The rise and fall of Bahlolpur
Subhash Parihar

LIKE human beings, places too witness a rise and fall in their fortunes. You can have a little-known place shooting into prominence or a well-known place fading into obscurity. The medieval prosperous town of Bahlolpur was the one to see such a fall. Situated some 50 km east of Ludhiana, it is a small sleepy village today, inhabited by a little more than two thousand people. But during the Mughal period, it was a town of considerable significance as is indicated by its architectural remains.

Nineteenth-century scholar administrator T.W. Tolbort presumes that Bahlolpur dates back to the ancient period and along with Sunet and Machhiwara, it formed a portion of the kingdom of Magadha. He adds that the village formerly bore the name of Muhabatpura. But there is no archaeological evidence to attribute to it so much antiquity.

Bahlolpur is commonly believed to have been founded by two Afghans named Bahlul Khan and Bahadur Khan, during the reign of Emperor Akbar (1556-1605). It is interesting to note that most of the people in the eastern part of Ludhiana district trace the founding of their villages to the time when Akbar ruled. It appears that before the commencement of the 16th century, there were only a few villages scattered over the region. These were all inhabited by Rajputs. Then under the relatively settled political conditions of the 16th century began the great immigration of Jats and others who founded new villages.

In medieval times, the Sutlej flowed through this town. Riverine trade, therefore, might have given a boost to its fortunes. But then to the bad luck of the town, in 1785, the river changed its course. With this the brisk trade by the river at Bahlolpur came to an end. The abandoned riverbed came to be occupied by a stream called the Buddha Nala, which added to the misfortunes of the place. The stream created a lake which became the breeding ground for diseases.

The Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, writing in 1881, mentions another reason for the decay of the town. According to him, during Sikh rule, a number of Bahlolpur’s Pathan inhabitants served in the army, and brought wealth to the place. But with coming of the British, this inflow of wealth stopped. The municipality of the town was abolished in 1884. Even at that time the town traded in sugar. Today, however, Bahlolpur has nothing to boast of.

The prosperity of the town during the Mughal period can be gauged by the nine monuments which were extant up to the end of the 19th century. Of these only four tombs exist now. The local populace knows nothing about the names of the persons for whom these memorials were built. They call each of these by the genre word maqbara, i.e., tomb. But about the beginning of the 20th century, the descendants of the persons who founded the village were still living here and owned landed property. At that time, these tombs were associated with the names of some Bahadur Khan, Husain Khan, Alawal Khan and Daud Khan. The first three of these monuments are quite picturesque.

The tombs of Bahadur Khan and Husain Khan stand near each other on what was once the bank of the Sutlej. The tomb of Bahadur Khan is an octagonal building with a low dome. It appears that it had a crypt also as its floor is hollow. Today local people consider Bahadur Khan a saint and hence make offerings at his tomb.

The tomb of Husain Khan once must have been more majestic in appearance than the tomb of Bahadur Khan. Now it is in a ruinous condition with its double dome and a part of its walls having crumbled. Local people have a story to relate about these two tombs. According to them, Husain Khan was the son of Bahadur Khan. He, however, showed disregard to his father by erecting a bigger memorial for himself. And nature, according to them, in retribution demolished his tomb.

The tomb of Alawal Khan is in an excellent state of preservation. It is situated at some distance from the above pair. It follows the design of the tomb of Husain Khan. Both these tombs derive their form from the famous monument known as Sher Mandal, in the Old Fort of Delhi, constructed under the orders of Humayun, who had a fatal fall from the stairs of the same building, in 1556.

The tomb of Daud Khan situated just at the entry to the village is now a ruinous structure, which is being used to store husk. An old archaeological report attributes the tomb of Husain Khan to the period of Akbar and the tombs of Alawal Khan and Daud Khan to the period of Shahjahan. Anyway, the persons who could afford to build such big tombs could not have been insignificant figures. They must have served the Mughal Empire in one capacity or the other. On stylistic basis, one could assign the tomb of Bahadur Khan to the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the next and the tombs of Husain Khan and Alawal Khan to the period of Shahjahan. The tomb of Daud Khan appears to have been built during the period of Aurangzeb.

The first three monuments are now under the protection of the Department of Archaeology, Punjab, and are being maintained well. But these do not attract many visitors. A signboard about them on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana Highway, at Samrala, can improve the situation.