Saman Burj — Wazirabad
Saman Burj is a small town located in the northern end of City of Wazirabad. It is believed to be the place where Jehangir often used to reside with his wife Noor Jehan while travelling to Kashmir. According to Irfanullah Raja, a resident, “It used to be the Royal Sarai built during Emperor Jehangir’s time in 1601 AD. While travelling to Kashmir from Lahore every year, Emperor Jehangir and Queen Noorjehan used to spend some days here when River Chenab had strong water current.” Saman Burj was later seized by Charat Singh, Grandfather of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh when Mughal Empire was in decline in 1752 who after renovation added some new structures and started living here. Then his son Maha Singh occupied it who was the father of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.
I saw Saman Burj. Standing at the gate of Burj, nothing much fascinates you at first. You enter the community through a wooden sky blue door. Walking on footpath few furlongs, soon one finds himself in the company of old buildings.
As I moved around, I was shown the bricks that were used. Explaining the structural and area details, Irfanullah notes in his book “The Jarral Rajputs”, “It is comprised of approximately 7 acres enclosed by a huge wall with access through two huge gates. There are havelis and Bara Darri for use as residences and 4 acres of garden lies in the center with walkways to reach the residences. On the northern end of saman Burj flows tributary of River Chenab known as Pulkhu.”
I got a chance to see the oldest structures of Saman Burj. The building had three floors, the basement, the ground floor and the top floor. I roamed around different parts of the building, fascinated by the paintings on the wall but at the same time saddened by the way the glorious art was, in its present state of negligence. From the pillars on which the building rested to the paintings on the wall, everything resembled an art that was never seen in the construction of houses nowadays. On the top floor was the room where Jehangir and his wife lived.
While looking at different structures, I came to know that the buildings were constructed differently than the way it’s done today. “Instead of cement, crushed limestone mixed with lentils and cotton was used in the construction.
“ However, it’s pointed out that owing to a lot of renovations and new constructions even within the house, the originality has been lost. While looking at the faint colored paintings on the wall, architecture being ignored
A room at the top floor that was full of paintings. The paintings depict pictures of Guru Nanak preaching and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh celebrating Holi Festival. Rest of the paintings are of flowers and horsemen.
Whether the government or any other organization should help them in restoring the sites or not, one has to admit that the structures standing in the north of Wazirabad speak for themselves even when they are in shambles.
Sites like Saman Burj are not just a bunch of old structures. Each brick on the wall, each grain of the soil and every painting has a story to narrate, that has intriguing things to offer to those who love subcontinent history.
