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My childhood was filled with stories of angels, invisible creatures who would descend upon the earth every now and again to bless people. I would fall asleep in my mother’s lap as she would narrate these stories, night after night.
However, when I grew up and heard of Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur from a friend, it dawned upon me that being an angel was well within the capability of humans.
A childless landlord, Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur, who used to consider every child as his own, was one such angel.
*Tando Bago is a small city, located 27 kilometers away from Badin. It’s a strange city, with numerous folklore and stories attached to it. A stream named Bago Wah, flows through the middle of the city, associated with which is the love story of Mir Bago and Sindh Rani.
Here there is also a charitable eye hospital, which has returned the gift of sight to hundreds of thousands of people. Most people know of Tando Bago because of the ‘Sahib Mahal’ palace, built in 1940, which is to this day visited by people from far stretches of the country.
1920 was a time when the British ruled, bestowing the titles of Khan Bahadur, Khan Sahab etc, Moen Jo Daro had not been unearthed, wheat was sold at Rs. 1 per 40 kg. Also, Karachi’s Elphinstone Street had not been rechristened to Zaib un Nisa Street.
I stood before a building that must have been starkly beautiful in its glory days, the Lawrence Madressah in Tando Bago. Here, children, whose parents couldn’t afford to feed them, were given sumptuous meals every day. To the south of the dining hall where the children ate is the Gibson Boarding House, which provided accommodation to students from far-flung areas.
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The Gibson Boarding House plaque. |
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The Gibson Boarding House. |
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The Gibson Boarding House. |
Nobody lives in this hostel now. It is empty and eerily quiet; save for when the walls break into whispers of the splendours they once witnessed.
There is no one to listen.
This dining hall and boarding house are part of the building of Lawrence Madressah (now Government Higher Secondary School), which was completed in 1924, and since then 21,456 pupils have completed their education from here.
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The dining hall. |
Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur was from the family of the Mankani Mirs. He was a feudal lord, with his landholding spread over thousands of acres. He was also bestowed upon with the title of Khan Bahadur by the British Raj.
When I met the current principal of the Lawrence Madressah, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ismail Memon, himself an author of several books, I instantly picked on his reverence for Mir Ghulam;
“I studied from this school, and today I am its principal”, he said, “Had Mir Sahib not been there, it wouldn’t have been possible at all. He was an angel, he was selfless; he felt for the poor, the downtrodden as if they were his own.”
“Angel,” the word resonated in my mind.
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Principal, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ismail Memon. |
The professor continued, “In 1914, Mir Sahib had given a loan of Rs. 100,000 to the British Raj for its expenses in World War I. The Raj not only returned the loan, but also gave him the title of Khan Bahadur.
“In 1920, Mir Sahib talked to Muhammad Siddiq ‘Musafir’, a renowned author from Tando Bago, who was serving as a teacher in Hyderabad at the time, and told him his vision for a school. Thus, Lawrence Madressah was conceived.”
Just a few decades back, Sir Syed had started his educational movement, under the influence of which Sindh Madressatul Islam was being run in Karachi.
In 1976, on the 44th death anniversary of Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur, a book “Hehra Manjhi Marna Naahin” (The people who live forever) was published, in which important articles about Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur were published. After a thorough search, I was able to obtain its photocopy from Bhavan Sindhi, the compiler of the book.
According to this book, “Mr. Abdul Rahim Karimati Baloch was the first Headmaster of this school, which was promoted to the status of a high school by the government in 1932. Mir Sahab had deposited a sum of Rs. 383,000 in the government’s benevolent fund for the expenses of the Gibson Boarding House.”
“Why did the hostel shut down?” I asked Mr. Memon.
“It closed in 2004 due to insufficient funds,” he said.
According to Hehra Manjhi Marna Naahin,
“In 1928, Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur constructed a building for a women’s school in the Mir Mohollah of Tando Bago, he handed it over to local administration upon completion. Since there were no teachers in the area, he appointed teachers from other cities, gave them handsome allowances, dining and lodging; he went to great lengths to keep the institution running.”
While the women’s school is still present, Mir Sahib’s building was razed. The new building in its place has enrolled about 150 girls.
The virtues of Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur don’t end here.
He allocated allowances for the poor and the ailing. He also established a hospital in Tando Bago in 1922, where people would be provided free treatment and medicines.
Dr. Yaqoob Mughal, the Director of the Dr. N.A Baloch Heritage Research Center, also an alumnus of the Lawrence Madressah, states in an article, “He was a great man, who couldn’t see the poor in misery. He established a hospital for women in 1931. Finding a lady doctor in those times was next to impossible, but after a thorough search, Mir Sahib found a European lady doctor, and appointed her at the hospital. Such was the benevolence of Mir Sahib, under which patients were provided free food, medicine, and lodging.”
Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur also sent several students to England, Delhi, Lahore, Mumbai, and Karachi. Some became doctors, some lawyers, and some educationists. Thousands of big names owe their success to the very existence of Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur and his Lawrence Madressah.
This high school was upgraded to higher secondary in 1990, and since then, 4776 students have completed their intermediate from here.
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The school building. |
Nathumal Morwani, another alumnus of this school, writes in his article: “To date, hundreds of students are provided free accommodation at this boarding house. Thousands of alumni are serving at high posts. This school has produced some of the finest politicians, scholars, thinkers, doctors, and educationists.”
During my research on this issue, I met with a local journalist Usman Rahukro, and asked him about the deteriorating condition of the buildings. His response appalled me: “You are lucky that you are seeing these walls, even if in this condition. You won’t find a trace of them in coming years, because we have a habit of destroying our heritage, not protecting it. Once, there was a huge, wonderful library here, there is no sign of it today.
“If Mir Sahib were alive today, he would lament about the condition of this school. Most people probably don’t know that this school made it to the National Heritage list in 2003.
“Yet, Mir Sahib’s name is nowhere to be found. I acknowledge that he never wanted anything to be named after him, but when the school was being renamed (long after his death), wasn’t it suitable to name it after him?”
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The school building. |
Usman Rahukro further told me that Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur had established a mobile hospital, which would go to far-flung areas on camel and ox carts. He also established school and boarding house in villages of Machori and Khadehro in Tando Bago.
I tried to find the caravanserai which he had established in Tando Bago, but to no avail.
The air in Tando Bago rings loud with stories of Mir’s kindness. It is said that Mir Sahib had a servant named Jumma Khaskheli. Mir Sahib sent his son for higher education to Delhi. And, when he returned, people saw Jumma Khaskheli’s son Qadir Bux become the headmaster at the Lawrence Madressah. It was just heartening to hear such a riveting story from Sindh.
Famed scholar, intellect, and founder of the Sindhi nationalist movement, G. M Syed, wrote to Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur in 1928, inviting him to a conference on education. Talpur’s reply is short, but it helps us understand what he strived for, and why:
“I received your letter on 20 January. I am deeply saddened to see the state of ignorance and poverty these people are in, and I am utilising whatever resources I have for bringing them out of it. I have dedicated all of my belongings to these people, but what can a man do alone? The Jagirdars, Pirs, and Makhdooms of Sindh have absolutely no sympathies for the poor. I am unwell, and hence won’t be able to attend the conference. May God grant you success in your endeavours. Ghulam Muhammad.” (1)
As I write this, I am certain that a personality as great as Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur cannot be encompassed in a blog, an entire thesis would be required if we are to explore his work thoroughly.
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School register. |
It is said that the winters of 1932 were very harsh on lower Sindh, that they brought great misfortune to Tando Bago. Piyar Ali Jaffery, an alumnus of this school, writes in his article:
“It was a cold day on 12 February 1932. We were studying in the school, when Mir Sahib’s servant came running and shouting, Mir Sahib has left us, Mir Sahib has left us. I saw everyone weeping, crying, and lamenting. Whoever heard the news, couldn’t help himself but cry.”
I looked up the calendar of 1932, it was a Friday.
I went to a house, or more like the ruins of a house, which used to be the residence of Talpur. This was the very place where Mir Sahib breathed his last in 1932. All that is left of his residence is now a deteriorating boundary wall. Thorny bushes and silence now creep out into the courtyard of this man’s home — it left me dumbfounded.
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The home of Mir Ghulam Muhammad Talpur. |
As evening drew, I realised I had to return home. But, how could I leave Tando Bago without paying my respects. At his grave, I raised my hands to pray and thought about my mother; she was right.
*The settlements established by Mir Talpurs are called Tando. Tando Bago, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, etc.
(1) Janam Guzarium Jin Sein by G. M Syed. (Sindhi) Published by Sindhi Adabi Board, Jamshoro.
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Abubakar Shaikh writes on archaeology and the environment. He has undertaken photography and research projects for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
He can be reached at abubakersager@gmail.com
Photos by author.
Translated by Bilal Karim Mughal from the original in Urdu here.