Mohalla Khawajgan is one of the largest mohallas, located inside the Walled City of Bhera. It has nine gates.
Till the first decade of the 20th century the Khawajgans of Bhera had strong trade relations with cities, like Samarkand, Bukhara, Kabul, Calcutta ( now Kolkata), Sukkhar, and Karachi … . Some of them were away on a business trip at the time of Bolshevik Revolution (1917), including ancestors of Khawaja Zahid Nasim, who never returned home. They either died in the Central Asian states or on the way back to Bhera. May Allah Almighty bless their souls! Ameen.
Most of the Khawajgans, from the business community, have left Bhera for a better livelihood: within the country or abroad. Khawajgans are great philanthropists and their contributions in the field of social work are commendable.
Those well-to-do Khawajgans who have migrated from Bhera, have huge houses that are in pretty bad shape. Some have crumbled down, a few have been demolished or sold out. Some have been rebuilt, but not in their original size, architecture, artistry, elegance, and grace. Now, the mohalla gives a gloomy and depressing look and feeling. It is humbly suggested that wealthy Khawajgans should renovate and maintain some of the houses of their ancestors. They may not live in them, but at least their mohalla will give better looks, and remind their younger generation and the visitors of their mohalla’s glorious past.
Zahid Mumtaz
