Fazal Hussain, 38, wakes up early in the morning and works all day long at his workplace in Darra Adamkhel Bazaar, which is famous for gunsmiths.

He has inherited the art of engraving mosaics and patterns on arms from his father Umar Gul and has been in the profession for the last 26 years.

He says his father had started engraving on arms in 1985 and then switched to making images of various birds on 12- bore revolvers which earned him widespread popularity.

With the passage of time, Umar Gul came up with more creative works on light arms. It motivated Mr Hussain to keep alive the art of his father and now he is busy in carving on a German-made revolver to make it more attractive.

Darra Adamkhel, the town famous for weapons industry, is located between Kohat and Peshawar and has from 1,600 to 2,000 gunsmiths, but six artisans of those are gifted with the unique art of carving on small size arms.

Mehar Gul, 55, uncle of Fazal Hussain, has also learnt the art of engraving from his elder brother. He had started his work in 1986 and tried his best to make it a world standard art.

He says he would search out foreign journals for adopting different patterns and mosaics for using in his own works.

“I engrave patterns on all kinds of small and big size arms, including revolver, double barrel, repeater, Kalashnikov, G3 rifle and pistol. We never take any help from internet or other modern technology because customers want us to engrave patterns of their own choice,” Mr Gul tells this scribe.

Intezar Hussain, cousin of Fazal Hussain, takes a break from his hectic work and begins to answer a volley of queries regarding his profession.

Setting his spectacles on the tip of nose, he regrets that his work is tough due to which his eyesight is getting weaker with every passing day as his art demands deep set eyes and hard work.

“We still work with old tools while our work gets tougher. Our work is very delicate involving minute details of patterns and designs which need close attention and stooping body position,” the artisan observes.

Intezar Hussain is eager to tell more about his art. He says he can engrave images of different birds, animals, plants, and even human torsos along with writings. Taking out his smart phone set, he shows his own Facebook account which displays his artworks.

“Once a London-based company contacted me to work for them, but we couldn’t do it because of lack of support and resources. They (people in developed countries) respect art and artisans, but unfortunately our people don’t value our work,” Mr Hussain regrets.

Mehar Gul narrates that he had participated in a small size arms world fair held in Karachi way back in year 2000 in which he had showcased his artworks.

He says art lovers from around the world had appreciated his works and were wonderstruck to see his patterns on arms without any help of modern tools.

“Such a fine work is rare in the world. Our work is mostly liked and loved by well-off people,” he says.

Sajid Rahman, another artisan, is busy in engraving German-made revolver available at a market price of Rs60, 000, but after artwork on it, the weapon will fetch him about Rs160,000.

He adds that it takes him 18 to 20 days to engrave patterns on a small size arm and it fetches him around Rs30,000.

“The demand for our work has increased over the years, but still it requires resources to compete with the world artisans. If properly encouraged, we can compete with them as our art is matchless,” he proudly says.

“We also work on knives and clippers for some private companies. They export our art pieces to different countries where people use them for hunting purposes. Also, engraving is done on wrest watches being exported to Turkey, Dubai, US, and other countries, but it carries no identity of our area and artisans. I don’t think we can show to the world our art this way,” says Mr Rahman.

An official at the Fata Development Authority while requesting anonymity said that a piece of land spread over 50 acres near Peshawar-Matani road had been acquired at a cost of Rs147.26 million and the owners had been paid Rs130 million while the remaining amount would also be released.

“Due to its location on Kohat road, the site could prove a best project in future. Gas, electricity, water,

security, training facility to young people and access of the foreign customers are part of the project. The artisans will be facilitated to shift their businesses from Dara Adamkhel to the site,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019