I don’t think that I’ve been in love as such
although I liked a few folk pretty well
Love must be vaster than my smiles or touch
for brave men died and empires rose and fell
for love, girls follow boys to foreign lands
and men have followed women into hell
In plays and poems someone understands
there’s something makes us more than blood and bone
And more than biological demands
for me love’s like the wind unseen, unknown
I see the trees are bending where it’s been
I know that it leaves wreckage where it’s blown
I really don’t know what I love you means
I think it means don’t leave me here alone
- Neil Gaiman
Friday, January 25, 2013
The Sarai of Nur Mahal
The Sarai of Nur Mahal was built on the orders of Noor Jahan, one of the wives of Jahangir, the fourth Mughal emperor, and the power behind the throne. It was completed in 1620-21 A.D. Constructed on the old GT road connecting Delhi and Lahore, it seems to be quite well known in Punjab, not least because it is now situated in the middle of the town.
Till a few decades ago, the government school was located inside the sarai, and its bricks were being used to build houses. The Archaeological Department has taken over its maintenance now and while some parts seem incongruously shiny and new compared to the original, it is still a job well done, besides providing a walking space for the people of Nur Mahal.
"The Sarai is 551 square feet outside, including the octagonal towers at the corner. The western gateway is a double storeyed building faced on the outside with red sandstone from the Fatehpur Sikri quarries. The whole front is divided into panels ornamented with sculpture; but the relief is low and the workmanship coarse. There are angels and fairies, elephants and rhinoceroses, camels and horses, monkeys and peacocks, with men on horseback and archers on elephants. The sides of the gateway are in much better taste, the ornament being limited to foliated scroll-work with birds sitting on the branches. But even in this the design is much better than the execution, as there is little relief. Over the entrance there is a long inscription."
Cunningham writes that the sarai "is said to have been built by Zakariya Khan, the Nazim of the Subah of Jalandhar, during the reign of Jahangir. His inscription which is cut in sunken letters on the right jamb of the west gatewaty says nothing about the building of the sarai, while the main inscription over the western gateway distinctly states that the sarai was erected by the order of Nur Jahan. I suppose, therefore, that the actual work was superintended by Zakariya Khan, of whom I can learn nothing."
A Zakariya Khan, who was the governor of Punjab, is known in Sikh history for having ordered the mass torture and execution of Sikhs. However, he existed in the early 1700s, much after the construction of the Sarai. It may be that the plaque referring to Zakariya Khan is of a much later date, added to the wall upon his becoming governor and having perhaps renovated the Sarai.*
Cunningam mentions that "There was also a similar gateway on the eastern side, but this is now only a
mass of ruin, and all the stone facing has disappeared. There was also an inscription over this gateway...", which was provided to Cunningham by a local resident:
Cunningham's description of the sarai continued:
"...In the north side of the courtyard there is a masjid [mosque], and in the middle a fine well. On each side there are 32 rooms, each 10 feet 10 inches square, with a verandah in front. In each corner there were three rooms, one large and two small. The Emperor's apartments formed the centre block of the south side, three storeys in height. The rooms were highly finished, but all their beauty is now concealed under the prevailing whitewash. The main room was oblong in shape, with a half-octagon recess on two sides, similar to the large rooms in the corners of the sarai...From this description it will be seen that there was accommodation inside for about 100 people. But the great mass of the Imperial followers found their quarters outside, in an exterior court about 2,000 feet square, some of the walls which were pointed to me in November 1838; all of these have disappeared now."
It's interesting to note that the practice of whitewashing our history and making it disappear isn't new.
Till a few decades ago, the government school was located inside the sarai, and its bricks were being used to build houses. The Archaeological Department has taken over its maintenance now and while some parts seem incongruously shiny and new compared to the original, it is still a job well done, besides providing a walking space for the people of Nur Mahal.
 |
| Western Gate - August 2012 |
 |
| Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar) in the 1870s of the Western Gate to the Sarai. Source: http://www.bl.uk/ |
 |
| A view from the tower looking towards the arched gateway, with the town beyond - Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar) in the 1870s. Source: http://www.bl.uk/ |
Alexander Cunningham visited Nur Mahal during his Tour through Punjab in 1878-79 and provides a description of the complex -
"The Sarai is 551 square feet outside, including the octagonal towers at the corner. The western gateway is a double storeyed building faced on the outside with red sandstone from the Fatehpur Sikri quarries. The whole front is divided into panels ornamented with sculpture; but the relief is low and the workmanship coarse. There are angels and fairies, elephants and rhinoceroses, camels and horses, monkeys and peacocks, with men on horseback and archers on elephants. The sides of the gateway are in much better taste, the ornament being limited to foliated scroll-work with birds sitting on the branches. But even in this the design is much better than the execution, as there is little relief. Over the entrance there is a long inscription."
The second inscription on the western gateway consists of six short lines, as follows:
Cunningham writes that the sarai "is said to have been built by Zakariya Khan, the Nazim of the Subah of Jalandhar, during the reign of Jahangir. His inscription which is cut in sunken letters on the right jamb of the west gatewaty says nothing about the building of the sarai, while the main inscription over the western gateway distinctly states that the sarai was erected by the order of Nur Jahan. I suppose, therefore, that the actual work was superintended by Zakariya Khan, of whom I can learn nothing."
A Zakariya Khan, who was the governor of Punjab, is known in Sikh history for having ordered the mass torture and execution of Sikhs. However, he existed in the early 1700s, much after the construction of the Sarai. It may be that the plaque referring to Zakariya Khan is of a much later date, added to the wall upon his becoming governor and having perhaps renovated the Sarai.*
Cunningam mentions that "There was also a similar gateway on the eastern side, but this is now only a
mass of ruin, and all the stone facing has disappeared. There was also an inscription over this gateway...", which was provided to Cunningham by a local resident:
Cunningham's description of the sarai continued:
"...In the north side of the courtyard there is a masjid [mosque], and in the middle a fine well. On each side there are 32 rooms, each 10 feet 10 inches square, with a verandah in front. In each corner there were three rooms, one large and two small. The Emperor's apartments formed the centre block of the south side, three storeys in height. The rooms were highly finished, but all their beauty is now concealed under the prevailing whitewash. The main room was oblong in shape, with a half-octagon recess on two sides, similar to the large rooms in the corners of the sarai...From this description it will be seen that there was accommodation inside for about 100 people. But the great mass of the Imperial followers found their quarters outside, in an exterior court about 2,000 feet square, some of the walls which were pointed to me in November 1838; all of these have disappeared now."
It's interesting to note that the practice of whitewashing our history and making it disappear isn't new.
 |
| Surprisingly well-maintained laws by the Archaeological Department |
 |
| The mosque and the well in the Sarai |
 |
| Looking towards the outer walls of the Sarai with the main gateway at the left of the print - Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar). Source: http://www.bl.uk/ |
 |
| Looking to the South |
 |
| Rooms on the southern side with the emperor's chambers - Town rumour has it that a tunnel runs from the chambers to a nearby lake which was used by Nur Jahan |
 |
| The remains of the Eastern Gate |
 |
| Any information on why this diagonally placed brick? |
 |
| A renovated corner |
 |
| An original part of the Sarai |
 |
| Carvings on the western door that left Cunningham unimpressed |
_________________________________________________________________________________
* However, there is no evidence that I have found (yet) to back it up this claim.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Winter: My Secret.
I tell my secret? No indeed, not I;
Perhaps some day, who knows?
But not today; it froze, and blows and snows,
And you're too curious: fie!
You want to hear it? well:
Only, my secret's mine, and I won't tell.
Or, after all, perhaps there's none:
Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.
Today's a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak, and other wraps:
I cannot ope to everyone who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling thro' my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nipping and clipping thro' my wraps and all.
I wear my mask for warmth: who ever shows
His nose to Russian snows
To be pecked at by every wind that blows?
You would not peck? I thank you for good will,
Believe, but leave the truth untested still.
Spring's an expansive time: yet I don't trust
March with its peck of dust,
Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers,
Nor even May, whose flowers
One frost may wither thro' the sunless hours.
Perhaps some languid summer day,
When drowsy birds sing less and less,
And golden fruit is ripening to excess,
If there's not too much sun nor too much cloud,
And the warm wind is neither still nor loud,
Perhaps my secret I may say,
Or you may guess.
- Christina Rossetti
via Poets.org
Perhaps some day, who knows?
But not today; it froze, and blows and snows,
And you're too curious: fie!
You want to hear it? well:
Only, my secret's mine, and I won't tell.
Or, after all, perhaps there's none:
Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.
Today's a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak, and other wraps:
I cannot ope to everyone who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling thro' my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nipping and clipping thro' my wraps and all.
I wear my mask for warmth: who ever shows
His nose to Russian snows
To be pecked at by every wind that blows?
You would not peck? I thank you for good will,
Believe, but leave the truth untested still.
Spring's an expansive time: yet I don't trust
March with its peck of dust,
Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers,
Nor even May, whose flowers
One frost may wither thro' the sunless hours.
Perhaps some languid summer day,
When drowsy birds sing less and less,
And golden fruit is ripening to excess,
If there's not too much sun nor too much cloud,
And the warm wind is neither still nor loud,
Perhaps my secret I may say,
Or you may guess.
- Christina Rossetti
via Poets.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)