Sunday, February 17, 2019

Book Review: Lahore in the Time of the Raj by Ian Talbot and Tahir Kamran


This is an amazing book which provides an account of the interesting colonial period in Lahore. It gives the reader an insight to Lahore’s importance in South Asia.

Various connections/ networks of Lahore with other important cities of United India have been explored in this book. This connection includes Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay and Karachi. It does not end there. Areas such as Afghanistan, Arabia, Europe and North America have also had relations with Lahore. These linkages had social, cultural and economic characteristics.

The second chapter on the Darvazas and Mohallas reveals how the life of the city was influenced. The tourists/ travellers who visited Lahore shaped many elements in the city. All this is explained in great detail. Some of the poets, wrestlers, cricketers, politicians and academicians are also discussed.

Furthermore the consumption of foreign goods in colonial Lahore has been elucidated in a separate chapter. Both the British and those well off Indians shaped a pattern of consumption in Lahore. The route of pilgrims who travelled to Hejaz via Lahore has also been highlighted in the book. Others who visited shrines in Lahore and other places in India have also been mentioned. Migration in Lahore, Lahore’s importance as a city in the independence movement is also discussed in great detail. Official statistics have also been quoted from credible estimates.

Moreover establishment of educational institutions in Lahore by the British are also cited. Various prominent graduates of Islamia College, Government College and FC College and Punjab University have been briefly mentioned in this book. Examples include KK Aziz, Allama Mashraqi and Allama Iqbal’s educational years in Lahore.

Anybody interested in history of subcontinent or history of Lahore must read this book!

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