ILM NAM UMEED LUTUF IRAM BANDOBAST QALANDER. People can try to complete the poetic stanza, perhaps it is a sentence which Hazrat Mian Meer used extensively in his life time. Our object is to surprise people, so that they can enjoy the unexpected and appreciate our work in the matter. Perhaps as we have preserved the sacred writing of Hazrat Mian Meer, he can preserve our museum from demolition by the bandits of our times. Allah hamari madad karey! Ameen.

BY IMPOSING DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS ON PEOPLE IS NOTHING LESS THAN A SIN
UTILIZING JEWISH NARRATIVES AND HOLLYWOOD SPECTACULARS FOR PESSIMISM

The mention of KIAMAT in the Holy Quran refers to an event that with our limited knowledge we cannot really understand in full. Suffice that one dimension would be lost and it would be BEGINNING IN ANOTHER DIMENSION. Optimism here not pessimism. Every one would be brought back to life. And this event, this Kiamat, nobody knows about it, nor can anybody predict it. It is a secret reserved by Allah for own self. We have not been given privy to that information. We cannot even guess when that event would occur in real life. The promise of Allah is there that everyone will be resuscitated in that dimension.

Stephen Hawking have given us 100 years to leave this Planet and find another place to live. Would we behave different with that place? Are we not carrying our abnormalities of destruction into space already? Our politicians excel in land grabbing here. That quest is being extended into space too. STOP THIS NONSENSE. This curse of a berated democracy is bringing up not morons and nincompoops in our country, the same is everywhere. Low intellect people dominating world politics, and coupled with that low intellect, LACK OF COMPASSION. The three main behavioural traits of Allah is of being MOST BENEFICENT, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE. We need politicians who have COMPASSION for humankind, not quest for amassing Wealth on their own. Stop this tirade of demoralizing our next generations. After all PARADISE is there in the future too!

M.A. Rahman Chughtai used to recite this before we went to bed., IF KIAMAT COMES AND A GARDENER HAS A PLANT IN HIS HAND TO SOW, WHAT SHOULD HE DO? DISCARD IT OR PLANT IT. AND MY FATHER ALWAYS USED TO SAY GARDENER ROLE IS TO PLANT, IT IS ALLAH ROLE FOR IT TO GROW OR NOT. PLANT IT WITH FULL CONFIDENCE. That is hope and optimism. Forget these vested interests with worst scenarios to predict. Allah is responsible for life. Allah will sustain us tomorrow. And Pakistan is a gift from Allah. No one can take this gift from us. The best Army in the world with meager resources guarantee that for us. Pak Army Zindabad. Pakistan Forever!

IN THE FOOT STEPS OF THE LEGACY OF QUAID E AZAM
BEST RELATIONS WITH ALL AND WORLD PEACE IN FULL

We are all human beings. Whatever principles we may follow, we yearn for similar things. It is WORLD PEACE that drives human kind forward in life. War and destruction is no answer to anything. Killing innocent people is the worst crime of humanity. Accepting different ways of life as natural is normal in existence. The whole world can never be the same. Differences will be there. But the essential qualities which make humankind human is the same. I have traveled to different countries and different cities and found different cultures. Happiness come from small things in life. Amassing wealth never guarantees happiness. Contentment is helping others, rather than feasting on the share of others.

Americans contrary to perceptions are very loving and friendly people. The vested media tried its best to make them paranoid, but they shine out in human values. In the 1960s ROSE STONE was an active PEACE MAKER of San Francisco. Today Lisa Schultz is doing the same thing. Using Art to promote comradeship in the world. When Americans feel that their Government is moving in wrong direction, they react and come out on the streets. Imposing your values on others is the recipe for disaster. Respecting other viewpoints (no need to agree to them) is the first mature step towards comradeship. I received this letter from an American lady. Read it and understand. I have never met her, and she feels for our museum. She writes:

“My heart is breaking and I can’t stop crying at the injustice of what is being done to you. I want to help in any way I can. DO NOT DESTROY YOUR FATHER’S WORK!! Ship it here to the US and I give you my word I will protect it all with my life before I allow anything to happen to the beauty your father created. The racism and bigotry I have witnessed lately makes me so afraid for the next generation, with the hatred over so many meaningless things dividing them. When you wrote me last about the possibility of the museum being closed I thought it was surely just a threat from those corrupt people that want to control you…although I have prayed for your safety I truly did not think it could or would happen and I can’t quit crying. I’m here to help you, however you need me. Please tell me how I can help you save your father’s legacy and all that you have worked your whole life to preserve. “

When others can cry for you, can our people cry too? The shame in indulging in demolition of the prestige of the country. Some one has to rise! We urge the judiciary to save us from catastrophe!

ENIGMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES AND LACK OF QUESTIONS ABOUT ICONIC LEGACY
THERE WERE NO FINANCIAL PACKAGES OR GREED IN THE LEGACY OF ISLAMIC ICONS

I was sitting in the drawing room of the Prime Ministers House in Rawalpindi in 1976, and having a candid talk with Mrs Nusrat Bhutto, wife of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was in the adjacent room watching us. Mrs Bhutto was kind enough to show me the bedroom of the Prime Minister and three paintings of M.A. Rahman Chughtai hung on top of the bed. They had been acquired from the artist himself, by the then Governor of Punjab, Ghulam Mustafa Khar. Mrs Nusrat Bhutto had a huge file in her hand and I enquired what was it that she was reading from the pages. She looked startled but was candid too. She said it was a file they had made on me. I asked “Who made it?” She said, Dr Muhammed Ajmal, the Head of the Psychology Department, of the Government College, Lahore. I innocently asked if I could look at it. She smiled and said NO. I always wondered about it, till it was read by General Zia ul Haque himself. The Presidents House remained in touch with me.

I was sitting with an American family in Bethesda, and the Head of the house, asked me a question. No actually sought compliance to his query. STOP LOOKING AT THE LEGACY OF YOUR FATHER, MAKE SOMETHING OF YOURSELF ON YOUR OWN. HE WAS A GREAT ARTIST BUT HE IS NOW DEAD. FORGET HIM! I could not believe the statement. I, who patted my father’s back numerous times during his illness, being asked to forgo my legacy. I retorted in a rather brazen way for a very young person. I said perhaps father-in-laws in Pakistan could say things to their prospective son-in-laws, but in the United States, a land of freedom, this retort sounded not only unfair but against the very Ideology of Pakistan.

In last 42 years so many psychological profilers have come to profile me and while they are profiling me, I am profiling them, with their silly habits in trying to be too clever. I have been on this road for a very long time. Petty investigators cannot understand the dynamism of an intellectual mind. Working on set number of questions, devised by foreign lobbies, how can they relate it to our Ideological frontiers? A few days back a funny man was asking me bizarre questions. WHEN I WILL COME FACE TO FACE WITH ALLAH, WHAT WILL I ASK ALLAH? Making dossiers with predictive values is falsehood. The creative genius of humankind is very complex. It will react to stimuli in a number of ways, but conditioned by Islamic legacy, the choice between FIGHT and FLIGHT will be easy to make.

M.A. Rahman Chughtai did not know greed in any way. He suffered all his life but his dignity was intact till the end. He never carried money in his pocket. He hesitated to count money. He would not bear with the idea of our counting the money. His icons started from Hazrat Umar himself, and he could weep by telling us stories about him. There was no greed in Islamic icons. Salah-ud-din Ayubi is reputed by Arab historians to have four coins (Others say forty silver coins and one gold) in his possession and not enough money to pay for even his funeral. The Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb Alamgeer was on the verge of bankruptcy too. One of the reasons it fell was lack of finances. The hoarding of wealth is forbidden by Islam and large deposits left behind, crush the spirit of Islam and reflects capitalism at its worst. Corruption and ruthless fixation with amassing wealth is crushing the spirit of Pakistan. Instead of profiling people, start studying the legacy of Islamic civilization. It may have gone into hiding, but with a blaze of glory it is ready to emerge out any time in our history. The best is yet to be. Pakistan is on towards renaissance. Perhaps it will be a bloody one! Instead of big things, even a small incident can ignite the inferno. Allah forbid such a situation!

M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI AT INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE HAGUE
ATTORNEY GENERAL REQUESTED TO SPEAK WITH PASSION ABOUT INJUSTICES
COMMIT’ED ON THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN BY RUTHLESS TERRORISTS

The works of M.A. Rahman Chughtai acted as Ambassadors of good will and the leaders of Pakistan used the dynamics of Chughtai Art to project Pakistan. Begum Raana Lisquat Ali Khan, the Ambassador of Pakistan, presented a painting of Chughtai to the International Court of Justice and it stands there in Peace Palace Hague, giving full honours to Pakistan. As the guide tours people from all over the world to the Palace, the guide announces the work. A lot of people from Pakistan are applauded there. A number of relatives went there and felt happy at same. I visited the place too, and the Director received me with full honours. I have a picture of the International Court of Justice seated and the painting stands at the back. Applause!

The Indian lobby has been resentful of this work and done their best to even damage it. But the custodians did preserve it. I do not know the latest. But our Attorney General is going there to contest Pakistani case against an Indian terrorist, caught by the brilliance of our Intelligence agencies. The Attorney General should feel encouraged to see Pakistan represented there and do his best to speak the word of international law, yes, but also to reflect the emotions of millions of Pakistanis who lost their loved ones at the hands of this ruthless man. DO NOT LET PAKISTAN DOWN! Not only insaaf should be done, it should be seen as being done. No lapse will be spared by the people of Pakistan. Already people are perceptive enough to sense collusion. Pakistan Forever!

THE 159TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF SALAH MIMAR CHAUGHATA
THE CREATIVE LEGACY IN LAHORE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

Two architects of Herat, namely Yusuf Mimar and Issa Mimar, sought guidance under Mimar Sinan of Turkey. Historians speak of their journey to Hindustan with Emperor Zaheer ud din Baber. Infatuated with Lahore, they sought their residence here and moved to other areas of the region. Ahmad was born in Lahore and the affix Lahori was attached to his name forever. Our archives are full of facts about this creative family.

This is pay homage to 159th death anniversary of Mian Salah Mimar Chaughata, who was born in Lahore and died in Lahore on 11th May, 1858. He was reputed to have attained the age of 120 years plus. Many Sikh buildings as well as of later Mughal period are attributed to him.

We write about the family all the time. This is a day to remember their contributions to culture of Lahore. And seek prayers that present barbarians should not erase the legacy of this family forever!

THE SINISTER FACE OF A RAW LOBBY IN TARGET PRACTICE
DO NOT UNDERMINE THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH IN ALLAH

There is a “Berri” tree on our land. No one knows how old it is, but it was there when the land was bought in 1932. Even bigger than its present condition. Many times it fell too, but it sprung back. The roots are so old, that there are wrinkles on it. People claim it was there by the bank of River Ravi in Sikh times, when the place was inhabited by a group known as the DYERS OF LAHORE. The city of Lahore sent its clothes to be dyed here in different colours. Some decades back a Mughal boat was recovered from the foundations of a house near by. Various insects and birds inhabit the berri tree. It refuses to die.

An apple fell from an apple tree and Sir Issac Newton invented the laws of gravity. It is said that the tree still stands and is more than 3500 years old. The Robin Hood tree outside Nottingham was vandalized and burnt, and authorities resurrected it, by feeding it proper food. In Chakwal we find fossils of trees of million of years in the past. Tenacity is the character Allah teaches us. Our tears harden in stalactites, from which we make swords. These spiritual weapons plunge into RAW flesh, and patriotism comes out gushing with the blood of the enemy. As it is said, we do not wait for storms to pass, we dance in the rain itself. Our souls are intact. We never sold them to the Devil. The Grace of Allah can be seen in the contentment in our hearts. The cry of Allah-o-Akbar soothes every tired nerve in our hearts!