http://www.dawn.com/weekly/review/review6.htm
The Mirs of Hyderabad who once ruled Sindh, now live a life of seclusion and obscurity, report Imdad Soomro and Ishaque Mangario.
They have come many years away but the Mirs of Hyderabad still seem to be living in the past. The days of yore were full of glory, a lifestyle of grandeur and abundance, but today they can only bask in it. They live in humble neighbourhoods and are hardly recognized or noticed. For these were the last rulers of Sindh who lost the battle of Miani against Sir Charles Napier on February 17, 1843. “The smell of martyrs’ blood is still swirling in the wind from Miani forest,” says a poet in Hyderabad. In the forest is a 300-year-old rest house, that has an old petal plate saying ‘Retreat’ on the main gate. As you walk inside the rest house, you find the walls on which are hung ‘war-pictures’ by unidentified painters. Could this be a retreat from history?
These foregotten heirs of Sindh’s last ruler, Mir Naseer Khan, now live in a katchi abadi, near Hussainabad, Hyderabad, near the railway line. As they go about their daily chores fighting for survival, nobody seems to be aware of their past or the fact that they once ruled Sindh. When Mir Naseer Khan lost the battle in Miani, he was exiled - as the last Mughul emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled in Rangoon - and sent toCalcutta.
Lieutenant Col. Outram, a political agent of the British sarkaar in Hyderabad, referred to the Mirs as the ‘famous war prisoners’ of Sindh, in his book The conquest of Sindh. Naseer Khan died while in exile in Calcutta, and was buried in Hyderabad at the Meeran ja muqbera (the tombs of the Mirs) in Heerabad, Hyderabad. The ruins of his tomb can tell the sad story of the Mir dynasty’s fate.
Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur, now the fifth generation of the royal family, spends most of his time embroiled in property cases. He is the third of four brothers and seems to have been abandoned by them; he does not interact with them and they live separate lives. “Sometimes it frustrates me but it is better to remain aloof,” says Mir Karam Ali. His elder brother, Mir Khudayar, remains mostly at home, and is known to shut himself up for days, during which even his brothers don’t get to see him.
These uncrowned kings - this is how they perceive themselves - live a life filled with nostalgic memories of the past. “This is what we were,” says young Mir Karam Ali, showing us a family shujra (tree), pointing out the last gaddi-nasheen Mir Muhammed Naseer. “Ever since my father Mir Abdul Hussain junior died in 1994 we’ve received only 800 rupees as pension per month,” he says.
Relics like pensions, property documents, ancient pictures of the royal hierarchy, a sword wrapped in a sheath which has many myths attached to it, poetic deewans, a Hilland rifle and other such items were locked away in a wooden trunk.
According to a famous tale, when the Mir dynasty fell, and the royal prisoners had been exiled to Calcutta, the royal women were kept as prisoners in a refugee camp in Tando Saeendad. “The royal women and their entourage were protected by Mirza Khusro Baig on the instructions of the Mir rulers,” says Naseer Mirza, a prose writer and poet.
Some unidentified culprits set their deeras(temporary camps) on fire and the jewellery of the royal women was stolen. “One can still find their jewellery at the old goldsmiths’ shops in Hyderabad,” Naseer claims. Dismayed by such incidents, the royal family set out to settle in different areas.
“The badshahi gharana (royal family) settled in Tando Noor Muhammed, now Lateefabad number four,” reports an old resident of Hyderabad. “And Mirza Khusro went to Tando Thoro.”
“We live in poor conditions, deserted by our own relatives,” said a dejected Mir Karam Ali. Had the kingdom still existed, Mir Karam Ali would have been its king, but fate had more in store. He and his brothers can only read about such glory in history books. “Read Napier and see what he wrote about us,” we were told.
The Mirs still believe that the property in Hyderabad belongs to them. “We sold our palace in Lateefabad for about 40 lakh rupees. When I go there I am reminded of my childhood,” says Karam Ali, recalling the time when everyone knew them. “Now not even my neighbours know who I am.” They have spent many years and much money fighting property cases in the courts.
Mir Khudayar, who is Karam Ali’s elder brother, is a clerk in the irrigation department in Badin. He remains aloof from the world. Mir Ahmedyar appears sensitive but gloomy, as he doesn’t talk or meet people either.With only a close circle of friends, he has kept himself away from all other social activities. He complains that the government of Pakistan hasn’t given them the status they deserve. “It was the British who gave us a royal status,” he confessed. “They gave us a pension - 68 acres of land - where we are now living.” They live within their limited means and cannot afford many luxuries for which he blames himself. “We made many mistakes”.
The Mirs love their navaderaat, soveneiurs that reminds them of their past, is stored in an ancientwooden trunk. Mir Ahmedyar says that they are happy to be secluded, and are no longer interested in politics. They haven’t even been affected by the new daylight saving time as the clocks in their homes remain unchanged. "We have nothing to do with time for we have no engagments."Once deemed the wealthiest rulers of Sindh, they have now come to terms with bitter reality. In Sindh, a popular saying is toon ko meerin maan aheen chha!? (aren’t you from the Mirs, you act so).
As the Mirs have come a long way and lost everything, they no longer feel that they have any role to play in politics, not even in Hyderabad. Therefore, they have chosen to live in a self-imposed solitude. The Hyderabad Fort from where they were dethroned by the British commanders, was ironically turned into a refugee camp in 1947. Since then, they have never returned to it.
The yesteryear kings have also a similar history, the way other monarchies fell in the subcontinent. The famous novelist Quaratulain Hyder narrated the fall of the Mughul empire in her novel, Gardesh-e-rang chaman, but these kings of Sindh have not been written about, says Naseer Mirza. “A few years ago, the renowned writer Noorul Huda Shah tried to write our saga but then she wrote the superb long play, Ab mera intazar kar and the idea of the novel was probably shelved,” he says. These Sindh’s last rulers live a low profile life and are not seen in Hyderabad’s social or literary circles although their ancesters were fond of poetry and such mehfils. Mir Hasan Ali and Mir Abdul Hussain Sangi were said to be great poets intheir days. The last king, Mir Naseer Khan, was also a good poet in Sindhi, Persian and Urdu. Their contributions to the marsiya goi genre is incomparable.
Mir Abdul Hussain Sangi, a close relative to the last ruling family, lived in a rented house near Goods Nako in Hyderabad. His sons were later evicted from a bunglow in Tando Noor Muhammed on the pre-council’s decision. Mirza Budul Baig, said to be very close to Mir Abdul Hussain Sangi, and has letters of Mir Abdul Hussain, which are proof of how he wrote to him about his financial resources.
These present princes of this ruling family who now live a secluded life, were obliged by the State in 1927, which sanctioned Rs 31,700 and alloted them five acres of land.“We are grateful to our conquerers, who pleased us,” said Mir Ahmedyar.