The City and its Trade Centres
Srinagar city is spread over, on both sides of river Jehlum known as Vyeth just like London on river Thames. In earlier times the city had mostly grown and established on the right flank of the river, in vernacular language called as Shehr-e-Khass or Down Town. In the post independence period, the up-town area of city started expanding and growing till this date. During Dogra rule, Maharaj Gunj also known as Sri Ranbir Gunj was the main centre of trade and commerce and considered as the first organised whole sale market in Down Town area. It was not merely an economic hub but was vibrant cultural place where diverse communities lived and traded side by side with temples and mosques in close proximity.
It was a meeting point of traders, local Kashmiri traders, Punjabi merchants from Hoshiarpur, Gujranwala, Amritsar and even Central Asian caravans. It was located at strategic position along river Jhelum, allowed the goods from Lahore, Punjab and Central Asia to enter via Shikaras. It would also function like modern “Stock Exchange”. After partition most of traders moved away and repeated neglects of authorities led to further dilapidated infrastructure despite heritage project promises. Post 1947, a shift of commercial focus towards Lal Chowk, also led to the decline of Maharaj Gunj.
In uptown Srinagar, two more markets Hari Singh High Street named after Maharaja Hari Singh and Mahraja Bazar with early 20th century growth and Lal Chowk became the hub of trade and commerce activity. Hari Singh High Street east of Amira Kadal became the centre of luxury shopping corridor, historically associated with gold, jewellery and upscale trade. Lal Chowk and Amira Kadal were connected by Amira Kadal bridge, later on known as Ist Bridge. The Amira Kadal (bridge) was built by Afghan governor Amir Khan during 1774-77. The bridge had its own grandeur, with two foot paths on both sides for pedestrian. The material used in construction of this bridge was mostly timber, keeping eco and environmental aspects in view. Sairabala, Maharaja Bazaar and Hari Singh High Street areas, adjacent to Sher Garhi Palace are located just south of old city and Lal Chowk. The areas on river front were also known as Sarai Payeen and the old caravanserai zone, as these areas served as resting points for traders and pilgrims travelling along the Jhelum trade route.
Lal Chowk ( Red Square) was named by leftist activists inspired by the Russian Revolution and became the centre of public meetings and political rallies. It was this place where a joint public meeting was held by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the year of 1948. The iconic clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) was built by Bajaj Electrical’s in 1980. Now this tower has been further beautified recently during the central rule after 2019. The post 1947, history of Kashmir moves around Lal-Chowk, a place that is not just politically symbolic but historically and commercially central to Srinagar’s identity.
Maharaja Bazar and Hari Singh High Street developed under Dogra patronage grew into vibrant trade centre and multi-ethnic merchant communities. Saraibala, integral part of caravanserai zones near Shergarhi Palace became the supporting wing of this trade hub.
I am born and brought up in the area of Magarmalbagh located in the neighbourhood of Saraibala. Magarbagh, once a posh locality, now a developing slum, was the symbol of secularism as all the institutions of faith, like Ranimandir, Gurduwara, Church and mosque were located, for the people of different faiths residing there. I got my early education in Govt school located in Saraibala. All my childhood, school and college life memories are deeply attached with this area where I learnt cycling, football and cricket in the play ground of Hozuribagh besides my other education skills.
It was some days back I got an opportunity to visit this area on foot to make some purchases after almost a decade. When I walked through Saraibala via shrine of Dastigir sahib and entered, once a 20 feet wide road, I could not locate the house of Kh. Saifuddin, who was our principal in S.P. College. It was a big house with a splendid wooden veranda (balcony). Kh. Saifuddin and his two brothers would live with their families in this house. One of his brothers’ son was my class mate in the Govt school Saraibala. I was pained to see the area which has become one of the most congested locations of city Srinagar. No doubt it has developed into a busy market but one finds it very difficult to exit from its stinking and narrow lanes and bi-lanes. Number of odd concrete high rise buildings have come up making this area most vulnerable. Even I could not find my school which was housed in a rectangular shaped building on all sides having a huge prayer’s ground and a lawn inside. This two storey school building belonged to Daraels of Nawhata.
After entering into Maharaja Bazar through one of the narrow lanes, I got stunned to see the depleted and degraded heritage Maharaja Bazaar. The macadamised road is replaced by the six inch square hard stone top which not only makes it difficult to walk but also causes apprehension for senior citizens to fall in the mad rush of shoppers who come here for shopping. The road has been upgraded and raised to the level that two/ three steps of each shop are buried under road. The traffic passing through this Bazaar, makes it further horrible for pedestrians to do shopping. It would have been better if vehicular traffic is closed and make it as traffic free zone like Mall road in Shimla. Amira Kadal once a famous chowk with two fruit shops and a Paan shop on river side of Amira Kadal and on the entry point of GoniKhan Bazaar are no more there. Paan Shop of Chourasia, Chemist shop of Bindru, at the entry point of Hari Singh High street, on the side of Hanuman Mandir and the famous shop of Mehtab Singh Gold Smith were the land marks of Amira Kadal Chowk. All Chowks like Amira Kadal, Badshah Chowk, Jahangir chowk and even Lal Chowk once the orbit of traffic movement, buzzed with business activities and domestic tourists, are choked, causing lot of inconvenience to both pedestrians and commuters while passing through these points.
A wooden bridge recently constructed at Amira Kadal for walkers will not enhance the ambiance of these historical commercial hubs like Maharaja Bazaar and Hari Singh High Street which once reflected the Dogra era vision of urban commerce, blending local and Punjabi trade communities into a formal architecturally appealing centre of trade; it will rather add to its congestion. Although modernization poses a great threat, Maharaja Bazaar and Hari Singh High Street will remain Srinagar’s vibrant heart land. But congested lanes have caused concern.
I feel that the Smart City works at Amira Kadal and around or even on Residency Road and Polo View have not proved to be that successful as was expected. The roads leading from Lal Chowk to TRC and from Badshah chowk to MA bridge delegate, have not been widened, to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Instead foot-paths on both sides of road have been widened that I think was not required. The partial closure of traffic on Polo View road has made the market so dull because of decreasing number of customers visiting this portion of the residency road. The polo-view market was the busiest trade centre, visited by both locals and tourists.
The concerned engineers I feel have either worked under political / bureaucratic compulsions. To prove my perceptions correct, I can quote the instance of Amira Kadal bridge which was built as hump as per design, to save a shop from demolition, then owned by a person related closely to a powerful political family and a foot bridge constructed on the river Jhelum near convent school, which was originally designed for vehicular traffic to ease traffic Jam on Shere Kashmir bridge. We cannot find fault line with engineers only but the performance of the SMC and SDA is also not satisfactory. They are responsible for allowing construction of mushroom of concrete commercial buildings in city without having proper surveys done and keeping the feasibility, eco friendly aspect and parking facilities in view.
Abdul Rashid Khan (IPS) former IGP.
