“This will kill that”
“Ceci tuera cela” (this will kill that), were the enigmatic words of the archdeacon Claude Frollo in Victor Hugo’s “Notre-Dame de Paris”. At this particular instance in the novel, Hugo in his signature way takes a usual break from the flow of the story and deliberates upon the words uttered by Frollo as he shifts his glance from a book in his hand towards the cathedral towers of Notre-Dame. Hugo presents these words to us as a priestly premonition that human thought was to change its form and more so, its mode of expression. That the paper posted a direct threat to the edifice and that the press was about to obsolete the architecture. Fast forward it to a hundred years and the same is the predicament faced by the paper against the e-revolution. Human expression has further transformed, significantly over the past five decades and is ever-changing as of now. The virtual milieu and the cloud era have obsoleted the durability of the medium of paper.
Tehkal Christian Cemetery at Peshawar, bears witness to the puzzling phrase of Claude Frollo… it bears witness to the hostility of human expression across the sands of time onto something that once was a durable scripture. Through the mutation of human thought over the years, dear reader, this has killed something in Gora Qabristan Peshawar.
Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, the North-West frontier of Pakistan, is a region of legendary romance on the pages of history, a significant chapter of which are the days of the Sub-Continent under British Raj. Nothing stood as a formidable obstacle to the British, but the borders of this volatile stretch of land that was administered by Gora Saab through a mix of political and military structures. This, dear reader, is altogether a different discussion that merits deliberation through the available literature that is both rich and interestingly diverse in content and genre (while on the subject; one of my favorites is The Frontier Scouts by Charles Chenvix Trench). Coming back to the main course; my stroll at the Tehkal Christian Cemetery was inspired by the urge to claim my share from the aura of Victorian romance at Peshawar. The antiquity of the structure was represented through scattered patches of graves some partially damaged and the others altogether vanished from the surface. Pardon me the cynicism, if I say that the cemetery resembled a clutter of historic references with some vital information missing. Whatever remained on ground is very dearly guarded by what is now the third generation of the family that took on the job of undertakers at the cemetery. Faqir Khan, with a traditional Pashtun warmth, was my host at the place. I was afforded the full support in taking a detailed walk, part of which was sort of tour guided.
The pictures presented below are not an effort to deliver history in some chronological order, but a random snapshot of what exists of a very rich past that needs to be protected and restored as an archaeological heritage of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Through these snapshots, I cam across this reference to a bloody Umbeyla Expedition against Sitana Tribes; a mention of the Jamrud-Torkham Railway Track initially laid in 1905 along the course of the River Kabul and later dismantled; a testimonial to the early 20th century Peshawar Vale Hunt. There are these footprints left by some pioneer regiments of The British Army; The South Wales Borderers, Cameron Highlanders, The Black Watch, Royal Welch Fusiliers, Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Air Force and more. Lay buried among the soldiers are their kin and others and those quite prominent ones in the Indian Civil Service during their time …
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Entrance – Tehkal Christian Cemetery Peshawar. -
Emblem of 24th Regiment of Foot, The South Wales Borderers. 1 SWB was in Peshawar for the period 1900 – 1902. -
Royal Air Force (RAF) at Christian Cemetery Peshawar. Their motto is seen engraved on the monument PER ARDUA AD ASTRA (Through adversity to the stars). RAF has a rich history at Peshawar where a number of main units have stayed from the period March 1918 – August 1947. -
To the memory of non commissioned officers, men, women and children of E Battery, C Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery, who died during the time the Battery was quartered at Peshawar in 1862-63. C Brigade, RHA was formed from the 1st Brigade of the Honourable East India Company’s Bengal Horse Artillery in 1862. -
In the memory of men of A Company, 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch). The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) was a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881.The regiment’s name came from the dark tartan that they wore and from its role to “watch” the Highlands. ‘Black Watch’ was originally just a nickname for the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot. -
Edwin Thomas Large, who died at Shahidmaina, August 2nd 1907, while employed on the Loi Shilman Railway, aged 36 years. In 1905, to link Jamrud with Torkham construction work started on a meter gauge line running from Jamrud northward to Kabul River Gorge and turning west to Loi Shilman Valley. In 1909 the Kabul River railway was dismantled without reaching the Durand line. -
Lieut T.S. Gore Jones of The 79th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, who was killed in action at Umbeyla Pass on 18th November 1863. The Regiment’s War Diary records “During the stay of the regiment in Peshawur it lost two of its officers. Lts. Dougal and Jones volunteered their services, and were permitted to proceed with the expedition against the Sitana Tribe. The former was killed when on picquet duty on the 6th of Nov. 1863, and the latter in action on the 18th of Nov.” -
Lt. Col. Walter Irvine Indian Medical Service. Chief Medical Officer NWFP who lost his life in the Nagoman River when leading the Peshawar Vale Hunt of which he was Master; 26th January, 1919. The Peshawar Vale Hunt was formed by the British Army in 1870 out of the regimental and private packs stationed around Peshawar. Jackal were hunted. It came to an end in 1947 when the British departed from India. -
Major Spencer Black, Royal Army Veterinary Corps, killed in a riding accident at Nowshera, Northern India. The officer was killed on 16th March 1922, aged 38 years. He was the fourth son of the late Gibson Black, of Blackheath, Clontare, County Dublin, Ireland. -
Leslie William Hazlitt Duncan Best, O.B.E M.C who was killed in action at Malakand Agency. Best (1896-1932) was a private secretary in Indian Civil Service. Recipient of “Order of the British Empire” and “Military Cross”. -
Pam, daughter of Sir Hugh and Lady Fraser, died 30th April, 1934, aged 20. Sir Hugh Fraser, Companion in the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (C. I. E), Order of the British Empire, Indian Civil Service, was the First Judicial Commissioner in Peshawar High Court from 1923 – 1933. -
Trumpeter Charles James Craig, 3rd Battery Royal Field Artillery, who died at Peshawar, 27th August 1903.
The entire album can be viewed on the pinterest board here
A Short Trip to Jamrud: Apr 17, 2014
Last week I was at Peshawar and my intention to further explore the Loi Shilman Railway Project was a pre-meditated one. For the record, this was an old railway track from Jamrud being laid for Torkham through Loi Shilman valley but later dismantled in the early years of Twentieth Century. What I could spare at best was a hurried visit to Jamrud Railway Station (around 20 kms from Peshawar). It was touch and go, but I did spare time to interact with a Railway Veteran there. The gentleman had no clue about the Railway Line, I was talking about. I do believe that the old track through Loi Shilman was laid ahead of Jamrud towards Warsak and there might exist on ground some traces / remnants of the long dismantled Railroad. My schedule spared me just enough time to take some snaps at Jamrud Station and I had to postpone the Loi Shilman exploration to the possibility of a subsequent visit…
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The iconic symbol for Khyber Pass, Baab e Khyber snapped from the Jamrud Side. The inscriptions bless the visitor from Khyber Pass with the Pashto phrases “pa mkha de kha” (may you have a safe journey) and “khudaa e de mal sha” (May God be with you) -
The red brick building of Jamrud Railway Station. Birtish era construction dating back to late 19th century. -
The platform and the structure. Manual Railroad Switches, a Khyber Rifles Khassadar (our aide) and Local Tribesmen populate the foreground. A milestone in the background indicates 16993 kms (probably length of the track upto this point from Karachi). Up on the adjoining pillar is the figure 1496, height above mean sea level in feet. -
Jamrud Railway Station; view of the direction from where one would enter if travelling from Peshawar. -
Route to Landi Kotal. Spin Ghar Mountains shine in the background. -
Station Building, arches in the verandah. -
Waiting chair made of cast iron and timber planks. The moulded letters NWR abbreviate North Western Railways. Antique, desolate and romantic. -
The traditional Pukhtun Hospitality. Enjoying Peshawari Qehva with the Railway Official and Khyber Rifles’ Khassadar.
The entire album can be viewed on the pinterest board here
