by Salman Minhas

Part II (cntd)

The town of Bhera is spread over a 3 square miles oval area. A circular road goes around the town around its six standing gates. The various crumbling gates are shown in the map of Bhera town. The very imposing [still used as a muslim Imambargah] Sikh Gurdwara stands almost in the center of the town.

Views of Sahnian wala Mohalla in Bhera town in Pakistan

The most important Mohallas or localities of Bhera are the Pirachagan Mohalla, the Sethian wala Mohalla, the Sahnian wala Mohalla. Three temples are still standing. The temple near the Train Station, one temple near the Lahori Gate, and the third one near the Jhelum river, where young boys come in the evening to do their "Pehalwani" or wrestling practice. The Railway Station circular engine turning point lies unused. At one time the Government Railways thought of stopping the trains to Bhera, but this was abandoned after lobbying by local residents.

The remains of a temple

The old community center has been converted into a Middle School. A second community center on the circular road near the Mohalla Pirachagan , lies crumbling away with its roof gone. In 1992 a massive flood in the Jhelum kept the entire town of Bhera under about 3-6 feet of water. Nevertheless most of the old buildings/ Mohallas survived this natural force of destruction.

The local construction contractor sells the old bricks masonry of falling houses and also the carved wooden doors which have been systematically sold off and exported to the west by Pathan & Afghani traders who were involved in the smuggling of antiques of the Gandhara ruins since early days [1900’s]. New buildings using the old brick but new cement mortar, are slowly eroding the grandeur of the old Mohallas.

Kashmiri Gate of Bhera town; Typical entrance to a house

According to Kamil Mumtaz Khan, Bhera’s architectural design is broadly the same architecture as one finds in the Havelis [villas] & Mohallas/ localities of old walled towns and cities such as Lahore, Delhi, Peshawar and Multan. The use of even narrower side lanes [broad enough for barely 2 people] to prevent mass attacks, and the use of low roofed entrances or "Deoris" in the main entrance to the house is common. Central inner gardens were also common and resulted in a very positive green to brick covered ratios. The use of carved wooden main doors and wooden balconies [called "Jharokas"] testify to the thick forests of Shisham and Deodaar [Pine] that once covered the areas between the rivers in Punjab. They also testify to the great skill of the local craftsmen. Also common is the use of lime and Kankar mortar which achieves its greatest strength after 40 years. Iron or steel railings in the open courtyards roofs in the center of the house are also common. The floors are sometimes covered with beautiful multicolored geometric tiles.

In 1891, the branch of the North Western railway was linked to Bhera, which strengthened its position as the chief trading town in this area. In 1860, Mr.Macnabb, the Deputy Commissioner,

started a trend [digging old river channels as irrigation canals ] in a private & public construction of Irrigation canal construction. This resulted in 4 State [ Station & Sahiwal - Shahpur Tehsil - ; Raniwah [Bhera Tehsil ] and Corbynwah canals] and 16 private canals being made .[ for a complete list and acreage = 44,000 acres see page 159 of the District Gazetteer Shahpur ]. The payback period of these canals in those days varied from 20 years [Station & Sahiwal] to 3 years in the case of Raniwah canal [ capital cost was Rs.19.5 Thousand ].

According to the Shahpur District Gazetteer of 1897, the education data/ figures reveal that:

The great tragedy that has befallen Bhera town, and many others in South Asia is the complete abandonment of the old buildings and general lack of maintenance. It is up to our leading intellectuals, scholars, architects to sound the alarm over these disappearing treasures and urban heritage. In a few more years there may not be anything left to salvage among the ruins of our heritage.