Chachaji

I have been relating the history of my dynasty. Our village, Vahalee, was the capital of this dynasty.

I am now narrating the details of the capital. This dynasty had an impressive and luxurious palace called ‘Mari’, and it is true that it very well compared with the palaces of many states of India. It is very difficult to give the true picture and the expression. The palace had a very large number of apartments for different purposes, for the use of eminent and distinguished members of the family.

The palace was richly and luxuriously furnished with luxury articles from many countries. Carpets of different designs and colours from Iran, colourful silk screens from China, skins of lions and tigers and the heads of many different kinds of deer, stags and some other jungle animals decorated the walls.

As soon as one entered the mighty gate of the palace there was a big and impressive darbar hall to receive the dignitaries. There were separate gates and entrances for the family members and the servants. The main gate was full of brass decoration and on both sides of the gate two sentries were always on duty with guns on their shoulders.

Every apartment in the palace had its striking and conspicuous appearance according to its use and utility. The dining hall could accommodate a very large number of persons. It had a long, lustrous dining table with shining chairs. On all sides of the dining hall colourful dining sets from China and Japan were exhibited. But the dining service was always done in silverware with silver plates and all silver cutlery.

The food was cooked in spacious kitchens in very big brass vessels for hundreds of people everyday in a most perfect manner by scores of cooks and kitchen servants. This big and main kitchen was non-vegetarian where all sorts of meats were cooked.

The customary feature of those times was the sacred vegetarian kitchen for the ladies. No ladies in those times used to touch or take meat. This vegetarian kitchen was away, rather on the opposite side, along with the ladies’ apartments. It had its own cooks and servants and did not allow the least of the vibrations found in non-vegetarian kitchens.

The ladies in the palace were all called and distinguished as Sardarnis because the family had the hereditary title of Sardar from the Government. These ladies normally never went out. But when they were obliged to go out for any marriage ceremony or on the occasion of any death, they covered themselves with serveral layers of white long cloth upon the luxurious dresses and ornaments they were wearing and no part of their dress or body could be seen.

In case they had to go out of the village to any other village or town, since the railway station was 13 miles away, they used to go in special palkis which were carried by 16 persons each, along with armed guards. Actually, 8 persons would carry the palki and 8 persons would accompany as relievers because the whole area was rugged and mountainous, so the carriers would be tired and exhausted after half an hour. Therefore, every half hour the other 8 persons would take over.

These palkis were elegantly and colourfully decorated with silken curtains, and velvet cushions were spread all around inside. The Sardarnis could not be seen sitting inside the palki but they could have a glimpse outside through the curtains.

The palace was always humming with life and dynamic activity which is very difficult to describe. But here I will try to describe the establishments around the palace working under the jurisdiction of the estate.

There was a big secretariat in which hundreds of people used to work to control and conduct the entire affairs of the estate spread over in many districts of Punjab; right from the Collectors, Tehsildars, Naib Tehsildars, Girdawars, Patwaris, clerks, peons and workers to do all kinds of jobs. In those times the entire work was done by hand. There was hardly anything printed. All records were written in Urdu calligraphy with black and red inks. It was much more beautiful and accurate when compared with the present times of printed registers. This secretariat was always busy in work and the administrative activities.

The other important building was ‘Modi Khana’, with only one gate. From this establishment all rations and necessities of life were issued under permits and orders. This institution had naturally its own office inside to maintain the accounts and records under different heads of the estate for whom the articles were issued.

The next was the large and graceful stable situated on a high plateau. It was a very big compound in which, as I saw, there used to be two elephants, a few camels, scores of valuable and well-bred horses and scores of strong and powerful mules to carry loads. To look after this animal establishment there was a large number of servants, and also large-scale godowns to keep different types of saddles and harnesses, fodders and other articles of food for the animals.

For the milch animals there was a separate compound on the other side of the village in which a large number of cows, goats and sheep were kept. There were a few milch donkeys also for feeding the family babies. The family also used to get wet-nurses from Agra to breast-feed their babies.

Along with this there was a poultry farm, with hens and all sorts of eatable fowls.

From both these places, the animals and the fowls were sent to the palace for cutting and cooking. It was of course a daily affair in the palace kitchen.

In front of the palace there was a beautiful dharamshala on a higher hillock. Nowadays it is called Gurdwara. It was a very impressive building with a grand courtyard in front which had imposing and towering pipal trees.

There was a permanent Bhai (Sikh priest) to take care of the dharamshala and conduct the daily prayers. Every morning there used to be readings from the Guru Granth Sahib to the congregation and halwa (prasad) was distributed. The leaves of the pipal trees were exceptionally big and mostly the people used to take prasad in these leaves. Some people would even bring their katories (bowls) to take prasad for other members of their family.

Deep inside the village in a zigzag street there was a treasury and within these premises residence was allotted to my grandmother consisting of a big room called dalan with a small kitchen attached. In its corner there was a very small room kothari in which I was born.

I remember, when I was a child, we had to pass by the front of the iron bars of the treasury to go to our house. This treasury had four long, deep rooms with doors of thick iron bars.

I saw the following at a very tender age: the rupee coins and sovereigns used to be brought on mules, these mules would go deep inside the treasury and drop their loads which made a loud clinkling sound; these coins were then heaped inside the treasury with shovels and the coins were never counted. There were no government currency notes in those times. These rupee coins were issued under the supervision of the treasury officers and staff who lived just above the treasury, even then they were never counted, they were only weighed and issued. Because, every rupee coin had a uniform weight of one tola. This dazzling sight and phenomenon is still before my eyes.

Down below in front of the palace in the valley there was a big fruit and flower garden. In this garden fruit trees and flower plants of different varieties were imported from all over, even from foreign countries. It was a beautiful garden with two big Persian-wheel wells and a large number of bullocks and gardeners to maintain it.

In the heart of this garden there was a temple, in those days called shiwala, with a priest to look after it. The significance of the shiwala was that the people who used to come to the village for any occasion of meeting their relations, such as the marriage parties etc. would all take refuge and shelter under the trees around this shiwala and then come to the village according to the auspicious mahurats (timings).

The tradition in those times was that anyone who would like to go out from the village for any purpose whatsoever had to take the auspicious mahurat for the purpose from the village pandit. That auspicious time could be any time in the night. There were no transports of any nature except horses or mules and it was not possible to move out or travel in the dark in the mountainous area. Therefore, the tradition was to send some article or belongings down into the shiwala in advance as paintra at that auspicious time given by the pandit and then go down according to their convenience picking up that article on the way.

In all these establishments of the estate there were hundreds of workers and servants who were all given food from the palace kitchen. But hundreds of Mohammedan servants who were employed in different establishments like the stable, dairy, poultry farm, gardens and fields were not given cooked food but were given raw rations from the ‘Modi Khana’ and they used to cook and eat at their own houses.

All the servants who worked in the palace and the kitchens etc. used to come from the district of Kangra (Punjab). They used to be of three types. First were those who were actually working in the palace and the kitchens. The second category was of those who had retired on account of age, sickness, incompetency or any serious misconduct but were waiting for months and years for settlement of their dues. The third category was of those who had come and were waiting for any post that may fall vacant and they could be employed. These people were also always in large numbers because their relations, brothers, uncles and cousins were working in the palace and they had come through them. But the generosity of the palace was such that everyone would go on getting food without any hitch or reservation.

I have drawn the picture of this grandeur of the family because these people were my grandfather’s own brothers and my father’s first cousin-brothers. They were living like Lords, Rajas and Maharajas whereas we were living in a one-room apartment as described above. Later on, I clearly remember that even this one-room apartment was also snatched from us, perhaps because it was not our legal property, and we had to shift and live in another street in a dilapidated house, the sight of which I still remember.