Archaeology below Lahore Fort, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pakistan: The Mughal Underground Chambers Prepared by Rustam Khan For Global Heritage Fund Preservation Fellowship 2011 Acknowledgements: The author thanks the Director and staff of Lahore Fort for their cooperation in doing this report. Special mention is made of the photographer Amjad Javed who did all the photography for this project and Nazir the draughtsman who prepared the plans of the Underground Chambers. Map showing the location of Lahore Walled City (in red) and the Lahore Fort (in green). Note the Ravi River to the north, following its more recent path 1 Archaeology below Lahore Fort, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pakistan 1. Background Discussion between the British Period historians like Cunningham, Edward Thomas and C.J Rodgers, regarding the identification of Mahmudpur or Mandahukukur with the present city of Lahore is still in need of authentic and concrete evidence. There is, however, consensus among the majority of the historians that Mahmud of Ghazna and his slave-general ”Ayyaz” founded a new city on the remains of old settlement located some where in the area of present Walled City of Lahore. Excavation in 1959, conducted by the Department of Archaeology of Pakistan inside the Lahore Fort, provided ample proof to support interpretation that the primeval settlement of Lahore was on this mound close to the banks of River Ravi. Apart from the discussion regarding the actual first settlement or number of settlements of Lahore, the only uncontroversial thing is the existence of Lahore Fort on an earliest settlement, from where objects belonging to as early as 4th century AD were recovered during the excavation conducted in Lahore Fort . “A trench measuring 180 by 60 feet was laid in the spacious lawn in front of the Di wan-e-Aam dug down to the maximum depth of 50 feet, thus reaching the natural soil. In all twenty stratified cultural layers were encountered which represented from top to bottom on the natural soil, four distinct periods viz. the British and Sikh, Mughal, Pre-Mughal and the Pre-Muslim”(Pakistan Archaeology No.5, 1968). As early as the 4th century AD the Ravi River surged on the southeastern and northern sides of the settlement now occupied by Lahore Fort. Then during ensuing centuries; the River shifted more rapidly to its present course along the northwestern side. The site of present Lahore Fort since as early as 4th -6th century AD, and even before, was an occupied place Stratigraphy of the excavations carried out in 1959 in surrounded by residential settlements on three sides. On the east the River the Meidan of Lahore Fort, courtesy of Department of Ravi gradually changed its flow and created a noticeable depression on the Archaeology northern side of the settlement leaving it standing on a hilly part of the area. 2 The city of Lahore since then has remained a constant victim of outside invasions, more noticeably during the 10th to 14th centuries AD when waves of the subsequent Muslim rulers from northern borders time and again overran the city. In the 16th century AD, the third Mughal Emperor Akbar paid serious attention to the needs of the growing city of Lahore. He fortified the city with a thirty feet high wall providing 12 main entrances all around the city with an outlet for drainage of sewerage and rain water presently known as Mori-gate. The hilly part of the city in the north western side, on which Akbar built his fortified palace was not, however, a completely natural landscape feature. The excavations in the great Meidan, or open courtyard of the Fort, revealed that the hill is in fact a mound created from multiple cultural layers and archaeological deposits representing over 2000 years of earlier occu- pations and dynasties. The present height of the mound is approximately 15 m which represents stratified archaeological material. 2. The Issues and Architectural Response In the 16th c. the mound was under threat of erosion during flooding of River Ravi, which ran along its northern side and so the Emperor Akbar devised an innovative solution to consolidate it for construction of his palace. Most startling thing is the new idea of architectural brilliance that was taken up to utilize the slanted space towards the River side. A complex of multi-storied, maximum two to three storied, interlinked basements or substructures was built running along the north of the mound. These basements had wings running south deep into the cultural mound in order to make a sound platform to built palaces on top. Jahangir (1606 – 1627) and Shahjahan (1628 – 1656) extended the View of the Kala Burj area under which there are process, and built numerous elegant chambers, colonnades and garden three levels of chambers courtyards atop the basements. It is interesting to note that no contemporary historians had mentionned about the Shahi Qila (Royal Fort) but instead refer to the Summan Burjes (summer palaces) regarding these buildings, obviously referring to the substructures/ underground chambers which were especially built to use for residential purposes during those days to put up with the hot summers. 3 The first or upper row of chambers under the royal buildings was used mainly for residential purpose by the royalties; the second storey for the purpose of storages, for services like gutter cleaning, ventilation and watch & ward facilities. The third or lower storey consisting of only a few chambers/rooms seems a direct secret way to escape through River side. 3. History of the Underground Chambers A study of these basement chambers revealed that dilapidation process of these chambers started as early as Jahangir’s period, mainly because of the water logging and increased load of structures build on top, which kept on increasing until the end of British occupation. The problem concerning to the structural instability of these underground chambers started with the rapid shift of River course; it was accelerated as the erosion loosened the sand making it slide away from the compaction under the foundations of the chambers. View of the Hall below the south side of Shah Burj At the northwestern end of the colonnade of multi-storied basements and structures, Emperor Shahjahan started the construction of two new buildings, the Naulakha pavilion and Shish Mahal ,for his beloved Queen Mumtaz Mahal. They were constructed atop of the single storied complex of under- ground chambers in the north western corner, constructed during his father Jahangir’s period. Shahjahan did a number of alterations and also demol- ished some structure to elevate the present building of Shish Mahal. No record of the demolished and altered buildings during that period is available. When Shahjahan began this building program the severities of structural instability of these basement chambers were realized seriously. Before the new additions could be constructed on top there was a need to stabilize and consolidate these underground chambers. To tackle this complicated structural issue without bringing down the entire portion of buildings in this Detail of wall fresco in corner, a simple but highly innovative idea of architectural engineering was Hall 3 below west side introduced and applied here in Lahore Fort. A perfect solution to stabilize and of the Shah Burj give long lasting life to these rapidly deteriorating basement chambers was executed. A brick masonry wall about1500 feet in length 47 to 55 feet in height and 12 feet thick with 15 feet deep and 25 feet wide foundation was raised along the northern and western frontage of these chambers. The wall acted like a buttress to contain the outward pressure of the chambers and to support the eroding footings of the Fort. 4 Wall added by Shahjahan to reinforce the Fort wall that was being eroded Added corridor between the original external wall and the new addition Opening in the added Pictured Wall leading from ground floor of the underground chambers to the exterior of the Fort 5 Hall 3 under the west side of the Shah Burj with Mughal period fresco 6 Plan of Lahore Fort showing th location of the supporting Pictured Wall (red), the Mughal chambers underneath the Shish Mahal (yellow) and under the Kala Burj area (green) 7 The wall itself was decorated along its great height and extent with innumerable intricate tile mosaic pictures depicting court life during the Mughal Empire. The entire northwest frontage of wall is decked with 2116 panels of brilliant tile work, and fresco paintings. A succession of square, rectangular and arched panels, are amongst the most remarkable decorative and architectural renderings. This outstanding array of decorations and designs make the Lahore Fort a monument of unique prominence and pride. This wall not only a chief feature of decorations and beauty but also technically serves as a solid and majestic retaining/supporting wall to overcome the issue of erosion and attrition of built portions of Lahore Fort on this side which for the most part rests upon the underground chambers. This wall provided with openings at certain places for ventilation and light. The original ways for going to the River side pierced through the wall are still traceable and most of them can be reclaimed easily. 4. Current Condition and Issues At present this huge retaining wall, known as the Pictured Wall, has developed View of the Pictured Wall along the west of the Fort some serious structural cracks causing it to lose its hold against the fragile construction of basement chambers, especially the sections of two and three storied chambers. The structural problems of these basements are in fact a great threat to the buildings constructed atop, important heritage buildings that are declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site.