Dust on My Feet: Overland to London - Jammu via Lahore to Rawalpindi

Lahore from a minaret of the Badshahi Mosque

Day 21 Sun 15 June JAMMU – LAHORE

Departure time: 7am Tach reading: 134,856 Distance run: 258 kms

From Jammu we retrace our steps back over a bumpy road, through Pathankot and Batala, to Amritsar where we will stop for lunch, then we will carry on to the Indo-Paki border, some 15 miles from Amritsar. Time on the border will probably be about two hours, all going well, but keep in mind that Pakistan is under the Islamic rule of General Zia ul-Haq and it is forbidden to bring alcohol into the country. There will be a search by Pakistani Customs and they will confiscate any alcohol or beer they find. We usually make sure they find a half-bottle or so of Indian whiskey, which seems to keep them happy and makes the search not so thorough!!

Once clear of the border it is just a short drive, around 15 miles, to Lahore, 2^nd largest city in Pakistan and capital of the Pakistani Punjab.

Partition Monument, Lahore

Pakistan is one of the new nations of the world, first coming into being on 15 August 1947 as one state in two parts, separated by over 1000 miles of hostile India. From the beginning it was obvious that the country couldn’t exist as such for long. All the people of East Pakistan had in common with the West Pakistan was their religion. Ethnically they were completely different. The break finally came in 1971 when, after a short war with India in which the Pakistani forces were soundly beaten, East Pakistan broke away to become the new nation of Bangladesh.

Events leading up to partition between India and Pakistan in 1947 are extremely involved, but are set out in the excellent book by Larry Collins and Dominiqoe Lapierre called Freedom at Midnight. This book traces the ascendancy of the Indian Congress Party and its conflicts with Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s Moslem League up to the bloody events before, and after, the partition, and the role of Mahatma Gandhi in his personal ‘crusade for peace’ between the two religions.

Pakistan has always been the more unstable (1980) country of the two. Jinnah, known as the Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader) died in 1948 and until General Ayub Khan seized power in 1957, no government had remained in power for long. Ayub Khan stabilised the country with martial law. After the first costly war with India (1965), another General, Yahya Khan, came to power. It was his generally repressive measures, coupled with two natural calamities in East Pakistan (a disastrous typhoon and tidal waves, followed by famine), that led to the final break between East and West Pakistan, and after a further war with India, Bangladesh was created. After the war, a civilian, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, came to power first as President then as Prime Minister. Bhutto restored law and order and Pakistan began to prosper under his Government, but in 1977 he was overthrown by General Zia-ul-Haq on the eve of a national election. In 1979 Bhutto was executed on the contentious charge that he had ordered the murder of an opposition candidate, and this has led to ongoing unrest throughout Pakistan. Zia is a strict Moslem and has reinstituted prohibition throughout the country. There is increasing support for Nusrat Bhutto, Zulfikar’s widow, who has become the leader of the PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) with support of their daughter, Benazir Bhutto. Nusrat has been under house arrest since her husband’s execution. At present, Pakistan’s attention is directed towards the north by the Russian occupation of neighbouring Afghanistan.

As Pakistan is the first Moslem country we visit, I write here a few words on:

ISLAM – ‘Devotion to God’

Islam, like Christianity, stems from Judaism. It has its beginnings in the early 7^th century AD with the ascendancy of the Arabian prophet Mohammed. Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 and in his late 20s, had a vision in which the Archangel Gabriel appeared before him and he thus became convinced that he was to be the prophet for the Arab peoples. At first he had little success with his religion and as he was considered to be a trouble-maker, was driven from Mecca to Medina. This flight, which took place on 15-16 July 622, is known as the Hegira and from this date the Islamic era begins, hence 1981 is, in the Moslem Calendar, 1359AH. In Medina, Mohammed found support, amassed an army and conquered Mecca in 630, making the Ka’aba (the Rock of Abraham), the most holy place for Arabian pagans, a place of pilgrimage for the new religion. Mohammed died in 632, but Islam spread rapidly throughout the Middle East, to Central Asia, North Africa and Spain and has, with the exception of Spain, remained the major religion in these regions since.

Islam is a monotheistic religion and its holy book is the Koran, said to have been revealed by Allah (God) through the Archangel Gabriel to Mohammed over a period of 20 years. As Mohammed was illiterate, the ‘word of God’ was written down by several of Mohammed’s companions who served as scribes.

English version of the Koran

Mohammed accepted inspiration from a series of divine messages beginning with those revealed to Adam, including the Torah, the Old Testament, the Psalms (Zabur) and the Gospels (Injil). He claimed to be a successor of Moses and recognised Jesus (Isa) as a prophet. The Koran states that God created the world in 2 days, paced the mountains on it, and then formed the sky into 7 heavens. Above the heavens are 7 departments of Paradise, and under the earth are 6 Hells. The first man, Adam, was created by Allah from clay and water. Angels were created out of light, the spirits (or djinns) out of the heat of the desert. Shaitan (Satan), who did not obey Allah’s order, was doomed forever to tempt mankind, as he had already done with Adam and Eve.

The Shahada - the Islamic oath
2nd of the 5 Pillars of Islam

The basis of Islam is the belief in one incomparable personal god (Allah). The orthodox Moslem does not believe in the laws of nature; it is just a habit of Allah that snow melts and fire burns – if Allah wishes, it could be otherwise. The Moslem gives himself up completely to the Will of Allah. Suffering is a decision of God, but he can hope for Allah’s mercy and be shown the way to Paradise. There are no images or music in Islam, the devotee is always in direct contact with Allah. He must pray 5 times a day (before sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and before retiring). He must wash before prayer (physical cleanliness = spiritual pureness). Friday is communal prayer day at the mosque. The Moslem also has 5 duties to perform in his life called the 5 Pillars of Islam. i) Ritual prayer ii) Confessing his belief in God - the Shahada iii) to give alms to the poor iv) fast during the sacred month of Ramadan v) make a pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) once in his life. There are no priests as we know them and prayers are guided by a member of the congregation or a paid Imam.

There are two main sects in Islam. Sunni, or orthodox, is followed by most of the world’s Moslems. Shiism, whose spiritual leader is the Ayatollah Khomeini, is practised in Iran, Iraq (by 60% of Moslems) and is a minority in other Islamic communities. Doctrines in Shiism are the same as the orthodox Sunni, the difference is in the manner of succession after the death of the Prophet. The Sunnis accepted the succession of the Caliphs beginning with Omar, the Shiites believed succession should be by way of direct descendancy from Mohammed, beginning with Ali, his son-in-law. The followers of Ali and his sons were defeated at the Battle of Kerbala in 680AD.

Day 22 Mon 16 June LAHORE

Departure time: 8am Tach reading 135,114 Distance run: 44 kms

This morning we set out with guide Akram on a morning tour of Lahore, capital of the Pakistani Punjab and second city of Pakistan. Lahore was a Moghul capital and, like other cities in India, such as Delhi and Agra, it has a Moghul fort, palaces and gardens.

Zamzama, or Kim's gun outside Lahore Museum

We start off the tour in the Mall, the long, wide street of Lahore along which many official buildings, colleges, banks, stores and hotels are located. We stop outside the Lahore Museum, near the Zamzama Cannon, or Kim’s Gun, made famous in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, “He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib Gher – the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum.”

The Fasting Buddha - an icon
of Gandharan art

The museum has one of the finest collection of Gandhara art. This Greco-Buddhist art form is a legacy of the invasion of Alexander the Great and the settlements his men established in the northern Indian sub-continent and Afghanistan. The 'Fasting Buddha’, held in the Lahore Museum, is regarded as one of the finest pieces of Gandharan sculpture.

From the Museum we will walk to the meat market, where the city’s butchers cut up the day’s meat, by holding a knife between their toes while squatting on a rather bloodied bench.

From here we will visit the Lahore Fort, built by Akbar on the site of an earlier 11th century mud-brick fort, which was added to by Jahangir, Entry to the fort is through the Alamigiri Gate and perhaps the most distinctive building in the Fort is the white marble Naulakha Pavilion built in 1633 by Shah Jehan. It cost an exorbitant 900,000 rupees at the time of building and the name, Naulakha, means 900,000 in Urdu. As with most other Moghul monuments we have visited, marble inlaid with semi-precious stones is a feature. A Sheesh Mahal, or Palace of Mirrors, similar to that at Amber, was also constructed here.

The White marble Naulakha Pavilion in the Lahore Fort

Marble inlay work in the Lahore Fort

Lawn-mowing, Pakistani-style, Lahore Fort

Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb commissioned the nearby Badshahi Mosque, in 1671 and it is the largest Moghul-era mosque. During the occupation by the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh between 1799 and 1849 the rooms around the main building were used for garrisoning the Sikh troops and the large courtyard for stables for the Sikhs' horses. After the British took control of Lahore the mosque was restored and handed back to the Moslem community in the 1850s

The Mughal-era Badshahi Mosque

After a stop in the old city and at a medicine-man’s shop, we head out to Shah Jehan’s Shalimar Gardens built in 1642. These gardens with their fountains and mango trees, were laid out as a Persian paradise garden and are noted for their symmetry.

Shah Jahan's Shalimar Gardens, Lahore

From the Gardens we will go via an ice-cream and confectioner’s shop back to the hotel and the rest of the day will be free. Dinner will be up to yourselves tonight.

Day 23 Tue 17 June LAHORE – RAWALPINDI

Departure time: 8AM Tach reading: 135,158 Distance run: 276 kms

The run today is relatively short, and it is new territory to both Gopher and I. Just out of Lahore we cross the Ravi River then we will take a short excursion to the tomb of the 4^th Moghul Emperor Jahangir, who died in 1627. The tomb was built by his son, Shah Jahan. The tomb is unusual in Moghul architecture in that it has 4 minarets, but no dome. Also, an interesting facet here is the restoration work at present being done. Local artisans work the marble inlays in probably the same way as it was first worked 350 years ago. Pieces of marble are held between the toes and worked with a chisel. Pieces are then polished and smoothed off in a sand solution before being fitted into place on a bed of mortar.

Minaret of Jahangir's tomb & craftsman on restoration work

From Jahangir’s Tomb we press on towards Rawalpindi, crossing over two more rivers of the Punjab, the Chenab and the Jhelum. Rawalpindi, or just ‘Pindi’, as it is commonly called, was the provisional capital of Pakistan while the new capital of Islamabad, only a few miles away, was being built.