Daily Times

Recently, the World Monument Fund (WMF), a New York based non-profit organisation dedicated to saving world’s treasured places which since after its creation in 1996 has listed 814 sites facing daunting threats or compelling opportunities for protection, conservation, and engagement in 90 countries, included Karachi in the list of 25 sites constituting the World Monument Watch List for 2018 as Historic Karachi. This significant development would provide an opportunity to create public interest in the Karachi’s historical sites and initiate activities for its preservation. The unusual achievement of inclusion of Karachi in the list is the result of untiring efforts of Dr Anila Naeem, chairperson heritage cell architecture and planning department NED university of Engineering and Technology, Karachi.

Established 288 years back in 1729 as a fortified port settlement, the metropolitan city of Karachi, the heart of Sindh and economic hub of Pakistan, harbours many historical, magnificent and splendid buildings. The city had become the centre of cultural and social life after the British’s conquest of Sindh in 1843. Between 1843 and 1947, a large number of the exquisite and classical buildings consisting of churches, Educational institutes, business houses, cinema houses, libraries, and residences were constructed.

At the time of the Indo-Pak partition in 1947, Karachi, with a population of approximately 450,000, was a major centre of commerce and international trade owing to its sea port. Since then, the population of the city has increased to almost 50-fold due to various factors, which created the mounting need for housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and employment. This massive population growth and infrastructural development badly affected the city’s historical sites, depriving its citizens of magnificent and unique cultural legacy. Recently, the Sindh government declared more than 1200 Karachi’s historical buildings as protected heritage. Of the overall historic sites granted legal protection, 10 percent of them have been damaged and 30 percent of them have been found in a state of abandonment and neglect—a shocking rate of attrition.

Here I briefly cite some of the historical structures that have been preserved and restored with a great care and interest.

Mohatta Palace

Constructed in 1927 by Shivratanchandraratan Mohatta a Marwari Hindu businessman of Karachi, Mohatta palace officially called Qasr-e-Fatima, one of the Pakistan’s most beautiful architectures and one of the most unique and oldest buildings of Karachi, is located in the affluent seaside area of Clinton.

The eye-catching palace, a Mughal revival style structure was architected with the combination of pink stone from Jodhpur and yellow Gizri stone by Agha Ahmed Hussain, one of the first Muslim architects of India. The stunning and splendid historical double storeyed architecture’s facade is trimmed with windows, stone brackets, spandrels, domes, balustrades with floral motifs and exquisite railings. The building with windows in the front part opening out into the garden has nine domes with a central dome existing in the middle. The domes are surrounded by peacock motifs.

After Pakistan’s independence, the palace (Mohatta Palace) was the residence of Fatima Jinnah, Quaid-e-Azam’s sister

There has been a huge use of the scallop in the shape of a strip that goes around the building and on top of the first and second floor windows. Between each scallop many floral motifs have been placed around the surrounding wall.

All of the windows and doorways are framed by two large intricately carved marigolds at the top right and left side of the arches. In the large windows located in the top right and left corners of the arches, there are bird’s wings with intricate designs.

The interior scenario of the palace is also splendid. There is huge use of teak wood in the palatial building. On the ground floor, the building with the main entrance in the centre has a large square hall with adorned ceiling and with seven openings leading into a corridor.

The hall acts as a dictum and around it are spacious and long corridors connected to the rooms. It has five large stately rooms — two on the right side (North) and two on the left side (south) of the main entrance and one at the backside — designed for entertainment. On the south side, there is teak wood polished staircase that connects ground floor and first floor.

Unlike ground floor, the first floor has private facilities. The first floor also has a central large hall with ten doors opening into the corridor that is connected to rooms. There are four big bedrooms to have attached restrooms and dressing rooms. Each bedroom has two openings — like doors opening into doors. There are two staircases in the southern and northern directions which lead up to the roof.

On the rooftop, to protect inhabitants from severe heat of direct sunlight, there is a magnificent structure with a central minaret dome surrounded by four other domes of the same shape on its corners. All of the domes have dainty knobs and rectangular box like shapes.

After Pakistan’s independence, the palace was the residence of Fatima Jinnah, Quaid-e-Azam’s sister. In 1995, the Sindh government’s culture department purchased it and converted into a Museum and constituted an autonomous board of trustees to look after the palace.

The board making laudable and great efforts in a professional way has succeeded in restoring and maintaining the original identity of this august architecture that with the pink Jodhpuri stone and yellow Gizri stone has been shining to life again.

Frere Hall, Karachi

Constructed in 1865 in the honour of Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, commissioner of Sindh 1815-1884), the Venetian Gothic style two storeyed building, Frere Hall was designed by Colonel Clair Wilkins. This magnificent building raised for the memorial through public donations, was officially inaugurated by Commissioner Mansfield on 10th October 1865. The gardens, Bag-e-Jinnah called in Urdu, around the building were planted in 1888 by Mr. Benjamin Flinch and the statues of Queen Victoria and King Edward, which have been removed now, had increased pulchritude of the garden.

The classical yellowish limestone building once known as Town Hall was the centre of Karachi’s socio-cultural activities such as regular public meetings, concerts and theatrical performances. Now it houses Liaquat Municipal Library on the ground floor and an Art Gallery named after one of the Pakistan’s well-known arts, Sadeqain Gallery that shows a permanent collection of his work on the first floor.

The historical building is one of the few well-preserved buildings in Karachi. The building has been opened for the public from 2011. Every Sunday, a book bazaar is held in its courtyard, where some old special books are made available. People can visit the Sadeqain Gallery all the days of the week.

The writer is an academic, and can be reached on Twitter @ARShykh

Published in Daily Times, November 10^th 2017.