Like Khawajgans and wealthy Hindus, Parachgans were also the leading business community of Bhera.They had trade relations with far off places, like Afghanistan, Central Asia, particularly cities of Samarkand and Bhukhara , Russia, Culcutta, Delhi , Karachi. The trade drastically went down due to the Russian Revolution of 1917,which never recovered later on.
Certainly, there were other reasons also, which contributed towards the poor economy of the people of Bhera. Dr Abdul Rehman has aptly pointed out in his book,” Historic Towns of Punjab : Ancient and Medieval Period, Published by Ferozsons,1967. Following were some of the reasons, apart from the Blovishik Revolution (1917) for the sharp decline Bhera’s trade .
- In 1921-22 the British authorities decided to downgrade the status of the town as tehsil headquarters to sub – tehsil. Bhalwal, a nearby town was given the status of the tehsil headquarters. It had a disastrous effect in the development of Bhera. The development projects which the tehsil headquarters deserved were stopped. Thus the markets were ruined, industries ceased to flourish and roads remained unrepaired .
- The plans of building a bridge over river Jhelum near Bhera, shelved with the expansion of road and railway elsewhere, the town was marginalized.
- The railway line was laid connecting Malakwal , Bhalwal and Khushab, Bhera was eliminated from the main communication net work, like other significant towns of Punjab.
- The river trade declined, so too did the fortunes of the town.The 1908, Gazetteer of India testifies Bhera’s prosperity and mentions : ” It is the largest and most commercial town of this part of the province, having direct export trade to Kabul and Sukkhur for importing goods from Amritsar and Karachi, of course at the time rivers were navigable and the number of ferries that operated the waters of Jhelum to Bhera, played a key role in developing the trade link“.
- After the independence the situation became even worse. The rich Hindu merchants migrated to India and the poor refugees replaced them .The process of conservation and repair of beautiful houses stopped. Some of the new occupants sold the beautifully and exquisitely carved doors , windows and Jahrokas (balconies) .The building collapsed with fine brick masonry work. So, the ravages of time has taken away the precious chapter of town’s rich cultural history.
Mr Farooq Azam Piracha, from mohalla Parachgan, Bhera has shared the antique Russian currency of his ancestors. On these 100 and 50O Ruble notes are the pictures of Peter the Great , Tsar of Russia and Empress Catherine the Great, year 1898, 1910 ,1912 ( for more details about these see Wikipedia) . Rubles indicate and prove that well – off business community of Bhera had trade relations with Russia. It was the era of Tsars , before the Bolshevik Revolution . Also speaks of the Bhera’s glorious economic past. Pictures of Rubles are given below with courtesy Farooq Azam Piracha .
To be continued …
Zahid Mumtaz
