Gujranwala hosts a remarkable number of Sikh and Hindu cultural heritage sites that people do not know about. One of Gujranwala’s most famous monuments is the Haveli of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, where he was born on November 13, 1780. He spent most of his childhood here. The mansion holds great significance for Sikhs around the world.

The mansion stands in a small square in the middle of the old part of Gujranwala city. The red brick facade now faces a fish market that stands in a small square. The remains of the mansion have a courtyard, columns and a few rooms. The interior is an oasis of calm, much quieter than during Ranjit Singh’s time, when its courtyards and halls buzzed with the comings and goings of Mahan (Ranjit’s father) Singh’s household servants and many members of his extended family. The mansion has also been encroached upon and vandalised, as is the norm in this country.

In the late 18th century, it was probably surrounded by more greenery and open spaces, but today it stands in an overcrowded environment surrounded by illegally constructed temporary housing. The building has been declared a protected cultural heritage building by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, but authorities rarely visit it. The government has allocated funds for its restoration several times, but they have not been utilised.

Ranjit Singh’s haveli actually began to lose its lustre during Partition, when it was used as a shelter for Muslims from India. The structure was later converted into a police post and it was not until 2006 that the post was moved. It was then handed over to the Department of Archaeology and Museums.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s haveli in Gujranwala could become a great tourist destination, but authorities have utterly failed in its upkeep

WHO WAS SHER-E-PUNJAB?

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also known as Sher-e-Punjab. He was uneducated but trained in the martial arts, horse-riding and firearms. He showed remarkable martial prowess. At the age of 10, he was given the name Ranjit, which means victorious in battle. At the age of 12, his father Mahan Singh died and Ranjit became the ruler of Sukerchakia Misl, one of the 12 Sikh sovereign states in the Punjab region in the 18th century.

He gained fame and recognition when he defeated the army of Afghan ruler Shah Zaman who had tried to annex Punjab. He expanded his empire by annexing the surrounding states. The unified Sikh empire existed from 1799 to 1849. At its height, it stretched from the Khyber Pass in the west to Western Tibet in the east and from Kashmir in the north to Mithankot in the south.

Ranjit Singh’s army was known as the Khalsa Army. In 1820, Ranjit Singh began to modernise his army using European officers — many of whom had served in Napoleon’s army — to train infantry and artillery. All of Ranjit Singh’s victories were won by Punjabi forces which consisted of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus.

His commanders were also from different religious communities, as were his cabinet ministers. Under Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs emerged as a strong and cohesive political unit. After his death on June 27, 1839, Ranjit Singh’s kingdom fell apart because of the First Anglo-Sikh War and internal feuds between various Sikh chieftains.

DISCOVERING THE HAVELI

Being a resident of Gakhar, a small town in Gujranwala city, I had heard a lot about this unseen wonder of Ranjit Singh’s haveli. Finally, in October, I got the chance to travel through the narrow streets to the old fortified city of Gujranwala. One can only access the haveli through these streets by bike or on foot. It was early morning, when I reached there. The shops lining the streets of the old city were still closed. Only the food vendors had started raising their shutters.

After wandering through many streets, when I reached the haveli, the front entrance of the mansion, facing the fish and vegetable market, was blocked by the construction of shops. I asked some fish sellers how to enter the mansion. They told me that I could only enter through the back door. I got there, but saw that the door was locked.

People told me that only the guardian of this mansion, an elderly man named Aftab Babar Bhatti, could open the lock. Luckily, his house was next to the mansion, so I went to him and said I wanted to visit the haveli. He came with me and opened the door for me. After entering the mansion and seeing the first glimpse of the place, I was totally disappointed to see its condition.

After spending a few minutes inside, it became clear that no one was interested in maintaining this historical place. The walls are cracked and the bricks inside can be seen in many places. The floor has modern chips but it is in poor condition and uneven all over. Some local boys were throwing stones from the rooftops of their houses into the beautiful open courtyard, seemingly oblivious to the historical significance of the place.

The attached rooms are without doors, and the walls and ceilings have been whitewashed. The roof is also in the same poor condition; people from neighbouring homes throw their garbage on to it. There is no lighting arrangement. It is like an old empty haunted house with no sign that it is the home of the man who once ruled Punjab and was the son of this city.

I left this place rather disappointed. With proper maintenance, this place can be turned into a great tourist destination, especially for Sikhs, in Pakistan and abroad.

DEMOLISHING HISTORY

While visiting the haveli, I learned that, in 2012 or 2013, the ground floor portion of the mansion below the front porch was converted into greengrocers’ shops. This also resulted in the destruction of the main staircase, whose space had been converted into a two-wheeler parking lot. It is feared that further such encroachments may result in the destruction of the main building, which is still preserved, despite its neglect.

Locals also told me that, in January 2012, the local land mafia tried to demolish the historic structure to build a shopping plaza at the site. However, due to the strong resistance of the Sikh community, such efforts failed. After this issue was reported in the media, the bid to demolish the building was also stopped, but the mafia was successful in demolishing the front part of the mansion.

I asked Aftab Babar how he came to be the guardian of this mansion.

“I only have the keys of the mansion which were handed over to me by the legal person of the Department of Archaeology, as I am a neighbour. Generations of our family have lived in this place for the past 200 years, so we have a deep attachment to this mansion,” he says.

He adds that, since there is no proper staff or office of the Department of Archaeology at the site, the Auqaf Board has given him the responsibility of keeping the haveli clean. He has helped visitors to the haveli for the last 25 years, but the number of visitors has reduced over the years.

“All visitors express their disappointment after seeing the mansion in an utter state of dilapidation and neglect by the authorities concerned,” he says, admitting the obvious.

The writer is a freelance journalist and researcher based in Gujranwala. His area of interest is history and lesser known heritage sites in Pakistan. He can be reached at  waseemshabbir78@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 5th, 2023