The practice of colonization was initiated in the Western parts of the world and expanded eastward as a result of the process of Western industrial capitalism. Apart from Europe, India emerged as one of the first significant societies to be impacted by this phenomenon of colonialism (King 2012). Pakistan, which was a constituent part of the Indian Subcontinent until its independence on August 14, 1947, has a wealth of British colonial heritage evident across many of its cities, including Karachi. Situated in the south-east of present-day Pakistan within the province of Sindh, Karachi remained the first capital of Pakistan from 1947 to 1956 until the establishment of Islamabad. Originally, it developed as a fishing village by the local Baloch tribes from Baluchistan (one of the 4 provinces of Pakistan) and Makran around 1729. Later, it grew as a lesser port town, with trading networks across the Arabian Sea with Oman and the Persian Gulf (Baillie 1890 & Burton 1877). Recognizing its potential as a thriving port town, the city was annexed to the Greater British Raj in the year 1839. A 'unique cultural landscape' originated at the convergence of British culture as a metropolitan society and Indian (Karachi) culture as an indigenous society. This synthesis is often described as the 'Culture of the British in India'. This manifested in an innovative mix of imported and regional attributes to the built environment of the city of Karachi, resulting in the development of architectural styles such as Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Indo-Saracenic, Edwardian Baroque, and others (Lari 2001). At present, the British colonial town, with its architectural attribution, is referred to as the historic center of the city of Karachi, comprised of several historic quarters. The territorial architectural landscape of Karachi at present can broadly be divided into three categories: pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial. Each category exhibits distinct architectural characteristics. This research examines the in-between ‘British Colonial Cultural Landscape’ in Karachi and its interrelated mechanisms that function at different dimensions and constitute a complex socio-environmental network. This includes the manifestation of the city’s territorial Colonial Built fabric, the urban nomenclature of the colonial settlement, and its evolution in the contemporary context. The study further investigates the temporal changes in the city’s historic quarters morphology with respect to studying the current conservation/ preservation practices and the fundamental characteristics responsible for these changes, including the heritage legislation, planning processes, and the current geopolitical context addressing the conservation/ preservation of the historic ensemble of Karachi. This also highlights that the existing heritage legislative framework tends to focus more on individual monuments, reflecting a monument-centric approach, instead of provisions that address the necessity of preserving urban areas and landscapes. Thus, this scenario presents a significant opportunity for an academic investigation within the local preservation framework in Karachi. The methodology followed for this research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, establishing overlaps between several fields of knowledge, including the history of architecture, historicity, historic built and urban conservation, and heritage studies. The process followed for this research is mainly qualitative, following the triangulation method, where several mixed methods are adopted and combined to get a unified conclusion. In the absence of architectural or cadastral information, a number of regional and international archival consultations are conducted, including maps, relevant historical documents, inventories, newspapers, documentaries, etc.
La pratica della colonizzazione bbe origine in Occidente e si estese verso est come conseguenza dello sviluppodel capitalismo industriale occidentale. Oltre all’Europa, l’India emerse come una delle prime società di rilievo a essere colpite da questo fenomeno (King 2012). Il Pakistan, parte integrante del subcontinente indiano fino alla sua indipendenza, avvenuta il 14 agosto 1947, possiede una ricca eredità coloniale britannica, evidente in molte delle sue città, tra cui Karachi. Situata nel sud-est dell'attuale Pakistan, nella provincia del Sindh, Karachi fu la prima capitale del Pakistan dal 1947 al 1956, fino all’istituzione di Islamabad. Originariamente si sviluppò come villaggio di pescatori, fondato dalle tribù locali Baloch, provenienti dal Belucistan (una delle quattro province del Pakistan) e dal Makran, intorno al 1729. n seguito crebbe come piccola città portuale, con reti commerciali attraverso il Mar Arabico verso l’Oman e il Golfo Persico (Baillie 1890 e Burton 1877). Riconoscendone il potenziale strategico e commerciale, a città fu annessa al più ampio Raj Britannico nel 1839. Un "paesaggio culturale unico" acque dalla convergenza tra la cultura britannica, come società metropolitana, e la cultura indiana (di Karachi), come società indigena. Questa sintesi è spesso definita come la "cultura dei Britannici in India". Si manifestò in una combinazioneinnovativa di elementi importati e locali, visibili nell’ambiente costruito della città di Karachi, dando origine a stili architettonici come il Neoclassico, il Neogotico, l’Indo-Saraceno, il Barocco Edoardiano e altri (Lari 2001). Attualmente, la città coloniale britannica, con le sue caratteristiche architettoniche, è considerata il centro storico della città di Karachi, composto da diversi quartieri storici. Il paesaggio architettonico territoriale di Karachi oggi può essere generalmente suddiviso in tre categorie: pre-coloniale, coloniale e post-coloniale. Ogni categoria presenta caratteristiche architettoniche distintive. Questa ricerca analizza il paesaggio culturale coloniale britannico intermedio a Karachi e i suoi meccanismi interconnessi che operano su differenti livelli, costituendouna rete socio-ambientale complessa. Ciò include la configurazione del tessuto edilizio coloniale della città, la nomenclatura urbana dell’insediamento coloniale e la sua evoluzione nel contesto attuale. Lo studio analizza inoltre i cambiamenti avvenuti nel tempo nella morfologia dei quartieri storici della città, con particolare attenzione alle pratiche di conservazione e tutela attivate e ai fattori principali che hanno contribuito a tali trasformazioni. Tra questi rientranola normativa sul patrimonio, i processi di pianificazione urbana e il contesto geopolitico,che influisce sulla tutela del complesso urbano storico di Karachi. Si sottolinea, inoltre, che l’attuale quadro legislativo tende a concentrarsi maggiormente sui singoli monumenti, riflettendo un approccio monumento-centrico, invece di prevedere disposizioni che affrontino la necessità di preservare aree urbane e paesaggi. Questo scenario rappresenta dunque un’opportunità significativa per un’indagine accademica sulle pratiche di conservazione a Karachi, all’interno del suo specifico quadro normativo e territoriale. La metodologia adottata per questa ricerca si basa su un approccio interdisciplinare, che mette in relazione diversi ambiti disciplinari, tra cui la storia dell’architettura, la storicita, la conservazione del paesaggio costruito, e gli studi sul patrimonio. Il processo seguito è prevalentemente qualitativo, adottando il metodo della triangolazione, in cui vengono impiegati e combinati diversi metodi misti per giungere a una conclusione unitaria. In assenza di informazioni architettoniche o catastali dirette, sono state consultate numerose fonti archivistiche a livello regionale e internazionale, tra cui mappe, documenti storici, inventari, giornali e documentari, utili alla ricostruzione del contesto urbano storico di riferimento.
Colonial Karachi's architectural heritage: a relative study of british 19th C architecture and its preservation in the context of Karachi, Pakistan
Soomro, Tania Ali
2024/2025
Abstract
The practice of colonization was initiated in the Western parts of the world and expanded eastward as a result of the process of Western industrial capitalism. Apart from Europe, India emerged as one of the first significant societies to be impacted by this phenomenon of colonialism (King 2012). Pakistan, which was a constituent part of the Indian Subcontinent until its independence on August 14, 1947, has a wealth of British colonial heritage evident across many of its cities, including Karachi. Situated in the south-east of present-day Pakistan within the province of Sindh, Karachi remained the first capital of Pakistan from 1947 to 1956 until the establishment of Islamabad. Originally, it developed as a fishing village by the local Baloch tribes from Baluchistan (one of the 4 provinces of Pakistan) and Makran around 1729. Later, it grew as a lesser port town, with trading networks across the Arabian Sea with Oman and the Persian Gulf (Baillie 1890 & Burton 1877). Recognizing its potential as a thriving port town, the city was annexed to the Greater British Raj in the year 1839. A 'unique cultural landscape' originated at the convergence of British culture as a metropolitan society and Indian (Karachi) culture as an indigenous society. This synthesis is often described as the 'Culture of the British in India'. This manifested in an innovative mix of imported and regional attributes to the built environment of the city of Karachi, resulting in the development of architectural styles such as Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Indo-Saracenic, Edwardian Baroque, and others (Lari 2001). At present, the British colonial town, with its architectural attribution, is referred to as the historic center of the city of Karachi, comprised of several historic quarters. The territorial architectural landscape of Karachi at present can broadly be divided into three categories: pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial. Each category exhibits distinct architectural characteristics. This research examines the in-between ‘British Colonial Cultural Landscape’ in Karachi and its interrelated mechanisms that function at different dimensions and constitute a complex socio-environmental network. This includes the manifestation of the city’s territorial Colonial Built fabric, the urban nomenclature of the colonial settlement, and its evolution in the contemporary context. The study further investigates the temporal changes in the city’s historic quarters morphology with respect to studying the current conservation/ preservation practices and the fundamental characteristics responsible for these changes, including the heritage legislation, planning processes, and the current geopolitical context addressing the conservation/ preservation of the historic ensemble of Karachi. This also highlights that the existing heritage legislative framework tends to focus more on individual monuments, reflecting a monument-centric approach, instead of provisions that address the necessity of preserving urban areas and landscapes. Thus, this scenario presents a significant opportunity for an academic investigation within the local preservation framework in Karachi. The methodology followed for this research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, establishing overlaps between several fields of knowledge, including the history of architecture, historicity, historic built and urban conservation, and heritage studies. The process followed for this research is mainly qualitative, following the triangulation method, where several mixed methods are adopted and combined to get a unified conclusion. In the absence of architectural or cadastral information, a number of regional and international archival consultations are conducted, including maps, relevant historical documents, inventories, newspapers, documentaries, etc.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/239357