Touring Tokyo 東京

 

Mount Fuji, with Chureito Pagoda in foreground

Like most of our countrymen, I grew up wondering about the Japanese people who, so fastidiously, manufactured swift bullet trains, flawless motor vehicles, robust electrical appliances, thrilling video games and durable quartz watches. They had to be devoted not just to their employers, but to their beliefs, and to their country at large, I thought. Leading highly disciplined and orderly lives, the Japanese are a nation apart, as I and my wife discovered over a month’s holiday in Tokyo and its adjoining cities.

After a rather long wait at Narita Airport’s immigration section, we walked to the carousels to collect our baggage. We were somehow the last ones and the airport staff was looking for us. On seeing us a lady appeared, bowed courteously, checked our baggage tags and handed us our suitcases while offering any assistance that we might need. That was the first of a series of polite gestures that we were exposed to during our stay.

We were headed towards densely populated Minato City in the heart of Tokyo, where most of the embassies are located.  Due to immensely costly real estate, almost 70% of Tokyo-ites live in high-rise apartment complexes, while the rich 30% or so live in independent houses not much larger than five marlas. The cost of living, as can be imagined, is very high.

Must-see Places in Tokyo

After a day of rest, we began our tour of important tourist places in Tokyo. We started with Odaiba, one of the man-made seashores in Tokyo Bay. A hearty desi lunch at Mumbai Restaurant in the vast Aqua City Mall was followed by some shopping and photography. Not far in the background is the beautiful Rainbow Bridge which connects the Odaiba waterfront with Tokyo Port. At night, the suspension bridge looks dazzling with its multi-coloured lights, hence the popular name, rather than the official mouthful: ‘Shuto Expressway No 11 Daiba Route – Port of Tokyo Connector Bridge.’

On another visit to Odaiba, while taking an evening stroll in Daiba Park, a noisy group of youngsters in punkish appearance emerged from nowhere, and approached us. Taken aback and fearing some despicable behavior, we tried to pace away, but they seemed friendly and in their senses, as they came closer. One of them offered to take our pictures with my mobile phone. On learning that we were from Pakistan, they were quite amused, apparently having seen our kind for the first time. They were all smiles when we told them that we were enjoying our stay in their beautiful country. Appreciative bows followed, and we were careful not to offer handshakes as Japanese prefer to keep physical distance, except with their immediate family – and their pets!

Shinjuku City is a popular shopping locality of Tokyo, which we visited often. Shinjuku houses the world’s busiest railway station that caters to as many as three million passengers daily. The vast above-ground and underground railway station has 52 platforms and 200 entry/exit gates. It is such a wonder of advanced technology and competent management that train arrivals and departures are timed in seconds! Also located in Shinjuku is the Tokyo Municipal Government Building, which is the administrative nerve center of Tokyo during day time, while at night its towering facade serves as a popular sound-and-light projection screen. Commercial activities of all sorts abound in Shinjuku; no surprise if you see a trendy restaurant serving sushi and lobster – for humans – next to a café for poodles, pugs and terriers, as Japanese are keen dog-lovers!  Hotels, spas and beauty salons for the four-legged critters thrive in every locality.

We had to collect some souvenirs to take back home, and the go-to market for that shopping was at the Sensō-ji Temple. The temple was first established in 645 AD, making it the oldest Buddhist shrine in Tokyo. Sadly, after surviving for 1,300 years, it was fire-bombed in 1945, shortly before the end of World War II. The shrine, its two entrance gates, and the adjacent five-story pagoda were rebuilt, the work being complete in 1973. Our interest was in Nakamise-Dori Street leading to the temple entrance.  The street is lined on both sides with 90-odd shops selling traditional wares and handicrafts. We shopped for mugs, glasses, fridge magnets and ceramic wares, featuring landmarks like Mount Fuji, Tokyo Tower, and Tokyo Skytree. The helpful sales-women, some of them in their eighties, could speak passable English, a language that most Japanese do not seem to have any interest in. Rent-a-kimono is a popular fad at Sensō-ji, and many traditionally-clad Westerners roamed about taking pictures.

Like Shinjuku, Shibuya City is Tokyo’s major commercial center, along with a very busy railway terminus. A fascinating feature of Shibuya City is the Shibuya Crossing, popularly known as ‘Scramble Crossing’. As many as 3,000 people scramble across the pedestrian crossings every time the traffic lights turn green, making it the world’s busiest. We too did the famous Shibuya Crossing, while recording a video like everyone else. For us, the wonder was that no vehicle ran a red light during several visits we made to Shibuya.  In Japan, running a red light carries a very heavy fine, and even jail.

Close to the crossing, we saw a long queue, with people patiently waiting to take photographs with a monument dedicated to a dog. The dog named Hachiko is remembered for his steadfast loyalty to his deceased owner. Hachiko Square is a popular meeting point for youngsters.

Ginza is a fashionable shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous internationally renowned department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffee houses. Considered to be one of the most expensive, elegant and luxurious city districts in the world, it is frequented by the rich and famous. We were quite contended to drive through Ginza several times, especially at night, when its electronic billboards and neon signs liven up the scene. The Imperial Palace, residence of the emperor, is not far from Ginza. Located in a forested park, it is surrounded by a moat. A popular jogging track, 5-km in circuit, encircles the palace.

Hakone and Mount Fuji

A visit to Tokyo would be incomplete without seeing Mount Fuji from a close distance. Familiar with Mount Fuji since our school days, we got to see it in all its splendour. A two-hour drive from Minato (Tokyo) to Hakone Checkpoint was most enjoyable as we passed through dense forests dotted with charming cottages along the way. Nearing Lake Ashi, we hastened to take photographs of two ‘pirate’ boats packed with tourists, sailing in to dock. After a delicious desi lunch at The Bistro, we drove off to the nearby Hakone Ropeway, a cable car facility that takes tourists to Ōwakudani Station from where Mount Fuji is clearly visible. The famous hot springs spewing out pungent sulphur-laden gases can also be seen, and smelt. Eggs boiled in the hot springs turn jet-black, and are a novel snack among tourists. After a day well spent, we headed back with lots of photographs to remind us of the wonderful outing.

Yokohama

One Sunday afternoon we decided to visit Yokohama which is just an hour’s drive from Tokyo. Yokohama is known for more than just vehicle tyres. It is the second-largest city in Japan by population, and by area it is the country’s largest municipality. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area. All along the 40-odd kilometers to the city, one could see factories and warehouses. Yokohama is home to some unique architecture. Some of the places we saw in Tokyo included the nautical-themed Intercontinental Grand Hotel, the Yokohama Port Memorial Hall, the Customs Museum (quite like the KPT building in Karachi), and the Zenrinmon Gate that opens into the city’s Chinatown. The city seemed more open and spacious than Tokyo. The Sunday was well spent exploring Yokohama.

Kawagoe

The last of our day trips outside of Tokyo was to the city of Kawagoe, which is famous for its historic buildings. It has been the center of conflicts between various Shogunates for at least six hundred years. A part of the city was destroyed in a fire in 1893, but some of the buildings still stand. The main street is jam-packed with local and foreign tourists. Rides in jin-rickshaws pulled by men in traditional uniforms are popular amongst tourists. Notable amongst the buildings in Kawagoe is the 230-year old Bell Tower which houses a bell that is manually struck four times a day to tell the time. Nearby is the neatly maintained Hikawa Buddhist Shrine and cemetery. The cultural heritage of Japan is well-reflected on the streets of Kawagoe, as we saw for ourselves.

Some Anecdotal Observations

o   During our stay, we noted that most Japanese are introverts of sorts, and prefer to keep to themselves, without seeming snobbish. Conversations in trains and buses are rare.

o   Japanese people are sticklers for detail, and perform tasks with complete dedication.

o   All the places we visited in and around Tokyo were clinically clean. Littering is unknown to the Japanese.

o   Japanese prefer staid and sober dresses, and gaudy colours are usually seen only at festivals. Blue, gray, white and beige dresses are more common for daily wear.

o   On many an occasion, we were amused to see women pushing baby strollers, which actually had a small well-manicured poodle inside!

o   Buses and trains are the preferred mode of transport as taxis are costly. Parking for private cars is quite a hassle.

o   Traffic discipline is strictly enforced. Little children can be seen negotiating pedestrian crossings all by themselves. Honking is virtually unheard of, as in most civilized countries.

o   Parks and gardens are landscaped according to a natural setting, and are maintained with amazing care. If one wishes to slow down and step back in time, a visit to a park is recommended.

o   Street crime is virtually non-existent, and women and children are safe in lonely places, even at night.

o   Long working hours and job pressures have adversely affected family life, and is a significant cause of suicide.

o   Old people continue to perform light tasks well into their seventies and eighties.

o   Daily testing of loudspeakers is done in all localities by playing a short musical jingle to ensure timely disaster warning, just in case. The time of the testing is 5 pm, which is also a notification of pack-up time.

o   There is not much enthusiasm amongst youngsters for joining the military, as past militarism still invokes feelings of remorse.

Tailpiece: Our takeaway of the one-month long stay in Tokyo is that the Japanese undertake every task with complete devotion and dedication, because they are proud of their country and endeavour to make it the best in the world.

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© Kaiser Tufail

Into the Deep Blue Sea

The excitement of diving into the sea was almost childlike, as I had waited for five anxious days undergoing academics and ‘confined water training’, a requirement of the world-renowned Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI).  Instructors at Indus Scuba, the first Karachi-based licensee of PADI (and a licensee of National Association of Underwater Instructors, NAUI) had stringently grilled me with quizzes after I had gone through the ‘knowledge pack’ issued earlier.  If truth be told, I had waited not just five days, but it had actually been over five decades that I had been swimming in the pools (and many years flying over the sea), waiting for a chance to ‘go down and deep’.  Now I was going to dive with the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, off tiny Churna Island, an hour’s boat ride from the waterfront at Manjar village located on the Hub River delta.

To get to Manjar village, or the more exotic sounding Sunehra Beach, which is about 40 km from Keamari Harbour, we had to wend our way through crazy traffic, with motorcyclists and vans vying for space with trucks, the latter having a complete hold over the roads. Wayside dhabas offer tea and desi food to weekend visitors like us, and to their regular clients, the truckers. As we proceeded further west, we had to endure a forlorn landscape blighted by litter, plastic bags and pye-dogs. The Karachi politicos and municipal staff never seemed to have paid attention to this sparsely populated area. Fisherfolk’s villages or goths, interspersed all over the area, are bereft of any civic amenity whatsoever, as they have been for centuries.  Tourism, as in the rest of the country, seems to be on permanent hold. It was a wonder that a serious recreational sport like scuba diving was still on.

Nearing Manjar village, we could see the mouth of Hub River forming a well-sheltered cove, which has a small fish harbour with scores of boats anchored on the coast. Absent from view were the bare necessities or infrastructure expected at even the smallest of ports. Hub Power Station is just 3-km away, across Hub River, which marks the boundary between Sindh and Baluchistan.  I was particularly intrigued by the fish harbour, as history books mention a small thriving port by the name of Kharak Bandar, ‘at the confluence of Hub River and the Arabian Sea’.  Silting of this harbour led the Hindu merchants to abandon the locality, and resettle in Kolachi-jo-goth in 1729. A small fishing village with a few potable watering holes, Kolachi grew into the maritime trade megapolis of today.

When we arrived at the Sunehra Beach, a couple of modest resorts came into view, along with some private boats and water scooters parked ashore.  Merry-makers started to throng the place in sizeable numbers in no time. Our group of divers also arrived in small batches, and soon after, we started to load one of the hired boats with diving gear.  The divers broke up in groups and boarded two more boats whose noisy motors puttered into action, and we were on our way to Churna Island. The sea was somewhat choppy, as the diving season, which lasts from September to March in the north Arabian Sea, was coming to an end. Mustafa Hassan, a highly rated Master Scuba Dive Instructor with over 1,000 dives to his credit, was in charge of the day’s outing.  The svelte Nameera Ahmed, a film-maker and freelance Dive Master with an experience of about 100 dives, was also at hand to train a group of intrepid girls who had taken on the scuba challenge.


[Map courtesy Nameera Ahmed]

Arriving at Churna Island an hour later, the boats were anchored, and the waters tested. On getting an all clear from Mustafa, everyone donned the scuba kits, with dive buddies checking each other’s equipment for any faults. Diving is always done in pairs to make sure help is available in case of equipment malfunction, or some troublesome medical condition cropping up. Scuba diving is strictly for the medically fit people, especially on the cardio-vascular side. This aspect cannot be taken lightly because when you are deep down, you are under extreme physical pressure, causing nitrogen in the body to force its way into unwanted cavities and tissues.

As we readied ourselves to take the plunge, I imagined myself exuding the mystique of the speargun-wielding James Bond in Thunderball, a thrilling scuba flick that I had watched as a teenager. One by one, our diving pairs did the ‘roll backs’ from the sides of the boats, checked their breathing systems, and vanished with nothing but a trail of short-lived bubbles. The visibility was not too good because of sediments kicked up by freak winds and currents over the past two days. Nonetheless, my instructor and dive buddy Mustafa and I, were able to exchange hand signals with ease. I did the mandatory ‘nose pinch and blow’, for equalisation of pressure in the middle ear, without which a descent can get very painful. I was quite comfortable while going down, and was also spared the claustrophobia and disorientation that sometimes afflicts first-timers. My only concern was the stinging jellyfish, as my ‘shorty’ wetsuit left the arms and legs bare. Luckily, it was off-season for these critters, though they are known to invade warm tropical seas in astronomical numbers at odd times, as they did last December.

Arabian Sea is a haven for several species of whales including the baleen and toothed types. These are harmless, as long as one isn’t whacked by their gargantuan fins, that is! Closer on the continental shelf are found smaller marine animals like turtles, dolphins, porpoises and dugongs. The north Arabian Sea is rich in corals and kelp seaweeds that provide breeding and nursery habitats for Crustaceans like crabs, shrimps and lobsters. The environs of Churna Island are a well-known habitat of these clawed and spiky creatures, as well as many varieties of edible fish. Night dives, part of the advanced diving course, are usually rounded off with seafood barbecue on Sunehra Beach, I was told.

Surfacing after the dive, we found that many divers had drifted off because of fast currents. Getting them aboard took quite a while. Many snorkelers could be seen swimming around the island. A boatload of scuba divers went past, and we were dismayed to learn that it was one of more than a dozen unlicensed start-up dive centres that are in operation in Karachi. For safety reasons, there is an urgent need of a proper regulatory and licensing body in Pakistan. For the time being, the only two PADI licensees are Indus Scuba, and Scuba Adventures. PADI is the world’s largest scuba diving outfit, having certified over 25 million divers since its inception in 1966. There are over 6,200 PADI-licensed dive centres and resorts the world over.

During my training, I learnt that there was a lot of stress on marine conservation and protection of underwater environments. “Do not touch anything, but photograph everything,” are said to be the watchwords for scuba divers. Unfortunately, protection of underwater environments south of Karachi is terribly lacking. Industrial waste is discharged into the sea without treatment, and except for a couple of multi-national industries, no one seems to care. As a consequence, marine life has been badly hit. The harbour area is a huge toxic dump site for merchant ships, so much so that the water has turned into a horrid sludge, unfit for dipping even an ankle. It is a wonder that industrial divers work in the harbour under such conditions. So far, the area around Churna Island has remained pristine for scuba diving.

“How much does it cost to qualify as a basic open water diver?” The roundabout answer is that it costs a lot, but still much less in Pakistan than anywhere else in the world. The cost goes up if one plans to buy his/her own equipment. For reasons of hygiene and personal fit, a wetsuit, fins and mask are recommended for purchase, while the rest of the items like the buoyancy jacket, cylinder, regulators, dive computer, etc, are best hired from the dive centre. Once certified, one tends to log more dives for higher qualifications, so the expenditure keeps on spiralling. There are, however, cheaper options of doing a short introductory course with hired equipment, for no other reason than to experience the ‘fourth dimension’, a truly majestic world of exotic flora and fauna that can never be experienced on land.

During the diving sessions, I came across gadget geeks who had fancy equipment including underwater cameras, torches, compasses, computers, and large knives wrapped on their legs for easy reach, though mercifully, no shark encounters have ever been reported in our seas! Unable to resist the call of the gizmo geek in me, I have already started a collection of diver’s equipment and tools, that promise to see me through the advanced course, which comes next season.  Over the long term,  marine archaeology might be an interesting speciality to take up, as Mustafa and I have shared some thoughts about exploring the waterfronts of some ancient coastal sites on the Makran Coast. Who knows with our scuba skills, we might discover some long lost Harappan vessel that ran aground while hauling goods to Mesopotamia!

 

 

© KAISER TUFAIL. This is an open-access article published under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

 

This article was published in the daily newspaper The News International  on 23 April 2017.

Hidden Jewels of Lahore - III

Having seen one tomb too many during our recent cycling trips, we thought a visit to Chauburji would give us a break from the ghosts and ghouls of the Mughal nobility. Pedalling on Jail Road till Qartaba Chowk, we turned left on to Bahawalpur Road, which runs athwart the huge Miani Sahib Graveyard in Mozang. A few minutes later, the four turrets or burjis of the famous gateway appeared through a mishmash of ugly billboards, and equally unsightly wires and cables that cluttered the skyline.  Mian Bai must surely be turning in her grave, we thought.

Several monuments of Lahore – as in the rest of the country – have a controversy about the occupant of a tomb, or the builder of a mosque or gateway. Chauburji is no exception, and the inscription above the arch is of little help. “.... Bestowed on Mian Bai by the pleasure of Sahib-e-Zebinda, Begum-e-Dauran”, left me perplexed, though mention of the year of completion ie, 1056 Hijri (1646 AD) turned out to be a good clue for some sleuthing.

Zebinda has been thoughtlessly assumed to be another name of Zebunnisa, the daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb, without paying heed to the fact that she was only eight years old in 1646.  She was an accomplished poetess in her own right, but that is about all she is renowned for. A more likely candidate is her aunt, the suave Jahan Ara Begum, Emperor Shah Jahan’s eldest daughter, who had a much wider canvas of activities that included poetry, writing, fashion designing, building of Agra’s famous mosque, and several landscaping projects at Shahjahanabad, her father’s new capital north of Delhi.  With such accomplishments under her belt, she quite fits the titles: ‘One Endowed with Elegance (zebinda)’ and ‘Lady of the Age (dauran)’, the latter having been especially bestowed by her father after the death of Mumtaz Mahal. 

Mian Bai Fakhrunnisa, perhaps a lady-in-waiting and confidante of Jahan Ara, is said to have supervised the laying of a garden in Lahore, of which Chauburji was the entrance gateway. She must have earned the pleasure of her mistress, who bequeathed it for the services rendered.  I may speculate, though, that Mian Bai could well have been rewarded for nursing the princess back to health, after serious burn injuries suffered in an oil lamp accident in the palace in 1644.

As at most historic sites in Pakistan, we were dismayed to see scruffy vagabonds sprawling on the Chauburji premises, posters pasted on its walls, and litter everywhere around.  The remnants of brilliant floral-themed Kashi-kari panels on portions of Chauburji could do little to alleviate the mess. Nobody seemed to be in charge.

The Chauburji Gateway is quite similar to the Gulabi Bagh Gateway in Begumpura, except for the absence of turrets in the latter.  Chauburji’s east-facing main entrance arch (peshtaaq) is flanked by four smaller arches; of the latter, the two on the ground level are simply deep-set alcoves, while those on the upper storey are openings of balconies set with stone-carved jaali guardrails. The turrets are of octagonal shape and these flare upwards, possibly having been surmounted by Rajasthani chhatris, since lost. In fact, the north-western turret fell off during the earthquake of 1843 and was replaced in the 1960s, the gateway having seen life as a ‘Sehburji’ for nearly 120 years. Today, there is no trace of the garden that the Chauburji once opened into.

Another Mystery Tomb

From Chauburji, we set off south on Multan Road to look for a mystery tomb, again rashly attributed to Zebunnisa. After covering 1.7-km, (about 200 metres past the Samanabad Main Road and Multan Road intersection), we came across a fenced enclosure on the left, amidst a row of wall-to-wall shops; it had a steel-grill gate locked by a loose chain. With no one to guide us in, we helped ourselves through the narrow gap in the gate, only to be surprised by two families who seemed to own the premises. A small hand-painted board claims the tomb to be of Zebunissa, with another one sardonically notifying the public of its ‘protected’ status under the law!

It is well documented that Zebunnisa was confined in Salimgarh Fort on charges of colluding with her brother Akbar II, against their father Emperor Aurangzeb. She spent her last 21 years in confinement, and on her death in 1702, was buried in the garden of Thirty Thousand Trees outside Kabuli Gate in Delhi.  Her remains were re-interred in the tomb of Emperor Akbar in Sikandara, when a railway track was laid across her previous resting place.

With Jahan Ara also buried in Delhi (Nizam-ud-din Auliya Graveyard), the only remaining subject known to be associated with Chauburji is Mian Bai, which makes her a credible candidate as the tomb’s occupant.

The tomb was central to a funerary garden in the Nawankot locale. Only the gateway and two corner kiosks of a wall that enclosed the garden are extant, while the garden has been completely subsumed by the concrete jungle all around.

The thick-walled tomb is a small square structure built on a brick platform. It has three arches on each side, with the central main arch flanked by two recessed ones having small oblong openings. A cenotaph lies on a partially broken marble floor that still displays a beautiful pattern of eight-pointed interlocking stars, and each star set with an eight-petaled daisy. The roof of the tomb is of an unusual pyramidical shape on the outside, but is hemispherical on the inside.

The immediate threat to the tomb is by encroaching residents as well as some shops of timber cutters, which lie within the premises of the supposedly protected building. Additionally, a huge pipal tree grows a few feet away from the tomb, and its sub-terranean roots are likely to damage the very foundations of the tomb. The beautiful marble floor has already been uplifted in several places. Something will have to be done urgently about these issues if the tomb is to be preserved.

About 95 metres east of the tomb is the gateway to the erstwhile garden. We had to approach it through a narrow street behind the tomb, with the neighbourhood watching us with some amusement.  The design of the gateway is very similar to that of Chauburji, except for four squat chhatris that embellish the corners of the roof. We were extremely dismayed to see the gateway used as a garbage dump by a nearby marriage hall, what with cats and dogs prowling around. The chowkidar, along with a few shady characters emerged from the upper storey, which got us wondering if that part of the gateway was being used as living quarters. 

The two remaining corner kiosks of the garden wall were in no better shape than the gateway.  The kiosks are 100 metres away from the gateway, in a northerly and southerly direction, each being located in an empty plot surrounded by houses. People in the neighbourhood seemed surprised at our interest in what they thought were useless relics in their midst.

I thought the final resting place of Chauburji’s construction supervisor, the good old Mian Bai Fakhrunnisa, needs to be well-looked after.  A similar good turn is also in order for Dai Anga, who gave the Lahorites a beautiful mosque … if we care, that is.

© KAISER TUFAIL. This is an open-access article published under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

 

This article was published in the daily newspaper The News International  on 8 Feb, 2015.

Hidden Jewels of Lahore - II

Sunday being a regular ‘working’ day for our cycling group of young professionals – with this able old hand alongside – we proceeded on our second tour to discover some lesser known monuments of the Mughal era. This time the destination was Mughalpura, a locale that carries its name after the Mughal nobility and aristocracy of Lahore which had set up an exclusive residential estate, replete with gardens, mosques and tombs.  We shall use the GT Road as a loose dividing line between Begumpura in the north, and Mughalpura to the south, to differentiate between the two locales.

Enigma of a Strange Tomb

Starting from the Shalimar Link Road intersection with the GT Road, and heading west, we stopped after exactly 2.6-km and easily spotted a domed tomb just south of the road, inside a fenced enclosure. The dilapidated state of the tomb was deplorable, though the fascinating architectural elements of what remained were worth a brief scrutiny.  But first, we had to settle who is the actual occupant of the tomb.

That the mandarins at the Department of Archaeology are clueless, can be confirmed by the display of two conflicting information boards at the entrance. One of them claims it to be the tomb of Buddhu, a brick-maker who lived in the mid-seventeenth century; the other board says that it is the resting place of the wife of Khan-e-Dauran Bahadur Nusrat Jang, a favoured noble of Emperor Shah Jahan.  For want of her maiden name, we shall call the lady Nusrat Begum for this discourse.

While Buddhu’s influence to be able to muster a plot of land amidst the prized estates of the Mughal nobility must seem outlandish, his having left a fortune for the construction of a grandiose tomb is equally incredible. His nearby brick kiln (Buddhu ka ava), whose remains can still be seen, could have led to the erroneous association with ‘Buddhu’s tomb’.

Khan-e-Dauran Bahadur Nusrat Jang was a favourite amir in Shah Jahan’s court, having gained the goodwill of the emperor for suppressing a rebellion in Deccan. He died in 1659 and was buried in a tomb which lies 1.5-km to the south-east of his wife’s tomb.  Since his own tomb lies squarely in Pakistan Railways lands and is not accessible to the public, some people have further added to the mystery by assuming Nusrat Begum’s tomb to be that of her husband’s.  Intriguingly, a second grave in the begum’s tomb brings this riddle to a head. Not yet done, the enigma gets really knotty when we learn that Khan-e-Dauran’s own tomb has been re-purposed as a mosque and a shrine by employees of the Railways under the name of Khawaja Hasan’s, though the Khan’s real name was Khawaja Sabir.  One wouldn’t be surprised if the Railways employees yet again re-purpose the tomb-shrine in the name of one more Khawaja!

The much ado about Nusrat Begum’s tomb occupancy is less significant, I thought, than its architectural composition which needs attention. Square in shape, the main chamber is constructed in massive brick masonry, with an arched opening flanked by two recessed arched panels on all four sides, creating a baradari effect.  The low dome rests on a high circular drum, which in turn rests on a short octagonal base, resulting in a gradual ‘smoothening over’ from the main square structure upwards. On the whole, the tomb has an overbearing appearance, which must have been softened somewhat by Kashi-kari mosaic tiles, remnants of which are visible in some portions of the dome.  

Ali Mardan Khan’s Tomb

Backtracking about one kilometre from Nusrat Begum’s tomb, we turned right, heading south on Wheatman Road (corrupted to ‘Wehtmun’ by the Punjabis). After about half a kilometre, we came across two boards alongside a wall, indicating Ali Mardan Khan’s tomb and the nearby Hamid Shah Qari’s shrine. A steel gate opened into a strange narrow vestibule with an iron lattice for a roof, all 400 metres of the way. A chowkidar, who had done us a special favour to let us in on a Sunday (closed to public), welcomed us heartily, for we had coordinated earlier and had promised to be good to him.

Ali Mardan Khan was a Persian Governor of Kandahar who became a turncoat to his master, Shah Safi I  of Persia, after having been bribed handsomely by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1638.  Ali Mardan quickly found favour in the new court as Amir-al-Umara, and was granted governorship of Kashmir and Punjab.  He is best known for his engineering skills in various public works, including a canal running from River Ravi to Shalimar Gardens, and a similar canal in Shahjahanabad, Delhi. He died in 1657 and was buried in the tomb that he had built for his mother.

The tomb is an imposing structure, with an octagonal main chamber, with eight arched, deep-set alcoves, all opening to the interior.  Atop the corners of the octagon once stood Rajasthani chhatris, of which only two survive. The dome stands on a high drum in Timurid style. We discovered a remarkable double-shelled feature of the dome when one of the youngsters called us from somewhere above.  We followed his calls, climbing up a special stairway, which took us to the top of the inner dome. There we stood in the dark and dingy gap between the two domes, much like school children who had discovered a secret passage to a treasure trove.  We were surprised to see candles, a prayer mat, and knotted ribbons on a streamer, and wondered if these were signs of transition to a shrine. Indeed, the subterranean chamber of the tomb which houses the grave, had been treated as a shrine – as well as a pot-smoking den – by unscrupulous characters, the chowkidar revealed, which is why entry to the public has been restricted.

Keen to know more about double-shelled domes, I later learnt that these were a construction compulsion for large domes, in which the inner dome was constructed first, allowing the supporting framework and trusses to be placed on top of it. Thus supported, the bigger outer dome could be built with ease.  Better acoustics (for mosques and cathedrals) was an added bonus. The smaller and relatively flatter inner dome also simplified ceiling artwork.

About a hundred metres north of the tomb is an utterly dilapidated gateway to the funerary garden, that once existed. It has remnants of Kashi-kari mosaic work, and is quite similar to the one at the Gulabi Bagh Gateway in Begumpura. The designer of the ‘Versailles of Punjab’ as Shalimar Gardens have been called, deserved a better-kept tomb complex, we thought.

Nawab Bahadur Khan Kokaltash's Tomb

Going along the Canal Bank Road, past Zaman Park and Royal Palm Golf Course, when a road from Garhi Shahu (left side) is intercepted, a large domed structure can be picked up over the left shoulder.  A simpler map location would place it just outside the Railways Carriage Factory, at the southern limit of Mughalpura.

Arriving at our destination in a swarm of over a score cyclists, and with the neighbourhood in complete awe, we went through our usual motions of photography and a bit of adventure. Some clambered up secret staircases and discovered another double-shelled dome, while others explored the upper floor galleries full of graffiti that Pakistanis must always bless their imaginary beloveds with.

The occupant of the tomb carries a long-winded title viz, Khan-e-Jahan Nawab Bahadur Zafar Jang Kokaltash. He found favour with Emperor Aurangzeb for capturing his recalcitrant brother Prince Dara Shikoh, who was promptly executed for heresy.  Bahadur Khan was then put in charge of Deccan to bring matters under control there.  He also served as Governor of Punjab. He died in 1697.  He is often confused with another Khan-e-Jahan, a nobleman in Emperor Akbar’s court.

The tomb is octagonal in shape, with eight deep-set alcoves, each having an entrance arch at the ground level, and another arched opening at the upper level. The brick tomb is bereft of any outward embellishment, though pigeon holes all over the building suggest a marble facing, since removed by, who else but, the Sikhs! The dome is slightly higher pitched, with an inverted lotus finial on top, giving it a more sinuous appearance than the classic Timurid ones that we had seen earlier. The historian S M Latif wrote in 1892, that the tomb was “surmounted by turrets with cupolas”, none of which exist today. He also mentions that the tomb was used as a theatre for the British military officers, when the adjacent Mian Mir locale was established as a cantonment.

We noted that the two noblemen Khan-e-Dauran and Khan-e-Jahan were essentially loyalists to their emperors, while Ali Mardan Khan did great public service to the Lahorites. In a fund-constrained regime, it is the latter whose tomb deserves major renovation, while the other two tombs could do with simple preservation, for the time being.

© KAISER TUFAIL. This is an open-access article published under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

This article was published in the daily newspaper The News International on 1 Feb, 2015