WHEN I first visited No.1 Saddar Road, Peshawar, I felt like passing through a corridor of history. High ceilings, arched doorways and windows, the drawing room’s wooden floor, glittering old chandeliers, Victorian furniture pieces and an atmosphere that can instantly turn a person into a nostalgic entity, tell a story that is enchanting and mysterious. I was thrilled to be there, and felt surrounded by history itself.
Several assumptions have been made about the date of construction of this house. According to one suggestion, it might belong to the Mughal era because the building’s bricks that were exposed during repair work a few years ago were of a smaller size while the blocks used in British buildings of the colonial era used to be larger. If built in the British period, this must have been a structure of the early 1850s because a meeting of British officers took place at this house in order to chalk out plans for crushing the mutiny and for censoring telegrams. There is historical evidence to support this fact. Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar writes in his book Forty one years in India: “Davidson then turned off to the commander, who with his deputy, John Nicholson lived within stone’s throw of the mess.”
Tahir Ghani, former chief librarian at the Peshawar University advocates that Roberts is talking about this building as a mess and a telegraph office did exist, which was almost attached to it.
A 1921 meter-reading card names it as the ‘General’s House’. It remained the Flagstaff House of Peshawar until the ‘30s. It was the chief minister’s house from 1932 to 1935. The Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah stayed here in 1936.
After Pakistan came into being, it became the chief commissioner’s house. For some odd reason, such a grand and historic building was turned into a rationing office in 1957, a move that struck a severe blow to its grandeur. It was in a miserably bad condition when it was bought by Mir Sahib Syed Abdul Mughni in 1960, the gentleman whose family still lives there. He had bought it from Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum (Sir Syed of the NWFP). Since then, it is popularly called as Mughni Sahib’s bungalow.
At present, the main building is in a good condition owing to regular restoration and repair work by its owners. There is a main central hall with wooden floor, an 18th century chandelier and a Victorian sofa belonging to the Khanna family. There is a 19th century radio and a carved wooden corner table in the drawing room that was once a part of the dance floor. The building is a good example of symmetrical balance, space and openness. Although some side rooms and corridors have been converted into bedrooms and dining halls because of the growing requirements of a large family, there is no feeling of congestion because of high ceilings, proper ventilation and broad windows.
A spacious backyard and garden are a boon for the residents as they are not only a preferred place for get-togethers, but also the venue for nearly all family occasions.
Unfortunately, sprawling lawns and landscapes have been badly damaged by the Qabza mafia who has not only constructed an illegal junkyard at one corner of the front lawn but has also turned it into a den of criminal activities. Since the owners are not “allowed” to construct a boundary wall by the Cantonment Board, their vehicles are constantly in danger of theft and their privacy is badly shattered.
Good news has been the renewal of old grants policy at the previous rates. It is surely a sigh of relief for the owners of this house who have been worried about the high premiums they have to pay each year. Another matter of concern is the colourful probable buyers of the property who intend to build office towers, shopping plazas or other commercial structures at this place.
This house is history personified with all its grandeur, mysteries and unravelled secrets. It might not be the oldest residential building in Peshawar, but it is certainly unique in character because of the fact that it is still lived in and maintained not by any archeological authority but by a family.
WHEN I first visited No.1 Saddar Road, Peshawar, I felt like passing through a corridor of history. High ceilings, arched doorways and windows, the drawing room’s wooden floor, glittering old chandeliers, Victorian furniture pieces and an atmosphere that can instantly turn a person into a nostalgic entity, tell a story that is enchanting and mysterious. I was thrilled to be there, and felt surrounded by history itself.
