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Key Terms: British Architecture, Historical Multan, Administrative and Residential Buildings, Railway Bungalows, Colonial History, Railway Structure and system. Subcontinent. South Asia
Introduction: Railway System in Multan
British colonial administration is considered to have contributed two major systems in the culture and economy of South Asia: Railway and irrigation. Colonial Indian Railway system build the largest structure of transportation and communication in the World that played a fundamental role not only in the strength of the British colonial ascendency rather changed the lives of the indigenous population, socially, culturally and economically. Railway system was consist of a set of infrastructure and skilled man-power, including railway lines, railway residential colonies, Railway Stations, Junctions, as well as administrative offices, for they established multi-dimensional and multi-purpose religious, secular and administrative architectural structures reflecting imperial grandeur. British Colonial Bungalows served not only the administrative need of the Railway and colonial administration rather developed a new culture of living and social relations in the region.
It proved to be a major contribution to the built environment of Multan already representing Indo-Islamic and central Asian tradition..
After the establishment of railway station in Multan, so many buildings were constructed around the city during the last quarter of 19th and 1st half of 20th century. the purpose of this paper is to analyze historically and structurally the British colonial bungalow architecture in Multan from 1857 to 1947. Constructed on the colonial records, structural maps and empirical observations, the paper analyses how Indo-Saracenic style was amalgamated with British Victorian Architectural style in the colonial railway Bungalows of Multan. It concludes that hot climate of Multan formed the central idea of the architecture and design. Jack arched roofs, verandahs, curve pediments, vertically constructed rectangular windows/dormers, skylights, chimneys, buttresses and comparatively high roofed central hall of buildings particularly in bungalows formed the prominent features of railway built structures of Multan.
The historical process for the establishment of North Indian Railway begins with the conquest of Sind. Henry Edward Frere was appointed Commissioner of Sindh in 1847 who got permission from Lord Dalhousie to begin survey of seaport for railways. Lord Dalhousie who was Governor General of India (1848-1856) approved the scheme for a railway line from Karachi to Kotri in December 1853. Sir Frere, the Commissioner...