Traditional forms of rural habitat in Pakistan
Kamil Khan Mumtaz
H u m a n settlements
and socio-cultural environments
UNESCO
VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB
TYPICAL HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB
CONTENTS
. Preface
. Introduction
. Environment and rural habitat
. Social patterns and rural habitat
. Traditional concepts in modem architecture
-3-
LIST OF DRAWINGS
1. Map of Pakistan showing geographic regions.
2. Mohammad Afsar's Cave Dwelling, Jallo, Campbellpur, Punjab.
3. Cave Dwelling of Margethkhel Tribe -
Khurmatan, Darra, Adam khel, Khyber Agency, N.W.F.P.
4. Dr. Khudadad's House, Katan Near Khuzdar, Baluchistan.
5. Sultan Zarin's House, Kalam, Swat, N.W.F.P.
6. Wali Melmani's Kodal House, Kohan, Baluchistan.
7. Wali Melmani's Kodal House, Kohan, Baluchistan.
8. Typical House in Kotkaramat, Lahore, Punjab.
9. Typical House in Kotkaramat, Lahore, Punjab.
10. House with Thatched Roof in Kotkaramat, Lahore, Punjab.
11. Typical House in Kotkaramat, Lahore, Punjab.
12. Typical House in Kotkaramat, Lahore, Punjab.
13. Mohammad Farid Khan's House, Shaidu, Peshawer, N.W.F.P.
14. Rehman Gul's House, Nihalpura, Near Kund, Peshawer, N.W.F.P.
15. Village Bingianwala, Sargodha, Punjab.
16. Typical House in Village Bingianwala, Sargodha, Punjab.
-4-
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS
1. Wind Catchers, Thatta, Sind
2. Wind Catchers, Thatta, Sind
3. Mud walls, Jallo, Punjab
4. Cave dwelling, Dara Adam Khel, North West Frontier Province
5. Cave dwellings Jallo, Punjab
6. Clan compund, Bara, North West Frontier Province
7. Village, Dara Adam Khel, North West Frontier Province
8. Houses, Katan, Baluchistan
9. Village, Swat, North West Frontier Province
10. House, Kalam, North West Frontier Province
11. Mosque, Swat, North West Frontier Province
12. Carved door, Subedar's house, Madyan, N.W.F.P.
13. Painted Mural, Sultan Zarin's old house, Madyan, Swat, N.W.F.P.
14. Mud plaster relief design, Sultan Zarin's house, Madyan, Swat, North West Frontier Province
15. Central Court, Sultan Zarin's House, Madyan, N.W.F.P.
16. Wali Melani's "Kodal", Kohan, Baluchistan
17. Nomad Tents, Punjab
18. Mat Tents, Baluchistan
19. Village, Sarkan, Baluchistan
20. Stables court, Tiwana's house, KaLra, Punjab
21. Entrance to Family precinct, Tiwana's house, Kalra, Punjab
22. Courtyard, Tiwana's house, Kalra, Punjab
23. Courtyard in Pasani Khan Khel compound, Shaidu, N.W.F.P.
24. Street, Pasani Khan Khel compound, Shaidu, N.W.F.P.
25. Peasant's house, Isuri Payan, North West Frontier Province
26. Angoori Bagh Housing, Lahore, Punjab
27. Angoori Bagh Housing, Lahore, Punjab
28. Nasserabad - Mariabad, Quetta, Baluchistan
29. Naseerabad - Mariabad, Quetta, Baluchistan.
-S-
PREFACE
This report on traditional forms of
rural architecture in Pakistan, financed
and initiated by UNESCO, is primarily
based on a survey conducted by the author
in the summer of 1976. The scope and
extent of the study was necessarily
restricted by the time available but
was further curtailed by the unpreced
ented floods and rains which swept the
region in July, affecting Punjab and
Sind. For these regions use has been
made of previous studies by the author
and his students. In particular, I am
indebted to Shakeel Ahmad for providing
the plans of a typical "chak" village
and houses from his work on soil as a
building material, and to the Department
of Architecture, National College of
Arts, for measured drawings of typical
houses from a study of "Kot Karamat".
For preparing the drawings from my
field notes, I am thankful to Tasneem
Rizvi. All photographs are by the author
but I am indebted to Hashim Khan for
providing valuable technical advice,
guidance and facilities.
Among the regions which could not
be included in this study, the most
notable are the extreme north, the
Cholistan and Thar desert and the Mekran
coast and mountains. Thus while the
present study is far from being complete
or exhaustive, it is hoped that it will
nevertheless serve as a useful intro
duction and an incentive for further
work in this field.
-7-
INTRODUCTION
Pakistan is the western-most country
of the South Asian subcontinent. It
straddles the north-west frontier where
the Indo-Gangetic plain meets the
eastern edge Qf the Iran-Afghanistan
plateau. This frontier is defined by
a series of mountains from the high
Karakoram and Himalayas in the north,
through the Hindu Kush and Suleiman
ranges, to the Baluchistan plateau and
Mekran ranges along the Arabian Sea.
These mountains which cover most of
the land surface of Pakistan, are arid
except for the northern slopes which
catch the monsoons at the end of their
lourney across the subcontinent.
A large part of the remaining area
is desert, the Thar-Cholistan desert
along the border with India and the
smaller Thai desert between the Indus
and Chenab rivers. Between the desert
and mountains runs a narrow ribbon of
green which is the fertile plain of
the Indus and Punjab system of rivers.
This plain, irrigated by the world's
most extensive network of canals,
supports the most populous of the
peoples of Pakistan, the Punjabis
in the north and Sindhis in the south.
The vast but sparsely populated
mountains, on the other hand, are the
home of the Baluch in the southern
half and Pathans in the northern.
These, together with a number of
smaller indigenous and immigrant
nationalities, make up the ethnic
complex of Pakistan.
The people of Pakistan share a
common history of half a million years
of cultural development. Each stage
of development in this long history
is marked by interactions and mutual
exchanges between the people of its
several regions. With each stage of
development the cultural centre has
shifted from region to region. From
the Potwar plateau in the Punjab and
the Baluchistan hills, to the Sindh
(Indus) valley, from Gandhara in the
North West Frontier to the Gangetic
plain of India. Yet at no stage has
this evolution been uniform or thorough
in the sense of extending equally to
and including all the regions of the
country at the same time.
Even today, modern industrialisation
has made little or no impact beyond the
few pockets of urban concentration, and
most of the population of Pakistan
continues to live in rural communities,
the patterns of their daily lives
governed by herding and grazing economies
of tribal people or backward agricultural
practices of feudal societies. Out of
the persistance of these patterns over
a long period of time have evolved
forms of rural habitat corresponding
to the livelihood of the people, the
forms of society, material resources
and climates of each of the regions
of Pakistan.
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-9-
ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL HABITAT
A closer analysis reveals a number
of climatic variations within each of
the major topographic regions. For
instance, the central plain can be
divided into three distinct climatic
zones : the humid coastal and delta ;
the dry Sindh and Southern Punjab ;
and the monsoon plain of the central
Punjab. Similarly, the mountains have
a narrow humid coastal strip along the
Arabian Sea ; the Arid Baluchistan
plateau ; the milder North West Frontier
and Potwar plateau ; the moist and
wooded northern valleys ; and the drier
extreme north. The traditional forms
of rural habitat in each of these
regions reflect the variations in
climatic conditions as much as the
variations in available materials within
each environment.
The delta region of the lower Indus
has a low rainfall but a high humidity,
with a steady prevailing sea breeze.
The scrub vegetation in this region
consists of low stunted trees and bushes.
These form the basic materials of the
two principal forms of construction.
In the more common form for rural
domestic structures, the slender stems
of a local juniper shrub are struck
upright into a narrow trench in the
ground to form a closely packed hedge.
-10-
Successive layers of these stems are
added to make up the wall and are held
together by bundles of reeds tied
across the stems at the joints. The
result is a wickerwork of a dark vertical
texture criss-crossed by a pattern of
horizontal and diagonal lines of the
lighter coloured reed bundles.
The roofs are thatched with a double
slope and central ridge, and the typical
house consists of a pair of such roofs
over a room and an adjoining shed facing
into a courtyard which is screened by
the same hedge-like construction of
closely packed juniper stems.
This form of construction provideo
a light-weight structure with a low
thermal capacity, essential in a warm
humid climate, and permits the constant
sea breeze to filter in through the walls.
A second form of construction in the
same region employs local timber to make
a frame onto which are mailed shorter
laths (to form a basket-like
construction), which are usually
plastered over with an earth and straw
mixture. This again produces a light
weight, low thermal capacity construction,
in which the timber frame permits a
multistorey development. Indeed in
the larger settlements, dwellings
constructed in this fashion can rise
three, four, even five stories. Such
congested vertical construction
naturally restricts air movement at the
lower levels. This problem is conse
quently overcome by ingenious wind-catcher
devices which punctuate the Skyline of
/r^ser.
A'S^-v-
many a rural and most urban settlements
in the lower Sindh. (Ph. 1, 2).
The typical wind-catcher or "mungh"
is a 3 to 4 feet square funnel which
protrudes 4 to 6 feet above the roof.
It is orientated diagonally to the wind,
its two adjacent leeward sides are
walled and the two windward sides are
open. The roof of the funnel slopes back
along the diagonal in line with the
wind. A trap door at roof level, is
operated by a cord and pully to act
as a damper controlling the flow of
air. A system of ducts can carry the air
from the roof down to the lowest floor,
producing a gentle current of cool air.
-12-
Beyond the reach of the humid sea
breeze, these lightweight, airy structures
give way to massive earth walls with
small openings. In the riverine plains
earth is the most abundantly available
building material. Timber, from a
variety of Acacia and the more valuable
"Sheesham" (Indian Rosewood), is available
but is a precious commodity, reserved
for the roof structure. More than any
other factor, it is the earth, the very
substance of the alluvial plain which
determines the forms of its rural
architecture. Whether in the form of
sun-dried bricks, blocks or pisé, it is
the plastic quality of this material
that gives the villages of the plain
their characteristic features : as
successive generations excavate the
soil to build their sun-dried earth
villages upon the debris of previous
generations, a mound gradually rises
above the plain, and upon it surface
drains, sometimes lined with burnt bricks,
follow the twisting pattern of narrow
streets, carrying the waste from each
house to the pits which fill up into
large ponds. Thus from the broadest
silhouette of the village to every
detail of its individual buildings -
undulating moulded surfaces ; softly
rounded edges and mud plastered
textures, exagerated by accute shadows
under a harsh sun - the forms, colours
and textures of the earth predominate.
(Ph. 3).
PLAN MOHAMMAD AFSAR CAVE DWELLING, JALLO ,CAI
fig: 2
- 1 3 -
Even in the foothills and valleys
of the mountainous regions, wherever
clay soil is available, it continues
to be the dominant building material.
Here the windowless high walls, often
protected by copings and eaves, and
frequently in juxtaposition with stone,
appear to have a crisper and cleaner
appearance. A new dimension is added
to the visual drama of these modelled
clay surfaces when the village clusters
break up into steps and terraces
following the contours of the land.
Occasionally in these foothills
and valleys the dwellings are literally
carved into the earth. Two of the areas
where such cave-dwellings are found
are the Campbellpur district on the
Potwar plateau and the Tribal Agency
areas around Peshawar,
In the Campbellpur district the
caves are carved into the vertical faces
of loess cliffs, formed by centuries
of water erosion cutting steep canyons
into the thick clay deposits. (Ph. 5).
A typical dwelling (fig. 2) consists
of one or two rectangular chambers about
12 feet wide and some 24 feet long.
A wide earth platform at one end of the
chambers usually serves for stacking
away bedding, while other ledges,
shelves and niches, are carved out of
the walls to hold smaller items. The
entrance to the chamber is often closed
by a timber door. The door or mouth of
the cave opens onto a level terrace
which serves as the family courtyard.
Quite often, when a family becomes
affluent, additional rooms are built
in the open, and as the family moves
nain chamber I J- *—-
PLAN
CAVE DWELLING OF MARGETHKHEL TRIBE-KHURMATAN(onginally from Tira)
DARRA ADAM KHEL,KHYBER AGENCY, N.W.FP. _J
-14-
out, the caves are converted into
storage or animal sheds, or fall
into disrepair.
In the Khyber and Darra Adam Khel
passes near Peshawar similar caves
(fig. 3) are dug into rolling, soft
clay hills. Here a narrow slit trench
is cut into the sloping side of a hill,
to make a horizontal passage to the
cave mouth. The cave itself is begun
fairly deep into the hill and consists
of a single large chamber, roughly
rectangular, about twelve feet across
and often more than twenty feet deep.
The ceilings are barely six feet high
and a hearth is invariably located in
the middle or to the rear of the chamber.
Above the hearth is a vent shaft
which leads to well-protected outlet
at the crest of the hill. The earth
and stone cover over the vent shaft
outlet serves both to conceal it from
view and protect it from rain. A low
stone and earth parapet on the hill
side directly above the cave mouth,
diverts rain water flowing down the
slope, away from the cave entrance.
The trench passage from the cave leads
out onto a small level terrace screened
off by a low rough stone wall. (Ph.4 ).
Communities of these cave dwellings
are usually found arranged in a row
towards the top of a hill. But many
of the tribes who have traditionally
lived in such dwellings are now
abandoning them in favour of the more
common form of construction used in
the region.
In the barren treeless mountains,
typical of the North West Frontier
and Baluchistan, stone and earth are
the only readily available building
materials. The climate is generally
harsh, reaching extreme temperatures
in both winter and summer. As should
be expected under such conditions
the architecture of these regions is
heavy and massive, with high walls
enclosing courtyards around which are
arranged the habitable rooms. The only
openings in the exteriors are a single
entrance gate and some tiny portholes
whose only function is to permit a rifle
to fire at hostile visitors approaching
the walls.
The walls are constructed of rammed
earth or pisé where clay soil is available,
and otherwise of rough stone masonry,
with or without a mud plastered finish.
Roofs are invariably flat and in some
regions have projecting caves.
-15-
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In Baluchistan this basic type is
varied in certain details. The roofs
of the otherwise similar mud walled
houses have a modest slope. This is
more pronounced in the northern region
of Baluchistan where rain and snow falls
are relatively heavy. Here the earth
roofs often have a double pitch, the
central ridge being formed by a rough
beam running through the long axis of
the row of two or three rooms, supported
by the cross walls and one or two posts
in each room. The rooms themselves
are without any furniture except for
a long low earth platform on which are
stacked an ample supply of colourful
woollen rugs and blankets. These rugs
and "Namdahs" (woollen felt mats with
-16-
open courtyard
D R . K H U D A D A D S HOUSE, KATAN, NEAR KHUZDAR, EtALUCHISTAN
oolionqi cnonnel
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of Baluchistan this traditional form
of construction has a marked local
character due mainly to the use of
the palm tree as a major building
material in addition to earth (Fig. 4)
The only source of timber in this
region, the trunk of the palm tree
forms provides the basic structural
elements such as beams and columns ;
the palm fronds become the secondary
elements as battens in the roof
structure ; and the leaves are woven
into mats which cover the roof and
receive the final layers of earth.
(Ph. 8).
JUL o o o o
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DR. KHUDADAD'S HOUSE, KATAN NEAR KHUZDAR, BALUCHISTAN
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colourful designs) cover the earth floor
in the centre of which is placed an iron
stove in the winter. An exposed metal
flue runs from the stove to the roof.
The sun-dried earth brick chimneys thus
form a second characteristic feature
of the domestic architecture of the
cooler parts of Baluchistan. Moving
southwards, the single pitched roof,
of otherwise similar construction,
becomes a more frequently employed form.
Further south in the warmer regions
In the North West Frontier a walled
compound may include one or more,
sometimes as many as 18 or 20 households.
Each household has its own courtyard
with a single row of rooms and lean-
to verandahs around it. Each set of
rooms around the courtyard includes a
bathroom and kitchen. In one corner of
the compound, usually flanking the
entrance, a tower rises one or two
stories above the roof. This watch tower
or shooting turret is entered at
the ground level by a ladder which
leads to the upper levels. (Ph. 9) .
Some of the most imposing examples
of such mud walled compounds are
those at Jamrud and Bara in the Khyber
tribal agency. In these the mud walls
have no copings, but each floor and
roof is usually marked by a projecting
cornice or moulding. The parapets are
sometimes castellated, adding to the
fortified appearance. The walls, and
•17-
towers have a slightly inwards slope,
tapering towards the top. The whole
ensemble creates a rugged martial effect
which is echoed by the backdrop of
equally inhospitable mountains.
(Ph. 6) .
The Darra Adam Khel, also in the
Khyber agency, is a unique example of
an entire valley which has preserved
a local style of architecture with an
amazing purity. Every village is a
model of architectural harmony. Not
a single detail deviates from the
traditional standard, and each element
is part of the compact unity of the
whole village, which in turn is flawlessly
integrated into the landscape. Less
forbidding in appearance and more
intimate in scale, the warmer texture
of unhewn stone in these villages is
further softened by the bushy but neat
copings which top each wall and parapet
and mark each floor and roof with a
remarkable consistency. (Ph. 7) .
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PLAN
SULTAN ZARINS H O U S E , KAL A M , SWAT, N.W.F.R
usually reserved for the construction
of the exquisite mosques of this region.
The domestic architecture is much simpler
and functional. An occasional door or
column capital may be elaborately
carved, but the usual house has a
powerful rustic simplicity. (PhJO ,11,12) .
To the north-east of Peshawar, in
the Catchment Areas of the Swat, Indus
and Jhelum rivers, the slopes are
covered with dense pine forests. Timber
naturally forms an essential part of
the building traditions of these valleys.
One of the richest of these timber
building traditions is found in the
Swat valley.
Decorative timber carving, artistry
in the handling of structural elements
and attention to sophisticated compo
sitions and careful proportioning of
every detail, such refinements are
The external walls are usually thick,
rough masonry, often reinforced by
crudely hewn timber sections, or given
a coat of mud plaster. The stones are
often packed in courses into a rough
timber frame. Slenderer sections of
timber make up the post and beam frames
which support the lean-to verandah
roofs and internal timber panelled
partitions. Doors and windows are
similarly framed and panelled. The
roofs are invariably flat and made up
of a heavy layer of compacted earth
on timber boards and joists, and they
-18-
overhang the walls to provide generous
eaves. The cantelevered joists under
the eaves are closed by a fascia board,
often with a decorative lower edge.
A second board above the joists acts
as a retaining edge for the compacted
earth with which the roof is finished.
On sloping valley sides these simple
houses are often half built into the
hill, which is cut to form a convenient
rear wall. In such stepped clusters
each roof becomes a terrace for the
house above. These open terraces serve
as sun decks in cool weather and are
used very much like the courtyards in
the plains.
It is not unusual at harvest time to
see a pair of diminutive hill oxen
threshing corn in endless circles on
these sturdy roofs. (Ph. 9).
In the larger villages on level
ground the houses are so closely packed
that the only source of light, sun and
ventilation which remains is through
an opening in the roof. Sultan Zarin's
house in Madyan (fig. 5) is a typical
example of such a house. It is wedged
on three sides by other houses, and
the fourth opens onto a narrow street
not more than 5 feet wide. The house
is approached from the street through
either of two rooms, one of which
serves as a formal reception room for
male visitors, the other, with a richly
-19-
l^iií§|p§>g;
carved front door, is reported to have
been originally the main reception,
but is now a ramshackle store with a
loft. These rooms let onto a large
family space. This has a square central
area of about sixteen feet sides which
is open to the sky. Around it on three
sides runs a wide loggia, with a kitchen
at one end and the main family living
area in the central portion. Three
rooms at the rear open into the central
living space, where a hearth in the
floor of the loggia marks the centre of
family life. (Ph. 15).
-20-
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In the mountains with their long
cold winters, the hearth occupies an
important place in the lives of the
people. More than a necessity, it plays
an almost ritual function in every
peasant home, and an unusual amount of
care and ingenuity is lavished on its
elaborate design. In its most essential
form the hearth consists of a shallow
depression for the fire in the earth
floor within an area about 2 feet
square, surrounded by a raised edge,
moulded in the clay floor. A common
addition is a tripod stove of moulded
clay columns protruding out of the
floor to support a cauldron or other
utensil over the fire.
-21-
11
The modelling and decorative relief
designs in clay create a work of art
in even the humblest of one-roomed
peasant huts of the North West Frontier
or in the thatched "Kodal" or "Gidan"
of Baluchistan, (ph. 13 , 14 ) .
On the dry plateau of Baluchistan
timber is scarce. The rocky mountains
have only a sparse vegetation of
scattered shrubs. In this region one
of the traditional forms of rural
dwelling is a thatched elongated dome
construction known as a "Gidan" to
the Baluch and "Kodal" to the Pathan
tribesmen (fig. 6 & 7). These consist
of a roughly rectangular room measuring
about 10 to 11 feet wide by about 24
feet long, with rounded corners and
an entrance in the middle of one long
sides. A low rough masonry wall, more
than 4 feet thick at the base and
some 2 1/2 feet at the top encircles
the room to a height of about 4 feet
above the ground. From the top of this
wall springs a wagon-vaulted dome whose
structural frame is a gigantic wicker
work of slender limbs woven into the
shape of an upturned basket. As the
uprights are bent inwards to form
the curve of the dome their lower ends
press against the inner face of the
stone wall which keeps them from
springing outwards. With horizontal
members weaving in and out of the
verticals, the alternate lower ends of
the latter are pinned back to the stone
wall by "Y" shaped pegs. A central
ridge of heftier poles is held up by
a pair of timber posts, under each of
which are placed large stone pads.
The stone wall is plastered internally
with a mud plaster, and the roof frame
is covered by a thick layer of thatch.
The thatch in turn is tied down by a
loose net of grass ropes thrown across
the roof. A thatch door closes the low
entrance opening. (Ph. 16) .
~ •MÍ*- ~*4
-23-
The "Gidan" is almost certainly
the prototype for the Baluch nomad tents,
These have the same wagon-vaulted form
and a structural frame of flexible
poles struck into the ground, but
covered with a woollen blanket. Similar
portable structures are used by various
nomadic tribes thoughout Pakistan.
The Oadh and other Punjabi nomads use
a very similar form of structure
except that the covering is of a
(Ph. 17) , cotton fabric instead
of wool. The Pathan tents have a
distinct form, easily recognisable
by their low angular profile, for the
blankets covering these are held up
by vertical posts and pulled taught
by ropes tied to pegs in the ground.
-24-
Yet another distinct form is that
of the mat tents of the Kachi tribes of
Baluchistan. These are covered with
large mats woven from the flat blades
of a local grass or palm. (Ph. 18) .
The traditional movements of
Pakistans'nomads follow the annual
cycle of the seasons. In the Punjab
this movement follows the harvest
moving northwards with each spring.
In the mountains the migrations follow
a twin pattern of movement along a
north-west to south-east axis, following
the pasture on the higher slopes north
westward with the onset of warmer
climate ; and a counter movement
south-east down to the Sindh plains
in time for the winter harvest.
On their annual journeys which
take them hundreds of miles, from the
deserts of Cholistan, across the
Sindh and Punjab plains, and over
formidable mountains to the borders
of Iran and Afghanistan, the nomad
tribes carry their mobile houses
with them packed on the backs of
their Camels and donkeys wherever
they go.
-25-
-26-
SOCIAL PATTERNS AND RURAL HABITAT
As much as by the physical environment,
the forms of rural habitat in Pakistan
are determined by the structure and
form of society, social relationships
and cultural traditions based upon
these relationships.
A sense of primitive communism still
pervades the tribal societies in
Baluchistan and parts of the North West
Frontier. Within a well defined tribal
territory entire ranges and valleys
are the common property of the tribe.
And this territory and tribal autonomy
is jealously guarded. In the tribal
fraternity every member is treated
with equal respect and dignity due to
a clansman and brother. This tribal
egalitarianism, manifest in every aspect
of tribal custom, is no less patent in
the forms of their rural habitat.
(Ph. 19) .
One of the most marked characteristics
of tribal villages is the singular unity
of architectural form. No individual
houses are distinguised by any discernable
cudos, marks or symbols of social
differentiation. Most Pathan dwellings
are, in fact, not so much individual
nuclear family houses, but rather clan
compounds, shared by as many as 20
households, with a common protective
wall enclosing the entire compound.
This high wall is about the only element
visible to an outsider. The larger
compounds with numerous courtyards and
streets become, in effect small fortified
villages, and a large village may
-27
consist of a collection of such compounds.
In parts of Baluchistan however,
larger villages are the exception.
More frequently, a settlement is little
more than a clan cluster of single
roomed dwellings. In such solitary
clan clusters there are no protective
walls enclosing the group of dwellings.
On the mountain slopes a man with
a hand hoe can raise a crop on his
terraced lot, sufficient to feed
himself and his family, but he can
not profit by owning more than the
small tract which he and his family
can cultivate. The household flock
of goats and sheep meets most of his
other needs : milk, butter, cheese
and fat : wool for his clothing,
blankets, rugs and tents ; meat for
the occasional feast, and leather for
a hundred daily uses.
But a man behind an ox-drawn plough
is capable of cultivating a far larger
area, yielding a surplus beyond the
subsistance requirement of the tiller
himself. With such a mode of production
the owner of sufficient land could put
another man, with a pair of bullocks
and a plough, to work upon his fields,
and of the harvest give a share to the
tiller, sufficient for his basic needs,
appropriating the surplus for himself.
Thus in the alluvial plains of the
Punjab and Sindh, and even in the wider
valleys of the mountain regions, a man
can gain in wealth proportionate to
the land he owns. And this is the base
upon which stands the structure of
feudal society in Pakistan.
The usurpation of land by conquering
tribes and the dispossession of native
populations has led to a feudal
differentiation of society in which
the division into classes of land owners
and landless labour and artisans is
reinforced by ethnic barriers.
The division of society into classes
based on the relationship to the means
of production is as old in Pakistan
as the evolution of agricultural
societies employing draft animals.
The predecessors of the Harrappa culture
of the Indus Valley descended from the
hills of the Potwar and Baluchistan
plateaus about 3,500 B.C. (Serai Khola,
Pakistan Archaeology N° 3, 1966, p,30).
The segregation of the quarters of
the labouring and artisan classes from
the main walled citadel is evident even
in the earliest of settlements founded
by them such as at Kot Diji (Khan,
stone wall
wooden column , - * atove stone ~ " ^ > £ \ {&) base i^J m u d s
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PLAN
WAU MELMANl's KOOAL HOUSE, KOHAN, BALUCHISTAN fig: S
SECTION AA
WALI MELMANIS KOOAL HOUSE , KOHAN, BALUCHISTAN
f,g 7
TVT ' IYt
raised open space
3 cage for chickens
PLAN
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Hi
TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB n z 4 6 ifeet
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ a ^ inch
fig- 6
-28-
r
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NORTH ELEVATION
EAST ELEVATION
I
SECTION AA TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB.
SECTION AA
1 P^corni
-Storage unit
r\ h=TM
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outdoor kitchen
J PLAN 1
SECTION BB
i r 4 e effet
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HOUSE WITH THATCHED ROOF IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB.
-29-
PLAN
TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB D i 2 4 6 8 feet
o i inch
fig:11
•
SECTION BB
O
SECTION AA
TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB
i
' z 9 *fèet
fig:12
SECTION
M O H A M M A D FARIO KHANS HOUSE, SHA1 DU, PESHAWER, N.W.F.P
-30-
Dr. F.A., Excavations at Kot Diji,
Pakistan Archaeology, N° 2. 1965, p. 15,
Karachi, Department of Archaeology
Pakistan),
Similar segregations of workmen's
quarters in the cities of th.e later
Indus Valley Civilization is well known
and continues to this day in the
villages of the Indus and Punjab plain.
Traditionally no member of the "Kammi"
labouring and artisan classes was
permitted to own land. Thus the very
roof over his head was subject to the
pleasure of the landlords of the village,
and almost every village has a distinct
sector set apart for these classes.
In addition, it is not uncommon to find
the sector of the villages occupied by
the land-owning classes, further
subdivided into neighbourhoods or
"Mohallas", each associated with the
ethnic group, tribe or clan of its
occupants. These clan or "Braderi"
neighbourhoods are no doubt a survival
of the traditions of tribal clan
communities. Thus each village is a
microcosm of Pakistan's rural society,
bearing the imprints, like a fossil,
of six millenia of history.
In many a village of the plain, the
dark angular form of a burnt brick
structure towers above the humbler sun
-31-
dried earth huts of the peasants,
symbolising the domination of the
landlord over the country around. The
contrast between the average peasant
hut and these palatial "manor" houses
of the bigger landlords is phenomenal.
The Kalra house of the Tiwana family
in the Sargodha District is a vivid
example of these medieval establishments.
The well guarded service entrance leads
into an open space with a barrack of
guest rooms to the right, adjoining a
large court around which are housed
the animals : milk cattle and sheep.
Directly facing the entrance is another
large court for the horses and stables.
-32-
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19
-33-
Immediately to the left are the estate
offices. Between the offices and stables,
a passage leads into another court, which
is apparently reserved for domestic
servants, a carved timber door in an
arched gateway separates this court from
the main family quarters, (Ph.20,21,22) .
These are a maze of courtyards
s t a i r c a s e s and covered
passages, but beyond them is a third
precinct with a luxurious colonial
bungalow overlooking a charming English
garden, through which a gracious drive
leads up from the fancy iron gates,
This is the face which greets every
high official and other distinguished
visitors to Kalra estate. Behind it
life goes on as bizzare and contrary
as the chaos of its architecture,
A vet and his assistants are busy with
hypodermic syringes and other contriv
ances, tending the sheep ; on a raised
platform in one office a team of clerks
squat at their low desks making
entries into ledgers ; the office walls
are lined with shelves which hold the
estate records stacked high up to
the ceiling ; from an inner office
the estate manager rules this little
fiefdom with quiet confidence, derived
in no small measure from the instrument
he casually strokes with his hand, the
telephone, his link with government
officialdom. From her comfortable
apartments in the heart of the family
precinct, the Landlord's mother, with
-34-
a bevy of maidservants in attendance,
holds sway over the household. Every
now and then a sickly little man with
a jerking gait of an idiot shuffles
in and out, the "Malik", the "Khan" the
Landlord himself, son of titled knights
and statesmen, the imbeciled progeny
of generations of inbreeding.
By contrast, the average peasant
house in the same region (figs. 8, 9,
10, 11 & 12) consists of a mud wall
which encloses a courtyard, at one end
of which are a couple of rooms
measuring about 10 feet by 16 to 20 feet.
The single door, with sometimes a
small ventilator above, is the only
source of light and air into each room.
But since the mud walls are thick, often
2 to 3 feet, and the flat roof consists
of a heavy layer of earth laid on a
thick pile of reeds over a structure
of timber joists and beams, these
rooms maintain a comfortable temperature
throughout all but the warm humid
monsoon spell of the year.
At least one room contains one
or two large earthen grain storage bins,
and most rooms have a long decorated
timber shelf which proudly displays
the family crockery. There is inva
riably an outside kitchen against one
of the courtyard walls or a low earth
parapet which protects the stove from
the wind, occasionally an additional
kitchen is provided with a roof or
thatched shelter. The kitchen area
usually forms part of a slightly
raised terrace which is kept clean and
-35-
tidy with frequent re-plastering of
its earth floor. The remainder of
the courtyard is shared with a variety
of animals : draught and milk cattle,
goats and sheep, chickens, dogs, etc.
To one side, usually against the
street wall, an earth partition, about
4 feet high, screens off a small bath
area.
In the wide Kabul valley around
Peshawar and Nowshera, the survival of
many tribal forms within a feudal
society is more obvious. The house of
the Pasani Khan Khel family, descendants
of the famed Pathan warior poet and
statesman Khushal Khan Khatak, at Shaidu
in the Peshawar district is an example
of one of the larger landed family houses.
It follows the tribal clan compound
tradition of fortified walled villages.
There are 20 households within the walls
of the Pasani Khan Khel compound, each
with its own courtyard, kitchen, and
ill III; mmmmmm*m*r
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22
set of living rooms. The oldest
structures are a pair of rooms in
Mohammad Farid Khan's section (fig. 13)
These are constructed in the typical
Pathan tradition of rural domestic
architecture with artful relief mural
designs around the numerous storage
niches. The usual flat earth roof is
laid on timber joists supported on the
walls and a central beam carried by a
row of timber columns. These have the
traditional timber capitals, tapering
outwards from the column shaft, the
lower edge carved in a series of swirls.
The shafts themselves are delicately
carved with the usual articulated band
in the middle like a bracelet. Most of
the other sections have been rebuilt
-36-
at various times and display the many
influences of contemporary urban fashions
in every detail of their designs. Often
double storied, these structures are
of burnt brick or timber framed with
either timber or brick in full panels,
and their balconies have cast iron or
precast concrete grills and corrugated
iron sheet roofs. (Ph. 23, 24).
These 20 odd houses are closely
packed within the walls of the Pasani
Khan Khel sector of Shaidu village.
A network of narrow lanes runs between
two gates at opposite ends of the sector.
Each gate, with heavy wooden doors,
controls the entrances to the sector
from two parallel streets. Within the
walls the women move about freely,
-37-
but any male, not a member of the
family, is strictly forbidden entry.
Even clansmen may not enter a street
within the walled sector unannounced.
They are often preceeded by a small boy
calling out "take shelter !", and
only when the women have moved out of
sight will an adult male proceed
through the street. Such rigid
observance of privacy and restrictions
on entry necessitate the provision of
special accommodation for visitors and
guests. This takes the form of the
"Hujra", an essential part of every
walled clan compound. A "Hujra", which
is an exclusively male domain, is no
different from the other courtyard
houses within the compound, consisting
typically of a couple of guest rooms
in a row along one side of the courtyard,
a wide verandah and a bathroom. It is
normally the first courtyard to be
entered from the main gate. The "Hujra"
of the Pasani Khan Khel however, is
outside the gate but connected to the
main compound by an upper storey
bridging over the street. It is
entered through a door which faces the
main compound gate directly across
the street. The main court is approached
through a smaller covered space, to
the right of which is a hall with an
earth floor and "Charpoy" cots for rustic
guests, and to the left a bathroom and
store. Across the yard are two mote
guest rooms with cemented floors and
western style furniture which are
reserved for visiting officials and
other urbanised guests. An attached
small room serves as a store.
By contrast the house of a tenant
farmer in the same area is a simple
nuclear family affair. A typical
example is Rehman Gul's house at
Nihalpura in the Peshwar district,
(fig. 14) .
Its plan and construction reflect
a functional economy in the use of
space and materials, and the house is
designed to provide the basic accom
modation for the peasant, his small
family, and for their animals on which
their livelihoods depend. As usual,
the house is contained within a walled
compound but with a single courtyard
and a single living room, Both these
areas,enclosed room and open courtyard
-38-
are equally shared by man and beast.
The long rectangular living room is
entered from the courtyard by a single
door. To the left is the animal area
with two mangers, one larger than the
other, on opposite walls. To the right
of the entrance is the family living
area, with a small earth grain store.
The division between the two areas is
marked by a 2" raised edge, moulded in
the clay floor forming a barrier between
the two areas. This prevents foul water
from the animal area flowing into the
family living area.
In other similar peasant houses in
the region the mangers may be replaced
by a storage trough for fodder which
-39-
is piled up at one end of the room and
the opposite wall in the family living
area may have another large trough
containing the family stock of grain.
Most houses have an elaborate
traditional hearth on the floor of the
family area. This traditional hearth
is conspicuously absent in Rehman
Gul's family living room. But this is
only because the indoor kitchen is
located in an additional small room
attached to the main room. This kitchen
contains a simple functional cooking
stove in addition to the traditional
hearth, both moulded in clay on the
floor. A third stove against the
external wall of the kitchen serves in
fine warm weather. Next to it, within
arm's reach, is a low earth platform
which serves as a general purpose
counter. In the north-east corner of
the courtyard under a light thatched
roof is an animal shed and a small
bath space screened off by a low earth
SECTION AA
PLAN 0 1 2 « 6 8 feet
, fig U
REHMAN GULS HOUSE, N 1HALPURA,NEAR KUND, PESHAWER, N.W.F.P
~i inch
-40-
wall. Close to the outer entrance,
against the east wall of the courtyard
is a "tandoor" oven for baking bread.
A wall in front of the entrance screens
the courtyard from view when the door
is opened. The angle between the
entrance door and the screen wall is
covered with a light thatch which
provides a rough shelter for a pair
of young calves. In another corner of
the courtyard is a chicken coop which
also serves as a stand for four water
jars. Outside the courtyard wall and
leaning against it, by the entrance, is
yet another animal shed with a rough
thatched roof.
The walls in such peasant houses
generally are of stone rubble masonry
and mud mortar, plastered internally
and in parts externally with a clay
and straw mixture. The roofs are flat,
covered with earth on a structure of
timber joists, spanning between the
walls and a central beam, which is
usually supported by two or three
columns with the traditional carved
capitals. (Ph,25 ).
-41-
TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS IN MODERN
ARCHITECTURE
In one sense modern architecture in
Pakistan can be described as being,
in the main, an extension and product
of traditional concepts. But this only
because most buildings in Pakistan
today continue to be constructed by
people who are ignorant of any concepts
of building other than the traditional.
Indeed architecture in Pakistan
continues to be an architecture without
architects. However, modern architecture,
in the sense of buildings which are a
product of a conscious process of design
relevant to the technology, aesthetics
and analytical methods of an industrialized
society, modern architecture in this
sense in Pakistan is produced by
professionals who are often ignorant
of traditional concepts, particularly
rural concepts of building. The employment
traditional forms in modern Pakistani
run Qhata
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LEGEND
o hand pump
•HI thatched roof
rainwater pond <3
¡run anata i
PLAN
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un ahata (residence of kammis)
VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB o so ft 90 izpfeet 0 1 inch fig 15
- 4 2 -
architecture is entirely superficial
and normally restricted to eclectical
borrowings from a style of architecture
associated with the royal court of a
particular family of Central Asian
Turkmen.
The Angoori Bagh housing scheme in
Lahore by Yasmin Lari is a rare exception,
where the concepts of an urban multistorey
brick building tradition, and traditional
patterns of privacy, courtyards, roof
terraces and pedestrian streets have
been successfully applied to the problem
of public housing for low-income families,
(Ph. 26, 27) .
Similar examples of modern applic
ations of rural traditional concepts
are even rarer, for the planned
development of rural settlements has
not received the attention of profes
sional designers until very recently.
Even now, the concrete results of the
present programme of planned agrovilles
have yet to be seen. But an older
instance of planned rural development
as a result of official policy is worth
mentioning as it introduced a village
plan form which is consistant and
extensive enough to have become
representative of a whole region.
The canal colony area of the Central
Punjab was largely uninhabited shrub
and woodland until it was opened up for
cultivation less than a hundred years
ago. The British, seeking to enlarge
the supply of cotton, brought to this
region a network of irrigation canals
-43-
and colonised the new lands with
farmers from East Punjab, Thus an
entire region of thousands of square
miles and as many villages was laid out
with a grid iron patchwork of fields,
and "Chaks" (villages) every mile or so,
with a "Chak number" for each village
instead of a name. This cold impersonal
quality is characteristic of the plans
of these villages which have a standard
rectangular pattern of streets and
sectors. These relatively modern villages
have consciously adopted at least one
of the concepts of the traditional
village plan, that is the segregation
of the workers and artisans' quarters
from those of the landowning classes,
Bingian Wala in the Sargodha
district, is typical of these modern
villages (fig. 15). It has a grid
iron plan with a central street inter
sected at right angles by secondary
streets forming six blocks, each block
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containing twelve plots. These plots
are reserved exclusively for those who
own land in the village. Landless
labourers and artisans may only build
their houses in the compound, called
"Ruri Ahatas" in this case, reserved
for them on the periphery of the main
village.
Fortunately the designing of these
villages does not go beyond the layout
of streets and plots. With no building
or planning regulations, the houses
within this framework are constructed
on the usual traditional pattern of
two or three rooms in a row at one
end of a walled courtyard with an
animal shed (fig. 16), The forms and
-44-
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28
materials of construction being
traditional, that is, earth walls and
flat roofs, the severity of the grid
iron plan is softened to some extent
by the more organic forms and textures
of the structures,
More often, new construction in the
countryside has been an occasion for
the application of modern, or rather
contemporary, urban notions of archi
tecture to rural buildings. The most
frequent objects of such modernising
influences are the houses of the
wealthier land-lords, for the clichés
and catchphrases of modern architecture
are quickly adopted as symbols of
status and affluence.
-45-
Another category of construction
which invariably results in the applic
ation of urban practices and forms of
building to rural architecture without
any regard for traditional concepts, is
the less frequent endeavours of public
agencies in the direction of rural
housing.
The dogmatic adherence of public
agencies generally, and urban authorities
in particular, to senseless planning
regulations and building codes has been
an important factor inhibiting the
application of traditional concepts
to modern architecture. Among other
constraints, these regulations eliminate
the possibility of applying most of
the traditional materials and techniques
to modern buildings, but more importantly
they do not permit the adoption of
traditional plan concepts. Thus, it is
only in unauthorised developments - the
numerous "shanty" towns that are a part
of every big city - that the traditional
concepts of rural architecture find a
spontaneous expression in the
contemporary urban scene.
The Mari-Abad and Naseerabad suburb
of Quetta is a rare example of archi
tectural cohesion and integrity
resulting from an implantation of rural
traditional concepts of an immigrant
population upon an urban environment.
One of the reasons for this may be
the fact that practically the entire
population of this suburb belongs to
a single ethnic and cultural group s
the Persian speaking Mongol Hazara.
This township lies at the base of
the Kohe Murdar mountain beyond the
eastern edge of the city proper, and
is partially built up the slope of the
-46-
entrance
PLAN
TYPICAL HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB
mountain. The entire township consists
of houses with almost identical plans
and identical materials. Typically,
each house is contained within a high
wall around a generous compound,
within which along one side are a row
of two or three rectangular rooms, and
close to the entrance a couple of
smaller rooms. These are a kitchen
and a bath.
The compounds abut each other, leaving
only a fairly systematic network of
streets between the otherwise continuous
walls which enclose every lot, even
those which are quite vacant or contain
only the barest minimum of shelters.
These walls are all the more striking
because of their uniform texture and
colour due to the use of local stone
and clay. (Ph, 28, 29).
The Naseerabad and Mariabad suburbs
of Quetta is of course exceptional.
The more usual result of similar circum
stance is a chaotic jumble of makeshift
shelters, the shanty towns, "Jhuggis"
and "Katchi Abadis" which are a familiar
accompaniment to every large urban
concentration in Pakistan.
-47-