March 17, 2013
It was very hard to take permission to visit this place. The havli now turned into Imam-bargha. There is threat of bomb blast so the owners are over cautious particularly for visitors. It was indeed a disappointment to visit that place because all the old architecture has been changed in very short time we took few pictures but due to strange and cautious environment we prefer not to stay there long. The rest of history of this havli is as under The Koh-e-Noor Diamond was recovered from a trapped Afghan king. This 'haveli' has stories galore, ones that make history so interesting. A colossal ‘haveli’ built by Mir Bahadur Ali, Mir Nadir Ali and Mir Bahar Ali, sons of a well-known 'tabeeb' and 'hakeem' during the time of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. It took three years to build and when the three brothers moved in, Bahadar Ali's wife gave birth to a son. This was seen as a good omen and the 'haveli' was named Mubarak Haveli. The family continued to prosper in the field of 'medicine' and business. With time they branched off into two major components, the Fakir family and the Syed family. With the start of the Sikh period began years of pillage and looting. Sikh mobs would come and loot whatever they could lay their hands on. While the Fakir family, because their influence in the Lahore Darbar remained in power, it was seen that the Syeds had to flee. The grand Mubarak Haveli remained empty for a few years and people inside the city began to steal the bricks of the western portion of the haveli. It presented a deserted look, prompting Maharajah Ranjit Singh to take it over, for himself and his guests. Afghan king Shah Shuja and his family, who were fleeing from Kabul because of fighting over the Afghan throne, came to Lahore as Ranjit Singh’s guests. The crafty Sikh ruler made them his prisoners and released them only after they gave him the unrivalled Koh-e-Noor diamond. With the coming of the British the Mubarak Haveli was taken over and handed over to Nawab Ali Raza Qizilbash. The Nawab, out of respect to the original owners, rebuilt the haveli and converted a major portion into an Imambargah, which is considered among the finest in Lahore. The haveli then went on to his son Nawab Nawazish Ali Khan and his brother Nawab Nasir Ali Khan. These brothers also managed to rebuild major portions to help the old haveli regain its original glor.
It was very hard to take permission to visit this place. The havli now turned into Imam-bargha. There is threat of bomb blast so the owners are over cautious particularly for visitors. It was indeed a disappointment to visit that place because all the old architecture has been changed in very short time we took few pictures but due to strange and cautious environment we prefer not to stay there long. The rest of history of this havli is as under The Koh-e-Noor Diamond was recovered from a trapped Afghan king. This 'haveli' has stories galore, ones that make history so interesting. A colossal ‘haveli’ built by Mir Bahadur Ali, Mir Nadir Ali and Mir Bahar Ali, sons of a well-known 'tabeeb' and 'hakeem' during the time of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. It took three years to build and when the three brothers moved in, Bahadar Ali's wife gave birth to a son. This was seen as a good omen and the 'haveli' was named Mubarak Haveli. The family continued to prosper in the field of 'medicine' and business. With time they branched off into two major components, the Fakir family and the Syed family. With the start of the Sikh period began years of pillage and looting. Sikh mobs would come and loot whatever they could lay their hands on. While the Fakir family, because their influence in the Lahore Darbar remained in power, it was seen that the Syeds had to flee. The grand Mubarak Haveli remained empty for a few years and people inside the city began to steal the bricks of the western portion of the haveli. It presented a deserted look, prompting Maharajah Ranjit Singh to take it over, for himself and his guests. Afghan king Shah Shuja and his family, who were fleeing from Kabul because of fighting over the Afghan throne, came to Lahore as Ranjit Singh’s guests. The crafty Sikh ruler made them his prisoners and released them only after they gave him the unrivalled Koh-e-Noor diamond. With the coming of the British the Mubarak Haveli was taken over and handed over to Nawab Ali Raza Qizilbash. The Nawab, out of respect to the original owners, rebuilt the haveli and converted a major portion into an Imambargah, which is considered among the finest in Lahore. The haveli then went on to his son Nawab Nawazish Ali Khan and his brother Nawab Nasir Ali Khan. These brothers also managed to rebuild major portions to help the old haveli regain its original glor.
