Guest Post by Pervaiz Munir Alvi
The way a society names its cities and places says a lot about its cultural history and social values. Pakistan is no exception to this either.
The cultural history of Pakistan could be traced from its naming practice. The names of its ancient cities like Peshawar, Lahore and Multan have no resemblance to the names of the newer cities like Islamabad and Faisalabad. Similarly the name of the newer Qasim Port has no resemblance to the name of its sister Karachi Port or for that matter Gwadar Port. In the field of naming names Pakistani society has come a long way since the days of ancient Indus Valley Civilization of Harrapa and Moen-jo-Dero. Even the days of the names like Texila and Ghandara are long gone.
Yes, the naming practice of the society has changed. Now the names like AabPara, ShakarPara, Seem-maab and Gulberg are in vogue. One may find a Lala Zar Colony even in a desert town but will not see a new Chak Lala any where. The most one could expect is Chak Lala I, II, or may be III but there are just no new Chaks any more; not even a Chak Wal I. Don’t come around expecting a new Chak Lala Airport for Islamabad either. Since names like Quaid-e-Azam Airport and Allama Iqbal Airport are already taken, the nation may be hard pressed to find a suitable name for the upcoming new airport for the capital city but fear not; the naming authorities of Pakistan are hard at work.
Mughals had no problem in giving names. They just simply kept all the naming rights to themselves. Go around Pakistan and you will find places like Shaikhu Pura, Shah Dara, and Jahangira, even a Sera-e-Alamgir. If the Shah was generous enough he will allow a Vazir Abad or a Begum Pura here and there. But that’s about it. No nasty practice of naming places after the common folks.
British on the other hand were very sensible people. During their rule of one hundred years they did not offend the natives by naming cities like Abbotsburg or Jacobville. They kept it local like Abbot Abad and Jacob Abad. They did make some mistakes though by naming cities like Montgomery, Lyalpur or Campbellpur. Pakistan naming police in order to save the souls of the citizens had no choice but to change the names of these cities to Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Attock respectively. Now there is nothing wrong with purs; there are plenty of purs around like Hari Pur, Rasal Pur, and Shikar Pur etc. etc. It is that some of these names are not Pakistani enough like Ali Pur, Mir Pur or Bahawal Pur. It is not the pur; its the person the pur is named after that may not be desirable.
But even though the new names are in vogue now, there are still plenty of those old names that stubbornly linger on. For instance Pakistan has a good supply of Wals. Other than Chak Wal, there is a Malak Wal and a Sahi Wal too. There are also some variations to the postfix Wal in the form of Wala and Wali. Now a Wali may not necessarily be smaller than a Wala. Mian Wali is not smaller than Arif Wala. But Gujran Wala and Bure Wala are definitely larger than Rah Wali and Mansoor Wali. Nevertheless the nation is done with them all; there shall be no new Walas, Walis or Wals any more.
Also there is no need of new Nagars either. No sir, no Ayub Nagar wanted here; just Ayubia like Persia or Arabia will be fine. No need of new Kots like Sial Kot or Shore Kot; no new Pinds like Pind Dadan Khan; not even a Dera like Dera Ismail Khan or Dera Ghazi Khan. Like Pakistan Zindabad, Hyderabad, Liaqatabad, and Qadarabad will do just fine. Pakistanis will take their Abads any day before they would take those old fashion Nagars, Kots and Pinds; definitely not Pinds.
Just like every pot has a lid, every circle has a center. Except in case of Pakistan there are more centers than circles. Center in Pakistani Urdu language translates as Markaz or Garh. There are plenty of centers every where like computer center, tuition center even shopping center. Also there may be an Urdu Makaz or Alaj Markaz but not too many Garh except may be an old MazaffarGarh. If you are looking for Towns, there is a brand new Johar Town for you.
If you want a Colony, Pakistan has a Defence Colony in every part of the country. But do not ask for new Nagars, Purs or Kots. That is so so passe.
My favourite names of Pakistani cities are Gilgit, Loralai, Gulistan, Lawrencepur and Chaman. Don’t know why but just love these names.
MQ: Like million others, I am a big fan of Faiz. I keep a copy of his ‘Nuskha-hi-Vafa’ on my desk for inspiration. No one can take away his literary greatness. But his political side is a subject of controversy. Before his death he gave a narrative of his and others involvement in the Pindi Conspiracy Case. His defence was that the plot was never carried out. Actually the Soviet inspired plot was foiled by the West and thus was not carried out. But let us all enjoy his poetry and send cold war to the history.
p.s. I enjoy your posts at ATP very much.
PMA
Your quote about Fazi:
“He was involved in a military plot to overthrow the young civilian government of Pakistan.”
I think this too harsh a judgment on Faiz. No one knows for sure what was the so-called Pindi Conspiracy and who were the people actually involved in it. Faiz himself has commented on it thus:
Woh baat saaray fasaanay maiN jis ka zikr na thaa
Woh baat un ko bohut naagwaar guzri hai
Thank’s pervaiz sab.
Although I was born and raised in lahore but i never new the meaning of kala shah kaku.
Thanks for teaching me the meaning of kala.
mozang bijjli: About “kala shah kaku”. Here ‘kala’ is in reference to the forest, parts of which are still there. A thick forest is often described as ‘kala jungle’ or ‘kala bagh’ like ‘black forest’ in English. It is the forest that was named after ‘Shah Kaku’.
Ahmed2: About Iqbal reference. What he is saying is this: ” For I not to rest on the laurels of the generations past. Those of vision create greatness of their own”. In that sense yes he was prophetic.
Ahmed2: Faiz a great poet that he is, is also a political poet. He must be read in the context of the geopolitical conditions of his time. Only then one could understand the motivations behind his poetry. The poem in reference here is from his book published in 1952, a time when Faiz was in Central Jail, Hyderabad; a time well before Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zia-ul-Huq. Faiz was not averse to the military take overs of the civilian governments. He himself had served in the military and was involved in a military plot to overthrow the young civilian government of Pakistan. So to say that he was against military rule in simplistic terms will not be correct. He happened to be on the other side of the international power struggle. He was a client of the Soviets. The second line of his verses did not convey the spirit of my article and thus was deliberately left out.
Shahran: That is my favorite couplet too. I wrote these inspirational lines to myself in one of my engineering books many many moons ago. Iqbal gave us vision for generations to come. One point though. You got the lines in reverse order. Good point nevertheless.
Owais: I am sure you have heard of “Wah Hayats”. It is a take on the names of Nawab Mohammad Hayat Khan of Wah and Sir Sakandar Hayat Khan and the Hayat Family. Sir Sakander is buried in the Hazuri Bagh located between Shahi Qala and Shahi Masjad, just like Allama Iqbal is.