Guest post by Raza Noor
(based on original by Majid Sheikh)
The area of Garhi Shahu in Lahore has many a fond memories for me because I spent my childhood running around in its small streets. I recently found this wonderful article on Garhi Shahu written by Majid Sheikh in Dawn in 2002. This post is a blog version of that article, adapted to a blog format and with some updates by me.
!["LahoreRailwayStation1880s.jpg"]("http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h241/adilnajam/LahoreRailwayStation1880s.jpg")
Lahore, definitely has a rich historical past and when talking about Garhi Shahu, one cannot forget but mention the railway station, or the Christian community, or the Burt Institute or that wonderful dance club (Nautch Ghar) that no longer functions. Then there are also the Convent of Jesus and Mary, the Jamia Naimia Mosque, and the Taj and Crown cinemas but surely there is much more to this place than we have ever cared to explore.
Garhi Shahu reached its pinnacle of fame during the British period with the laying of the railway track. At the time, being an engine driver was the ‘in thing’. Initially, all the engine drivers were British for whose accommodation, the Raj laid out beautiful residential colonies near the rail track. Many of the spacious colonies still exist as reminders of favors bestowed upon its employees by the Raj. There is the still superb Mayo Gardens, the Burt, and also other colonies on both sides of the old Mayo Road, now renamed after Allama Iqbal. Another part of our history lost to the nationalistic fervor of renaming roads and localities.
As the railways grew, the British then started hiring Indian Christians, mostly of Portuguese origin from Goa and soon Lahore became filled with D’Souzas, D’Sylvas and Ferrairas, alongside the fairer skinned British origin names like Burtons, Brians, and Nibletts.
The new recruits were also inducted into the railway police, and later on into the Punjab police, where they all served this city with distinction. During that time, the social and cultural environment of Garhi Shahu was markedly different from the rest of Lahore, making it a much sought after area. Today, you will be hard pressed to find any of these names here, as almost all of them have for valid reasons “flown to cooler climes�.
But then the real story of the area must begin a long time before the Raj during the days of Emperor Shah Jehan, for during his reign an Arab sage by the name of Abul Khair came !["ShrineofJanMuhammadHazuri.jpg"]("http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h241/adilnajam/ShrineofJanMuhammadHazuri.jpg")
to Lahore on his travels from Baghdad. In those days, the area now known as Garhi Shahu was known as Mohallah Syedan, because in this area lived scholars like Syed Jan Muhammad Hazuri, after whom is named the famous Hazuri Bagh. Abul Khair was a well-known scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and upon reaching Lahore, found the intellectual environment of Garhi Shahu much to his liking and decided to settle down here.
During the reign of Aurangzeb, the fame of Abul Khair spread far and wide. The emperor ordered that a madressah be built for Abul Khair and a suitable residence be arranged for the scholar. A firmaan or a Royal Order was also issued instituting a maintenance allowance for the upkeep of the house and the madressah and so Abul Khair’s institution was founded. For some time after that, the area was also known as Khairabad. Today, the madressah is but a hoary ghost of its former splendor. It lies empty and derelict on one edge of a small graveyard at the end of a small lane as the road curves towards the main Garhi Shahu chowk.
Abul Khair taught in his madressah till the age of 105, and on his death he was buried here, as were other well-known persons of that age. As the Mughal Empire was folding and anarchy was slowly settling in, scholarship and learning were no longer on a premium. Before Maharaja Ranjit Singh came to power in 1799 and finally managed to bring order for 40 odd years, Lahore was ruled by a triumvirate of Sikhs of dubious distinction for about 30 years. During this period, anarchy reigned supreme and the madressah was taken over by a khalifa by the name of Muhammad Naeem, who taught there but on his death there was a void.
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But as we all know, anarchy has rules of its own, and it knows how to fill in voids on its own accord, just like in our times ‘qabza groups’ make a mockery of the law, in a way very little has changed. Abul Khair’s house and madressah had many scoundrels with an eye on it. As was the fate of many other historical buildings in the area, people started stealing bricks from the buildings of the madressah. Students of the madressah were constantly harassed by groups of dacoits and stripped of their meager belongings.
Then came a real godfather by the name of Shahu, and along with his gang of rustlers, he took possession of the buildings meant to accommodate Abul Khair and his scholars. His gang went on a rampage, stealing cattle and other valuables from the area which they then hid in the madressah for safekeeping. If the owners demanded their possessions back, they would return them for a small price otherwise, they would sell their goods.
This was the age when Lehna Singh, Suba Singh, and Gujjar Singh (the three rulers of Lahore) were restricted to their small domains. In between there was no law. The gang of Shahu ruled supreme, and it was from him that the name Garhi Shahu came. The Sikhs started calling it by this name, so did the British when they arrived, and so do we, and “there seems no reason why we should change its name just because Mr. Shahu was a shady character and lived a life very much like many a ‘respectable’ citizen these days, and one does not say this in jest.�
The British changed the character of Garhi Shahu, for it was the hub of their entire effort to provide their forces and subjects with a means of communication that revolutionized life in a major way. “But who would have ever thought that an area that came up to accommodate a most learned man never kept his name, and a complete scoundrel managed to keep his name alive because he was a genuine ‘qabza group’ leader. Strange are the twists of fate that we see in Lahore, for every brick has a story to tell.�
The historical photograph of the Railway Station at Lahore, Pakistan was taken by George Craddock in the 1880s and is part of the Bellew Collection of Architectural Views.
Raza Noor has a passion for exploring the history of Lahore, which he does on his dedicated Lahore website and also on Metroblogging Lahore.
My memory of Garhi Shahu includes the walk over the rail bridge as it shows a very good view of Lahore station and I always loved watching trains from there. I am not a Lahore native but whenever I visited the city we always passed over Garhi Shahu bridge to visit our relatives and I always made sure to take a peek at Lahore yard.
And last year I found out the late cricketer Fazal Mahmood also lived in Garhi Shahu. He grew up in the walled city but lived most of his life later on in Garhi Shahu.
By the way, I also have some memories of wandering around in the aisles of famous ‘Naach ghar’ of Garhi Shahu. Our relatives lived nearby and in childhood we used to walk to the nach ghar just as an outing. It was later on rented out as a wedding hall and i do remember attending a wedding there.
The cricket ground adjacent to ‘Nach Ghar’ is where I first saw cricketer Salim Malik batting in a club match in 1980s.
Those are some nice memories Owais. I also do remember attending a wedding at Naach Ghar. It was one of my uncle’s wedding but I was quite young to remember any of the freatures of the hall. My parents tell me it was started as a banquet hall where the British would hold parties and dances etc., the reason for it being called Naach Ghar by the locals. I do remember the cricket ground besides it. I don’t recall watching any cricketer play there but I did play myself once or twice.
Raza, thank you for unearthing this. Majid Sheikh has a wonderful way of bringing history and current realities togather. I thought his reference to the qabza group and ugly real eastate politics was very poignant.
I liked the picture of Lahore railways station which seems to be far away from the city. And now, its a horrible traffic there and is thickly populated area all around. But still I think, its a biggest railways station in Pakistan.
I “live” these memories because i am living next to it. Nice post.
Raza,
Enjoyed the post. I am particualrly delighted that you credited Mr. Majid Sheikh, who I have only recently discovered by reading his delightful pieces on Lahore in Dawn. These columns are all collected on APNA’s website at: http://www.apnaorg.com/columns/majid//
As Adil mentioned, APNA is an incredible resource for anybody interested in Punjabi culture, poetry, music etc. My hats off to Safir Rammah and crew that maintain that site with such passion and meticulousness and provide an invaluable contribution to the study of Punjab and Punjabi.
I would completely agree that changing historic names in the service of a fake patriotism is a deleterious practice that has unfortunately become common in India and Pakistan. However, if there are proper historic reasons to do so then honoring local luminaries is the right thing to do. Mayo road area is where Allama Iqbal actually lived. His residence and library museum are in that area and it was a center of much intellectual activity over the years so it is not inappropriate to name it after the shair-e-mashriq. Also, the name Mayo is memorialized elsewhere (e.g. Mayo Gardens) so it is not lost to history.
[...] Who was Pir Mangho? This is a question shrouded in mystery which is laced with both myths and facts. The myths seem to have an upper hand on facts. Among all other things it is also not clear that who is actually buried in the shrine. Is it some saint called Sakhi Sultan or a saint called Mangho or are these two people one and the same person. The mysteries here are even more profound than the ones about Garhi Shaho in Lahore that ATP had featured earlier (see here). The photo to the right shows the shrine of Manghopir. I was able to find at least four legends describing the origins of Pir Mangho. I am however, not going to draw a conclusion on what legend seems right or wrong. I’ll leave that to our readership. (i) According to first legend once there lived a bandit by the name of Mangho Wasa. He was notorious for looting caravans. Once the famous saint Baba Farid Ganj Shakar (AD 1173-1266) was passing near the present day Karachi on his way to perform Hajj (pilgrimage) in Mecca when Mangho Wasa looted him. This also brought Mangho in direct contact with Baba Farid. The divine sight and righteous personality of Baba Farid impressed Mangho Wasa so much that he converted to Islam. He became one of the disciples and started practicing sufism. Baba Farid was so pleased with Mangho that he titled him a saint (pir). Thus from that day onwards Mangho came to be known as Pir Mangho and the locality became famous as Manghopir. According to this legend, it is indeed Pir Mangho Wasa who is buried in the shrine and is now called Sakhi Sultan Manghopir. [...]
i had spend my 14 years in ghari shahu railway houses, when we went to that place i was 7 years old and didnt knew how to cross the roads by my own till the time when i was 21 and use to drive on same roads.
we left the place in 2004 and now we live in mayo gardens.. we use to play cricket on the main road when the pull was underconstruction.. and i reckon at burt cricket area mohammad yousaf used to play..
i still go to ghari shahu for rabri milk of hafiz and sometimes the fish of sadiq.. love the food there, ras malaies, samosas and shakes and burgers.. everything ..
I am living in karachi but i have visit many time lahore this is my favrioute city not in pakistan in all of the world. The people of lahore are very coprative. and foods aof lahore is very tasty i love to watching Badshahi Mosque and Red fort.
Mayo gardens is a dillusionary world, right in the centre of the city.Can you believe that, the difference in temperature, outside and inside the amazing forest is like….1.6 degrees – 2.2 degrees centigrate.
Nayyar
Well one more place which no one mentioned in this is St. Andrews high school located on the other side on Garhi Shahu bridge… and i am sure many of us reading this article must have been a student of that great educational institution.
Also Garhi Shahu’s description is incomplete without mentioning some of the fampus shops like Hafiz Milk Shop, Butt Sweets etc.
Infact we can say that every single person residing or ever stayed in the vicinity of Garhi Shahu has tasted Butt’s famous samosas :)
dear sir
can you please tell me more about st,andrews school i use to study there now i am in holland ,if any old student foram please let me know thanks
with regards
asim khan
my father used to tell me that there was that person shahu and it was his area meaning garh, that’s how it became garhi shahu
Adaab
im also student of St: Andrews Hight School. and its true that ts a great institute where most of us study.
regards
Seemly
i live in garhi main bazar and this is a good place
I spent 12 years in Garhi Shahu, Mohallah Feroz Deen. A memorable and golden period from 1958 to 1970. Now iam living in Rawalpindi but still feel nostalgia of Garhi Shahu. Studied in Iqbal Hussain High School from 1965 to 1970. Garhi Shahu’s memories circulating in my blood.
Resident of Garhi Shahu from 1958-1975
School – Mian iqbal hussain high school
Kebabs – next to UBL
Fruit – from Kakka
Mithai – Butt sweet centre
Tailor-New fashion house
i was born there i left in 1978 to ksa now i live in usa my memories of that place is very slim but i did know about the history . it was nice to read about it.
AA, I am very proud to be the resident of ghari shau,where iused to play in Railways stadium. Eat samosas from Butt sweete, and breakfast from Garib Nawaz and milk from Ali hajweri.
I couldn’t forgret it.
My resudencu is in Ghazi Muhalla
I was born in Garhi Shahu as my father. We resided here for more than a century. My, along with me, family was a railway-family. Now i have shifted to Lahore Cantt. I studied in Abbottabad Public School the output of that school is Army general, ministers, bureaucrats and businessmen; so I have an access to the most fashionable colonies and houses being my friends living therein. I found nothing like Garhi Shahu (somewhere said “Shau di Garhi”).
I was born in Ahata Rahim Bakhsh, Burney Road, then shifted to Dharampura, then back to Garhi Shahoo, opp. Sardar Girls High School, then to Muhammad Nagar adjacent to Jamia Naeemia, then Railway flats in Batti wala Chauk. Milk from Hafizji, Meat fro Phajja Qasaee and then Aziz in Main Bazar, grocery from Mian Bazar Amratsariyan di Hatti. Worked in Railway Headquarters Office, Nawa-e-waqt and Radio Pakistan/PTV Lahore.
down lane of my memory, my forefathers settled here in the
moghal era, established their stell making furnace, for making
daily needs steel utensils etc, flourish and shifted to other places on better opportunities after become economically
strong, now my family members are living in posh area of lahore, calling steel magnets, i remember, garisahu, a great place for all of us,
raees raja,
lahorites,gulberg
Actually my family after partition came to this place, Dadi from Amritsar, Dada g from Jammu. My Father born there and despite myself living in Old Anarkali and Studying for last 5 years at QAU Islamabad we still use to visit Garhi shahu as the Place of our Ancestors and there houses. As the student of History and doing M.Phil in the same subject I also have the Nostalgia. Its a long debate but truly its a place which I have very sweet memories of my young age. I have a wish to do something for the prosperity and the progress of this area and Lahore as a whole…..
hi our family belong to garhi shahu main family (kumbo)
ali al murad high school belong to my younger uncle(chacha)
one of garhi shahu chowk is named after my grand fathers brother baba ahmed din chowk my father name is mohammed yaqub and we belong to mohallah pir bhola now living 73 allama iqbal road in front of ali al murad high school
recently working in kuwait but missing my garhi shahu lot