THE district of Nawabshah holds many unknown, unpublicized historic and natural attractions. With a newly improved national highway, a drive from Karachi to Nawabshah, at a leisurely pace takes just about three hours via the Hyderabad bypass.
The city of Nawabshah itself is a modern town, with cosmopolitan atmosphere due to a wide mix of people from all over Pakistan.
As one travels the national highway, just 25kms south of Nawabshah lies an exceptionally enchanting architectural surprise, a miniature duplication of the famous Shalimar Gardens of Lahore. The Naz Garden is the result of personal commitment of the now 80-year-old local zamindar, Raees Alhaj Ali Nawaz Unnar. Fired with a vision and a passion, Ali Nawaz, much to the shock and awe of his peers, spent all his life and a vast part of his wealth in creating this architectural beauty for the joy of his people.
Raees Ali Nawaz, a self effacing modest looking senior citizen told us that he had begun the project when he was barely 18 years of age and spent all his life using his personal fortune and resources to transform a highly profitable family fruit orchard into lovely public garden. And he tells with great pride that the entire project is his own brainwork; he never employed any architect or engineer for the job. He told us modestly, “The work started by me sixty years ago is not yet complete. I have many dreams in my head, yet to be given shape.” As we moved around, we could see what he meant. Construction work on a number of additional structures in the garden was going on, though at a leisurely pace.
Raees Alhaj Ali Nawaz Unnar, son of Wali Mohammad Unnar, was born in 1922 in an influential and wealthy Sardar family of Qazi Ahmed. Politics came to him naturally from his elders. He joined Quaid Azam’s Muslim League and played his due role in the movement for creation of Pakistan. At Independence, he was vice-chairman of Muslim League for the Nawabshah district. In 1960 he became the only personality of Sindh to be awarded Tamgha Quaid Azam in recognition of his political and social service to the cause of Pakistan. He was elected member of Sindh Assembly as independent candidate in 1970.
As his biography tells us, from the very age of early youth Raees Ali Nawaz showed keen interest in the welfare of his people and also a remarkable aesthetic sense in tastefully decorating and designing his surroundings. For the common people he donated six acres of family land for the establishment of a college and hospital in his town, Qazi Ahmed. He also donated an expensive commercial plot for establishment of a primary school for boys and girls. A notable rebellion against the feudally dominated local culture, where bringing education to the kamdars is considered undesirable even today.
As the story goes, it all started when as a youth he came across photograph of Lahore’s Shalimar Garden. As if by divine design, he became obsessed with the idea of developing something like that for his own people. He shocked the family by earmarking a highly profitable, expansive family fruit orchard, located on national highway, for this purpose. There on he started spending lakhs of rupees from his own pocket to implement his dream.
Soon, Naz Garden came to be known as the Shalimar of Sindh. It contains the same symmetrical, beautifully arranged passage ways, on both sides of the water fountains.
With time Naz Garden expanded to include the Sindh Safari Park. Developed at considerable expense, and with devoted personal attention to minor detail, the Safari Park provides natural habitat for animals, with water ponds, shady trees, green grass fields, bushes and thatched huts for shelter from heat and cold. It is a joy for the visitors and great excitement for the children to walk through the Park having close encounters with friendly deers and stags (barasingha), peacocks, ostriches, koonj and other rare birds wandering around leisurely in natural surroundings.
The Safari Park, of course does not contain animals like lions and tigers, since that would require an official license, not easily forthcoming to private individuals.
Rais Ali Nawaz, who is by any standard a very influential local landlord also turned down official backing for his park because that entailed official intrusion into his private realm.
In addition to the lovely, highly artistic garden and Safari Park, the Naz Garden complex includes an exquisite mosque whose mehrab is embedded with a rock piece from Ghar-i-Hira.
Another important tourist attraction in the Naz Bagh is the private residential section of the Raees and his family. This consists of lovely structures which look like fairy tale cottages. They are a pleasure to look at and a popular tourist attraction. The exterior as well as interiors of these abodes are decorated with intricate artwork based on designs from Sindh as well as other parts of Pakistan. The homes are placed in the centre of well kept lush green lawns full of unique plants and colourful flowers.
THE district of Nawabshah holds many unknown, unpublicized historic and natural attractions. With a newly improved national highway, a drive from Karachi to Nawabshah, at a leisurely pace takes just about three hours via the Hyderabad bypass.
