KARACHI: Historian F.S. Aijazuddin said on Saturday that the reason why three Muslim brothers, his ancestors, rose to prominence in the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was that the one-eyed founder of the Sikh Empire did not at all discriminate on the basis of religion.
He was discussing the role the Fakir brothers had played in negotiating the historic treaty on behalf of the Maharaja (1780-1839) with Sir Charles Metcalfe who had been sent by the British East India Company to his court. “With the treaty, Ranjit Singh was recognised as being the unequivocal ruler of Punjab and the legitimate occupant of the golden throne,” said the art historian and educationist at the launch of his book The Resourceful Fakirs at the 7th Karachi Literature Festival.
Director of Karachi University’s Pakistan Study Centre Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, who was moderating the session in the Aquarius hall, earlier asked him as to how he would sum up his book. Mr Aijazuddin said the book revolved around Fakir Azizuddin, Fakir Imamuddin and Fakir Nooruddin, who started their careers originally as hakeem and later attracted the attention of the Maharaja.
To engage with the audience, the author also presented a short slide-show to tell his ancestor’s stories. “No picture will illustrate the spectacular grandeur of the Sikh court of Lahore, at the epicentre of this was Maharaja Ranjit Singh — the potent force in Punjab which the Sikhs, Afghans and British had to deal with,” he said.
“The earliest reference we have in the family is to Fakir Imamuddin, the second brother, who was asked to negotiate with Charles Metcalfe.”
Like most rulers of the time, he said, Ranjit Singh needed money for which he relied on the youngest brother, Nooruddin, who was at the time appointed Governor of Lahore and it was his responsibility to receive visitors, “the most important one for our story is Alexander Burns who took a mission to travel up the Indus.”
“Ranjit Singh was reluctant to allow this as he knew the real purpose of this was to be able to navigate and documents things for the future.”
“One was always told that one should not write about ones children or parents, fortunately in this book, I’m talking about my ancestors so I am on safe ground,” said Mr Aijazuddin who has written extensively on art, politics and diplomacy.
“The purpose of writing this book was to explore a particular part of Punjab’s history when Punjab for the first and only time in its history became a finite kingdom and I felt that the role played by the three Muslim brothers should be given some acknowledgement.”
Mr Aijazuddin penned this book in about seven to eight months mostly using primary sources.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016