When I started my career as a journalist, one of the assignments given was to cover the ‘Zuljanah’ procession that starts every year from inside Mochi Gate at midnight, ending almost 24 hours later at Karbala Gamay Shah outside Bhati Gate. It was a tough slog to say the least, moving with the exceptionally slow-moving procession as they mourned and beat themselves till blood flowed from their backs.

As one moved along houses along the route provided tea and food, and as one was to learn that the starting point – Nisar Haveli – was a Qizilbash abode. We had known the Qizilbash family since childhood, for one of my father’s friend was Mehdi Ali Qizilbash, the sports journalist, who often dropped in for a ‘few’. After getting married my first neighbour was Nawab Raza Ali Qizilbash, an amazingly friendly person. Every year in the month of Muharram, ‘Nawab Sahib’ as we called Raza Bhai, oversaw the Nisar Haveli procession. So, one managed to get a very close look at all the proceedings, including participating in the ‘Sham-i-Ghareeban’ gathering.

Over the years as we moved on and my interest in the history of our city and land increased, getting to know the Qizilbash history became important. As one studies Ottoman wars the leading role of the Qizilbash came to the front. They are basically Turkoman militants of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Caucasus and Kurdistan area. Their military might contributed to the setting up of the Safavid and Afsharid Empires. There is some confusion as to whether they are Tatars or Cossacks in origin, and as one learnt more about the Safavian Sufi order of Shaykh Haydar, who organised his followers in a militant group all wearing red caps, hence the description ‘Qizil Bash’, or ‘red heads’ in the Turkish language.

The relevance of the Qizilbash to Lahore really begins with the rise of the Ottomans, with them joining the Safavids. By 1510, they had conquered the whole of Iran and Azerbaijan, large portions of Dagestan, Anatolia, Armenia and Khorasan. They defeated the Uzbeks. In central and western Asia, they were the dominant force.

When the Mughal emperor Babar invaded India, there was a large cavalry of Qizilbash with him, and their fierce tactics were feared. These Qizilbash cavalry were known as the ‘Afghan Qizilbash’ and they lived mostly in Kabul and Herat and Kandahar north. They spoke Persian and ‘Dari’.

When Babar invaded India, the Qizilbash cavalry of 20,000 wearing their traditional red caps, eliminated all opposition with a fierceness never seen before in the sub-continent. Once Babar was secure, the Qizilbash returned to northern Afghanistan where they still live and speak Persian. When Emperor Humayun was ousted by the Pathan ruler Sher Shah Suri, he fled to Afghanistan, and after a 12-year exile with the assistance of the fierce Qizilbash cavalry finally managed to dislodge the Suris from power. The Mughal ruler had returned, in large thanks to the ‘Red Headed’ cavalry soldiers of the Persian speaking Qizilbash tribes. For this the Mughals were always grateful to the Qizilbash tribes.

After Humayun died and Akbar came to power, he immediately faced resistance from Punjab’s landowners over excessive land taxes. The rise of Dullah Bhatti was part of that uprising. That is when Emperor Akbar called in the Qizilbash cavalry. This is depicted in a beautiful yet fierce verse by the Punjabi poet Waris Shah that goes as follows:“Qizilbash jal-lad sowar khooni;Nikal dooraya urd bazaar vichoon” Qizilbash the bloody executioner horsemen, Speedily emerged from the bazaars).

The role of the fierce Qizilbash red-headed cavalry helped in large to crush the uprisings, even resulting in Dullah Bhatti being skinned alive and hung for a week from Akbari Gate. That portion of our history our educational books completely ignore.

Our rulers still like foreign rulers rather than those belonging to the soil. No wonder Ranjit Singh is ignored in our school books. But then such a large collection of soldiers needed to be put up and housed. That is in large part the reason the Walled City of Lahore was expanded in 1575-60 both eastwards and westwards. To the east the Qizilbash and their horses were housed, and to the west the Bhatti landowners who had supported Akbar were housed. That is why their gateway is called Bhati Gate.

The horse-riding Qizilbash were housed in all their needs inside the expanded Mochi Gateway. If you walk through the gateway the lanes to the left and right are named after trades associated with cavalry soldiers, like Mohallah Teer-Garan (arrow makers) or Mohallah Kaman Garan (bow makers), or Mohallah Kathi Garan (saddle makers), and so on. There are scores of such specialist areas all connected to soldiers and their horses. The ‘Nakkas Khana’ (horse house) is one such example, for in its days it was the largest in the sub-continent.

Over the years Mochi Gate and its famous inhabitants have contributed immensely to the political and social life of Lahore. Once the British took over Lahore in 1849, among their first appointments from the local population was the Honorary Magistrate Nawab Ali Raza Khan Qizilbash, who immediately raised his cavalry and restored order. In 1857 when the First War of Independence started, the Qizilbash family raised a large cavalry and was part of the fierce Hodson’s Horse. In the First World War, the Qizilbash contributed considerably with horses, cavalrymen and money to assist the British. The same was true in all other war engagements.

Once Pakistan came about we have Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash as Pakistan’s finance minister. Thanks to the British rulers a considerable stretch of land on the outskirts of Lahore was provided to this famous family, which now is a major crop producer. The Qizilbash family purchased the land outside Bhati Gate where was the grave of Hazrat Gamay Shah and built an imambargah there. In the same way they purchased lands to build their graveyards. But what is most interesting is the fact that these Turkoman horsemen who were firstly famous for their fierce cavalry skills, are today among the elitist families of Lahore. Be it politics, or business, or banking or property ownership, they have established their mark. Yet they stick to their old Walled City roots, which they never forget.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2024