Daily Times

LAHORE: The Tomb of Prince Pervaiz, in the locality of Kot Khawaja Saeed, is presently in shambles and needs immediate attention of the Department of Archaeology Punjab for conservation.

Prince Pervaiz was the son of Mughal Emperor Jahangir. His tomb was built in 17th century whereas at present, the tomb is in a deplorable state and neglected by the concerned authorities, sources added. The arches of the monument which take the load of the massive dome are wrecked at present and the structure might collapse. The pavement on the interior and platforms has disappeared, sources said.

Further the sources added that the stairs to the platforms are dilapidated whereas the bricks of the structure are also falling out and the monument is all covered with wild growth which is also seen over the dome. This is giving way to rain water into the structure and its foundations. Sources said that the tomb is surrounded by houses now and it is difficult for anyone to locate it. They claimed that those were the encroachments. The sources were of the opinion that so far the Archaeology Department of Punjab had not taken any measures to preserve the monument and during the monsoon season, water ingress into the structure could harm the building and it might collapse.

Further the sources lamented that there was no history board placed on the site for the ones who visited it and thus the monument remained unpopular and the new generation had no idea of it. Sources were of the opinion that if the Archaeology Department had declared it a protected monument, then they should have worked on its preservation as now the monument is housing the stray animals and it had turned into debris and a waste yard. Sources said that despite the controversies of who was buried in the tomb, the concerned department should have preserved it and made it popular for the new generations who were unaware of the heritage that falls out of the walled city. Sources said that due to the negligence in projection and promotion of heritage by the concerned department, people had started thinking that the monuments and heritage were limited to the Walled City in Lahore only whereas the heritage in other parts of Lahore was being ignored thus becoming unpopular.

Sources said that a proper research cell should have been established by the Archaeology Department to end the controversies on several tombs.

As per the history available about this monument, the tomb is generally attributed to Prince Pervaiz and historians have controversial opinions over the tomb. Many historians claim that it was the tomb of Dara Shikoh and some claim that it was the tomb of the sons of Prince Pervaiz. Kanhaiya Lal, a famous historian wrote in 1884, “The tomb was built in marble, including its floor. All its four sides had magnificent gates. Maharaja Ranjit Singh removed its marble and got it repaired in brick. The brick repairs done by Ranjit Singh had also decayed by his time and the tomb was in a very bad condition of preservation and was then repaired by the British government.”

Another historian Muhammad Latif wrote in 1892 that the tomb stood eminently in the middle of cultivated fields on a circular platform resting on another platform of octagonal base of the height of a man, whereas the dome rose gracefully from an octagonal platform duly supported by arches.

A university student from Tourism Department, Tayyaba Muazzam said that she did not know about the Tomb of Prince Pervaiz.

“We know the monuments inside the Walled City but I have never heard of Prince Pervaiz Tomb and neither have I known who he was. In our university classes as well, we are taken to the Walled City for study tours but we haven’t visited any of such sites around Lahore. I am sure my class fellows also are unaware of the monument and I think this is because of lack in promotion and publicity. I think to make any heritage site popular, it is important to develop it, promote it on social media and make it a tourist spot so that students like us get to know such places in Lahore and visit them. To us, heritage is Walled City Lahore only,” Tayyaba Muazzam said.

Punjab Archaeology Department Deputy Director Malik Maqsood Ahmed while talking exclusively to Daily Times said, “The structure of the building is well intact and nothing will happen to it in next 500 years. We do carry out minor repairs on the monument whenever they are needed and a proper conservation plan will also be prepared soon.”

Published in Daily Times, July 13^th 2018.