Urban revolution

Urban life in the Indian subcontinent changed for the first time upon the arrival of the Arabs in Sindh. Before the Arab conquest there were the cities of Debal, Aror, Brahmanabad and Multan. The Arab rulers added two more important cities, Mansurah and Mahfuzah.

Arab travellers and merchants who visited Sindh during the 9th and 10th centuries described these cities as centres of trade and commerce and settlements of foreigners who lived there peacefully.

However, radical changes occurred when northern India was conquered by the Turks. The changes which had taken place in the 13th and 14th centuries were described by Mohammad Habid as an “Urban Revolution”. Before the arrival of the Turks, the upper castes lived in cities while the lower castes either lived outside city walls or in nearby villages. The latter were allowed to enter the cities only for waste disposal. The new rulers changed the character of the city by allowing lower castes to reside inside. This ended the monopoly of the upper castes and provided space to lower caste artisans and workers to work and live in cities. Some of those belonging to lower castes converted to Islam in order to get rid of the constraints that were imposed on them by religion. The artisan class was further strengthened when it was patronised by the aristocracy which needed fruit of their labour. Trade and commerce further improved their economic position which subsequently enhanced their social status.

During this period the city of Delhi became famous for its various products, including cloth, furniture, armour, cattle and perfume. The city created its own culture based on educational institutions, music, dance, art and literature. By the end of the 13th century, the city assumed such a high status that it was referred to as “Hazrat Delhi” by the people. Although Irfan Habib agrees on the changes which the Turkish conquest brought to the cities, he disagrees that the lower castes were liberated in the new social structure, insisting that there is no evidence that artisans had changed their tools of production. As they could not liberate themselves from the clutches of caste rules, the social structure remained the same as before. During the Sultanate period, there appeared a number of industrial cities which were famous for their particular products, especially cities located in Bengal and Gujarat became well-known for their textile industry. When Feroz Tughlaq improved the irrigation system, it brought economic prosperity to the people and resulted in the emergence of a number of new cities such as Ferozabad, Jaunpur, Fatehabad, Tughlaqabad, and Hisar Firoz. The king built palaces, gardens, schools, hospitals, inns, mosques and bazaars in these new cities.

The Mughals continued the policy of promoting urbanization. One of the historians, Nizamuddin Bakhshi, writes that there were nearly 3,200 small and big cities during Akbar’s period. Nearly all the travellers who visited the Mughal court described Agra, Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, and Allahabad as the most populous cities thriving with trade and commerce.

In the 18th century with the decline of the Mughal Empire there emerged the provincial states whose capitals became centres of culture. Those poets, artists, and artisans who had lost patronisation by the Mughal court took refuge in Lucknow, Hyderabad, Rampur, and Murshidabad with the backing of provincial rulers.

During the next stage, several small towns of northern India became famous as centres of cultural and social activities such as Azimabad, Saharanpur, Azamgarh, Bareily, Muradabad and Roduli. These towns produced the Qasbati culture. As a result of this each town produced its own poets, sufi-saints, wrestlers, scholars and musicians who were identified with the town.

During the colonial period, old cities were rebuilt and new cities were constructed on new town planning based on European experience. The colonial cities had new types of buildings such as post offices, courts, clubs, libraries, markets, colleges, universities, town halls, public halls and gardens.

The idea behind the concept of ‘City in history’ is to discover and retrieve the hidden and forgotten history of Pakistani cities. The methodology is to ask the residents of a city to write his/her memoirs based on the experience of his/her life. These include writers, artists, architects, politicians, traders, teachers, scholars and musicians. Researchers and historians are also asked to write the history of localities, bazaars, hotels and cafes, havellis and educational institutions. Those who have experienced communal riots at the time of partition are especially required to write their eyewitness accounts. Lastly, we have to study how partition changed the culture of cities. A comparison of the social and cultural life of a city before and after partition is important in order to understand the changing outlook of our society.

Urban revolution

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