We
have now come to the famous Mori Gate in our journey through the inner city of
Lahore. It is located between the two main gates to the south, Bhati and Lohari
Gate, in front of Urdu bazaar. The people of Lahore have a strange sense of
humour. If you ever ask anyone living inside the Walled City as to how many
gates the ancient city has, they will invariably say 12 and a mori (a
hole). There is a brief history behind
why it has been named so. It served as the preferred escape route for Emperors
on the run, and it also served as a secret entry point for many. It was also
the gateway through which the Hindu and Sikh dead were taken for their last
rites. Once the Ravi River flowed on one side of the entrance and nearby, on
the other side of the moat the dead were cremated
Almost 1,000
years ago the city walls--- then made of huge mud blocks slightly baked and
still muddy in color--- had just six gates and a hole of a gateway. According
to one account, a man riding on a donkey had to dismount and could barely walk
through. It was, definitely, a hole like passage mostly used by the
under-privileged. There are some different views regarding why such a small
hole of a gate was built in the first place. One view is that the Hindu upper
class did not want the untouchables (Shoodars; their lowest cast) to pass the
same way that they did. Thus the Mori was built for them to pass through.
Another theory is that it was essentially meant for the dead to be taken out
and cremated on the riverside, though no solid reason for the dead taking this
route has been put forward. The river outside soon became a moat. When the Ravi
cut its way westwards, it remained just a sluggish pool of water, which then
dried and then, was filled by the British, who finally levelled it into a
garden as part of a defence plan.
After partition,
the area was encroached upon and now the government just does not have the
power to clear the place. However the British while levelling out the spaces
outside, also tore down the original Mori Gate and built a much larger gate,
which as an official document states was large enough to ensure that a camel
cart can pass through with ease, instead of the five-foot six-inch hole in the
wall.
I
found what I learnt about this place in my history class very interesting and
thrilling, so I want to share this knowledge with you. Mori Gate gained
prominence when Mahmud of Ghazni laid siege to the city. The ruler, Raja
Jaipal, resisted for a number of days, and then decided to escape, fleeing
through Mori Gate. However his flight did not hold back the people from
resisting the foreign invasion and Mahmud was shocked at the fierce resistance
they put up. His spies informed him that Raja Jaipal had escaped through a
small hole in the wall and he stood outside to see the mori for himself. One
can imagine him standing just outside at the crossing of Urdu Bazaar and
Circular Road. Then at night Mahmud and his men sneaked into the city after
managing to break down the door of the Gate, paving the way for the conquest of
Lahore. For seven days and seven nights, as several accounts tell us, the
crazed Afghans burnt, raped and looted the city till all its inhabitants either
lay dead or fled into the forests to the East. Lahore lay empty and desolate
for a good five years.
This
gate appears to have been the preferred entrance to Delhi for invaders from the
West. When Emperor Babar invaded the Punjab from the West, he also met with
resistance. Babar in a fit of rage decided to burn down Lahore, more out of his
hatred of the Bhat Rajputs who lived inside Bhati Gate. The pillage that
followed again emptied the city. From that point onwards as every time Lahore
was pillaged, the population fled and the city remained empty for years on end.
Enough
of this history lesson, lets talk about present. Today, its 2011 when the world
has moved towards the Space Age from the Stone Age, but unfortunately we are
progressing only on official documents or statements. These documents state
prosperity, but the ground realty is quite opposite to the imaginary
progressive picture presented by our authorities.
At the entrence
of Mori gate there is a small very stinky fish market. On the left of the gate
is a garden and a school along with a khara on the right, and not to forget the
token Ganda Naala (open sewage drainage), at every gate. Here at Mori Gate this
open drain turns into a little stream of disposal and waste, which is quite
dangerous for the natives. We walk through the Mori Gate Bazaar which ends on
Chowk Jhanda, which then connects it with Lohari Gate. You can see the
condition of those streets through the pictures.
Mori
Gate has the honour of having one of our greatest architectural heritage in its
lap, the Haveli of Naunihal Singh at Paaiyan Wala Maidaan which has been
converted into the Victoria Girls Higher Secondry School. I am quite surprised
to see that this haveli is in good shape and colour. During the Ranjit Singh
era this haveli was owned by his grand son, Prince Nuanihal Singh, the son of
Kharak Singh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was fond of great pomp and show. His
durbars were imposing and he loved his valuable possessions, especially
the’Koh-i-Noor’. The history of this
diamond would have been different, but for the faithful and loyal officer Dewan
Beli Ram who saved it for the royal successors of Ranjit Singh. Maharaja Kharak Singh was imprisoned and died
while in custody and Naunihal Singh was assassinated by his Prime Minister,
Raja Dhian Singh, by having his head crushed in the door at the Hazori Bagh
while returning from his father’s cremation in 1840. Another haveli in a sad
state is that of the loyal Dewan Beli Ram, and its meager remains can be seen
under a huge mountain of debris.
So
far I have covered ten gates of the walled city and after all that research I believe
that poverty and illetracy are the two monsters which are sucking the blood of
the people of this historical city. I don’t know who is going to correct the
situation. However it is clear that nothing better can be expected for our
doomed heritage without a collective effort.
