To me, Heritage Week was more than just an event. It was a journey. An experience that was insightful and enriching. We celebrated Heritage Week from the 11th to the 18th of April, the latter being World Heritage Day. You may have participated in the event or viewed our stories and if you haven’t yet already, check out our Instagram story highlights to catch up! And while you’re at it, check out Museums with ILF, another event hosted by us shortly after!

World Heritage Day is a day about preserving human heritage, diversity and vulnerability of the world’s built monuments and heritage sites. Also, the efforts required to protect and conserve it and to draw attention towards it. We all know that Ancient buildings and monuments are an asset for us and for the world. Therefore, World Heritage Day is a collective effort of the communities in the world to do the needful. This day maintains the cultural legacy and makes people think about its susceptibility. A day for us to celebrate Heritage.

Now, it’s time for me to take you through what went down behind the scenes! Our first step was planning and execution. All heads brainstormed and decided how we wanted the week to pan out. Each department head decided to pick a particular day to contribute to which would be showcased on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Each day, a department would take over; from fun mini games to interactive sessions, it was incredible.

Our goal was simple- we wanted to create content for our wonderful and supportive audience by celebrating our Heritage. Watching and interacting with our audience and fellow history enthusiasts was exhilarating. For us, it wasn’t just about the numbers but the feeling it evoked within every one of us.

Moreover, I loved working with our core team. It was when we truly bonded and I got to know them better, beyond our workspace. The week wouldn’t have been possible without our talented graphic designers from the Social Media team, Ruju and Hetvi and video editor Vedant. I’ll always appreciate you and the hard work you’ve put into this. Cheers guys!

To my dearest fellow heads, Mimi, Wink, Man, Sukh, Angi, Khus, Amu, Vee and Rad, this one’s for you.

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hi, I’m Aashna Kapoor …

Hi folks! Your fellow Social Media-holic here or the face behind ILF’s Socials? Your pick! Your regular Second Year student by day, history buff and ILF’s Surfboard Supervisor by night. Spontaneous, outgoing, eccentric are some of the key traits my closest have used to describe me (and I don’t deny it!). Being the Social Media and Graphic Design Manager at ILF was a truly enriching experience and will forever be grateful for the opportunities presented to me.

Despite the distinct local struggles like the one at Patharughat, the popular imagination of the struggle against British colonialism in India is limited to the elite bourgeois nationalist movement led by the Indian National Congress. There is a tendency to look at the development of a national consciousness as a linear process. In doing so we fail to acknowledge the role of the subaltern classes and groups. We have to recognise that the anti-colonial struggle had different meanings based on varied spatio-temporal realities of the medley of people rising against the colonial state. Between the Revolt of 1857 and the bourgeois nationalist movement of the twentieth century, diverse forms of peasant resistance challenged the colonial structures of domination at the grassroot level of many small towns.

There is a growing body of literature on the history of peasant resistance in India which broadens our understanding of subaltern political action. A particularly remarkable perspective is presented by Partha Chatterjee in his study of agrarian relations and communalism in colonial Bengal. Challenging the ‘Marxist’ framework on colonial agrarian relations, Chatterjee argues that a community consciousness shapes peasant politics in relation to the state. The community exists in opposition to those beyond the boundaries of the community. However, David Hardiman has noted that community-based resistance does not inhibit the assertions of identity by subordinate groups within the community. Hardiman has identified five chief ‘areas of resistance’ based on the relationships of domination and subordination:

1. peasants against European planters; (2) peasants against indigenous landlords; (3) peasants against professional moneylenders (sahukars); (4) peasants against the land-tax bureaucracy; and (5) peasants against forest officials. (Hardiman 1992

The peasant resistance at Patharughat falls under the ambit of the fourth demarcation — peasants against the land-tax bureaucracy. There is a consensus among historians that the most immediate cause for the spontaneous reaction of the peasantry at Patharughat was the increase of revenue rate. It must be noted that the complexities of the agrarian structure under the British Raj, which led to increasing grievances among the peasantry, provided a background to the overt expression of resistance.

By December 1893 the peasantry in north Kamrup had risen in revolt against the enhanced revenue rates. The village assemblies, known as Raij Mel in Assamese, collectively decided to refuse to pay the land revenue. The peasantry in Darrang soon adopted a similar approach and scattered episodes of violence erupted. In addition, handwritten posters inviting the raij (lit. people) to the village assemblies were pasted in different corners of the villages. Arupjyoti Saikia has translated one such poster in Patharughat. The poster reads:

The Raij has been hereby informed that a raijmel will be held to decide on revenue enhancement of the province. All people are asked to come. Those who will not come will face the punishment given out by raij. The Mel will be held on 12, 13, 14 Magh. The Deputy Commissioner will come, he might reduce the revenue. All should remain together. (Saikia 2010)

The Deputy Commissioner, JD Anderson assessed the situation in Mangaldoi and made arrangements to control the situation. Anderson and his team arrived in Patharughat on 27 January 1894. The next day Anderson ordered the District Superintendent of Police, Berrington to attach the lands of the peasants who defaulted to pay the revenue despite being served a notice. The peasants resisted the attachment of property and Berrington claimed that he had to open fire to disperse an advancing crowd which had gathered.

On the afternoon of 28 January, the peasants gathered on the field facing the rest house in which Anderson was camping. Official estimates suggest that around two thousand peasants had gathered there. The peasants hoped to share their grievances with Anderson and persuade him to reduce the revenue. Even though Anderson interacted with the peasants, he did not accept their demands and asked them to pay the land revenue and stressed not to hold raiz mels. The peasants did not relent and refused to disperse unless their demands were accepted. Anderson ordered Berrington to open fire at the peasants. The crowd retaliated by throwing clods of clay and bamboo sticks at Anderson and his men. After the incident the resistance could not be sustained and the peasants were forced to pay the enhanced revenue in the face of state repression.

The events of 1894 were narrated in the local oral traditions which were collected in a text called Dalipuran. The lore helped to preserve the memory of the peasant resistance. But in the twentieth century the memory of Patharughat was appropriated to shape a distinct Assamese national consciousness. On 28 January 2001 the erstwhile Governor of Assam, SK Sinha inaugurated a martyr’s column at the site. The day is commemorated as Krishak Swahid Diwas (Peasant Martyrdom Day) in the state of Assam.  

References: 

1. Online articles

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/assam-patharughat-1894-peasant-uprising-martyrs-column-7165125/
• https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/bravery-peasants-of-pothorughat-who-revolted-against-revenue-hike-then-killing-inspired-people-of-assam-for-more-than-100-years/article33751363.ece

2. Books

• Guha, Amalendu. Planter-Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam 1826-1947. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research, 1977.
• Hardiman, David, ed. Peasant Resistance in India, 1858-1914. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Saikia, Arupjyoti. “Landlords, Tenants and Agrarian Relations: Revisiting a Peasant Uprising in Colonial Assam.” Studies in History, Vol. 26, No. 2 (2010): 175–209. DOI: 10.1177/025764301002600203.

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Abhilash Chetia Wanniang …

Abhilash Chetia Wanniang is an undergraduate student of History at Hansraj College, University of Delhi. His areas of interest include state formation, colonialism, gender relations, Bhakti tradition, Dalit literature, tribal identity, and language politics. He currently holds the position of President at the North-East Cell, Hansraj College. He is also the Content Head of Feel to Heal: A Mental Health Forum.  

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, a native prince of Malabar, revolted against the British East India Company even before the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the more widely known first struggle of Independence that began in Meerut by Indian soldiers who worked for the British East India Company. Pazhassi was popularly referred to as Kerala Simham (Lion of Kerala) on account of his valiance.

He was born into the Kottayam royal family in 1753 as Kerala Varma. During the Malabar invasion of Hyder Ali (Tipu’s father), Pazhassi, who was fourth in line of succession, became the de facto ruler when the King of Kottayam fled to Travancore to seek political asylum. At the age of 21, he sought the support of the British to fight both Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan from 1774 to 1793. When Tipu lost the Third Anglo Mysore War in 1792, he surrendered Malabar to the British.

Pazhassi turned against The East India Company when he realized that they had no plans to restore the Kottayam royal family into power, which was the original agreement. Under the 1792 Treaty of Srirangapatna, Tipu ceded Malabar to the British and staked claim for the area ruled by Varma. They replaced Veera Varma, uncle of Pazhassi Raja, as the King of Kottayam. But the true power remained in the hands of the British.

Following this deception, Vira Varma encouraged Pazhassi to fight the British, offering him a share of the pepper trade due to growing discontent among his people over the increased tax. Pazhassi did not allow Vira Varma’s men to collect taxes, and he was against his people’s exploitation.

In 1796 a British force comprising 300 men attacked Pazhassi’s palace, but he managed to slip off into the densely forested land of Wayanad from where he started guerilla warfare against the British with the help of his loyal men and tribal warriors. Pazhassi Raja had a strong army which consisted of the Kurichiya and Kurumba tribes of the area and some Nair’s. His army slayed 1,000 British soldiers and 3,000 British-employed native sepoys under Major Cameron in a war between 1793 and 1797.

Following this, an agreement was reached wherein, Vira Varma was replaced by Ravi Varma, Pazhassi’s elder brother, and he became the new king. The British also gave back the land which was seized from Pazhassi.

But peace did not last long; with the death of Tipu in 1799, the British once again tried to take over Wayanad. When they faced stiff resistance, they brought in a new army commandant, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, who had previously defeated the Marathas and Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Waterloo. Although the British remained unsuccessful in taming the revolt of Pazhassi even under the commandment of Wellesley. The Duke has famously remarked, “We are not fighting 1000 men but one man, Kerala Varma”. Pazhassi is the only person to defeat Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, in a war.

However in 1805, Pazhassi faced disloyalty when a Chetti leaked the camp location to Thomas Hervey Baber, the then Sub-Collector. An innumerable army was sent to his camp, who then defeated and killed Pazhassi in what is said to have been a brutally fought battle. But folklore says that Pazhassi consumed poison even before the British could have captured him. The British cremated his body near the banks of Kabani River, paying respects with full military honors at the same spot where he died. Baber characterized him as an ‘extraordinary singular character’ and one among the country’s natural chieftains.

In a true sense, the Pazhassi revolt was a people’s war for national liberation, and it encompassed all classes of people irrespective of caste, religion, and gender. This episode marked the beginning of an era of resistance against the British Empire.

From there, countless incidents like the revolts of the Kurichiya tribe, Velu Thampi Dalawa, Palith Achan in Kochi followed by the Malabar rebellion, Khilafat agitation, Guruvayoor, and Vaikom Satyagraha set forth potent, irresistible flame against British supremacy in Indian land. These symbolic incidents happened in Kerala, thus proving that it was a turbulent stream to row a boat silently in, and that the people of India would never concede themselves to foreign rule.  

Bibliography

1. https://www.keralatourism.org/thalassery/tourist-circuits/pazhassi
2. https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/trailing-pazhassi-raja-to-his-death/article4584713.ece
3. https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/8/15/Kerala-Simham-Veera-Pazhassi-Raja.html
4. https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/pazhassi-tomb-wayanad/212
5. https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/kerala-varma-pazhassi-raja-a-true-warrior-king-who-fought-the-british-and-earned-their-respect-350807.html
6. https://www.tourmyindia.com/states/kerala/pazhassi-raja-tomb-wayanad.html
7. https://www.thebetterindia.com/154585/news-kerala-varma-pazhassi-raja-british/
8. https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/pazhassi-raja-1753-1805/

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Mariam Roy Chemmanam…

I am a creative writer from Kerala who is passionate about traveling, art, and heritage exploration. As a postgraduate student of Ecosophical Aesthetics, I believe art, heritage, and culture is the only thing that connects us to our roots. I am an old spirit trapped in the 21st century who finds solace in reading Rumi, Tagore, Shakespeare and listening to ghazals and Hindustani music.

Ramchandra Guha in his book, ‘India after Gandhi’ has mentioned the repercussions that India’s archaeological past had to face due to an account of the demographic flood and also the division of assets. After the partition, the museums were divided on the basis of territory. The Lahore museum was split between East and West Punjab. In 1949 the museum committee agreed on 50/50 divisions of the artefacts of the Mohenjodaro and Chanhu-daro collection. Mortimer Wheeler , director general of archaeology in India, suggested the collection of the Indus Valley civilization into two equal parts, which would compromise the integrity of the objects.

In Delhi, camps were set up in monuments like Purana Qila, Feroz Shah Kotla, Humayun’s Tomb and Safdarjung’s Tomb. ASI had to deal with all the pressures on the Islamic monuments in India. During a riot in September,1947 many monuments were attacked and several muslims were butchered. It was a anti- muslim riot so ancient mosques and masjids were attacked. Moti Masjid in Mehrauli had its marble minars torn off and smashed. At Wazirabad, the grave of saint Shahi Alam was wiped out, mimbar was pulled down, Sultan Ghari’s  tomb was destroyed and pillars were demolished. After destroying masjids, people tried to install hindu deity. This instilled the sense of hatred in muslim communities for Hindus too.

ASI made a request for police guarding the monument. There was a shortage of police guards so the Commissioner couldn’t help. For them, protecting monuments was not as important as protecting people as the whole country was suffering from displacements, riots and communal tensions.

In 1949, 3000 refugees took shelter in Humayun’s tomb, 1400 refugees were housed in Safdarjang’s tomb, 4500 people lived in the tents in Purana Qila and 1500 refugees took shelter at Feroz shah kotla. Nayanjot Lahiri by saying that exceptional times evidently required exceptional measures, justifies the ignorance of ASI. Because of humanitarian reasons, monuments protected by it could not be occupied. They permitted some of the monuments to be used as temporary refugee camps only with certain conditions; however these conditions could rarely be enforced.

According to the evidence, stones at Sher Shah’s mosque in Purana Qila were found broken when Mortimer Wheeler refused to accommodate a primary school in the mosque for the children of refugees living in Purana Qila. Several destructive acts were seen in Arab Sarai. The Indian army also inflicted some damage on Gol Gumbad monumental complex, when they entered without prior permission from ASI.

Finally in the 1950s when refugees moved out, ASI started repairing the destroyed monuments. V.K Gupta, Director general central public works department, Minister of Urban Development(2013) has truly said that the past is all around us. Our lives are surrounded by various historic buildings, landscapes and artefacts. Historic environment is the most important factor which defines our evolution as a human being. It is a physical record of what a country was and what it has become. The styles can define the regions, localities and communities. Our historic landscapes and iconic buildings are our community identity and pride.

The heritage buildings constructed in the past have high historical, architectural, spiritual, social, political and economical values. Similarly, heritage buildings are highly valuable and informative in terms of socio-cultural, socio-political, socio-economical and even technological activities of a specific society or group of individuals. However, since Independence hundreds of sites and monuments have been destroyed. Encroachments and destruction have been initiated in many cases by religious lobbies. Even where ASI officers have not been able to prevent unlawful encroachments.

Nayanjot Lahiri has suggested many ideas to conserve our Heritage. The most important is that the heritage laws need to be re-examined as the laws and legislations have clearly failed to protect and preserve our heritage. Antiquity laws need to be more realistic and transparent, The laws should also have to be people friendly. And as a responsible and proud citizen of India let’s take an oath on this 15th August to preserve our rich heritage, monuments and culture and value it’s integrity above all.

REFERENCE

1. https://theconversation.com/how-the-partition-of-india-happened-and-why-its-effects-are-still-felt-today-81766
2. https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/hope-and-grief-the-joy-of-15-august-1947-was-punctured-by-the-sufferings-of-partition/637215
3. https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/partition-impacted-monuments-newly-formed-india
4. India After Gandhi-Nayanjot lahiri

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m BHAVYA DEEP…

Final year History student at Hansraj college, fascinated by the dynamism of history. I am currently handling the Pinterest and LinkedIn page of ILF, It has given me the platform or an opportunity to explore my skills and knowledge so that I can choose my career prudently.

The dates of the British settlement may be traced to the trading post formed by Job Charnock in 1690 that was under the English East India Company. While in dispute with the Mughals of Murshidabad, Charnock had to retreat, after which he attempted unsuccessfully to establish himself at other places down the river Hooghly. The Mughal officials did not wish to lose what they had gained from the company’s commerce and thus permitted Charnock to return once again. He on the other hand was fascinated by the geographical location of the village of Sutanuti and chose the area of modern-day Calcutta as the seat of his operations. The Dutch, French, and other European settlements were higher up the river on the west bank. The river then was also wide and deep; the only disadvantage was that the marshes to the east and swamps within the area made the spot unhealthy. Before the British settled, the three villages that formed into Calcutta had been chosen as places to settle by Indian merchants who had migrated from the silted-up port of Satgaon. The presence of these merchants may have been to some extent responsible for Charnock’s choice of the site (Britannica, 2011).

By 1696, the Mughal provincial administration started becoming friendly towards the growing British settlement and granted them permission to fortify their trading post, which then came to be known as Fort William. They were also granted permission to collect revenue from the three villages- Sutanuti, Kalikata and Govindapur, i.e., they were granted the zamindari rights in 1698. In 1717 the Mughal emperor Farrukh-Siyar granted the English trading company their freedom to trade but in 1756, the nawab’s successor, Siraj-ud-Daulah, captured Fort William and sacked the town, this led to the popular tragedy known as the Black Hole of Calcutta where countless number of Europeans died, although few sources claim this incident to be either a myth or an exaggerated report (Britannica, 2011).

The site of the old Fort William occupies the present General Post Office of Kolkata in BBD Bagh, the Eastern Railway Office, the Custom House and the other Government Office complexes on the banks of River Hooghly. Its construction commenced at Sutanuti in 1698 and was completed by 1706. It was named in honour of King William III of England (History of Fort William).

Initially, the complex had no moat around the premises, even though it was initially built for defence, the main purpose of the fortification was to serve the English East India Company’s best interests for trading in Bengal.

Calcutta was recaptured in 1757 by Robert Clive and the British admiral Charles Watson. The Nawab was defeated shortly after in the battle of Plassey and the new complex of Fort William was built on the present site that overlooks river Hooghly at Calcutta, where it was established as the symbol of British supremacy for the next two centuries. The construction was completed by 1770 at an approximate cost of 2 million sterling pounds (History of Fort William). The area is presently known as Maidan, a large urban park within the city limits that consists of some other iconic colonial monuments like the Victoria Memorial and the St. Paul’s Cathedral (Mitra, 2020).

The fort occupies an area of 177.42 acres and has a regular octagonal shape with three sides facing the river and five sides facing the land. It also housed a garrison strength of a thousand soldiers and rations consisting of 71 thousand maunds (1 maund = 37 kgs) of food grains for use during critical economic or political situations. Henceforth, not a single gun had been fired from the ramparts and the fort has a reputation of being the only fort to not have been besieged till date within India. While Calcutta didn’t become the capital of the British till 1772, in 1773 Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai) became subordinate to the government at Fort William (History of Fort William).

The whole compound is divided into six sections having its own individual significance and functions, being added over the centuries and much of it remains unchanged- the four-storey high Dalhousie Barrack could accommodate a thousand soldiers and still leave enough storage space for their rations, weapons and equipment (History of Fort William). Even Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was kept here as a prisoner for three days (Mitra, 2020). The old Government house used to house the Governor Generals of India of colonial India. The Granary Barracks constructed under the orders of Hastings was used to store surplus rations that could be used during the famine, but it was later turned into a prison. The Kitchener’s House was one of the residences of the British Commander-in-Chief. Its magnificent colonnades could be seen across the treasury gates. The Bell Tower was used for communicating messages to the ships sailing on Hooghly through Semaphore. St. Peter’s Anglican Church was turned into the present-day Command Library, which was built in 1784 in the Gothic Architectural style. The fort has six gates; the East gate was formerly known as the Plassey gate (History of Fort William). The Vijay Smarak on the East Gate was built in 1996 to commemorate India’s victory in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. It also housed a 1941 vintage car belonging to AAA Niazi, the last governor of the East Pakistan Army, which was captured in 1971 along with a tank and a high calibre gun (Mitra, 2020).

Fort William is presently the hub of all military activity in the East and the NE, i.e., the headquarters of the Eastern Command and civilians aren’t allowed to enter the gates due to security reasons (Mitra, 2020).

Bibliography

1. Britannica, T. E. (2011, June 5). Fort William. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fort-William-fort-Kolkata-India
2. History of Fort William. (n.d.). Retrieved from Indian Army: https://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=B2pD0MqM0JJ10PDUT0tHaA==&ParentID=L3Pi/J7Xl7APRMacGw5eIw==
3. Mitra, B. (2020, December 6). Ahead of Vijay Diwas, take a Virtual tour of Fort William. Retrieved from Times of India: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/ahead-of-vijay-diwas-take-a-virtual-tour-of-fort-william/articleshow/79592973.cms

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Manjari Sharma…

I am an Archaeology Graduate with keen interest in heritage and material culture. As I currently pursue my Master’s in Archeology I see myself expanding my horizon and focussing my attention towards our ailing Indian heritage.

We are at the Jama Masjid.

On the wide, dramatic staircase, much like the plinth of an equestrian sculpture, Maulana Azad spoke to a large audience two months after independence. He began, churning intimacy with his listeners:

“My brethren, you know what has brought me here today. This congregation at Shahjahan’s historic mosque is not an unfamiliar sight for me. Here, I have addressed you on several previous occasions. Since then we have seen many ups and downs. At that time, instead of weariness, your faces reflected serenity, and your hearts, instead of misgivings, exuded confidence. The uneasiness on your faces and the desolation in your hearts that I see today reminds me of the events of the past few years.”

While his words carried reassurance it was a moment when every idealist in the struggle for Swaraj was weighed down by despair. Just around the time of the address, in the hills of Kashmir, a professional war was being waged with Pakistan while all throughout the frontiers, the partition had ripped not only two nation-states apart but communities, families, and lives. Gandhi, who had vowed that the ‘vivisection’ of India would occur only over his corpse, was still alive albeit distressed and inspiring at the same time (he would be brutally murdered three months later by a Hindu fanatic). Azad spoke at a time when fourteen million people had been uprooted from their homes and in hundreds of thousands, displaced Sikhs and Hindus were arriving at this very city (the event would force Delhi to take in almost half a million people by the end).

To all the millions of Muslims who had been residing in Delhi for generations, he urged them not to leave. There was not a better place to deliver this message to the city, perhaps than this seventeenth-century mosque. Spoke Azad:

“Where are you going and why? Raise your eyes. The minarets of Jama Masjid want to ask you a question. Where have you lost the glorious pages from your chronicles? Was it only yesterday that on the banks of the Jamuna, your caravans performed wazu? Today, you are afraid of living here. Remember, Delhi has been nurtured with your blood. Brothers create a basic change in yourselves. Today, your fear is misplaced as your jubilation was yesterday.”

Finally, this newly independent nation belonged to the Muslims as much as it did to anybody else. In his most stirring paragraph of the speech, Azad would stunningly anticipate the crisis of our times and the vignettes that the staircase would become a dais to:

“I do not ask you to seek certificates from the new echelons of power. I do not want you to lead a life of sycophancy as you did during the foreign rule. I want to remind you that these bright etchings which you see all around you, are relics of processions of your forefathers. Do not forget them. Do not forsake them. Live like their worthy inheritors, and, rest assured, that if you do not wish to flee from this scene, nobody can make you flee. Come, today let us pledge that this country is ours, we belong to it and any fundamental decisions about its destiny will remain incomplete without our consent”

Azad was a breathing example of this principle. He was born Muizuddin Ahmed to a Bengali family in Mecca that had fled the North Indian landscape in the midst of the revolt of 1857. Having been homeschooled in Calcutta for years in the languages of Farsi and Arabic, the various maddhabs of Sharia, theology, philosophy, world literature, and science he emerged as an extremely sound scholar on religion, politics, social reform, and education. He steadfastly followed the path of the journalist, edited two highly acclaimed journals, the Al Hilal and Al Bhalag before diving into Congress politics with Gandhi’s brilliant political experiment of the Khilafat Movement. In protesting the ‘imperialist’ treatment of the Ottoman Sultan and more importantly the Khalifa, alongside the brothers Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali, Azad too was Gandhi’s lieutenant in the Movement between 1920 and 1922. Following the movement, Azad presided over the 1923 Congress session, held at Delhi, as its youngest-ever president. For decades to come, Azad would be one of the conscience-keepers of Gandhi. Today, however, he spoke as India’s first Education Minister.

Incidentally, the tomb of Abul Kalam Azad is also located near the Masjid. It is a white lone memorial – with its canopies like the base of a lotus and its feet slender but stiff. Designed by Habib Rahman, the structure of the memorial was supposed to remind one of the central arches of Jama Masjid where he delivered the historic speech on secularism and where he virtually lay today. It is placed in a garden but the placard suggesting the name of the tomb is indistinguishable in the rush of the market. The tomb is, for the most of its time, closed. At least it was the three times I visited it. To catch a glimpse of the tomb I walked the alley of the Chor Bazar and pounced onto the soil-embankment that the memorial had been built. Through the metal railing, I was able to capture a photograph of the silent tomb. Here lay the man who passed, still as India’s first education minister, in February 1958.  

On February 24th, two days after Azad’s passing, in the parliament, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru spoke these words:  

“He was a peculiar and a very special representative in a high degree of that great composite nature which has gradually grown in India. I do not mean to say that everybody has to be like Maulana Azad to represent that composite culture. There are many representatives of it in various parts of India; but, he, in his own venue, here in Delhi or in Bengal or Calcutta, where he spent the greater part of his life, represented this synthesis of various cultures which have come one after another to India, rivers that had flowed in and lost themselves in the ocean of Indian life, India’s humanity, affecting them, changing them and being changed themselves by them.  ”  

References: 

1. Gandhi, Rajmohan. Understanding The Muslim Mind. Penguin, 2000.
2. Kabir, Humayun, ed. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: A Memorial Volume. New Delhi, Asia Publishing House, 1959. 
3. https://ummid.com/news/2019/december/21.12.2019/maulana-azad-jama-masjid-speech-full.html#:~:text=Today%2C%20mine%20is%20no%20more,for%20my%20ashiana%20(nest).

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Revanth Ukkalam…

Revanth is a History Graduate at Ashoka University, enrolled for a Master’s in Sanskrit at Deccan College Pune. He sees himself as a Historian, writer, and knowledge communicator in the making. Above all else, he sees himself as an indulgent reader. He runs a Podcast titled Pravaha and released Indian Classical Art-templated memes on his Instagram handle @thesleepingbuddha. He enjoys traveling, music (he regards himself a talent whistler), and doodling.

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Ishika…

HI, I am Ishika Narula… Ishika is an Architect in making, who is fascinated by its culture, traditions and history but believes in living in the present. She is a curator at Inklings by India Lost & Found and works as a Research Authenticator.

Image source : Live History India

https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/amazing-india/red-fort-delhi/

What led James Fergusson, in his book, The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, to state that, “The palace at Delhi is, or rather was, the most magnificent palace in the East — perhaps in the world — and the only one at least in India….” can be the heritage ecosystem that he found. It was composed of the Red Fort, the Yamuna river and the city of Shahjahanabad; its functionality and architecture being so grand that its ownership ruled the hearts of the people. The design and the architectural style of the Fort- a fusion of Islamic, Persian, Timurid, and Hindu architecture-with intricacies that still seem to amazes visitors centuries after its conception.

Image source : Ummid.com 

https://www.ummid.com/news/2018/May/01.05.2018/red-fort-is-now-dalmiya-fort.html

This inclusive nature of the Red Fort’s architecture extended itself to embrace the various genres of participants of the First War of Independence, in 1857 and proved to be the image of India’s lost valour and independence from colonial rule. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the then Mughal Emperor with little to no teeth left, was once again proclaimed the ‘Emperor of Hindustan’ and the leader of the First War. Participants from all parts of the country flocked to the Red Fort to seek his blessings. It was in this same Fort that the Emperor was soon trialled and sentenced to exile in Myanmar. The capture of the Red Fort by the British government turned a new leaf in history and yet another century of Indian suppression. The British occupation destroyed two-thirds of the Fort’s inner structures, replacing harem courts and kitchens with British barracks for their soldiers. The vandalism viewed in retrospect gave the site a nationalist nature. Another incident contributing to the concept of Fort as a symbol of national pride, and in turn the nationalist movement, was the Red Fort INA Trials of 1945-46. The ‘Dilli Chalo’ slogan, given by Subhash Chandra Bose, reiterated the centuries-old amnesia of Delhi as the centre of authority. This mission, however, remained incomplete due to the alleged death of Bose in 1945. After his death, the British government captured the members of the Indian National Army (INA) — founded and led by Bose— charged them with treason and went ahead with the trials held at Red Fort. The captured members were kept in the Fort — a symbolic replication of a century-old affair. When on the eve of independence, 16th August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the Indian flag at the Red Fort and spoke to thousands that had gathered there- “We have gathered here on a historic occasion at this ancient fort to win back what was ours”- the whole idea was to draw legitimacy from the ‘ancient’ fort which had developed into a  symbol of national pride. From then on, each and every Prime Minister of India has delivered their speech from the Red Fort- reifying the cultural significance of Nehru’s words of 1947.

Image source: Google Arts and Culture 

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/dawn-of-independence/yAHAWqbTxsQM3g

The trial of Nathuram Godse in 1948, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s- father of the nation’s assassin, was initiated at Red Fort too. Over the centuries, the control over the Fort came to indicate control over all of India, thus the political trial by the newly formed Indian State sought to display its power through its ability to hold trials in the historic site which had a history of conducting such hearings against Indians. Today, despite the dissenting views of polarised ring wing narrators, the Red Fort is viewed as the symbol of secularity, democracy and nationalist pride by the masses. It serves to provide a sense of certainty to the citizens of India, their amour propre is derived from their collective identity as the descendants of great leaders, thinkers and rulers, devoid of any religious overtones.

Bibliography 

1. The Print, 2021, Red Fort isn’t just a historic monument. Its breach crossed a red line in Indian mind https://theprint.in/opinion/newsmaker-of-the-week/red-fort-isnt-just-a-historic-monument-its-breach-crossed-a-red-line-in-indian-mind/595114/
2. The Wire, 2020, How the Red Fort Became the Site for India’s Independence Day Celebrations  https://thewire.in/history/red-fort-history-independence-india   
3. The Hindu, 2018, Cultural glimpses of Qila-e-Mubarak https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/cultural-glimpses-of-qila-e-mubarak/article24687207.ece
4. Ethics, Evil, Law and the State: State Power and Political Evil, 2011,A Symbol of State Power: Use of the Red Fort in Indian Political Trials https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848880771_005

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hiya, I’m Khyati Srivastava…

Khyati is currently pursuing History Honours from Lady Shri Ram College for women. She believes in the idea that words have the power to change society. Interested in research, she’s expecting to pursue the same in future.

In the celebration of 75 years of independence, India has several achievements to its credit. It has built a contemporary economy (second fastest growing economy), remained a democracy, lifted millions out of poverty, has progressed in the field of atomic power and developed a strong policy for the better living of the world’s fastest-growing nation.  Seventy-five years ago,  India took baby steps to become one of the most important democracies within the world, overcoming a plethora of challenges to earn global recognition. India has come an extended way since Independence, leaving a string of landmarks that outline its journey from the agony of Partition to a robust, powerful and developing nation.

The concept of India as a territory goes back possibly as far as the third century BC, with the Maurya Empire. Since then, many other kingdoms and empires have occupied an outsized part of the Indian sub-continent, including the Chalukyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Delhi Sultanate and therefore the Mughal Empire. Post Maha Janapada Period 600 BC-200AD, saw architecture starting from Buddhist stupa, Viharas, temples (brick and wood), rock-cut architecture, Ajanta and Ellora, step wells, etc. The Middle Age architecture speaks of sculptured temples both South India temples and North India temples. The South India temples had a square chambered sanctuary topped by a 3 spire with an attached pillared mandapa as in Brihadeswara Temple, while the North India temples had elaborated spires, beautiful sculptures, delicate carvings, gopurams and courtyards as in Kailasa Temple, Khajuraho Temple, Konark Temple. The Mughal architecture highlights the Mughal tombs of sandstone and marble which reciprocate the Persian influence as in Red Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, etc, which are still considered to be a few of the marvels of Indian heritage the nation possess.

Indian architects before Independence were working under British architects and soon after the British left India in 1947, Indian architecture was in chaos. Perhaps, there was an identity crisis, a dilemma whether to adhere to historical precedents or move forward with times using new ideas, images and techniques. While in other fields like art, music and culture, the distinct Indian imprint was more enhanced within the post-Independence period; no such thing was discernible within the case of architecture. It was within the year 1947, towards the midnight of 14th August, the inaugural Prime minister of newly Independent nation India came and gave one among the foremost memorable speech of the century called “Tryst with Destiny” which announced the grand entry of a newly born nation, beginning of an old era towards a contemporary one with new hopes and Identity. This also reflected on the struggle the state will face for the essential need for infrastructure and development. In the grand history of the state we always found our heritage in either Temple, mosques, or other religious monuments or palaces, forts, etc., unlike a city like New York where administrative structures like Railways, colleges, public gardens, bridges, and canals are a part of the heritage and are given equal importance, were developed a bit like the historical monuments.

1st PM Jawahar Lal Nehru’s speech post-independence. 

Jawaharlal Nehru had a far vision for the betterment and development of art and architecture in India. He invited Le Corbusier to style the capital of the state Punjab, Chandigarh. Le Corbusier designed the Secretariat and supreme court and ever since Chandigarh became a robust symbol of the latest India and inspired the architects and thus the general public for a forward-looking Modern Architecture within the Post-Independence period.

The new India had a requirement from government institutions like CPWD and education institutions like IIM’s and IIT’s, to develop modern cities for the longer term like Chandigarh, Bhuvaneshwar, and Gandhinagar, and therefore the responsibility to hold out such huge infrastructure challenge got to architects and designers from India and everyone around the globe.

There came a handful of intellectuals and architects who argued that monuments should be viewed in the context of their times, that they were not be imitated and modern India required modern architectural symbols and forms to precise the dynamism of a free on their march to economic development. While the style talk raged throughout the last decade, the 1950s also saw a big expansion of architectural education. In 1947, there have been three schools: Baroda, Bombay and Delhi. Some of the architects came back to India after education and training in western countries like Charles Correa, B.V. Doshi, Raj Rewal, Achyut Kanvinde which resulted in strong architectural character.

Architects who shaped new India

Although we see a serious metamorphosis of architecture ever since 1950 towards modernism, inspired by the renowned International architect’s Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, the identity of Indian architecture is not pure modernism. Most of the successful Indian architects including Charles Correa, Raj Rewal, and B.V.Doshi blended vernacular elements into modernism giving it an upscale flavour that demarcates the identity of Indian architecture. They used deep overhangs, courtyards, shading devices, pergolas, jaali screens to make an aesthetically appealing climate responsive design. Charles Correa features a deep understanding of the cultural values, mythological spaces, and historical architecture of India. He emphatically blended the Navagraha mandalas in two of his projects where the traditional elements cannot be separated from modernism. Raj Rewal was very fluent in using vernacular elements of Jaisalmer town in most of his projects, incorporating the hierarchy of social spaces, street patterns, urban fabric, abstract chhatris, locally available materials. Indian Modernism isn’t almost form, function, materials, structure but it adds another time which is that the feel of fresh air and nature inside the aesthetically profound spaces Indian architecture may be a fine mixture of modernism with traditional insights identified as Critical Regionalism, but it does have a more functional and rational approach to style which is the main language of modernism while incorporating the social spaces, regional vocabulary, economical possibilities, climate-responsive, integration of architecture with landscape, energy efficiency and using locally available materials, which provides a robust identity to Indian Modernism architecture.

India, with several millennia of history, boasts of a diverse and rich built heritage. Each region of our subcontinent boasts monumental buildings and remarkable archaeology. Yet, but 15,000 monuments and heritage structures are legally protected in India—a fraction of the 600,000 protected within the UK. Even those structures considered to be of national/state or local importance in India and guarded intrinsically remain under threat from urban pressures, neglect, vandalism, and, worse, demolition, only for the value of the land they stand upon. Following decades of archaeological effort, we in India boast of several thousand sites contemporary and even grandeur to the well-known Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, as well as hundreds of megalith sites—all unknown to the general public and even the tourism industry. India has currently 40 Unesco-designated World Heritage Sites, with two new sites added to the list in 2021 (Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple at Palampet in Telangana’s Warangal and Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Gujarat). Thereby, in the celebration of 75 years of our independence, let us reminisce heritage buildings as not just buildings but a cornucopia of artisans’ techniques, exclusive raw materials, patience, reverence, and memory. Such edifices embody memories and emotions and are of inherent value. The richness in the brick and mortar technique or the use of natural healing limestone talks about the progressive architectural and structural elements. They need to be treated as a living resource, that adds value to society and our local economies and not just as burdens of the past. Not all buildings are monumental or great pieces of architecture and thus often become victims of redevelopment. Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for its timelessness, somewhere rightly quoted by Frank O Gehry, which can be linked to heritage and culture and present diversification it holds.

Bibliography : 

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/independence-day-2019-events-that-define-indias-journey-from-1947-to-2019-5906068/
2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/independence-day-2020-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-history-and-significance-of-india-s-74th-independence-day/story-KGQdmbXQ5HRTI5DrcmHYcM.html
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271860565_A_Many-Cornered_Thing_The_Role_of_Heritage_in_Indian_Nation-Building
4. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a1392-indian-architects-that-shaped-the-face-of-new-india-in-post-independence-era/
5. https://www.artshelp.net/an-introduction-to-ancient-indian-architecture/

The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.

Hello there, I’m Ellora Ghosh…

Born and brought up in the plains of Assam and proudly pursuing her masters in Urban Planning, the young architect believes tangible heritage are the carrier of the past and virtue of timelessness. A writer in practice, she loves to pen what she predominantly observes and seeks to learn.  Her love for travel and authentic French cuisine makes her develop a strong interest in art, culture and heritage and wishes to document every country she travels to.