Islamabad For its April programme the history sub-group of the Asian Study Group (ASG) organised a presentation of photographs of Rawalpindi — affectionately known as ‘Pindi’ — some old and rare, with a few new ones for comparison between the historic city of yore and what it has become today. The event was held at Kuch Khaas and the presentation was made by ‘Pindi historian, Mohammed Ali Akbar, while quite a number of those who remembered the city as it used to be in the 60’s and 70’s were present, including Albert and Clare Godin, to share their memories during the Q&A session, most of them nostalgic and heart warming but a little heart breaking as well! The presentation consisted of over one hundred and fifty photographs of the city taken between 1870 and 1930. Many were discovered in the albums of old India hands, some of whose descendents have an intense curiosity about the land that their ancestors had colonised and lived in. Among them are photographs that are a virtual time capsule about the everyday lives of people in an age long forgotten. After a brief introduction, the presentation began with the narrator pointing interesting facts about the various photos — some of which were somewhat blurred and a few painted by an ‘expert’ to give a feel of what the different images in each picture represented. There were some photos of Murree as well before it became the disaster it is today. While development is a fact of life as cities grow and become overcrowded, it is lamentable that many heritage buildings have been knocked down or despoiled to give way to ugly plazas and high rise apartments. The Murree post office is a case in point where an ugly construction has usurped the place where a beautiful old colonial style building once stood. It is believed that as far back as 1000 BC a distinct culture flourished on the plateau, which houses Rawalpindi. Remains found at the site prove the existence of a Buddhist establishment
similar to Taxila and of a Vedic civilisation. Sir Alexander Cunningham identified certain ruins in the cantonment with the ancient city of Ganjipur, the capital of the Bhatti tribe in the ages preceding the Christian era. Known as Fatehpur Baori, Rawalpindi fell into decay during the Mongol invasions of the fourteenth century. After his invasion, Mahmud Ghazni (979-1030), gave the ruined city to the Ghakars and a chief named Jhanda Khan, restored it and named it Rawalpindi (the village of Rawal) in 1493. It remained under the Ghakars until the last ruler was defeated by the Sikhs in 1765. With British colonisation, Lord Dalhousie made Rawalpindi the headquarters of the Northern Command in 1851. The city became the largest British military garrison and most important cantonment - a major centre of military power of the Raj after an arsenal was established in 1883. After partition in 1947, Rawalpindi saw an influx of people from other areas. In 1959, it was the interim capital of the country for a while and a number of dark events of historical significance have taken place here, including the assassination of the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan in Liaquat Bagh (1951); Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in the Central Jail (1979) and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated near the rear gate of Liaquat Bagh (2007). The main road - commonly known as ‘Murree Road’ - which runs through the city, has been the favourite site for various political rallies and demonstrations.
