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South Asia has a rich history and is an amalgamation of multiple cultures and civilizations spanning over a thousand years. Even today, the remains of these cultures and civilizations can be seen in many ancient sites scattered across the region. One of these historical sites is the Mohatta Palace, located in Karachi, Pakistan.
The site is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Karachi, and people go there with their friends and family to have fun and learn about history. If you plan to visit the city, don’t forget to visit this palace.
The Mohatta Palace is a famous building and one of the best museums in Karachi. It was built by a successful businessman named Shivratan Chandraratan Mohata, a Marwari Hindu, and is located near the upscale coastal neighborhood of Clifton. The palace is located on Hatem Alavi Road in the former Clifton. Fatima Jinnah lived in this palace from the country’s independence till her death in 1967.
The history of Mohatta Palace is a history of love – especially for wives. While Mughal ruler Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his late wife, the Mohatta Palace was built to prevent the death of Shivratan’s wife. This is the main difference between the two architectural wonders.
Shivratan Mohatta’s wife suffered from an incurable and fatal disease. The doctor suggested that Mohatta take his wife to another place with a cool breeze and strong sea breeze, which might help her recover from her illness.
At the time of the partition of Pakistan in 1947, the newly formed government purchased Mohatta Palace as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seat. Fatima Jinnah acquired the palace after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved to Islamabad in 1964. Her sister Shireen Bai lived here after she died in 1964 until 1980.
The property was then subject to legal proceedings and remained sealed until 1995, when the Sindh government and the federal government formally acquired it for Rs 6 million. It was decided to build a museum in the palace to promote understanding and admiration of the region’s cultural history.
The story of the construction of the Mohatta Palace is an interesting love story. It reminds me of the story of the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, which was ordered by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to “honor his beloved wife.”
The difference is that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal after his wife died, while Mohatta built the palace to save his wife from death.
Usman Damohi, a renowned historian of Karachi, writes in his book Karachi Tarikh Kay Ainai Mein: In 1927, Shivratan Mohatta, a successful Marwari businessman, was commissioned to build a luxurious home in the wealthy seaside community of Clifton. The architect commissioned was Ahmed Hussain Agha, one of India’s earliest Muslim architects. He was from Jaipur and took up the commission.
He adopted the Mughal Revival style, mixing the local yellow Jazri stone with the pink stone from Jodhpur, and attempted to recreate the Anglo-Mughal palace of a Rajput prince.
It is said that the reason for his accusation was that Mohatta’s wife was seriously ill. The doctor told Mohatta that the refreshing sea breeze could cure his wife’s illness. So Shivratan built this magnificent century-old bungalow in Clifton, covering an area of 1,000 square meters. The space is very large.
After the partition, the palace was handed over to Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. After her death, the Sindh government took over the building. Kunwar Khalid Younis of the Muhammad Ali Jinnah movement once wrote in a letter to the editor of Dawn magazine:
“In 2004, when I was on an official visit to Delhi, I met an octogenarian, a Karachi businessman who moved to Delhi after the partition of India and Pakistan. For a long time, he told the story of Seth Mohatta, a good friend of Quaid-e-Azam.
“Even after the Great Divide, Mr. Mohatta decided to live in Karachi, but one day, a powerful politician in the country called him and asked him to vacate the Mohatta Palace for some government offices.” Mohatta was distraught.
“He then decided to leave overnight. The next day, he packed his and his family’s bags and moved to Mumbai. He handed over the keys of the Mohatta Palace to his manager and ordered him to hand over a note to the politician,” he said, adding that he could have gifted the palace as per his request instead of being ordered to do so. “Mr. Mohatta and his family never went to Karachi or any other city in Pakistan again. ”
The two-story building covers an area of 2055 square meters. No building before or after the Partition can match the area covered by the Mohatta Palace. Entering the palace, the first thing that strikes the eye is the colorful windows, stone walls, arches, and minarets on the exterior, a magnificent view of the architectural splendor.
The rooms on the first floor are luxuriously furnished, magnificent, and an absolute delight. The second floor is equally beautiful. It is hard to imagine a room being used by a single person.
Even today, if you go up to the roof of the building, you may still be able to see the sea. However, the faded Residential skyscrapers surround the Mohatta Palace, so much so that even the sea breeze cannot reach their once favorite destination. At the time of its construction, the occupants of the Mohatta Palace could see not only the sea breeze but also the view of the then-clean, unpaved coast.
The roof of the building has a magnificent structure with a central dome surrounded by smaller domes. This was done to protect the residents from the heat of direct sunlight. Apart from the central structure, the building also features four domes and minarets at its corners. Unfortunately, Cameras and mobile phones are not allowed in Mohatta Palace.
Agha Ahmed Hussain was the architect and designer of this palace. The front of the palace is decorated with beautiful windows, wooden beams, stone arches, floral railings, domes, and elegant balustrades. The building area is 18,500 square meters. The palace is 1,000 meters high and consists of nine domes, one on the front of the building, which opens to a beautiful garden.
This elaborate palace is teak and features polished staircases and long corridors with intricate designs. The palace’s ground floor features a spacious and majestic hall, but the first floor has special facilities. The temple of the Hindu Lord Shiva is also located on the palace’s terrace.
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Traditional Rajasthani architecture uses pink stone from Jodhpur and the original yellow stone from Jaisri. The peacock pattern in the stone carving is breathtaking and worth seeing. The windows are all rectangular and decorated with hibiscus patterns below. The doorway has a beautifully carved marigold flower pattern.
The tunnel inside the palace is the subject of one of the most heated debates and rumors surrounding the Mohatta Palace. It is rumored that the tunnel is haunted and harbors ghosts. However, the actual account is completely different.
A hidden tunnel underneath leads to an underground Hindu temple nearby. This tunnel still exists today, but the entrances on both sides have been closed over time. Hence, there is a legend of ghosts being imprisoned there.
Mohatta Palace is historically significant in many ways. After Partition, it became the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Agha Hilali, Deputy Director of Protocol during the early days of Partition, wrote about the building’s use as a diplomatic office:
Mohatta’s Palace was far from the city, making it difficult for staff to move around. To solve this problem, we started a bus service from Queen’s Market to Mohatta Palace. At that time, Clifton was not a densely populated area. There was nothing but seawater and sand. At times, the area was flooded with seawater, and the roads were at least six inches under the seawater.
The Ministry of External Affairs officially used the image of the palace in its Christmas and New Year greeting cards. When the palace was handed over to Fatima Jinnah, the ministry offered to vacate the building, but Mrs. Jinnah was not interested then. However, the ministry thoroughly cleaned the building and removed the barbed wire. They even cleaned the pigeon nests. Fatima Jinnah chose Mohatta Palace as an alternative to Mr. Jinnah’s residence in Bombay.
One evening, Fatima Jinnah took me to the roof of the Mohatta Palace. It was beautiful to see the sea from there. When His Holiness first moved to live in the palace, I asked him: Is it too big? “No, I like this place,” she replied. It was Thursday night. I had dinner at the palace. According to Mrs. Hidayatullah, there was a Qawwali at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine that night, and they sat and listened to it all night.
Another interesting fact about Mohatta Palace is that it was the center of the movement against Field Marshal Ayub Khan (then President of Pakistan). Fatima Jinnah opened her campaign by announcing her candidacy for the presidency against Ayub Khan at the palace. Many meetings would also be held here to formulate political strategies against the military rulers.
Fatima Jinnah died at the Mahatta Palace. She was found dead in her room one morning. Due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the incident, many believed it was related to Ayub Khan and his lobby. However, like all political deaths in our country, from Liaquat Ali Khan to Benazir Bhutto, Fatima Jinnah’s death remains a mystery.
During Fatima Jinnah’s lifetime, the palace was under strict surveillance by the Ayub government. Mrs. Jinnah always celebrated her brother’s death anniversary in the palace. A tent was set up in the garden, and biryani was served. The Bohri of Karachi always cooked it.
After Mrs. Jinnah’s death, the family had a dispute over the ownership of Mohatta Palace. The Sindh High Court handed over the palace to Shireen Jinnah, Mrs. Jinnah’s sister. Sherine died in 1980. Her wish was to use the building as a charity center. She dreamed of turning it into a medical college for women. However, as soon as they saw his creator, his relatives swarmed and occupied the palace. The court then ordered the closure of the building, and that was it.
In 1995, at the request of the Sindh government, then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto allocated Rs 7 million to the provincial culture department to purchase the Mohatta Palace. Rs 6.1 million was used to purchase the palace, and the remaining funds were used for renovation. An independent board was formed to manage the palace, and after its efforts, the palace was restored to its original state, and the pink stone of Jodhpuri shone again.
The official name of the palace is Qasre-e-Fatima. However, no one knows its name like many similar places in the country and the region. Mr. Mohatta must have felt the satisfaction of revenge, knowing that after everything this palace has been through, the world still knows it as Mohatta Palace. Nisreen Askar is now the director of Mohatta Palace.
The museum is open from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm from Tuesday to Sunday. It remains closed on Mondays and other public holidays. Tickets to the palace are 30 rupees for adults, and children below 12 can enter the museum for free.
Since 2017, Saba Ghani has been serving as the talented and dedicated chief content writer for Pakistan Tour and Travel & EMHI Solutions. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of the travel industry, she has been instrumental in crafting engaging and informative content that captivates the audience. You can catch her at [email protected] or Twitter
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