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awalpindi’s old neighbourhoods are home to some of the most magnificent mansions, many of which have lost their original lustre and are now in a rundown condition. One such mansion, the Sujan Singh Haveli, is located in Bhabra Bazaar, a marketplace named after the Jain merchants who once dominated trade in pre-partition Rawalpindi. Built around 1893, the Sujan Singh Mari, or haveli, was an architectural marvel of Rawalpindi. The brick masonry building was constructed by Rai Bahadur Sardar Sujan Singh, a wealthy timber merchant from Rawalpindi. He maintained good relations with British officials. This mansion originally had four stories, but much of its original structure has deteriorated over time.
Some of the distinctive features of the haveli include balconies, wooden ceilings, doors and windows, a bridge connecting two buildings in a haveli, an imposing courtyard and numerous rooms. At first glance, the viewers see its partially broken balcony and wooden ceiling of the bridge and the main door that opens to the haveli’s courtyard.
There are several Maris/havelis in various towns and villages of Pothohar that are known for their wooden and painted work. The most distinctive feature of the Sujan Singh Haveli is the wood carvings on doors and ceilings. The main entrance is through a superbly carved door. Two shutters of the door contain six panels, two of which depict Hindu deities. While looking for the history of the haveli online, one finds almost the same information written by every writer and news reporter. These accounts lack any discussion on the figurines on the main entrance.
The panel on the right side of the door represents a standing Shiva leaning against his mount, Nandi. His consort, Parvati, is also shown standing. Shiva is depicted holding a rosary in one hand. Shiva’s trident is also remarkably carved behind Nandi. All three figures are enclosed in a floral scroll reflecting the mastery of Pothohari artists. One hardly finds anything written on the mastery of wood carvings of Pothohari artisans.
Although these pieces of art are fast disappearing, those that have survived can still be seen in some of the older localities of Rawalpindi.
The second panel, on the left shutter of the door, depicts Krishna with his consort, Radha, a theme that is frequently found in the painted murals of temples and havelis of Pothohar. Four additional panels of doors depict pairs of peacocks and parrots, birds that fascinated artists to incorporate them into their artworks in various buildings across the Pothohar plateau. The bird and floral scroll pattern is another decorative scheme adopted by Pothohari artists for their artworks. One does not find such figures on wooden doors elsewhere in the Pothohar plateau. Although there are several exquisitely carved doors in havelis, dilapidated temples, rundown gurdwaras, mosques and other structures, all represent floral and geometric designs. However, I have come across a wooden door in Dalwal village in Salt Range that features some figurines.
The flanking sitting platforms of the main entrance door are also a distinctive feature of Sujan Singh Haveli. Sitting platforms are commonly found in most of the prominent pre-partition havelis. In the narrow streets of Rawalpindi’s old localities, the porticoes of havelis provide a historical vista of the city. Both Muslims and Hindus of the city lavishly spent on the porticoes of their havelis, which reflected their political and economic power. Wooden doors were always flanked by sitting platforms, where once the older members of the family used to sit and observe the social and economic activities in the street. These also received special treatment by the builders of the havelis. The older female members of the families used to observe street life from the jharokhas and balconies. In most of the jharokhas, three small raised platforms were made. The central one was used by the most senior members of the family, followed by the juniors who used to sit on the flanking platforms.
Standing in the street, one can observe the crumbling condition of the bridge that connects two buildings in Sujan Singh Haveli. A bridge was also an architectural feature meant to connect two buildings within a haveli. Typically, older members of the family used this. Women used the bridge to move freely from one part of the haveli to another. In some Pothohar towns, one can find bridges connecting older havelis. The underside of the bridge and the ceiling both received special treatment by the builder. In most cases, the ceiling was either painted or a carved. Likewise, the underside of the bridge had a wooden ceiling. Some of the wooden ceilings of the rooms and the bridge of Sujan Singh Haveli are ornately carved.
As one enters through the wooden door into the courtyard of the haveli, one notices the main courtyard or chowk of the haveli. Such a courtyard is the main feature of the Pothohari haveli. All family activities used to take place in this space. The courtyard always received special attention from the builder. One finds imposing decorative niches on the walls of the courtyard. There are broken terracotta pieces lying along the side of the corridor. These fragments were likely used to decorate the dado of the inner courtyard or the rooms of the haveli. The symbols on these pieces are quite interesting. There are intertwined snakes on these fragments, along with floral scrolls, an appearance commonly seen in the colonial period buildings of Rawalpindi. The intertwined snakes are also present on the sills and doorjambs of some other Rawalpindi buildings. Although these pieces of art are fast disappearing, those that have survived can still be seen in some of the older localities of Rawalpindi, particularly in the Ahata Mithu Khan area. Ahata Mithu Khan was once a melting pot of Rawalpindi, where religious structures from different communities coexisted. A few of these structures still survive. Among others, these include a temple, a Jamat Khana of the Bohra community and a church.
The first storey of the Sujan Singh Haveli is in comparatively good condition. The second and the third are crumbling brick by brick. The fourth storey has a single room and is accessed by a separate staircase. It once served as a square tower that provided panoramic view of the city. A distinctive feature of Pothohari havelis was the towers that surmounted the structures. There were two types of towers: one square and the other octagonal. The octagonal tower was an ornamental piece, whereas the square one had stairways to climb up. From the square room or tower of the Sujan Singh Haveli, one can have a view of the minarets of several mosques and the spires of old temples in Rawalpindi.
The Sujan Singh Haveli, which has witnessed both rise and fall, should be restored and transformed into the Rawalpindi City Museum. Rawalpindi’s rich history, culture and heritage deserve to be highlighted in a museum setting. This building could be an excellent choice for the City Museum.
The writer is ananthropologist at the Pakistan Institute ofDevelopmentEconomics, Islamabad. He has authored 17 books on Pakistan’s culturalheritage andanthropology. He tweets kalhorozulfiqar. He may be contacted at zulfi04hotmail.com