Harbanspura Lahore

Harbanspura  Lahore

Established by Raja Harbans Singh

Research and Writing:

 Syed Faizan Abbas Naqvi

All Rights Reserved

Lahore is such a city where many illustrious people have lived, who improved Lahore and made buildings here according to their taste, they had a key role in developing Lahore. Rulers, presidents, royals and government officials have constructed great, unmatchable buildings here.Man has preferred to live in groups since time immemorial where he has lived with people of similar race, religion and thought. The initial population of Lahore was inhabited within a walled boundary but during the time of Akbar a lot of societies and neighborhoods were formed. Muhalla Khairpur, Mughalpura, Dharampura, Telpura etc. were some of these. All of these were ancient neighborhoods which have now morphed into congested, populated areas. Harbanspura was one of these which was populated by Raja Harbans Singh located some 9km southeast of Lahore. This place is not so ancient, but with its 150-year-old antiquity, it surely is an additional chapter in the history of Lahore.

Harbanspura is located east of Lahore next to the river, approximately 9km from the railway station which was populated by Raja Harbans Singh nearly 150 years ago.

Raja Harbans Singh was the father of Raja Fatah Singh and the younger brother of Raja Teja Singh. Raja Harbans Singh was born in 1846 in Sheikhupura. His father’s name was Misr Nadha, who was from a Hindu Brahmin family. Raja Harbans Singh and Teja Singh were the sons of the same father but had different mothers. Raja Harbans’ father was from a Hindu family but after become the courtier of Maharaja Ranjit Singh he converted to the Sikh religion. Teja Singh was 46 years older than Harbans Singh, Raja Harbans Singh was the last child of his father. Raja Teja Singh had no children himself, so he adopted his younger brother and began to bring him up. His uncle Khushal Singh was a key part of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s court. Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to seek his advice in different matters. Raja Teja Singh served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s from 1812 until 1816 as a horse rider, his name was Tej Ram at that time. On the order of the Maharaja when he took up the Sikh religion he changed his name from Tej Ram to Tej Singh. From 1831 till 1839 he was the commander of the 22^nd Battalion of the Sikh army and played a key role in the battles of Attock, Peshawar and other places. Teja Singh was the commander of all the Sikh army in 1845. After the end of Sikh rule, he was offered by Lord Harding to give 25 lakh rupees in lieu of which he would be made the ruler of a sovereign state like Raja Gulab Singh and Raja Kashmir. He did not accept this offer and was then made the President of the Council of Regency. He was later made the ruler of Sialkot in 1847.

 

Harbans pura railyway station Lahore

Indication Board of Harbans pura railway Station Lahore 

Trafic Indication board to Harbanspura near Mughal pura Lahore. 

 During the war of independence in 1857 he gave benefitting advice to the British and advised Sikh soldiers to cooperate with the British Army. Due to this, after the war his property was increased and he was also made the ruler of Batala as well as Sialkot. Raja Teja Singh died in Lahore on the 4^th of December, 1862. His memorial place was built in his garden in Bairoon Masti Darwaza. Raja Tej Singh had a son born to him in 1859 whose name was Raja Narinder Singh. Due to there being no will regarding the property of Raja Tej Singh, Raja Harbans Singh and Raja Tej Singh’s son Narinder Singh had a dispute regarding the inheritance.He had a lot of property, some in Gujranwala and others in Sheikhupura. Raja Harbans Singh gave Narinder Singh a reasonable share from this property. Raja Harbans Singh got a portion from this property in 1867 and he became the head of the family after his brother. All of them were alive in the time of Molvi Noor Ahmad Chishti, he writes that Raja Harbans Singh was of good character and just in his affairs whilst Teja Singh’s son Narinder Singh was gluttonous. He spent all of the inherited property of his father in luxury. Sardar Narinder Singh died in 1904. He had only one son whose name was Sardar Bikram Singh, who lived in Amritsar, he became the inheritor of his father’s property. Later on he was posted as the Honorary Magistrate and Sole Judge First Class. Raja Harbans Singh was called the chief of Sheikhupura, where his property lied, but his mansion was joined with Khushal Singh.

                In 1886 Raja Harbans Singh populated a village east of the city, which became known as Harbanspura. This village was composed of farms with greenery and a great number of fruit trees.

 The settlement next to these farms was the place known as Harbanspura where mostly cultivators, farmers, and harvestors lived; a majority of whom were Muslims. Their descendants are still settled in Harbanspura. There is a railway station constructed by the British still present in Harbanspura which points to the importance of this area. This station in present on the Amritsar Line, the year of its construction is not known until today even after countless research but we can assume it to be built around 1890. The main reason for the construction of this railway was that there were workshops and depots of the British Airforce located here, where the army frequented constantly.

                Due to army transportation a railway station was necessary over here, this was part of the Army camp in a way as well. This stations comes after the Mughalpura Station, coming from the Lahore City Station, but when coming from Wahga Station it comes in the middle of Jallu Station. The importance of this station increased when in 1930 pumps were installed to provide water for the Railway’s steam engines. Engines were filled with water with these pumps and engines coming from  Amritsar were cooled. For this there were 3 main platforms and 16 other lines out of which only two are in operation today.

 The building of this railway station was made with small but strong bricks which had a room for the stations master, a ticket shop and a food room where today the occupiers have tied their animals. Until the creation of Pakistan this line had immense value, due to being the only line joining Pakistan to India, Harbanspura Railway Station was used frequently until 1947 but after the construction of the border close to it this line did not remain as frequented. Thus in 1980 this station was closed temporarily and in 1996 it was closed permanently. These days the Samjhota Express passes by 2 times a week as well as a few trucks with goods. There used to be engines cooled here and filled with water long ago. Those pumps perished from the face of the earth out of which only one pump from 1906 remains as a monument of history.

                The building of this station is being used as a stable. Rooms next to this which included the Light Warehouse, Oil warehouse, Booking Office and Staff rooms which were occupied by people and lost their existence due to the incompetence of the Railway Department.

                Raja Harbans Singh was known as the chief of Shiekhupura. Other than this he was well known for his philanthropist activities in Lahore. The white, beautiful fountain in the garden opposite the Victoria Jubilee Hall (Jinnah Hall) was also contructed by Raja Harbans Singh in 1893 which weighed 2500 kg. It was made out of pure melted iron. Raja Habrans Singh gifted this to the Lahore Municipality after the construction of the hall. At the time of installation this fountain had three crowns which had beautiful idols at their corners, water flowed out of their mouths. Only one crown remains today, the idols were removed after the creation of Pakistan. This fountain was 13 feet above the ground in its real size, but today it seems to be sunken into the ground. Rao Javaid Iqbal, the famous historian of Lahore, has old pictures of this fountain in which all three of the crowns and idols are visible. On the 14^th of April 1967, the Hilal Pakistan event held in Lahore was held at this location. Instead of the fountain the stage had to be made therefore the second crown of this fountain was also removed. During the time of Mian Shuja-ur-Rehman this fountain was repaired, during this the historical inscription made of marble and bearing the name of Raja Harbans Singh and the history of the fountain was removed and a new inscription bearing the name of Shuja-ur-Rehman was placed there.The government should place the other crowns onto the fountain and render it back into its actual condition.

 During the time of Raja Harbans Singh in 1872 when Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam restored the Badshahi Mosque with the permission of the British government, the condition of the mosque, due to civil war during Sikh rule, was fragmentary and in need of repairwhich required a lot of money. Due to this the government officials and commoners of Lahore was appealed to donate to this cause. At this, the Muslim as well as non-Muslim officials donated for the construction of the mosque. Noor Ahmad Chishti writes in Tehqeeqat-e-Chishti that out of the non-Muslim donors there was none who donated more than Raja Harbans Singh. As an individual, Raja Harbans Singh was the single largest donor, who donated lakhs in rupees in charity.

          

Rjaa Harbans Singh died in 1900 in Lahore. It can be assumed that his memorial place is next to the rest of his family in Bagh Khushal Singh, Bairoon Masti Darwaza, where there used to be a warehouse for cannon-making was located and today the Badami Bagh bus stand is present there. After the tragedy of Babri Masjid in 1992, along with other memorabilia, Raja Harbans Singh’s memorial place must have also been erased from the face of the earth. After his untimely death his elder son Karthi Singh became the lawful inheritor of his property but coincidentally Raja Karthi Singh did not live too long, he died in 1906. He did not have any children therefore his younger brother and the younger son of Raja Harbans Singh, Fatah Singh, became the inheritor of his family’s property. His property was in Sheikhupura and Gujranwala out of which he divided the properties in Gujranwala to his brother Karthi Singh’s widow and his two brothers. He himself began to live in Sheikhupura which is not far from Lahore. During the partition of 1947 Raja Fatah Singh came to Harbanspura from where he left his father’s populated village forever for India, with teary eyes, never to return. This area was considered very isolated in the beginning but due to the spread of population in Lahore this area became congested and populated. A few years ago due to the passing of Lahore’s ring road from Harbanspura, its importance increased. Due to the ring road connecting the city as well as the construction of well-built roads, underpasses, flyovers and interchanges it became easy to reach any place within the city. Harbanspura Interchange was inaugurated on the 1^st of March 2009 which was completed in a short period of 10 months with 2.26 km of road length. On both sides of the underpass and the flyover there is a 3 x 3 feet track which has a length of 65.50 m. This was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, on the 21^st of April 2010 and opened for the general public. Now from the city government this has been named after the first non-Muslim Legislator of Pakistan, Jogendra Nath Mandal. After the construction of this interchange the price of the land in this area have doubled.

 Outside the city life, there has been a increasing trend of different educational institutes setting up regional camps here. Due to this the local populace has gotten a chance of employment as well as getting a good education near their homes. This place has a natural beauty to it since it is located at the bank of the river but during the warm summer days the number of people bathing in the river over here is enormous. Near Harbanspura there are 4 main stops which includePhaton Wali Puli, Main Bazaar, Afzaal Puli and underpass stop. The ugly tradition of changing names of buildings, roads, highways and institutes that were named after non-Muslims started after the creation of Pakistan but Harbanspura which was populated by Raja Harbans Singh remains with its original name and is populated. It is due to his good deeds that his name is alive even to this day.

Translation by : Syed Ali Asdaq Naqvi

Gurdwara Lal Khuh Mochi Gate Lahore 

By : Syed Faizan Naqvi

Lahore Pakistan

Faizannaqvi10312@gmail.com

This historical Red Lair is present inside Mochi Darwaza. This historical well was located in the mansion of the minister of finance during Jahangir’s rule, Chandu Mil (Chandu Lal). The mansion was located at this place. The fifth Guru of the Sikh religion, Guru Arjan Dev Ji had a personal enmity with Chandu Mil. It is mentioned in Tehqeeqat-e-Chishtion page number 124 regarding this that “the issue between Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Courtier Chandu was that Chandu had a daughter. According to tradition he sent Brahmins to Delhi to look for a suitable match for his daughter. Therefore, when those Brahmins came to Amritsar to the presence of Guru Arjan Dev Ji they saw the Guru’s son Gobind Sahib playing nearby. They chose him and returned to Chandu Lal to inform him of the affair of things. Chandu Lal said that I am a minister (Wazir) and he is a pauper (Faqir). It is not befitting to place the brick of a wastage holeonto a front-facing wall of a house. At this they said that he is the son of Guru Arjan, who has thousands of disciples. He holds kingship while being a saint.

At this Chandu said that there is no objection then. We shall make him rich by giving him money; you go and talk to him about the matrimony. It was by coincidence that one of Guru Arjan’s Sikhs was also present in Chandu’s court, he informed Guru Arjan about the conversation by sending him a letter stating that Chandu Lal shall come to you, it is obligatory upon you to reject his proposal for matrimony. When the company reached Guru Arjan, he denied their offer. When Chandu Lal got to know of the state of affairs, he became an arch nemesis of the Guru. This was the reason Chandu Mil provoked Jahangir against the Guru to such an extent that Jahangir, on the suggestion of Chandu Mil, summoned Guru Arjan to Lahore and handed him over in the custody of Chandu. Chandu imprisoned the Guru in a cell in his mansion where this well was present. Guru Arjan Dev Ji used this well for drinking water and bathing. The Guru spent the remainder of his life in this mansion and had to face severe castigation. All of Lahore’s Sufi saints and Sadhus used to come to him to know about his condition. It was to such an extent that even Mian Mir (R.A) himself came to meet him and suggested Chandu to fear God by saying: OhNefarious! Why do you afflict a saint of God? Even then Chandu did not desist and continued to experiment new torture techniques.

 

It is written in the GuruGranthSahib that Chandu Lal’s daughter-in-law was the daughter of one of the Guru’s Sikhs. When she got to know that my father-in-law has imprisoned the Guru, she found an opportunity and bribed the guards who were appointed to keep an eye on the Guru with a few rupees. She then brought a bowl of water with her to where the Guru was imprisoned. She went to his presence and fell to his feet, she said: “Maharaja! My father-in-law is a tyrannical person who is giving you such severe punishments while I am a Sikhgirl living in his house. My days and nights pass in pain thinking about how I shall show my face tomorrow on the Day of Judgment, maybe I shall have to face chastisement”. Guru Arjan Dev Ji said: “You have no fault in this, whatever someone shall do, he shall have to face its consequence as well. Fear not, for we are satisfied with you, now tomorrow we shall pass away and soon after that this house shall fall into disaster and its inhabitants shall have to face severe torment”. The poor girl started to cry loudly after hearing this and then pleaded: “Maharaja! Pray that I pass away before you so that I attain salvation from thecalamity that shall strike this house”.  The Guru then said: “You shall die tomorrow as well then”. The Sikh girl returned after hearing this.

He began to torture him in different ways and a month passed. The torture was to such an extent that Chandu used to heat up water in a pot and have him seated in the pot; he did not give him food for many days. He used to heat up wood, put a pan on it and force the Guru to sit on it. When this news reached the Sikhs they said: “Maharaj, if you order us we shall all invoke a congregational curse upon him”. Guru Arjan forbade them from doing so and said that this was not feasible, this world only last for a few days. We shall bear these pains and leave this world and the stains of notoriousness shall remain on Chandu’s forehead till the Day of Judgment. My son shall take my revenge from him. Intervening in the interests of God is sheer infidelity. When Chandu got tired of trying new torture techniques one day he brought a fresh cow skin and said: “Accept what I say or else I shall get you sewed inside this skin and killed”. To this Guru said: “Let me bathe in the Ravi river, we shall accept whatever you say after this”. After coming back from bathing he lay down on the floor and covered himself with a sheet and passed away. Then a few Sikh assistants brought the body on the banks of the river Ravi and cremated his body where a dome is currently present. When Guru Hargobind heard of this news he vowed to avenge his fathers death from Chandu.

According to another narration which is present in all Sikh religious books and in Tehqeeqat-e-Chishti that when Courtier Chandu got tired of doing a lot of oppression, he got a fresh cow skin brought and said that if you obey my command right now it is better for you; but if you deny it I shall put you within this and sew this skin and get you killed. Guru Arjan Dev Ji requested to bathe one last time in the River Ravi and said that after this I shall accept whatever you want of me. Chandu Lal gave the permission and Guru Arjan Dev Ji was brought to the River Ravi with Chandu’s guards keeping an eye on him. When they came to Ravi near the Fort where this beautiful dome is located, he dived in for a bath and never returned. Maharaja Ranjit Singh later had a Gurdwara constructed at this place as a memorial. Later, the sixth Guru Hargobind dominated over Chandu Lal through political means to avenge his father’s blood.

When Guru Arjan Dev Ji died, Hargobind Singh came to Amritsar and had a throne created by the name of AkaalBongathat is present even today and named that place AkaalTakht. It was severely damaged during the Operation Blue Star in 1984.He started the keeping weapons and an army and used to keep two swords instead of one gave his Sikhs to do the same. He said that one sword is for wealth (Amiri) while the other is for saintliness (Piri).

At this time Chandu Lal sent a letter to the GuruSahib that due to the will of God, Guru Arjan Dev Ji has passed away. It is mandatory upon you to accept my daughters hand in marriage now or else I am a Royal Bureaucrat and I shall not let you live in peace. Guru Hargobind said: “Beware! I shall surely avenge my fathers death”. At this, due to envy, Chandu wrote to Jahangir that in the city of Amritsar the son of Guru Arjan Dev Ji possesses many weapons and considers himself theonly true King. He has made a throne there and has an army of thousands of men. He lives like a royal. You should summon him so that you can assess the situation. Emperor Jahangir summoned the Guru to Delhi. The Guru started his journey to Delhi along with the Royal carriage and left Bhai Buddha and Bhai Gurdas in charge in his absence.

When the Guru reached Delhi he got a meeting fixed with the emperor on the edge of the River Jamna (Yamuna). When he met the emperor he questioned him in the first meeting:“Say, are Muslims better of Hindus?” The Guru read this poem of his fathers’ to him:

Some say RamRam some say Khudai

(Ram Kali Mehla 5, Panna 885)

The emperor got really pleased after hearing the poem revered him greatly; to such an extent that he took him along with him on hunting trips. One day a lion appeared from within the jungle and came towards the emperor but the Guru killed him alone. The emperor got extremely happy from hearing this and all his doubts faded away. When Chandu Lal saw that the emperor is not having negative suppositions of any sort but instead his respect for the Guru is increasing day by day. I should make such a plan Guru Hargobind and the emperor separate, lest it be that he unites with the emperor in taking revenge for his father. Thinking of this he told the court astrologers to inform the emperor that bad days are about to come upon him, the solution to this is that the Guru should chant for him in the Fort of Gwalior. Thus, the astrologers said as were told. To this, the emperor was forced to tell the Guru to go to Gwalior and offer chants for him. When the Guru reached there, Chandu Lal had already sent a letter to the in charge at the local police station informing him that the Emperor wants Guru Hargobind to be kept in strict conditions since he is an enemy of the emperor. The in charge imprisoned the Guru. At that time 52 Kings of other states were in the same prison and the guard of the prison was a Sikh of the Guru by coincidence. The Guru got facilities and comfort because of this. At this time the Emperor saw a dream in which a lion was attacking him and the Guru saved him from the lion.

Due to this the emperor got convinced that what the astrologers had predicted was correct. The emperor was convinced that he got saved due to Guru Hargobind’s chanting. The next morning he went for the interpretation of his dream to the presence Hazrat Muhammad Lateef, who was very aged at that time. The Emperor said to him: “Sir! What is fakiri?” He said that is whatever Guru Arjan Dev Ji did, that is; he suffered but never hurt anyone else. Sadly, your Courtier Chandu killed him. When Guru Arjan Dev Ji was imprisoned in his house; all the fakirson the face of the earth went to himin support but he was patient on the oppression of Chandu and asked for no ones support except for God. The emperor was extremely saddened after hearing this and at the same time gave Nawab Wazir Khan an order to bring Guru Hargobind back. When Guru Arjan was asked to return, he said that these 52 Kings should also be released as they have suffered a lot. Nawab Wazir Khan wrote a letter to Emperor who said that they should also be released for the sake of the Guru, this way they were also released due to the GuruSahib’s intercession and arrived with him to Delhi and became rulers in their respective lands. It is said that during this time when Guru Arjan came to the royal court, he had a simran i.e a Tasbih in his hand that was really beautiful and expensive, which had rare gems in it.

 

Emperor Jahangir said: “GuruSahib! If you bestow me with one bead from your simran then I shall make it the main bead in my tasbih”. The Guru said: “Your highness, this entire tasbih is yours as an offering; may you be blessed. TheGuru then said: “Your majesty, our father Guru Arjan Dev Sahibhad a similar mala for his neck which was a thousand folds better than this; it is in Chandu Lal’shouse. You should get that mala from him. Otherwise I shall be its demander on the Day of Judgment”. The Emperor ordered Chandu Lal to bring that prayer bead; he searched everywhere but could not find it. The emperor was disappointed at him for this and the Guru spontaneously demanded the blood money for his father’s death. The emperor imprisoned Chandu Lal and handed him over to Guru Hargobind, he said that you could take revenge from him in whatever way you please. The Guru put an iron chain in his neck and locked him up among his hunting dogs; he also addressed his Sikhs saying: “Whosoever is from amongst our followers should hit him with their shoes 5 times each”. Then his head was put in dirt and he was brought to Amritsar along with hunting dogs. The emperor also came in that direction first to Gamtala and then to Lahore. A few days later Nawab Wazir Khan, the Guru and Chandu also came to Lahore. Over here Chandu was paraded in the city on a donkey with his face blackened. When the famous Bean fryer called Moli Tari, whom Chandu Lal appointed to torture Guru Arjan Dev Ji, saw Chandu Lal in that condition he took his bean-frying ladle and stabbed himself in the stomach in such a way that it burst open and his intestines came out. He died in the market in front of the people.

 

The Sikhs on the order of the Guru dragged his dead body outside the city. Then, when Guru Hargobind Singh came to Lahore he stayed at Mazang. That location became a place of worship since then. It is called Makan Chayween Paat Shahi nowadays. The Gurdwara is located on Temple Road in Mazang. This location at Lal Khoh Mochi Gate was initially smaller in size. The Sikhs later bought the surrounding houses and constructed a building. The Parbandhak committee managed this place from 1927 until 1947. The management is currently with the Department of Matroka Waqf Imlak. This is now a high-raised room, the size of which is approximately 8x10. The inside is painted red whilst outside there is an inscription bearing the name of Lal Khoh. Mechanic Javaid Chinioti built it in 1977 with the support of Zia-ud-Din Butt. The walls of this now bear the name of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as well as Ayats and all the building has been painted red due to which Laal Khoh is famous. Everyone respects this place. Opposite to it is the Rafiq Sweets Shop.

Lahore Shanasi Foundation