Tomb of Hazrat Shah Muhammad Ismail Gillani

Sheikh Ismail was a prominent scholar who belonged to the Bukhari Sayyids. During the reign of Mahmud Ghaznavi, he settled in Lahore and made it his permanent residence. He became famous for his expertise in Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and Tafsir.

Sheikh Ismail was the first person to deliver sermons in Lahore, and his teachings had a profound impact on education and preaching in the city. He was admired by the common people and his influence extended to thousands of Hindus who embraced Islam under his guidance.

Sheikh Ahmed Zanjani's book acknowledges Sheikh Ismail's significant contributions. Zanjani writes that Sheikh Ismail was among the foremost advocates of religion, arriving in Lahore and dedicating his entire life to spreading the message of Islam. Similarly, Syed Muhammad Latif highlighted another Maulana Ismail during Akbar's era, who served as Lahore's Mufti but was a different individual from the esteemed Sheikh Ismail.

However, various scholars have needed clarification regarding the identity and actions attributed to Sheikh Ismail. According to reliable research, Sheikh Ismail passed away in 338 Hijri and was laid to rest in Lahore. The tomb in front of Jain Mandir is often associated with Syed Ismail Gilani, Syed Moj Darya's father-in-law and Hazrat Bibi Kalyan's father.

While some historians claim this tomb as Sheikh Ismail the scholar's final resting place, there remains debate and uncertainty regarding its attribution.

The tomb was constructed with Mughal-era bricks, and fresco work and paintings can be seen inside. The dome of the tomb has been reconstructed lately.

My confusion was cleared by my history-loving friend, Dr. Zishan Ahmed, who has found the grave of Shah Ismail. It is located on Hall Road.

Sheikh Ismail's legacy as a knowledgeable scholar and influencer in Lahore's religious and educational spheres endures, leaving a mark on the city's history.

 

CHAUBARA OF CHAJJU BHAGAT - CHAJJU DA CHAUBARA – LAHORE (2018)

Date of Visiting the Site:- 22-05-2018

Date of Posting:-18-09-2019

All fotos are owned except last two 

CHAUBARA OF CHAJJU BHAGAT - CHAJJU DA CHAUBARA – LAHORE

CHAJJU BHAGAT

East or West, Home is the Best

“Jo sukh Chajju de chaubaray, oh na Balkh na Bukharay”

(Allegorically, it would mean that the comfort and pleasure that you would find at home is incomparable to even the luxuries of such affluent cities as Balkh and Bukhara..)

جو سکھ چھجو دے چوبارے - او بلخ نہ بخارے
ਜੋ ਸੁਖ ਛੱਜੂ ਦੇ ਚੋਬਾਰਾਯ - ਓ ਬਲਖ ਨਾ ਬੁਖਾਰੀ 
जो सुख छाजो दे चोबरय - ओ बलख न बुखारी 

It was situated on Anarkali Road. During the regime of Bhangi Sardar’s, a temple and inn was constructed in the Chajju' dwelling which later came to be known as Chajju da Chaubara. Chaju was a contemporary of Mughal rulers Jahangir and Shah Jahan. From a rich goldsmith, he changed his way of living.

According to Syed Muhammad Latif, Chajju da Chaubara was situated close to the Mayo Hospital, south of Ratan Chand's Serai. Chajju was a godly man in the time of Shah Jahan. He was a resident of Lahore, and by caste a Bhatia. He was a sarraf, but was fond of the society of the fakirs.

At last, having forsaken the world, he became a Bhagat, or devotee, and devoted the rest of his life to meditation and prayer. His death was mysterious. It is said that, when his last moments approached, he entered his cell and was seen no more.

He died in 1696, The Chaubara, or one storied room, was used by Chajju as his place of worship, and where the Mandar now is, there existed his shop for transecting his business. During the ascendancy of the three rulers of Lahore, Bawa Pritam Das acted in the office of Mahant. He build a large Mandar here. Ranjit Singh held the place in great respect, visiting it every Monday, and making large offering of money at shrine. He built spacious chambers and rooms for the accommodation of the Sadhus, and increased its establishment, to maintain which a great of rent-free land was made. From a rich goldsmith he changed his way of living, became a bhagat and was revered by both Hindus and Muslims of that time. Later Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave grants to the management of this place to distribute food and fruits among the needy and the visitors and also made arrangements for health care of inmates. Each Monday and Tuesday, crowds of men and women assemble there, and the musicians sing the sacred songs.

Chajju da Chaubara Lahore Pakistan

In 1985, when the administration dug a 10 feet deep hole in the front garden of the chaubara, its plinth, concealed under a mound for several years, was revealed. A female skeleton was found when the place was dug up for renovation. At another place near the chaubara, hundreds of oil lamps were found, which were used to light up the place 450 years ago. No one cared for them and they all were broken and wasted. Chajju, who was a goldsmith, had become Bhagat Chajju was originally called Chajju Bhatti. He never married.

Chajju spent long hours with the well-known saint of the time, Hazrat Mian Mir. In Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s memoirs, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Mian Mir was mentioned not only as an extraordinary spiritual figure but also a favorite of the Mughal emperors and the spiritual mentor of the crown prince.

Sikh hagiography describes Mian Mir as a close friend and an associate of the Sikh Guru Arjun Dev. Being a Bhagat, Chajju had sworn never to take alcohol or eat meat; be truthful and worship only the Almighty.

The dome of Bhagat Chajju’s Chaubara is round, and it is placed upon an octagonal base, although the structure of the Chaubara is a square. The dome is typically influenced by Sikh architecture, featuring huge dome-shaped elevated canopies called Chhatris (umbrellas). This dome is made of white sandstone, now painted in whitewash.

Each dome is shaped like a lotus flower, with its petals spread wide. The lotus is known as the flower that blooms amidst stagnancy, signifying the need to create a unique identity by rising above the temporal issues and affairs of daily life. The dome springs from a floral base and has an inverted lotus symbol top from which rises the kalas or ornate finial. 

The interior of the dome consisting of elegant and rare metal work, and recalls 

of the mirrors in Lahore’s Sheesh Mahal.

This portion has also survived damage and you can see the original design pattern. The whole dome is filled with tree-like motif which is a Perso-Mughal element. Between every two motifs there is a convex shining metal piece.

The Sikh architectural interior is beautified by means of stucco work, tukṛi or fixing of mirror pieces, and fresco painting. These techniques are used to produce beautiful designs and friezes based on vine, plant, flower, bird and animal motifs. These techniques, time-consuming and costly, require highly skilled artists. They are, therefore, used in sacred shrines. Examples of such work can be seen in the Golden Temple. The largest number of frescoes has been painted on the first floor walls of Baba Aṭal.

The interior of Chaubara has a square room with straight curves on the four sides of the floor. Inside the front wall, the upper part of door has about one foot wide boundary of embellished area. This was the area where Chhajju Ram’s customers came to purchase gold when he was worked as goldsmith. The main entrance was lavishly decorated. Many cracks have appeared now in this part. 

Above the windows there are three cusped arches of same sizes as the windows below. The same plan repeated in both north and south wall. These arches are beautifully painted with eight sided star shape motif. The use of red and sharp red inside these arches make these motifs more elegant. Some portions have clear picture of motif as most of the portion had been rubbed off during re-touching of this chaubara. The dome is placed on octagonal plane and every angled corner have specially embellished with massive use of gold and steel pieces on it. Inside this corner there is a, arched door almost two feet high. 

Baradari of Raja Todar Mal (2018)

**Date of Visiting of the Site: 04.03.2018

Date of posting this blog: 14.09.2019

All pictures are owned

The three Dilapidated Edifices along the old Bank of River Beas

(Baradari of Raja Todar Mal)

WHO WAS RAJA TODAR MAL?

Raja Todar Mal, a Khatri Rajput had served his youth under the administration of Sher Shah Suri and had gained priceless experience in management of Land and revenues. He assisted Akbar’s chancellor of exchequer Muzafar Khan first and then took part in suppression of Ali Kuli in 1566.

Raja Todar Mal was the First Hindu which was sent to lead the Mughal Army. This was particularly because of Akbar’s suspicion that a Muslim may act in collusion with the rebel enemy.

After that Raja Todar Mal was employed settling the revenue system of Gujarat and then again given the military command to win Bengal.

He became the finance officer (Mushrif-i-Diwan) of Akbar in 1575 and Diwan-i-kul (Chief Finance Minister) in 1582.  He took over from the famous eunuch, Khawaja Malik Itimad Khan, in 1560.He was one of the Navaratnas in Akbar's durbar (court) and introduced the reforms also known as Todar Mal’s rentroll, the book of land records in Mughal Empire.

Raja Todar Mal is best known for introduction of the following reforms: Land measurements, Dahasala System and  Karori / Crori System

Following Todar Mal's death on 8 November 1589 in Lahore, his body was cremated according to the Hindu traditions, the Finance Minister in Akbar's Darbar. One of the largest funeral processions ever to leave the Walled City of Lahore headed for the River Ravi outside Mori Gate. The cremation of Raja Todar Mal was taking place and almost every dignitary in the court of Emperor Akbar was there. The proceedings were supervised by Raja Bhagwan Das, the head of Lahore’s revenue department, and the fire was lighted by Todar Mal’s son Kalyan Das, who would rise to become the Finance Minister in Akbar’s ‘darbar’. The death of this ‘jewel’ among the ‘Nau Ratans’ of Akbar had been preceded by the death of Raja Birbal, and suddenly, it seems, the ‘kitchen cabinet’ or ‘Nau Ratans’ was diminishing, much to the emperor’s dismay. Raja Todar Mal’s eldest son Dhari had earlier been killed in battle fighting for the Mughals in Sindh.

The subject Baradari site located between Changa Manga and Chunian and it is believed to be constructed by Raja Todar Mal. However, no historical proofs have been found in this regard which can further validate Todar Mal connection with this.

INTRODUCTION:-

A narrow road connects Tibba Mondeke with town of Changa Manga.  One can find a small village named Mundeke on roadside, which is roughly ten kilometers from Changa Manga. From here a dirt path will take you to site of three dilapidated Bardari’s.

This site can also be approached from Chunian.

Famous traveler writer; Salman Rashid describe in his blog that, ‘ The country where the baradari stands was once very picturesque with the Beas River flowing by through a thickly wooded tract near the present town of Chunian.’

The Sutlej meets the Beas River in Hari-Ke-Patan in Amritsar in Punjab, India and flows to the southwest, penetrating Pakistan to join the Chenab River. However after Indus water treaty the Beas and Sutlej River were vanished from the maps in the Pakistan. Their beds got dried and new towns constructed on their routes.

The area was rich in history from prehistoric times, archeologist found remains of seven mound in nearby areas.

LOCATION:-

31° 0'37.31"N    74° 3'55.55"E

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS:-

At first sight, it looks a Baradari building standing along with its two compartments on a protected plinth platform (82 ft x 86 ft).  However, according to Salman Rashid, the building was actually not designed in two wings. It was, in fact, two distinct structures separated in time from each other by about 200 years. The larger building occupying the middle of the plinth was clearly early 17th century, but the smaller one to a side was from the Sikh period.

BUILDING 1:-

The oldest structure among these three buildings, it has rough dimension of 18 ft in width by 34 ft in length.

This is supposed to be constructed in Raja Todar Mal time and tenure.

This structure has five arch openings on length side among which three are closed with brick work also there are three openings along the width among which two openings are closed.

Alternate arch style and pattern used along the lengths, two arches at side and one at center are of multifold type, while the other two remaining are of four centered arch design.

Along the width the two corner arches are of four centered design while the centered one is multifold pattern.

On all four sides a roof shade is extended, it has rough dimension of 1.5 ft in width and 8 inch in depth. The shade is further supported by architectural brackets.

There is also a parapet wall raised above roof in this building.

This building is in state of despair, the floor excavated and uprooted long ago by treasure hunters. Building fresco and plaster work totally faded with time.

Building 2:-

This looks a little less unspoiled structure from exterior than the rest of two buildings. Although have different dimensions, this buildings has same architecture and design than the oldest one. According to traveler writer Salman Rasheed the present baradari seems to be constructed some 200 years after the oldest one and most likely of  early 17^th century era.

Before Sikh’s rule in present Pakistani Punjab, Raja’s Todar Mal family owned large properties around Chunian. Therefore it is assumed the current building constructed by Raj’s family.

A typical baradari structure having rectangle configuration with each side has dimension of 34 ft. Three arch openings present along each length, the side openings of arch are of typical multifold design, where as the middle one is four centered arch.

Like other buildings in periphery, roof shade is present on all four sides supported by elegant brackets, between two brackets floral fresco art paintings were made. The outer wall is more than 3 ft in width. The portion inside the arches are crafted with floral and fresco work. The inside of Bardari’s walls still have some remains of fresco work, which proves how gem of building this looks in past.

Building 3:-

The third building the smallest one in dimension, supposed to be constructed in Sikh Era of late seventeenth century.

This building has different design than others.

This building have dimension of 13 ft in width and roughly 18ft in length.

On length sides there are total five arches openings among these three of them are close. On width side three arch were provided among two were close. All arches in this building are of four centered arch design.

The Building is in total state of despair nobody even visit it in day time as  local  associate false haunted stories with this. More, sad to mention here no rehabilitation and conversation work has ever done by concerned archeological and historical department to protect this site of great historical importance.