Tip of the iceberg? Well, maybe, I guess... As I do come from a long line of noble people. However, I myself am noting like my forefathers... But as for my ancestors, well, in the 1700s the Mughal Emperor of India, Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb, commonly known as Aurangzeb Alamgir - Bestowed about a dozen 'Shahi Farmans' (Royal Pronouncements) upon my ancestors. Only 3 of them now survive, which is proof that Emperor Aurangzeb had gifted huge areas of land and other stuff to my forefathers, (in recognition for their services in this kingdom, which mostly dealt with spreading literacy). I made a video of these documents too, see link below - These documents bear the official seal of Emperor Aurangzeb's Court! Of course, none of it matters now, as whatever wealth Emperor Aurangzeb gave to my ancestors - Was eventually stolen when Giani Maan Singh Jhor of the Sikhs took over all of Punjab. So these papers now only have value for historians, and not much else... Anyway here is the video: http://playit.pk/watch?v=41Y3nYyCEfA Actually, I can trace my lineage back about 700 Ad, to 2 people, brothers actually - Who were originally Arabs from the city of Basra in Iraq. However they came here as soldiers in General Muhammad Bin Qasim's army, (which defeated the Hindu ruler of Sindh, known as Raja Dahir). One of these 2 brothers was an archer expert in firing flaming arrows at night, and that too at a very long distance, (enabling other regular troops to get an aim on something in the dark) - While the other brother was more of a battlefield engineer, as he operated the stone hurling catapult (known as a the 'manjanik' in those times). The story goes like this: Sindh province (now in the territory of Pakistan, and karachi city it's capital) was once ruled by a Hindu ruler named Dahir. He was said to be ruthless and totally power mad! So much so that when some astrologer in his father's court predicted that only the person who married his elder sister will get to become king, and Dahir (being the younger son) won't - Made him plot some sort of a coup d'etat at a very young age! And to insure that he remained king, he ended up marrying his own sister - Thus indulging in the unthinkable act of incest. Legend says that many local people (who were peaceful Hindus) said that this disgusting act of his will one day lead us all to our doom, but Dahir remained adamant. In fact as time passed Dahir became more and more greedy, until he ended up colliding with the Arabs towards to West. But for many years, it wasn't clearly understood why many of the Arab trading ships that sailed past Sindh never returned. This was some sort of a mystery, yes there were rumors that an evil king was stealing their goods, but no actual proof. However one day Dahir's men captured an Arab trading ship which also had 2 women on board. So Dahir instantly took a liking to them, and forced them into becoming his concubines... But through an act of fate or sheer will power, those 2 women were somehow able to write a litter back home. In which they stated all the injustices they have been subjected to. So when that letter reached in hand of a young General named Muhammad Bin Qasim - He instantly blew his top, and convinced the leaders give him the go ahead to invade Sindh! So that's how Arabs (along with my ancestors) conquered this area, and Muslim rule started to spread in India - And it started roughly from the same area where Karachi city is now situated. Anyway, Raja Dahir first stood his ground very well. But only because the mercilessly hot climate was on his side. Due of which Muhammad Bin Qasim's army suffered greatly, as majority of his men contracted scurvy. But next year they returned, and this time the foot soldiers had put cotton soaked with vinegar in their mouths (to avoid getting scurvy again). So that is when the actual battle took place. And since Arab metallurgy was superior to Dahir's metallurgy, as Arabs used Damascus steel swords (which is tungsten steel layered with orderly steel) - Every local sword that clashed with the Arab swords on the field of battle was instantly broken! So in the end, Raja Dahir was captured. And his sister/wife and Queen (to avoid capture) set herself on fire! While Dahir (one version of history records) was handed over to those same 2 women who he had forced to become his concubines, and so got brutally butchered by them... So this is the reason why the 2nd port of Karachi is named Port Qasim. And this is also why the biggest recreational park in Karachi (which I think is also the biggest in Asia) is also named Bagh ibne Qasim - The Garden of Qasim!
It is really rare to know the lineage of 1300 years. Very amazing. Thanks for taking time to share the history. Qasim Bagh looks like a really fine place along the sea shore. Appears to be very well maintained, as such important places should be. I also observe there are no trees in the park. I'll see the video later. We have all studied the Mughal Empire in school, briefly. He was the last ruler, known to be cruel [in school lessons], but we learnt later that he was also generous. I have seen his lovely little mosque in Agra. I think it is named as Pearl mosque.
Thank you for deciding to share your history with us and for trusting that we would give it the respect it merits. I don't know where else we might be privy to such a remarkable personal history so i really appreciate that you revealed yours to us. Now i'll go back and take a look at the video.
Actually it was my grandfather who took the time to deeply research our lineage, otherwise majority of what I know would have become lost in time... There is more also, like we can even trace our line to Abu Bakr Siddique (573 to 634 AD), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr But this is a claim that hundreds and thousands of others can also make... Besides, what does it really matter today, in this age? As for Emperor Aurangzeb, yes, he was the last Mughal ruler of the whole undivided India, and thus the wealthiest man in existence at the time, (even exceeding the wealth of the Chinese Emperors). Yes he was somewhat cruel too, but no more so than any other king of those times. However he was a lover of the arts, culture, and above all literacy. Which is why he bestowed all those gifts upon my ancestors, as spreading literacy had become our family tradition. Today also, majority of the well known people on my father's side of the family were either into practicing law (and one brother of my grandfather also made his name at the pinnacle of law enforcement). While others became famous in the fields of medicine, or as educationists (teachers). Only I and my father chose engineering and other technical fields - So I guess this now makes me the black sheep of the family... Actually it seems to have come out accidentally, as this thread wasn't showing much activity in the past - Still, since we were talking about history, I decided to narrate everything as I myself heart it from my elders. Besides, you yourself also said that we all are now neighbors, (speaking globally), so it is always good to get to know your neighbor. Anyway I'm happy that everyone enjoyed learning a little bit of history from my corner of the world. And as always there is more to show. Take for example this building called the Frere Hall (also built by the British, in 1918 I think). It too is a very well known landmark, and today functioning as a place for book fairs on weekends, as well as a place to hold art and fashion exhibitions throughout the year. These days it is going under some restoration and maintenance work, but it is also one of the historic places which deserves a mention in this thread. Actually, the Karachi Eat Food Festival 2015 also took place on the grounds of the Frere Hall - Where I too sold lemonade, (name of my stall was "The Melting Pot")! So coming form a long line of noble people, who's own ancestors were warriors and proud conquers of this area - Yet now I only sell lemonade! So talk about how the mighty have fallen... Actually my sister and 2 of her office friends had booked a stall at this food festival, (just for fun). However one of the 2 friends pulled out due to some family emergency of her own. So I stepped in to fill the gap. Which is how Karachi now knows me as the lemonade king!!! No seriously, I did accidentally became very popular during those 3 days, (also made a lot of money), and even got coverage from some TV channels too!
I'm restarting this thread as I just found some more old photos of Karachi. Enjoy! OK, let's again start with another over 75 year old picture of Karachi's main street (which leads to the harbor)! It is called Bander road, which literally translated means Monkey road (as the word bander means monkey in Urdu language). However Bander is also short for Bandergha (which means harbor). So this is the main Harbor road. But today it is renamed as M. A. Jinnah road, (to honor our nation's founding father). Still many even now call it the Bander road... Now this picture is of the famous Karachi Metropole Hotel. Once said to be "the place" for all big events, it today isn't of any real significance. The grandson of the original owner tried to bring it down a few years ago (as he wanted to build a newer and way more taller modern skyscraper on the exact same spot) - However the heritage society filed a court case, and demanded that whatever now remains of this Hotel Metropole, be protected forever. As far as I know, the case is still pending. But even now in Karachi, no matter where you are located, if you want to got to downtown, just say "take me to Hotel Metropole", and the taxi driver will not need anymore instructions. Very early on Hotel Metropole actually became famous because it had the first office of Pan American airlines. Pan Am also had 2 flights that circled the globe, flight 100 & 101. one flew from east towards the west, while the other flight moved in the opposite direction. However both flights stopped over at Karachi international airport. So anyone from Pakistan who wished to travel the world, would always be seen at this Pan Am office - I too remember seeing this office right up to the late 1980s, until the airline went belly-up. I think Karachi also had a hand in the downfall of the airline - As the massacre of Pan Am flight 73's hijacking also took place at Karachi international airport... This happened in 1986, and just when Pan Am was about to recover from this, in 1988 Pan Am faced another tragedy of flight 103 (today remembered as the Lockerbie bombing). Which probably triggered the financial collapse of the airline. Today this is what Hotel Metropole now looks like, mostly neglected... The Pan Am office is now taken over by Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific airlines. This picture of from 1951 - Yes, believe it or not, but Karachi too once had a very well maintained Tram system in the downtown area (near the harbor). Many elderly people still remember it fondly, with a lot of nostalgia. Unfortunately, in the name of modernization, this Tram service was terminated in the 1960s. And so Karachi lost one of it's charms. Otherwise Karachi may still be known as Paris of the East. However there is now talk that it may be brought back again (probably as a electrical monorail and tram hybrid) in the downtown area... Don't know if it will happen or not, but this is how it used to be once upon a time. Here by the way is another very rare and interesting picture of Karachi, from 1947. Where P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft are towed by jeeps! This I think is when the new air force base was commissioned slightly outside the city limits (as the old one which the British left us with was too small). These aircraft belong to the RPAF, Royal Pakistan Air Force, but later when Pakistan became an Islamic Republic in 1956, the name was changed to just PAF, and so that is how it today remains... A few more pictures of how life used to be in Karachi in the 1940s and 1950s. Starting with the first serious flood in the city. Now we come to the 1960s, where the repaid social modernization (and major industrialization) of Karachi, as well as the whole of Pakistan took place! I got a few more photographs to share, but I am allowed to post only 15 pictures at a time. So the rest I'll upload in my next post!
