Bhera once an imposing town in the Sargodha district fast losing its old grandeur. It has already been deprived of two of its eight gates and boundary wall. The remaining examples of wood carving and masonry too may soon disappear if no attention is paid to its preservation, the town may soon find its character completely obliterated.
Bhera has an old and interesting history like
Lahore and many other Punjab cities. it was attacked and destroyed by the invaders coming from the north several times. The old town also known as Jobnathnagar, was located on the right bank of River Jhelum. Its remains still exist near Ahmadabad village in Jhelum District. It was said to be a town of fairly large size as an amount of Rs.200,000 was paid to Babar by the people of Bhera to purchase their safety when his troops arrived before the town in 1519 on their return from a toiled expedition to Bajaur. Its name is mentioned several times in Babar’s memoirs. Soon afterwards, the adjoining hills tribes descended and destroyed the town.
The new town of Bhera was founded in 1540 by Sher Shah Suri. Initially, he built a beautiful mosque. The town soon attained its former glory and started growing in size and became a thriving commercial centre of the district by the end of the 19th century. The town made great progress during the British rule when Deputy Commissioner Captain Davies got all eight dilapidated gates removed and new ones erected. The boundary wall was also rebuilt.
“It is the best-looking town in the district, being built of brick throughout. There are some ancient buildings with wonderful wood carvings. There are also some gardens outside the town, among which Thanwala garden is especially worthy of notice”, according to the Shahpur (now Sargodha) district gazetteer compiled in 1897.
However, this is all in the past. The city’s beautiful lies, built in small brick and adorned by wood carving and glass work are disappearing. The impressive jharokas and balconies in wood, brick and stone are crumbling with every passing day. Among its eight gates, the one named after Haji Ghulab Din has already disappeared. The inside portion of the Multani gate has been seriously damaged while the Kabli gate has lost its character due to later alternations. Lahori gate, Kashmiri gate, Loharanwala gate, Piranwala gate and Chinioti gate are still intact.
To preserve the architectural beauty of the town and create awareness among the people, a Lahore-based tour firm has launched a “Save Bhera” campaign. A local committee comprising notables of the town has been constituted to persuade the people to stop the destruction of their architectural heritage.
A group of reporters from Lahore was taken to Bhera for a visit to the historic town this week and the first thing that struck the visitors was the defacing of the aesthetically beautiful Chinioti gate by publicity boards. The façade is hardly visible. The walls of the high buildings around the Shish Mahal area are decaying due to poor sanitation. A huge community centre-cum-marriage hall with old architecture is in the possession of the police while an adjoining two-room building houses a primary school having 200 students on its roll.
“Absentee landlordism is greatly responsible for the destruction of our beautiful havelis”, says Shaheen Farooqui, chairman of the local committee working for the town’s preservations. He said previously rich Khwajas and Sheikhs used to lodge poor people of the city in these havelis. But now they had started dismantling the buildings and selling the building materials. Material of one such haveli including woodwork was reportedly sold for Rs. 900,000. It is ironic that while the people continue to sell off the jewels of Bhera, there is hardly anyone among them to recreate the beauty. “We still have two of the artisans known for the beautiful Bhera woodwork. But they are too old to be able to continue their work”, Mr. Farooque said.
Akhtar Mammunka, managing director of Indus Guides and the moving spirit behind the “Save Bhera” campaign, said that he wanted to create awareness among people about their architectural heritage. He said his firm would organize the local community to draw the attention of the authorities towards the important issue. He said that the district administration was being approached to get the relevant provisions of the conservation law implemented. He said the government could play an important role in preserving the architectural heritage of Bhera. “It can acquire whatever remains and get these buildings preserved with the help of architects and technical experts”, he said.
“Preservation of Bhera can play an important role in the development of the tourism industry in the Punjab as the town is ideally located in the middle of Lahore and Islamabad. Located a few miles from the motorway, It can be an ideal spot for a one-day tour as well as for an overnight stay”, he said.