Zaman Park in Lahore, where Imran Khan lives, has been in the news for a while, due to the standoff between the former prime minister of Pakistan and the country’s law enforcement attempting to arrest him. Imran Khan has alleged that Pakistan rangers are trying to kidnap and kill him after the cops fired on his supporters after using tear gas shells and water cannons. However, contrary to the current unrest in the area, the suburb is one of Lahore’s most affluent, tranquil, and pleasant residential neighbourhoods.
For the past many decades, Zaman Park has housed a significant number of Pathans who migrated from Jalandhar (Punjab, India) during the partition. It has also served as a nursery for breeding Cricket and Hockey stars for the country.
Zaman Park is named after Khan Bahadur Muhammad Zaman Khan. He held the position of Post Master General of Punjab in British India from 1933 to 1943 and afterwards moved on to construct a seven-bedroom mansion there in 1940.
The history of the region, however, paints a very different picture. According to archival research, the term ‘Zaman Park’ was not featured on the Lahore map from 1935. Zaman Park was not constructed on any of the area depicted on the first map of Lahore following the events of 1857 (the first war of Indian independence).
In fact, the land behind the prestigious Aitchison College and to the south of Mayo Gardens, currently known as Zaman Park, was identified as the Punjab Light Horse (PLH) Parade Field, which was a component of the Cavalry Reserve in the British Indian Army.
During the British era, the PLH, which was founded in Lahore in 1867, responded to emergencies in Lahore, Amritsar, and other cities of the then-undivided Punjab. The colony’s original name was changed to ‘Sunder Das Park’ in 1936.
The 1934 plans included the circular cricket field that is located in the middle of this colony. Six residences, which belonged to the same Hindu family and were all related to one another, came up by 1942. The head of the illustrious ‘Suri’ family was Rai Bahadur Sunder Das Suri. He served as the Chief Inspector of Schools for Punjab and was instrumental in determining the educational requirements for pupils of Punjabi descent.
He played a major role in the development of Aitchison College, which had taken up the space that was the original and first PLH Parade Ground. He also delivered a number of academic papers at conferences for educators. His main accomplishment was to establish the Lyallpur school and college, which later developed into an agricultural university, as well as the Central Model School of Lahore. He took the initiative in securing grants for these educational institutes.
Later, he would collaborate with Lala Lajpat Rai and Ruchi Ram Sahni, a renowned professor at Government College in Lahore.
As per the 1935 map, the entire tract of land between Jail Road, Lahore Canal, Ferozepur Road, and its intersection at Mozang Chungi was home to a large collection of government-owned hospitals, prisons, and offices. The Lahore Central Prison, the Women’s Hospital, the Women’s Jail, the Borstal Institution and the Meteorological Observatory were all located on this vast land area. The Baba Shah Jamal shrine was also situated within the complex.
‘Zaman Park’ was also a significant cantonment under Sikh rule for Soba Singh’s army, one of the three Sikhs that ruled Lahore before Maharajah Ranjit Singh’s accession to power in 1799. There were several brick kilns constructed in this area to produce bricks for this enormous complex.
By the time of the 1947 Partition, the wealthy Hindu families of Lahore had constructed 15 magnificent palace homes throughout Zaman Park. Lt. General Wajid Ali Burki relocated the elite Jalandhar Pathans to this exclusive park after 1947. These families, who were originally from Waziristan, moved to Jalandhar in the later Mughal era, and settled in Lahore to reside in the renamed ‘Zaman Park’. The name Zaman was that of a senior member of this Jalandhar Pathan family.
Iqbal Bano, Naima Khanum, and Shaukat Khanum, the mothers of Javed Burki, Majid Khan, and Imran Khan, respectively, were sisters of Khan Bahadur Zaman Khan. They were all the offsprings of Ahmad Hassan Khan, whose another child Lieutenant-General Ahmed Raza Khan, played first-class cricket.
Zaman Khan’s sons, Humayun Zaman, Javed Zaman and Fawad Zaman also played first-class cricket, along with cousins Ijaz Khan and Sajid Khan.
In the years that followed, Javed Burki, Majid, and Imran led the Pakistan cricket team. Lt. General Wajid Ali Burki, an Army surgeon, served as General Ayub Khan’s military government’s health minister as well. He is the father of Javed Burki. The Pathan families of this area have produced numerous cricketers, army officers, and physicians for Pakistan.
Despite all the developments since 1947, it is indisputable that the true history of ‘Zaman Park’ is intertwined with its Hindu and Sikh roots.
