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Traditional forms of rural

habitat in Pakistan
Kamil Khan M u m t a z

Human
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

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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.

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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.

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PREFACE

This report on traditional forms of houses from a study of "Kot Karamat".


rural architecture in Pakistan, financed For preparing the drawings from my
and initiated by UNESCO, is primarily field notes, I am thankful to Tasneem
based on a survey conducted by the author Rizvi. All photographs are by the author
in the summer of 1976. The scope and but I am indebted to Hashim Khan for
extent of the study was necessarily providing valuable technical advice,
restricted by the time available but guidance and facilities.
was further curtailed by the unpreced-
ented floods and rains which swept the Among the regions which could not
region in July, affecting Punjab and be included in this study, the most
Sind. For these regions use has been notable are the extreme north, the
made of previous studies by the author Cholistan and Thar desert and the Mekran
and his students. In particular, I am coast and mountains. Thus while the
indebted to Shakeel Ahmad for providing present study is far from being complete
the plans of a typical "chak" village or exhaustive, it is hoped that it will
and houses from his work on soil as a nevertheless serve as a useful intro-
building material, and to the Department duction and an incentive for further
of Architecture, National College of work in this field.
Arts, for measured drawings of typical

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INTRODUCTION
These, together with a number of
smaller indigenous and immigrant
nationalities, make up the ethnic
complex of Pakistan.

Pakistan is the western-most country The people of Pakistan share a


of the South Asian subcontinent. It common history of half a million years
straddles the north-west frontier where of cultural development. Each stage
the Indo-Gangetic plain meets the of development in this long history
eastern edge Q f the Iran-Afghanistan is marked by interactions and mutual
plateau. This frontier is defined by exchanges between the people of its
a series of mountains from the high several regions. With each stage of
Karakoram and Himalayas in the north, development the cultural centre has
through the Hindu Kush and Suleiman shifted from region to region. From
ranges, to the Baluchistan plateau and the Potwar plateau in the Punjab and
Mekran ranges along the Arabian Sea. the Baluchistan hills, to the Sindh
These mountains which cover most of (Indus) valley, from Gandhara in the
the land surface of Pakistan, are arid North West Frontier to the Gangetic
except for the northern slopes which plain of India. Yet at no stage has
catch the monsoons at the end of their this evolution been uniform or thorough
lourney across the subcontinent. in the sense of extending equally to
and including all the regions of the

A large part of the remaining area country at the same time.

is desert, the Thar-Cholistan desert


along the border with India and the Even today, modern industrialisation
smaller Thai desert between the Indus has made little or no impact beyond the
and Chenab rivers. Between the desert few pockets of urban concentration, and
and mountains runs a narrow ribbon of most of the population of Pakistan
green which is the fertile plain of continues to live in rural communities,
the Indus and Punjab system of rivers. the patterns of their daily lives
governed by herding and grazing economies
This plain, irrigated by the world's of tribal people or backward agricultural
most extensive network of canals, practices of feudal societies. Out of
supports the most populous of the the persistance of these patterns over
peoples of Pakistan, the Punjabis a long period of time have evolved
in the north and Sindhis in the south. forms of rural habitat corresponding
The vast but sparsely populated to the livelihood of the people, the
mountains, on the other hand, are the forms of society, material resources
home of the Baluch in the southern and climates of each of the regions
half and Pathans in the northern. of Pakistan.
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PAKISTAN
geographic regions
mile
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PIC 1

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ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL HABITAT 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
A closer analysis reveals a number lighter coloured reed bundles.
of climatic variations within each of
the major topographic regions. For The roofs are thatched with a double
instance, the central plain can be slope and central ridge, and the typical
divided into three distinct climatic house consists of a pair of such roofs
zones : the humid coastal and delta ; over a room and an adjoining shed facing
the dry Sindh and Southern Punjab ; into a courtyard which is screened by
and the monsoon plain of the central the same hedge-like construction of
Punjab. Similarly, the mountains have closely packed juniper stems.
a narrow humid coastal strip along the
Arabian Sea ; the Arid Baluchistan This form of construction provideo
plateau ; the milder North West Frontier a light-weight structure with a low
and Potwar plateau ; the moist and thermal capacity, essential in a warm
wooded northern valleys ; and the drier humid climate, and permits the constant
extreme north. The traditional forms sea breeze to filter in through the walls.
of rural habitat in each of these
regions reflect the variations in A second form of construction in the
climatic conditions as much as the same region employs local timber to make
variations in available materials within a frame onto which are mailed shorter
each environment. laths (to form a basket-like
construction), which are usually
The delta region of the lower Indus plastered over with an earth and straw
has a low rainfall but a high humidity, mixture. This again produces a light-
with a steady prevailing sea breeze. weight, low thermal capacity construction,
The scrub vegetation in this region in which the timber frame permits a
consists of low stunted trees and bushes. multistorey development. Indeed in
These form the basic materials of the the larger settlements, dwellings
two principal forms of construction. constructed in this fashion can rise
three, four, even five stories. Such
In the more common form for rural congested vertical construction
domestic structures, the slender stems naturally restricts air movement at the
of a local juniper shrub are struck lower levels. This problem is conse-
upright into a narrow trench in the quently overcome by ingenious wind-catcher
ground to form a closely packed hedge. devices which punctuate the Skyline of

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/r^ser.

A'S^-v-

many a rural and most urban settlements open. The roof of the funnel slopes back
in the lower Sindh. (Ph. 1, 2). along the diagonal in line with the
wind. A trap door at roof level, is
The typical wind-catcher or "mungh" operated by a cord and pully to act
is a 3 to 4 feet square funnel which as a damper controlling the flow of
protrudes 4 to 6 feet above the roof. air. A system of ducts can carry the air
It is orientated diagonally to the wind, from the roof down to the lowest floor,
its two adjacent leeward sides are producing a gentle current of cool air.
walled and the two windward sides are

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Beyond the reach of the humid sea successive generations excavate the
breeze, these lightweight, airy structures soil to build their sun-dried earth
give way to massive earth walls with villages upon the debris of previous
small openings. In the riverine plains generations, a mound gradually rises
earth is the most abundantly available above the plain, and upon it surface
building material. Timber, from a drains, sometimes lined with burnt bricks,
variety of Acacia and the more valuable follow the twisting pattern of narrow
"Sheesham" (Indian Rosewood), is available streets, carrying the waste from each
but is a precious commodity, reserved house to the pits which fill up into
for the roof structure. More than any large ponds. Thus from the broadest
other factor, it is the earth, the very silhouette of the village to every
substance of the alluvial plain which detail of its individual buildings -
determines the forms of its rural undulating moulded surfaces ; softly
architecture. Whether in the form of rounded edges and mud plastered
sun-dried bricks, blocks or pis, it is textures, exagerated by accute shadows
the plastic quality of this material under a harsh sun - the forms, colours
that gives the villages of the plain and textures of the earth predominate.
their characteristic features : as (Ph. 3).

PLAN
MOHAMMAD AFSAR CAVE DWELLING, JALLO ,CAI

fig: 2

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Even in the foothills and valleys In the Campbellpur district the
of the mountainous regions, wherever caves are carved into the vertical faces
clay soil is available, it continues of loess cliffs, formed by centuries
to be the dominant building material. of water erosion cutting steep canyons
Here the windowless high walls, often into the thick clay deposits. (Ph. 5).
protected by copings and eaves, and
frequently in juxtaposition with stone, A typical dwelling (fig. 2) consists
appear to have a crisper and cleaner of one or two rectangular chambers about
appearance. A new dimension is added 12 feet wide and some 24 feet long.
to the visual drama of these modelled A wide earth platform at one end of the
clay surfaces when the village clusters chambers usually serves for stacking
break up into steps and terraces away bedding, while other ledges,
following the contours of the land. shelves and niches, are carved out of
the walls to hold smaller items. The
Occasionally in these foothills entrance to the chamber is often closed
and valleys the dwellings are literally by a timber door. The door or mouth of
carved into the earth. Two of the areas the cave opens onto a level terrace
where such cave-dwellings are found which serves as the family courtyard.
are the Campbellpur district on the Quite often, when a family becomes
Potwar plateau and the Tribal Agency affluent, additional rooms are built
areas around Peshawar, 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

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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 In the barren treeless mountains,
the middle or to the rear of the chamber. typical of the North West Frontier
Above the hearth is a vent shaft and Baluchistan, stone and earth are
which leads to well-protected outlet the only readily available building
at the crest of the hill. The earth materials. The climate is generally
and stone cover over the vent shaft harsh, reaching extreme temperatures
outlet serves both to conceal it from in both winter and summer. As should
view and protect it from rain. A low be expected under such conditions
stone and earth parapet on the hill the architecture of these regions is
side directly above the cave mouth, heavy and massive, with high walls
diverts rain water flowing down the enclosing courtyards around which are
slope, away from the cave entrance. arranged the habitable rooms. The only
The trench passage from the cave leads openings in the exteriors are a single
out onto a small level terrace screened entrance gate and some tiny portholes
off by a low rough stone wall. (Ph.4 ) . whose only function is to permit a rifle
to fire at hostile visitors approaching
Communities of these cave dwellings the walls.
are usually found arranged in a row
towards the top of a hill. But many The walls are constructed of rammed
of the tribes who have traditionally earth or pis where clay soil is available,
lived in such dwellings are now and otherwise of rough stone masonry,
abandoning them in favour of the more with or without a mud plastered finish.
common form of construction used in Roofs are invariably flat and in some
the region. regions have projecting caves.

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fP:" **>';;,

.^^

BCiw-i afctpi-

In Baluchistan this basic type is beam running through the long axis of
varied in certain details. The roofs the row of two or three rooms, supported
of the otherwise similar mud walled by the cross walls and one or two posts
houses have a modest slope. This is in each room. The rooms themselves
more pronounced in the northern region are without any furniture except for
of Baluchistan where rain and snow falls a long low earth platform on which are
are relatively heavy. Here the earth stacked an ample supply of colourful
roofs often have a double pitch, the woollen rugs and blankets. These rugs
central ridge being formed by a rough and "Namdahs" (woollen felt mats with

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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
open courtyard
forms provides the basic structural
elements such as beams and columns ;
the palm fronds become the secondary
D R . K H U D A D A D S HOUSE, KATAN, NEAR KHUZDAR,
EtALUCHISTAN elements as battens in the roof
structure ; and the leaves are woven
oolionqi cnonnel into mats which cover the roof and
_3J) u receive the final layers of earth.
(Ph. 8).

JUL In the North West Frontier a walled


o o o o

compound may include one or more,


o

SECTION AA
sometimes as many as 18 or 20 households.
Each household has its own courtyard
with a single row of rooms and lean-

iT'K 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
SECTION BB

DR. K H U D A D A D ' S HOUSE, KATAN NEAR KHUZDAR, BALUCHISTAN


entrance, a tower rises one or two

ftfl.iO
stories above the roof. This watch tower
or shooting turret is entered at
the ground level by a ladder which
colourful designs) cover the earth floor
leads to the upper levels. (Ph. 9) .
in the centre of which is placed an iron
stove in the winter. An exposed metal
flue runs from the stove to the roof. Some of the most imposing examples
The sun-dried earth brick chimneys thus of such mud walled compounds are
form a second characteristic feature those at Jamrud and Bara in the Khyber
of the domestic architecture of the tribal agency. In these the mud walls
cooler parts of Baluchistan. Moving have no copings, but each floor and
southwards, the single pitched roof, roof is usually marked by a projecting
of otherwise similar construction, cornice or moulding. The parapets are
becomes a more frequently employed form. sometimes castellated, adding to the
Further south in the warmer regions 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) . H /^aNzr

The Darra Adam Khel, also in the


B l-heorth

Khyber agency, is a unique example of


an entire valley which has preserved o p e n to s!<y

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
PLAN
is part of the compact unity of the SULTAN ZARINS H O U S E , KAL A M , SWAT, N.W.F.R
whole village, which in turn is flawlessly
integrated into the landscape. Less
forbidding in appearance and more usually reserved for the construction

intimate in scale, the warmer texture of the exquisite mosques of this region.

of unhewn stone in these villages is The domestic architecture is much simpler

further softened by the bushy but neat and functional. An occasional door or
copings which top each wall and parapet column capital may be elaborately
and mark each floor and roof with a carved, but the usual house has a
remarkable consistency. (Ph. 7) . powerful rustic simplicity. (PhJO ,11,12) .

To the north-east of Peshawar, in


the Catchment Areas of the Swat, Indus The external walls are usually thick,
and Jhelum rivers, the slopes are rough masonry, often reinforced by
covered with dense pine forests. Timber crudely hewn timber sections, or given
naturally forms an essential part of a coat of mud plaster. The stones are
the building traditions of these valleys. often packed in courses into a rough
One of the richest of these timber timber frame. Slenderer sections of
building traditions is found in the timber make up the post and beam frames
Swat valley. which support the lean-to verandah
roofs and internal timber panelled
Decorative timber carving, artistry partitions. Doors and windows are
in the handling of structural elements similarly framed and panelled. The
and attention to sophisticated compo- roofs are invariably flat and made up
sitions and careful proportioning of of a heavy layer of compacted earth
every detail, such refinements are on timber boards and joists, and they

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overhang the walls to provide generous see a pair of diminutive hill oxen
eaves. The cantelevered joists under threshing corn in endless circles on
the eaves are closed by a fascia board, these sturdy roofs. (Ph. 9).
often with a decorative lower edge.
A second board above the joists acts In the larger villages on level
as a retaining edge for the compacted ground the houses are so closely packed
earth with which the roof is finished. that the only source of light, sun and
ventilation which remains is through
On sloping valley sides these simple an opening in the roof. Sultan Zarin's
houses are often half built into the house in Madyan (fig. 5) is a typical
hill, which is cut to form a convenient example of such a house. It is wedged
rear wall. In such stepped clusters on three sides by other houses, and
each roof becomes a terrace for the the fourth opens onto a narrow street
house above. These open terraces serve not more than 5 feet wide. The house
as sun decks in cool weather and are is approached from the street through
used very much like the courtyards in either of two rooms, one of which
the plains. serves as a formal reception room for
It is not unusual at harvest time to male visitors, the other, with a richly

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l^ii|p>g;

carved front door, is reported to have sides runs a wide loggia, with a kitchen
been originally the main reception, at one end and the main family living
but is now a ramshackle store with a area in the central portion. Three
loft. These rooms let onto a large rooms at the rear open into the central
family space. This has a square central living space, where a hearth in the
area of about sixteen feet sides which floor of the loggia marks the centre of
is open to the sky. Around it on three family life. (Ph. 15).

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' '|h^^

ir** i

M' 5*-. * *>

In the mountains with their long depression for the fire in the earth
cold winters, the hearth occupies an floor within an area about 2 feet
important place in the lives of the square, surrounded by a raised edge,
people. More than a necessity, it plays moulded in the clay floor. A common
an almost ritual function in every addition is a tripod stove of moulded
peasant home, and an unusual amount of clay columns protruding out of the
care and ingenuity is lavished on its floor to support a cauldron or other
elaborate design. In its most essential utensil over the fire.
form the hearth consists of a shallow

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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
11
ridge of heftier poles is held up by
a pair of timber posts, under each of
The modelling and decorative relief which are placed large stone pads.
designs in clay create a work of art The stone wall is plastered internally
in even the humblest of one-roomed with a mud plaster, and the roof frame
peasant huts of the North West Frontier is covered by a thick layer of thatch.
or in the thatched "Kodal" or "Gidan" The thatch in turn is tied down by a
of Baluchistan, (ph. 13 , 14 ) . loose net of grass ropes thrown across
the roof. A thatch door closes the low
On the dry plateau of Baluchistan entrance opening. (Ph. 16) .
timber is scarce. The rocky mountains
~ M*- ~*4

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The "Gidan" is almost certainly a very similar form of structure
the prototype for the Baluch nomad tents, except that the covering is of a
These have the same wagon-vaulted form (Ph. 17) , cotton fabric instead
and a structural frame of flexible of wool. The Pathan tents have a
poles struck into the ground, but distinct form, easily recognisable
covered with a woollen blanket. Similar by their low angular profile, for the
portable structures are used by various blankets covering these are held up
nomadic tribes thoughout Pakistan. by vertical posts and pulled taught
The Oadh and other Punjabi nomads use by ropes tied to pegs in the ground.

-24-
Yet another distinct form is that climate ; and a counter movement
of the mat tents of the Kachi tribes of south-east down to the Sindh plains
Baluchistan. These are covered with in time for the winter harvest.
large mats woven from the flat blades
of a local grass or palm. (Ph. 18) . On their annual journeys which
take them hundreds of miles, from the
The traditional movements of deserts of Cholistan, across the
Pakistans'nomads follow the annual Sindh and Punjab plains, and over
cycle of the seasons. In the Punjab formidable mountains to the borders
this movement follows the harvest of Iran and Afghanistan, the nomad
moving northwards with each spring. tribes carry their mobile houses
In the mountains the migrations follow with them packed on the backs of
a twin pattern of movement along a their Camels and donkeys wherever
north-west to south-east axis, following they go.
the pasture on the higher slopes north-
westward with the onset of warmer

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-26-
SOCIAL PATTERNS AND RURAL HABITAT consist of a collection of such compounds.

In parts of Baluchistan however,


As much as by the physical environment, larger villages are the exception.
the forms of rural habitat in Pakistan More frequently, a settlement is little
are determined by the structure and more than a clan cluster of single
form of society, social relationships roomed dwellings. In such solitary
and cultural traditions based upon clan clusters there are no protective
these relationships. walls enclosing the group of dwellings.

A sense of primitive communism still On the mountain slopes a man with


pervades the tribal societies in a hand hoe can raise a crop on his
Baluchistan and parts of the North West terraced lot, sufficient to feed
Frontier. Within a well defined tribal himself and his family, but he can
territory entire ranges and valleys not profit by owning more than the
are the common property of the tribe. small tract which he and his family
And this territory and tribal autonomy can cultivate. The household flock
is jealously guarded. In the tribal of goats and sheep meets most of his
fraternity every member is treated other needs : milk, butter, cheese
with equal respect and dignity due to and fat : wool for his clothing,
a clansman and brother. This tribal blankets, rugs and tents ; meat for
egalitarianism, manifest in every aspect the occasional feast, and leather for
of tribal custom, is no less patent in a hundred daily uses.
the forms of their rural habitat.
(Ph. 19) . But a man behind an ox-drawn plough
is capable of cultivating a far larger
One of the most marked characteristics area, yielding a surplus beyond the
of tribal villages is the singular unity subsistance requirement of the tiller
of architectural form. No individual himself. With such a mode of production
houses are distinguised by any discernable the owner of sufficient land could put
cudos, marks or symbols of social another man, with a pair of bullocks
differentiation. Most Pathan dwellings and a plough, to work upon his fields,
are, in fact, not so much individual and of the harvest give a share to the
nuclear family houses, but rather clan tiller, sufficient for his basic needs,
compounds, shared by as many as 20 appropriating the surplus for himself.
households, with a common protective Thus in the alluvial plains of the
wall enclosing the entire compound. Punjab and Sindh, and even in the wider
This high wall is about the only element valleys of the mountain regions, a man
visible to an outsider. The larger can gain in wealth proportionate to
compounds with numerous courtyards and the land he owns. And this is the base
streets become, in effect small fortified upon which stands the structure of
villages, and a large village may feudal society in Pakistan.
-27
The usurpation of land by conquering
tribes and the dispossession of native
populations has led to a feudal
differentiation of society in which
stone wall

the division into classes of land owners


and landless labour and artisans is
wooden column
reinforced by ethnic barriers. , - * atove stone ~"^>\
{&) base i^J muds

1O-0" -:< 7-2"-

The division of society into classes


-9'-5*- *-2'-*"'--* 12-4

based on the relationship to the means


of production is as old in Pakistan
as the evolution of agricultural PLAN

societies employing draft animals. WAU MELMANl's KOOAL HOUSE, KOHAN,


BALUCHISTAN fig: S

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, SECTION AA

WALI MELMANIS KOOAL HOUSE , KOHAN,


BALUCHISTAN
f,g 7

TVT ' IYt


raised open space

3 S
cage for
chickens
pitchers

Hi
PLAN

n z 4 6 ifeet
TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ a
^ inch
fig- 6

-28-
r

\
L 1
NORTH ELEVATION
!
..
I

EAST ELEVATION

SECTION AA
TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB.

SECTION AA SECTION BB

P^corni
1
-Storage unit

r\ h=TM
~i
outdoor
kitchen

J
1
i r 4 e effet
o i inch
fig. 10
PLAN

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

O
i
SECTION BB

SECTION AA

TYPICAL HOUSE IN KOTKARAMAT, LAHORE, PUNJAB


' z 9 *fet

fig:12

SECTION

M O H A M M A D FARIO KHANS H O U S E , SHA1 D U , PESHAWER, N.W.F.P

-30-
Dr. F.A., Excavations at Kot Diji, In addition, it is not uncommon to find
Pakistan Archaeology, N 2. 1965, p. 15, the sector of the villages occupied by
Karachi, Department of Archaeology the land-owning classes, further
Pakistan), subdivided into neighbourhoods or
"Mohallas", each associated with the
Similar segregations of workmen's ethnic group, tribe or clan of its
quarters in the cities of th.e later occupants. These clan or "Braderi"
Indus Valley Civilization is well known neighbourhoods are no doubt a survival
and continues to this day in the of the traditions of tribal clan
villages of the Indus and Punjab plain. communities. Thus each village is a
Traditionally no member of the "Kammi" microcosm of Pakistan's rural society,
labouring and artisan classes was bearing the imprints, like a fossil,
permitted to own land. Thus the very of six millenia of history.
roof over his head was subject to the
pleasure of the landlords of the village, In many a village of the plain, the
and almost every village has a distinct dark angular form of a burnt brick
sector set apart for these classes. structure towers above the humbler sun

-31-
dried earth huts of the peasants, in the Sargodha District is a vivid
symbolising the domination of the example of these medieval establishments.
landlord over the country around. The The well guarded service entrance leads
contrast between the average peasant into an open space with a barrack of
hut and these palatial "manor" houses guest rooms to the right, adjoining a
of the bigger landlords is phenomenal. large court around which are housed
the animals : milk cattle and sheep.
Directly facing the entrance is another
The Kalra house of the Tiwana family large court for the horses and stables.

-32-
ZTr^f.

~fc. i" < * : ' .

fe '~mff

^'tSiw&Zz'^ ' S"*?^

.r*3
^f"^* .!>*.

-**

'4 ' * * ' 4 2

"*/- "f\'.'_ " "''


:
: - 'Z*.

19

-33-
Immediately to the left are the estate as the chaos of its architecture,
offices. Between the offices and stables, A vet and his assistants are busy with
a passage leads into another court, which hypodermic syringes and other contriv-
is apparently reserved for domestic ances, tending the sheep ; on a raised
servants, a carved timber door in an platform in one office a team of clerks
arched gateway separates this court from squat at their low desks making
the main family quarters, (Ph.20,21,22) . entries into ledgers ; the office walls
These are a maze of courtyards are lined with shelves which hold the
staircases and covered estate records stacked high up to
passages, but beyond them is a third the ceiling ; from an inner office
precinct with a luxurious colonial the estate manager rules this little
bungalow overlooking a charming English fiefdom with quiet confidence, derived
garden, through which a gracious drive in no small measure from the instrument
leads up from the fancy iron gates, he casually strokes with his hand, the
This is the face which greets every telephone, his link with government
high official and other distinguished officialdom. From her comfortable
visitors to Kalra estate. Behind it apartments in the heart of the family
life goes on as bizzare and contrary 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 tidy with frequent re-plastering of
source of light and air into each room. its earth floor. The remainder of
But since the mud walls are thick, often the courtyard is shared with a variety
2 to 3 feet, and the flat roof consists of animals : draught and milk cattle,
of a heavy layer of earth laid on a goats and sheep, chickens, dogs, etc.
thick pile of reeds over a structure To one side, usually against the
of timber joists and beams, these street wall, an earth partition, about
rooms maintain a comfortable temperature 4 feet high, screens off a small bath
throughout all but the warm humid area.
monsoon spell of the year.
In the wide Kabul valley around
At least one room contains one Peshawar and Nowshera, the survival of
or two large earthen grain storage bins, many tribal forms within a feudal
and most rooms have a long decorated society is more obvious. The house of
timber shelf which proudly displays the Pasani Khan Khel family, descendants
the family crockery. There is inva- of the famed Pathan warior poet and
riably an outside kitchen against one statesman Khushal Khan Khatak, at Shaidu
of the courtyard walls or a low earth in the Peshawar district is an example
parapet which protects the stove from of one of the larger landed family houses.
the wind, occasionally an additional It follows the tribal clan compound
kitchen is provided with a roof or tradition of fortified walled villages.
thatched shelter. The kitchen area There are 20 households within the walls
usually forms part of a slightly of the Pasani Khan Khel compound, each
raised terrace which is kept clean and with its own courtyard, kitchen, and

-35-
ill III;
mmmmmm*m*r

G@fc
I'M

ft"

22

set of living rooms. The oldest walls and a central beam carried by a
structures are a pair of rooms in row of timber columns. These have the
Mohammad Farid Khan's section (fig. 13) traditional timber capitals, tapering
These are constructed in the typical outwards from the column shaft, the
Pathan tradition of rural domestic lower edge carved in a series of swirls.
architecture with artful relief mural The shafts themselves are delicately
designs around the numerous storage carved with the usual articulated band
niches. The usual flat earth roof is in the middle like a bracelet. Most of
laid on timber joists supported on the the other sections have been rebuilt

-36-
at various times and display the many These 20 odd houses are closely
influences of contemporary urban fashions packed within the walls of the Pasani
in every detail of their designs. Often Khan Khel sector of Shaidu village.
double storied, these structures are A network of narrow lanes runs between
of burnt brick or timber framed with two gates at opposite ends of the sector.
either timber or brick in full panels, Each gate, with heavy wooden doors,
and their balconies have cast iron or controls the entrances to the sector
precast concrete grills and corrugated from two parallel streets. Within the
iron sheet roofs. (Ph. 23, 24). 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"
By contrast the house of a tenant
of the Pasani Khan Khel however, is
farmer in the same area is a simple
outside the gate but connected to the
nuclear family affair. A typical
main compound by an upper storey
example is Rehman Gul's house at
bridging over the street. It is Nihalpura in the Peshwar district,
entered through a door which faces the (fig. 14) .
main compound gate directly across
the street. The main court is approached
Its plan and construction reflect
through a smaller covered space, to a functional economy in the use of
the right of which is a hall with an space and materials, and the house is
earth floor and "Charpoy" cots for rustic designed to provide the basic accom-
guests, and to the left a bathroom and modation for the peasant, his small
store. Across the yard are two mote family, and for their animals on which
guest rooms with cemented floors and their livelihoods depend. As usual,
western style furniture which are the house is contained within a walled
reserved for visiting officials and compound but with a single courtyard
other urbanised guests. An attached and a single living room, Both these
small room serves as a store. areas,enclosed room and open courtyard

-38-
are equally shared by man and beast. marked by a 2" raised edge, moulded in
The long rectangular living room is the clay floor forming a barrier between
entered from the courtyard by a single the two areas. This prevents foul water
door. To the left is the animal area from the animal area flowing into the
with two mangers, one larger than the family living area.
other, on opposite walls. To the right
of the entrance is the family living In other similar peasant houses in
area, with a small earth grain store. the region the mangers may be replaced
The division between the two areas is by a storage trough for fodder which

-39-
is piled up at one end of the room and contains a simple functional cooking
the opposite wall in the family living stove in addition to the traditional
area may have another large trough hearth, both moulded in clay on the
containing the family stock of grain. floor. A third stove against the
Most houses have an elaborate external wall of the kitchen serves in
traditional hearth on the floor of the fine warm weather. Next to it, within
family area. This traditional hearth arm's reach, is a low earth platform
is conspicuously absent in Rehman which serves as a general purpose
Gul's family living room. But this is counter. In the north-east corner of
only because the indoor kitchen is the courtyard under a light thatched
located in an additional small room roof is an animal shed and a small
attached to the main room. This kitchen bath space screened off by a low earth

SECTION AA

PLAN 0 12 6 8 feet
~i inch
, fig U
REHMAN GULS HOUSE, N 1HALPURA,NEAR KUND, PESHAWER, N.W.F.P

-40-
wall. Close to the outer entrance, yet another animal shed with a rough
against the east wall of the courtyard thatched roof.
is a "tandoor" oven for baking bread.
A wall in front of the entrance screens The walls in such peasant houses
the courtyard from view when the door generally are of stone rubble masonry
is opened. The angle between the and mud mortar, plastered internally
entrance door and the screen wall is and in parts externally with a clay
covered with a light thatch which and straw mixture. The roofs are flat,
provides a rough shelter for a pair covered with earth on a structure of
of young calves. In another corner of timber joists, spanning between the
the courtyard is a chicken coop which walls and a central beam, which is
also serves as a stand for four water usually supported by two or three
jars. Outside the courtyard wall and columns with the traditional carved
leaning against it, by the entrance, is capitals. (Ph,25 ).

-41-
TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS IN MODERN continues to be an architecture without
ARCHITECTURE architects. However, modern architecture,
in the sense of buildings which are a
In one sense modern architecture in product of a conscious process of design
Pakistan can be described as being, relevant to the technology, aesthetics
in the main, an extension and product and analytical methods of an industrialized
of traditional concepts. But this only society, modern architecture in this
because most buildings in Pakistan sense in Pakistan is produced by
today continue to be constructed by professionals who are often ignorant
people who are ignorant of any concepts of traditional concepts, particularly
of building other than the traditional. rural concepts of building. The employment
Indeed architecture in Pakistan traditional forms in modern Pakistani

run Qhata

mosfiue

LEGEND

o hand pump
HI thatched roof
rainwater pond
<3
un ahata
run anata (residence of kammis)
i & *

PLAN

VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB


o so ft 90 izpfeet
0 1 inch
fig 15

-42-
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) .

and colonised the new lands with


Similar examples of modern applic- farmers from East Punjab, Thus an
ations of rural traditional concepts entire region of thousands of square
are even rarer, for the planned miles and as many villages was laid out
development of rural settlements has with a grid iron patchwork of fields,
not received the attention of profes- and "Chaks" (villages) every mile or so,
sional designers until very recently. with a "Chak number" for each village
Even now, the concrete results of the instead of a name. This cold impersonal
present programme of planned agrovilles quality is characteristic of the plans
have yet to be seen. But an older of these villages which have a standard
instance of planned rural development rectangular pattern of streets and
as a result of official policy is worth sectors. These relatively modern villages
mentioning as it introduced a village have consciously adopted at least one
plan form which is consistant and of the concepts of the traditional
extensive enough to have become village plan, that is the segregation
representative of a whole region. of the workers and artisans' quarters
from those of the landowning classes,
The canal colony area of the Central
Punjab was largely uninhabited shrub Bingian Wala in the Sargodha
and woodland until it was opened up for district, is typical of these modern
cultivation less than a hundred years villages (fig. 15). It has a grid
ago. The British, seeking to enlarge iron plan with a central street inter-
the supply of cotton, brought to this sected at right angles by secondary
region a network of irrigation canals streets forming six blocks, each block

-43-
" "** * ! * < " ' * *

afta

muuta
^-^IWjlWiiiar^liaMli1! ,!l * * W , .

*5T-S!-,"!^",Pf.

m TI

containing twelve plots. These plots Fortunately the designing of these

are reserved exclusively for those who villages does not go beyond the layout

own land in the village. Landless of streets and plots. With no building

labourers and artisans may only build or planning regulations, the houses

their houses in the compound, called within this framework are constructed

"Ruri Ahatas" in this case, reserved on the usual traditional pattern of

for them on the periphery of the main two or three rooms in a row at one

village. end of a walled courtyard with an


animal shed (fig. 16), The forms and

-44-
;-$5v
UPS
l""*r.

t*mr9am,

; \
f**
~*m*V

""^jjgfc

*&/&**"

VjfWSfe^

9*5?^^?
28

materials of construction being the application of modern, or rather


traditional, that is, earth walls and contemporary, urban notions of archi-
flat roofs, the severity of the grid- tecture to rural buildings. The most
iron plan is softened to some extent frequent objects of such modernising
by the more organic forms and textures influences are the houses of the
of the structures, wealthier land-lords, for the clichs
and catchphrases of modern architecture
More often, new construction in the are quickly adopted as symbols of
countryside has been an occasion for status and affluence.

-45-
Another category of construction only in unauthorised developments - the
which invariably results in the applic- numerous "shanty" towns that are a part
ation of urban practices and forms of of every big city - that the traditional
building to rural architecture without concepts of rural architecture find a
any regard for traditional concepts, is spontaneous expression in the
the less frequent endeavours of public contemporary urban scene.
agencies in the direction of rural
housing. The Mari-Abad and Naseerabad suburb
of Quetta is a rare example of archi-
The dogmatic adherence of public tectural cohesion and integrity
agencies generally, and urban authorities resulting from an implantation of rural
in particular, to senseless planning traditional concepts of an immigrant
regulations and building codes has been population upon an urban environment.
an important factor inhibiting the One of the reasons for this may be
application of traditional concepts the fact that practically the entire
to modern architecture. Among other population of this suburb belongs to
constraints, these regulations eliminate a single ethnic and cultural group s
the possibility of applying most of the Persian speaking Mongol Hazara.
the traditional materials and techniques This township lies at the base of
to modern buildings, but more importantly the Kohe Murdar mountain beyond the
they do not permit the adoption of eastern edge of the city proper, and
traditional plan concepts. Thus, it is is partially built up the slope of the

-46-
entrance

PLAN

TYPICAL HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE BINGIANWALA, SARGODHA, PUNJAB

mountain. The entire township consists those which are quite vacant or contain
of houses with almost identical plans only the barest minimum of shelters.
and identical materials. Typically, These walls are all the more striking
each house is contained within a high because of their uniform texture and
wall around a generous compound, colour due to the use of local stone
within which along one side are a row and clay. (Ph, 28, 29).
of two or three rectangular rooms, and
close to the entrance a couple of The Naseerabad and Mariabad suburbs
smaller rooms. These are a kitchen of Quetta is of course exceptional.
and a bath. The more usual result of similar circum-
stance is a chaotic jumble of makeshift
The compounds abut each other, leaving shelters, the shanty towns, "Jhuggis"
only a fairly systematic network of and "Katchi Abadis" which are a familiar
streets between the otherwise continuous accompaniment to every large urban
walls which enclose every lot, even concentration in Pakistan.

-47-

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