In the Peacock Hall of Chella Singh & Sital Das (C&S) Government Degree College Shikarpur, Promoting Heritage Awareness Seminar on World Monuments Watch Day 2016 was organized by the Endowment Fund Trust for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh and the Heritage Cell, NED University, Karachi on February 4. Prof Dr Anila Naeem of NED University, who has done extensive research on Shikarpur and its historical buildings, addressing the conference shared that in 1998, UNESCO had declared 1,203 buildings in Shikarpur as cultural heritage but unfortunately 250 buildings have been demolished.
The owners want to maintain their monumental buildings but they lack money and technical knowledge. There is utmost need to support them. Abdul Hameed Akhund, one of the trustees of the Endowment Fund Trust for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh, expressed in the conference that the citizens of Shikarpur have to form the committee headed by Prof Dr Anila Naeem to go house to house in order to convince the owners to not demolish their historical buildings.
Shikarpur was established in 1617 AD by the Daudpotas, the ruling family of Bahawalpur, who had developed it as a center for banking and political clout during the 18th and 19th centuries. Being directly accessible to central and west Asia through the Bolan Pass, it acquired political and economic importance because of its strategic location. During early 1610s, this emerald city became the nucleus of a historical trade center. The trade links of Shikarpuris were spread all over to Geneva, Rome, Iran, Iraq, Samarkand, Sumatra, Japan, Burma, Honolulu, etc. There was a branch of Central Bank of Asia in Bajaj Street in Shikarpur, which testified these links. It had the hub of manufactures including brass and metal goods, carpets, cotton cloth and embroidery.
Shahi Bagh
Deewan Hotel
For its splendid architecture, bungalows with bath tanks, gardens with beautiful flowers and food, Shikarpur, the seat of civilization, culture, trade and commerce, was described as Paris of Sindh in its heyday. It was famous for its underground drainage system and had hydrants which are used to wash the streets twice a day. It was originally a planned city with seven doors and a window, which were closed after 8pm. These doors are Lakhidar, Hathidar, Cividar, Wagnodar, Karandar, Khanpuridar and Hazaridar, while the name of window is Siddiq Marri.
Shikarpur, one of the 400-year-old historical cities of the subcontinent, has splendid background of history, culture and civilization including unique and matchless classical building works. The city has countless monumental buildings which have a magnificent model of architecture with classical archeological edifice and design. Regrettably at the moment Shikarpur, despite its grand history, gives the look of deserted city with diminishing architectural exquisiteness due to carelessness of its inhabitants and lack of awareness about importance and grandeur of the architectures. Although Shikarpur was added to the list of 100 Most Endangered Sites by World Monuments Watch List in 2008, 2010 and 2014, yet no productive initiatives have been taken by stakeholders for preservation of cultural heritage of the city.
Dhak bazaar
In 1998, UNESCO had declared and Sindh government had notified 1,203 buildings in Shikarpur as cultural heritage. Culture heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the advantage of future generations. Under Section 18 of the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994, any intentional act to destroy, injure, alter, deface and imperil the Protected Heritage or to build on or near the sites will be unlawful, and punishable. Although keeping in view culture heritage value of Shikarpur, the whole city including houses constructed up to 1950, and its wood and ironworks, was declared as Protected Heritage within the meaning of the Preservation Act by Culture Department, government of Sindh. And yet people have been trampling over their culture with no fear of punishment. Unfortunately, a colossal number of monumental buildings have been defaced in the name of progress. New construction has caused destruction of historical buildings as wooden doors, windows and balconies with intricate designs made of teak – a kind of wood which is weather and termite resistant – are taken out and bought to people at high prices, which are installed in their modern bungalows in big cities.
The remarkable, classical and historical building of C&S College was built from 1927 to 1932 with an approximate cost of Rs. 300,000. The building epitomises the grandeur of Shikarpur’s cultural heritage. The main contributors were two Hindu philanthropists Sital Das and Chella Sing who contributed Rs. 100,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively. As Sindh was a part of Bombay province, the governor of Bombay had inaugurated the college on 17th June, 1933 and was affiliated with the Bombay University during the pre-partition period. During 1930s, there were 77 graduates in the whole of Sindh and out of them 70 were from Shikarpur. The college has played a pivotal role in development of education in Sindh. It has created a huge number of high profile personalities.
C&S Govt Degree College
In the heart of the city, a famous market known as the Dhak Bazaar is built on the pattern of the covered bazaars of Bukhara, Samarkand and Istanbul – the contemporary cities of their times. The most amazing thing about this long and narrow Dhak bazaar lined with shops on both sides is that it is constructed with unique architectural design of crisscross ceiling made out of wood. The objective of constructing crisscross ceiling was to allow wind and light to pass through it easily. The excessive use of wood in this irreplaceable architectural wealth still seems to be art of woodwork. This stupendous architecture was built by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the 1780-90.
Govt Boys High School No 2
Budaa Ashram (Old-Age Home)
In fact, the owners of historical buildings face a host of problems. To put the historical buildings, constructed with intricate designs intact, in their original form is highly expensive, but is unaffordable for owners of the buildings. The material used in these buildings is rare in this modern age. The artisans or masons that have skills to repair these buildings are very few in Sindh. As a result, a huge number of buildings are on the verge of collapse. Hence, living in these buildings is dangerous for the residents. This is the main reason why the buildings are sold out or damaged by people.
Amid this gloom, the suitable way to resolve the problem is that the government of Sindh, with the help of national and international donor agencies and trusts, should take the initiative to provide financial, technical and professional assistance to the residents for the preservation of their classical buildings. The initiative must be followed by setting up Shikarpur Historical Society and Shikarpur Watch Group to scout through the city and ensure prevention of selling, purchasing, and destructing woodwork and artifacts of buildings built before 1950.