Lahore’s Heeramandi

Power has a great attraction. It makes a person believe that he can do everything. Every sultanate, rather every regime of oppression is built on the principle of this power But there is a place where even these oppressive sultans bowed their heads. The feet moving to the rhythm bowed their heads, Where the eyes carved with kaajal turned their swords. This is the market where the kings have their trade. This place is called the Heeramandi.

Not many days have passed, an Indian web series Heeramandi was aired. This is the story of that era in which some tawaifs led a life of luxury and protocol more than the minister or the munshi Being associated with them was considered a sign of wealth, status, culture and respect. These women also had influence on the minds of powerful men and they had reach, wealth, power and influence, so much so that they often used to talk about political matters. This series has made Heera Mandi and courtesans relevant once again, but the question remains how much of this series is reality and how much is fiction.

Heeramandi History

Heeramandi is situated in the main part of old Lahore. Narrow lanes, deserted courtyards But there was a time when the splendor of this place used to make the kings squeal And the foundation of those splendors was laid In the era of Ranjit Singh, it was 1792. Sikh rule had not yet been established in Lahore Ranjit Singh was 12 years old, his father had passed away and not much time had passed, he was married. The marriage did not last but Ranjit Singh definitely started In 1799, he achieved his first big success, he conquered Lahore and laid the foundation of the Sikh rule whose borders later spread from Pisha to Delhi and from Kashmir to Multan.
Young Ranjit Singh had only two hobbies, high breed horses and beautiful women. So in the Sikh rule, Badshahi Masjid became the stable of horses and royal art became the masquerade of women. In those times, Ranjit Singh had a minister Dhyan Singh, his son Heera Singh built a grain market near the fort which was named Heeramandi after him. Here goods were sold and grains were sold and the Sikhs called this area as business house.
So in that era it became famous as Heera di Mandi, like today you are standing outside any other city in Lahore and you want to tell someone to bring Anarkali or bring a party, then actually the name of those areas became famous, similarly Heera di Mandi became famous, it was the time when there was a lot of talk about a beautiful courtesan in Punjab, she was very beautiful, unique and unmatched in the world, her name was Morabai, Ranjit Singh saw her dancing in a royal ceremony and fell in love with her at first sight, then a series of meetings started.

Once Morabai Hansali was coming from the canal, while crossing the canal, her silver shoes got washed away in the water, she was barefoot. She reached the court and told about the difficulties on the way, then Ranjit Singh got a bridge built on the canal, which was named Pul Kanjari. This bridge is still present as a symbol of love. Anyway, the series continued till the Sikh king agreed to marry a Muslim wife. Many big conditions were kept and Ranjit Singh kept agreeing to every condition. He did not want to lose Mora. When this formal Nikah happened with her and he took the wedding procession first to Shyam Singh Attari Wale’s Haveli.

They reached there, they had dinner, then they picked her up from Miya Samdu Cave and brought her. Maharaja left the converted Muslim Sakhi and brought her to Islam. Then a case was filed against her in Akal Takht, on which she was sentenced to five lashes. When the punishment of five lashes was given, then Phoola Singh was Akali, Akal, ours, does not like to be lashed. A fine of Rs. 5000 was imposed on him for each lash. Sir, he converted into a fine. Maharaja paid the fine but Mora was not converted. Later Ranjit asked Mora to stay in the palace but she refused so Mora did not go to Ranjit rather he himself would come to Mora’s mansion. From this mansion Ranjit also issued many government orders on the bottom of which was written that issued Kotha Mai my Maharaja gave him a lot of money and wealth and his dear queen was she. Mora’s house became the place of need for the poor like him. All the poor who could not go to the doors of the rich would line up at Mora’s door and Mora would get their needs fulfilled. Coins were also minted in his name in the mint and Mora became famous as Shahi Sikka. In those days a mosque was also built on Mora’s request. It is said that at that time the original name of the mosque was Masjid-e-T-Waifa which was changed to Mora Masjid in 1998. In India too, the name of Pul Kanjri has been changed to Pul Mora. Thus, Mora is still alive. We can say that Mora Bai was the first big character of Lahore’s Bazaar Husn. She was the first character in front of whom a king bowed his head. But she was certainly not the last character. There were many more such courtesans. But first, let us know whether Heeramandi was just a place for prostitution or something else. And you will be surprised to know that the main work of these courtesans was not prostitution.

Heeramandi as a cultural Hub

Yes, this work was also done but their real importance was not just because of their singing and dancing. But why is it so? In fact, poetry has always been given a lot of importance here. Poets used to get high positions in the courts and were treated very well. They were the biggest entertainment for the kings and courtiers. So, whoever takes their poetry to the next level is considered to be a great talent. If presented in a better way, then it will definitely be important. No one knew this skill better than the courtesan. So the kings and the Nawabs became the patrons of poets and in simple words of the courtesan, we can say that these were high class prostitutes. Kings got to hear good poetry and also get to see good looks. Some would get carried away and lose their wealth and heart and sometimes they would even lose their kingdom. Anyway, where the kings, Maharajas, Nawabs and rich people of their time go, how was it possible that those brothels would be devoid of etiquette and courtesy. The importance of maintenance and etiquette was very high in the courtesans of Lahore, Lucknow and Delhi and here it was taken care of so much that the Nawabs started sending their children here to learn etiquette. Their teachers were from whom they learnt this language. Their origins were their families and lineages. How did you present your Paan? How to serve your food, how to talk, how to sit, what is your style, what is your style, what is your Takl, so these things were properly trained and they were taught to dance and sing well in their homes, they were properly trained to sing, practice singing, how to open the throat, how to stay in tune, how to hit high notes, how to get trained in Madrasan, before partition there were 562 princely states in India and in almost all princely states the courtesan had a special
status or you can say that the courtesan was an important part of their culture, however the Mughals were also not less in this matter and were like this since long, the founder of the Mughal Sultanate, Zahirul Babar used to say, Babar bash koh ke alam dobara ni, that is, Babar, enjoy yourself because you don’t get life again, almost every Mughal emperor, his minister and noble embraced this saying, they left everyone behind in luxury, there was one emperor among the Mughals who lived in such a way that Till date the world calls him Rangila (colourful), that is why in the times of Jawal, neither the Mughals could compete with Nadir Shah, nor the Marathas, nor the British. Yes, the British came and dominated India and everything changed, the courtesan’s kotha too. In 1857, Delhi was doomed. The war of independence failed and the Mughal era ended. It did not take much time for Lahore to be captured by the whites. The Sikh rule ended. Bad times fell on the kings, Maharajas and princes, the courtesan’s kothas that thrived on their wealth also became deserted. The government patronage of Heeramandi ended. And why wouldn’t this happen? What do the British have to do with dance and intoxication? They were different from all others.

Heeramandi in British Era

Completely different from every small Nawab of India. That is why he ruled the world, enjoyed life but did not let it go to his head. They say that when a city falls into the hands of the enemy, its wealth is lost. Respect is also looted. Fatehis make chaklas and for free, a cantonment was built in the area of ​​Mian Mir where Makh Sus colonies were also built nearby for the soldiers, which were named Lal Kurti. Think it was the diamond market of the whites, but it was a place for prostitution, and there was no lip service to Shayari, no excuse for dance, no discussion of etiquette and no etiquette.
The things are out in the open and are on the top of the head. Girls used to live in Lal Kurti as a hostel. Women from different areas were admitted in it. Most of the women came here on their own will, but along with this, some who were associated with the old city families, because in every era, the desire and wish of a person has been to earn better than his means and to live well and to maintain his living standard, so in the same way, the people who were already living in the interior and were involved in this business. In order to develop themselves, they chose to live in Lal kurtis with the help of this group. After the arrival of the British, the women who showed tantrums to the Nawabs became orphans and it came to selling their bodies to the common people. Their area was once called Shahi Mohalla. Their temperament was definitely royal but now the only way left to earn some money was to sell their bodies. Thus, during the British rule, the difference between Tawaif and body seller ended. The number of singers decreased and Heera Mandi became a hub for body trade. It was a desert area at that time, so houses were allotted to the people involved in anal sex. Some got small houses, some got big ones. Then, during the British rule, they settled here. Thus, the foundation of this market was laid in the present Taksali Gate, which is today called Heera Mandi. Different families live here. Then during the British period, they settled here in a proper way. Thus, the foundation of this market Husn was laid in the present Taksali Gate, which is today called Heera Mandi. Different families settled here. First, they were the ones who did this profession with pride. In those days, the upper class had this specialty that they had to present their business or their family, not their business or their behavior, so they used to take along with them the upper class people and this was present in every family. The people of Darwal were everywhere in the world, in the area of ​​our subcontinent.
You will find many people of the upper class, there were the second class people, who were basically those who did not understand this thing and rebelled against them, they used to say what is this matter, they cannot understand, they convert themselves to prostitution and they had their proper bases, if I use the typical word, after the Kanjro. The second word that is used is ‘will be here’ and the third word is ‘yes’ which is called the ‘guty ages’. They are one of those who do not have any spotting point. They move around, they find out their search, then they go to the room and there they go with few minutes.

The Tawaif Culture

How did all this change? Before that, let us mention a few famous courtesans.  In history, there are some women associated with the court who earned a great name. Anar Kali is also one such name which you will find in every nook and corner. Streets, markets, neighbourhoods, shops and many other things are named after her. But the surprising thing is that till date it has not been known whether Anarkali really existed or not. According to the stories, she was the concubine of Mughal emperor Akbar and Prince Salim fell in love with her. Yes, the same prince who later came to be known as Shahenshah Jahangir. According to this story, Prince Salim became a father for Anarkali’s sake. He fought against the Sultanate, did everything but could not save his love and in the end,  Emperor Akbar got Anarkali bricked into the wall. Aye Mohabbat Tere Anjaam Pe Rona Hai (Oh ​​love, I cry over your end), this story came out of books and then reached dramas and films, Anarkali became a star. In the 20th century many famous Tawafas took place and got preserved in history. Moti Bhai, Rehman Bhai, Gulab Bhai, Chamni, Kamal Bhai and Noor Hadiqa alias Noor Bhai, a few Rakka Saas of Lahore’s Heera Mandi also earned a big name. Nathi Bai, Daulat Bai, Reshma Bai and Bali Begum are one of them. Murak Beri is a book written by Nawab Kalb Ali Khan. He has mentioned the situation of Delhi and these women of Delhi in it. There is a chapter in it. It is mentioned that there was a woman named Noor Hadiqa. She used to ride an elephant. She had her own army. And big Nawabs used to write applications that we want you to come to your court or your brothel. Is it your house, they used to do proper scrutiny of the status of this Nawab sahab, is he a dying Nawab or does he eat well, then he used to be invited and most of the requests used to be rejected.
Rich Jagirdars and the managers of the courtesan’s brothels were strict with their subjects but they could not control the courtesans’ charms. One incident is of Wali Mir Ali Nawaz Nas of Khairpur who fell in love with the famous courtesan Iqbal alias Bali Begum of Heera Mandi. He even put his Wali Ahdi at stake for this courtesan. He fought with the entire kingdom but did not leave Bali Begum. He even married her. He opened the doors of the treasury for his beloved Begum. He kept tolerating her tantrums and did not care for anyone. But how long would all this go on? He kept on placating the Begum who would keep on getting upset.
Mir Ali Nawaz placating Bilkhiriya became a Sufi and died a Billar. Just 10 years after marrying Bali Begum, before dying he said that Bali should not see my dead face. There is also a tragic story of Nawab Mohammad Nawaz Khan. He was a rich landlord of Punjab. One day he saw Shamshad Bai in Heera Mandi and fell in love with her to such an extent that he took her with him in some way or the other and died. But one day in a drunken state, the ghost of love took over him in such a way that he himself shot and killed Shamshad Bhai. And after some time he himself died at the age of 31 while suffering the consequences. It was the time when India was changing and the world was also taking a new turn. While the movement for freedom was gaining momentum, a revolution was also taking place. It was the revolution of the media. Radio and cinema were becoming popular and the class which benefited the most was that of the courtesans. It was the time , August 1947 came, India grew, Pakistan was formed, how could Tawaif be carried out in that country which was formed in the name of Islam, but the tree of tension that had grown from the seed sown by Ranjit Singh was not possible to cut, rather it flourished a lot, the reason being that cinema and radio were emerging in those days.

Heeramandi post partition

For whatever was coming on the medium, the real deal was the bazaar of beauty. Those who had a good voice turned to radio and those who had a good look turned to films. On one hand, their songs were played on radio and on the other hand, films gave them a new life in the new era. Tawaif reached every home. What used to happen behind the walls earlier, now started happening openly. What was once available only to the debauched Nawabs, now even the respectable people started getting benefits from them on a few rupees worth of cinema tickets. Not much time passed and the film industry of Pakistan was filled with courtesans in a short time and its first academy was here in Lahore.
Heeramandi, in fact, the entire media industry started getting the real deal from here because the time had not yet come when dance has a lot of importance in the films of Sharafabad and Pakistan, whether it is related to the story or not, but there will definitely be songs and dance in the film. You can pick up any film industry of the world and see, dance is hardly made a part of the film anywhere, but here this is what has been happening since the beginning, its basic structure. The reason is the influence of markets like Heera Mandi on cinema and we saw this effect a lot on literature too.

Hum Hue Tum Hue Ki Mir Hue Uski, Sab Zulfon Ke Asir Hue From Mir to Lib, the subject of Shayari is Tawaif (courtesan) If we look closely, there is hardly any great Urdu writer who has not written on Tawaif (courtesan) From Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s Umrao Jaan Ada in 1899 to Munshi Premchand’s Bazaar Husan in 1916, whether it is Ghulam Abbas’s Anandi or Mantu’s Bhaagbaate Afsane, Krishna Chander Ahmed Teem Qasmi Shaukat Siddiqui Asmat Chukh Pai Hajra Masroor Qurat Ulan Haider Khadija Mastoor, even writers like Mumtaz Mufti and Bano Qudsia have made Tawaif their subject. Tawaifs have also become the topic of films and dramas, from Pakeezah to Dev Das, Umrao Jaan. From Ada to Mughal-e-Azam Till then and yes till today’s Heera Mandi.

First of all, know that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web series has no connection whatsoever with the real Heeramandi of Lahore. It shows huge luxurious mansions which are nowhere in the real Heera Mandi. The Nawabs shown would have been in Lucknow during the British era but were not in Lahore at all.
Today Heera Mandi is neither a market of beauty nor a charming place. It is a graveyard of dead souls and living bodies. If today Heera Mandi is worthy of hate, then this Mushra has become even more hateful than that because today the entire society has become a market of a higher level than this market where everything is sold, conscience, soul, faith and selling them is definitely not possible. There is a much dirtier and more dangerous job than selling the body. All these jobs are being done by those who go about pretending to be respectable and among them there are many respectable people whose clothes are stained with the dirt of such markets. Wearing this dirty dupatta is a great honor. It is a great honor to be respectable. Opening the veil means how many people’s veils they have kept. Tell their daughters to lay down for Baal Dahan and take them from here and tell the fathers to take their daughters