In Pakistan the tenure of Ranjit Singh is deemed to be an adverse era for historical and architectural monuments. However, what t people do not appreciate is that the term of Ranjit Singh for Lahore was not all about annihilation of Mughal architecture and vandalism of ques but also an era of sophisticated art and architecture.
Even though there are myriad examples of resplendent buildings build in Lahore during this juncture, only one such edifice would be discussed in the perspective of this piece of writing; the Samadhi of Vasti Ram, also known as Basti Ram. This Samadhi, which is erected flanking the older defense wall of the Lahore Fort, is a polished amalgamation of Hindu and Muslim motifs in Sikh architecture, and an authentication of the sophisticated taste of the Sikh milieu of that time.
If one approaches the Lahore Fort from the Kashimiri and the Sheranwala darwaza, this would be the subsequent Samadh on the left side, in the green belt exterior of the Lahore Fort.
Despite its minuscule magnitude, the memorial captures one's thoughts by its extraordinary exploit of white marble, multihued inlaid stones, floral and human motifs. The catastrophe nevertheless lies in the actuality that regardless of it being in Lahore, and depicting obvious Muslim architectural motifs.
Furthermore the spoil wrought to the building was brought by thieves of the stones inlaid in the building. Many such stones are absent, and whichever have survived has not persisted because of the magnanimity of the thieves but because those stones would not get off. Whoever desires to visit this exhibition of Sikh monument in Lahore should do so soon, earlier than further injure is brought to the building by paltry thieves.
When the corpse of a revered Hindu or Sikh person is burned, some of the vestiges of his/her ashes are secured, then after inserting them in a container, are buried in the earth.Bhai Basti Ram was a Sufi or a darvish during the tenure of Ranjit Singh. His father Bulaka Ram was one of the disciples of the final Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. On Guru Gobind Singh's command he left him and came to Lahore, where he wedded a girl and gave birth to Bhai Basti Ram in 1708 CE.
Sometime at some point in the lifetime of Basti Ram, it is reported that the people of Lahore approached him with the whine that every year the Ravi inundates and the water enters Lahore, causing havoc. Since he was also a religious preacher of his time, they exhorted him to do something about this predicament of the people. Basti Ram settled right on the bank of the river, outside the Fort. It is said that the river never caused any commotion for the people from that day. Till the British period, the river used to flow in the vicinity of his provisional home however, and then it altered its course. Perhaps the fable around Basti Ram is accurate, and maybe Ravi changed its course because of Basti Ram settling next to the river. After his death his son expended a lot of money to raise an exquisite white-marble Samadhi to commemorate the position where the saint had settled.
By keeping this Samadh and other monuments build during the Sikh era in our minds, let's rethink the role of the Sikhs in Punjab. Instead of stereo-typing the Sikh era as a barbarous tenure, we should look at such monuments and appreciate the cultural force of that era, which led to the construction of such a wonderful monument.