Monumental meanings
When Pakistan and India were par - titioned in 1947, the goal was to create a Muslim-majority nation on one side of the line and a Hindu-majority one on the other. But what would become of the Mughal heritage they had shared for centuries? That question fascinates Skid- more art historian Saleema Waraich. Waraich loved the Mughal monuments she visited as a child, and in graduate school she began designing a project on the Lahore Fort in Pakistan and its sib- ling site, the Red or Delhi Fort in India. That project has now grown into her book in progress, Memory, Monuments, and the Mughal Empire in South Asia. The Lahore and Delhi forts, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, were originally part of a network of adminis- trative and residential strongholds for the Mughal emperors. After they lost power, the Lahore Fort was inhabited by Sikh rulers, and later both were taken over under the British Raj. But Waraich is equally interested in what happened after that: “With partition, the shared history of what is considered the apex of Muslim rule on the subcontinent was now contested and interpreted in differ- ent ways, according to the needs of these two modern nation-states.” The Mughals, Mus- lims of mixed Central Asian ancestry, prided themselves on their cosmopolitan identity, reflected in an archi-
tectural aesthetic that was an amalgam of Islamic and West and South Asian cul- tural references. Early forts are massive sandstone compounds, but later alter- ations incorporated elegant pavilions in white marble (think Taj Mahal). Like many others, the Lahore and Delhi forts have suffered the ravages of time. Both are now under UNESCO preservation guidelines, but national and local gov- ernment attitudes toward them are al- ways shifting. Waraich says, “The initial assumption was that with Pakistan as a Muslim- majority nation, the Lahore Fort would
ART HISTORIAN SALEEMA WARAICH TEASES OUT MEMORIES FROM THE ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH ASIA.
“MEMORIES AND MEANINGS ARE NEVER FIXED. THEY
ARE CONSTANTLY REWORKED TO ADAPT TO THE NEEDS OF THE PRESENT.”
thrive, but it would be questionable what would happen to Mughal sites in Hindu- majority India.” In fact, the Delhi Fort has been a far more visible national sym- bol since Indian inde- pendence, though it’s still a subject of debate in terms of India’s rela- tionship to the Mus- lim past. And Paki -
stan’s Lahore Fort, though not quite as central or well-maintained as a historic site, does remain popular. But it’s compli- cated, Waraich notes, because “it evokes Muslim despair brought about by memo- ries of their oppression under non-Mus- lim (including Sikh and British) rule, as well as the instability that marks the situ- ation in Pakistan today.” As Pakistan’s political crisis has escalated with the “war on terror” and an influx of Afghanis, Waraich says the Lahore Fort, in all its faded grandeur, remains an important symbol, “a way for people to articulate their dissatisfaction with current political
powers and to talk about the anxieties that exist in Pakistan around ideas of cul- tural identity.”
“I am interested in those larger dis - cussions that the sites intersect with, the layers of history, the ways in which the past is invoked in debates about the present, and the way the present in- forms the way we talk about the past,” she explains.
As she explores visual representations of these sites—from paintings to litho- graphs, photos to postcards—Waraich asks, “What does each work tell us about a particular moment? And how do differ- ent media shape our collective and per- sonal memories as we move through time?” One thing is sure, she observes: “Memories and meanings are never fixed. They are constantly being reworked to adapt to the needs of the present.” And that means the great Mughal forts that endure on both sides of the partition will continue to evolve in the minds of citi- zens, tourists, and scholars. —KG
SPRING 2015 SCOPE 13
GARY GOLD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72