The Three Musketeers of Lahore: History and Misplaced Myths by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia

Syed Muhammad Latif, in his book "Lahore, Its History, Architectural Remains and Antiquities," first published in English in 1891, repeatedly claimed that Maharaja Ranjit Singh desecrated Mughal-era mosques and tombs to build new structures and pavilions in Lahore Fort and elsewhere.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s patronage of mosques and shrines of Lahore is well documented in contemporary Persian records — examples are Data Darbar, Badshahi Masjid, Wazir Khan Masjid, Sunheri Masjid, and Darbar Shah Hussain.
The Three Musketeers
Syed Muhammad Latif, Kanhiya Lal, and Noor Ahmed Chishti are The Three Musketeers of Lahore.
Latif based his work on Kanhiya Lal's 1884 Urdu book "Tareekh-e-Lahore," which was further based on Noor Ahmed Chishti's 1867 Urdu work titled "Tahqeeqat-e-Chishti." Chishti based his work on myths and oral stories shared by residents of Lahore, as well as a 1860 monograph. This monograph in English was titled "Ancient Lahore: A Brief Account of the History and Antiquities of Lahore," and was written under the instructions of Sir Robert Montgomery in 1860.
Chishti's 1867 work in Urdu was based on oral accounts and a 1860 English monograph. It was not based on historical research. Soon thereafter, Kanhiya Lal used Chishti's work for his 1884 Urdu work. And once Latif published his 1891 English-language work based on Kanhiya Lal's Urdu book, what began as myths and stories by Chishti became established as history by Latif. This is a great injustice to the history of Punjab and Lahore that continues to this day. Interestingly, a similar sentiment has been expressed by Nadhra Khan in her 2018 book titled "The Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore: A Summation of Sikh Architectural and Decorative Practices," which is based on her doctoral research.
Now, after 135 years, Latif's book is accepted by historians across Pakistan as the definitive history of Lahore's antiquities, despite its dubious compilation. It has thus become the main vehicle in Pakistan for some to perpetuate potential prejudice against Sikhs and their half-century rule of Punjab, with Lahore as its capital.
Let’s look at three examples to illustrate these dubious claims.
Is Lahore named after son of Hindu diety Ram?
Chishti, Lal, and Latif - all three claim that Lahore is named after Loh or Luv, the elder son of the mythological Hindu deity Ramchandar. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The first time that the word Lahore was used for this city was in 982 in a Persian manuscript titled "Hudud al-Alam." For over 700 years, Lahore was known by this name, but it was never associated with Loh or Luv until Sujan Rai Bhandari first claimed that Lahore was named after Loh or Luv in his 1696 book "Khulasat ut Tawarikh." This misplaced myth was adopted first by Chishti, then by Lal, and finally by Latif.
Now, there is even a temple in Lahore Fort called the Temple of Loh. Persian diaries of Sikh rule of Lahore from 1799 to 1849 make no mention of a temple at the Lahore Fort dedicated to Loh. It is inconceivable that a temple dedicated to the son of the Hindu deity Ramchandar would find no mention in the daily diaries of Sikh rule, even though Sikh Maharajas, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh, went by it several times a day. The places they passed on the way in the fort are mentioned repeatedly in the court diaries of Umdat ut Tawarikh by Lala Sohan Lal Suri.
Jean Philippe Vogel, in a 1911 historical research paper on the Lahore Fort, states:
"There is another similar shrine close to the Hazuri Bagh Gate. Latif calls it the Mandir of Loh (i.e., Lava, the son of Rama), the reputed founder of Lahore, and desires us to believe that it existed here long before Akbar built the citadel. There can, however, be little doubt that it dates only back to the Sikh period."
Noted historian and former Director of the Lahore Museum, in his monumental 2016 book "Lahore: History and Architecture of Mughal Monuments," argues that this is not the Temple of Loh but rather a Sun Temple built by Chuch Raja Bunrat, who occupied the then-mud fort at the current site in the pre-Mughal era. It is time for heritage organizations of Lahore to cease using the historically incorrect name 'Temple of Loh' and instead refer to it as a Sikh-era Hindu Temple or Samadh.
Flooring of Badshahi Masjid used at Sheesh Mahal?
A second example is the claim that Maharaja Ranjit Singh removed the flooring from the front entrance of the Badshahi Masjid and used it to renovate the floor of the Sheesh Mahal. Astonishingly, the about 9 feet by 9 feet flooring installed at the Sheesh Mahal about 200 years ago still survives in its northwest courtyard. However, the flooring was sourced from a local haveli in the city, not from the Badshahi Masjid.
Vogel, in his 1911 journal article on Lahore Fort, also states:
"Abdu-l-Hamid also duly noted the pavement of the courtyard of grey and variegated marble and the reservoir which occupies the centre. In the north-west corner of the court, there is a stone floor, measuring 9' 6" square, which does not belong to the original pavement. There is a tradition that it was taken from the platform in front of the gateway of the Badshahi Masjid. But this appears to be untrue. The late Faqir Qamru-d-din informed me that it originally belonged to a house in the city and was purchased from the proprietor Mir Najaf Ali Khan by the Faqir Sahib’s father, in order to be placed in front of Ranjit Singh’s dwelling. The Maharaja’s taste for ancient Mughal pavements is also evidenced by his pavilion in the Hazuri Bagh and by the Golden Temple at Amritsar."
 

Marble of Lahore’s Mughal monuments used at Golden Temple in Amritsar?
Thirdly, the Three Musketeers claim, without any historical evidence, that Maharaja Ranjit Singh used marble and other materials sourced from Lahore monuments to embellish Sikh religious places such as the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar. This is factually incorrect. The marble for the Golden Temple was sourced from Jaipur, Rajashtan. The court diaries of Sikh rule contain an order of Maharaja Ranjit Singh dated February 1835 as:
"The Maharaja issued an order for the preparation of a marble floor for the decoration of Darbar and its Parkarma. In continuation of this order, Bhai Gurmukh Singh was ordered to send reliable persons to the suburbs of Jaipur to fetch marble from that place and to prepare the floor in perfect beauty and grace."
Closing Reflections
The works of The Three Musketeers of Lahore (Chishti, Lal, and Latif) do have immense value, but their significance is misplaced. Their contemporary description of Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu monuments of Lahore from 1860 to 1890 is rich in vivid details and not found elsewhere. An example is the Gurdwara Boali Sahib built by the Fifth Sikh Guru. During the reign of Shah Jahan, it was demolished, and later Sunheri Masjid was built on part of it. It was rebuilt by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Dabbi Bazaar and is described in detail by all three authors. The Gurdwara and the Boali are now gone, except for an old Banyan tree behind the Sunheri Masjid. But the detailed description of it survives thanks to Latif, Lal, and Chishti.
The Three Musketeers do not do justice to the history of Lahore's old monuments. Their historical development is misplaced and lacks historical research. There is an urgent need for Pakistani historians to work towards a new history of Lahore and Punjab, grounded in historical research rather than oral accounts or British accounts. This may be possible through a coalition of independent, unbiased academic historians who can study the Sikh rule of Punjab, with Lahore as its capital.
It also needs to be recognized that Mughal emperors frequently repurposed materials from older monuments, including Hindu, Jain, and earlier Islamic monuments, to build new palaces and forts, a practice sometimes known as spolia. Materials such as carved pillars, lintels, and stones were dismantled and reused, particularly in early Mughal construction and for decorating or "improving" existing complexes, such as the Lahore Fort. Maharaja Ranjit Singh probably continued this Mughal practice of incorporating parts of old monuments into newer non-religious structures, such as the flooring in the courtyard of Sheesh Mahal and the flooring on the outer periphery of the Baradari of Hazuri Bagh, built in 1825, adjacent to the Lahore Fort.
The prejudice against the Sikh rule of Lahore can be traced back to Latif’s popular but historically misleading book. It is time to write a new book on the history of Lahore, based on independent, robust historical research.
 

                                                       Written by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia
 

Prof .Dr, Tarunjit Singh Butalia is a US based Sikh interfaith activist and scholar with deep roots in East and West Punjab in South Asia as well as the USA