All Alone, All Forgotten: Lahore’s Zamzamah Canon
After giving the last 12th board exam, a student comes out to only see that entry test preparation is waiting for him/her. The next step is to get enrolled in an academy. To further elaborate on the torturous and exhausting cycle, we should add the name of KIPS Academy here. At a certain point, when the students are facing the worst-known academic crisis, they come to know about domicile for the first time in their lives. The importance of domicile increases when it suddenly becomes an integral part of the admission process. A Lahori student, informed about domicile, reaches his/her parents. The first name he hears from them is “Town Hall.” The next day, the whole family ventures to domicile at the Town Hall. To add a political touch to this writing piece, the student comes to know what Shehbaz did for Punjab and how his PR team failed miserably.
The next step is to wait in the queue and get a receiving date for the domicile. The student and his family again visit Town Hall to get the domicile and to proceed with the admission processes. On his return, the student sees Punjab University College of Pharmacy(a choice for many MDCAT aspirants), a well-designed nest-type thing for birds at the centre of the chowk namely Istanbul Chowk, on getting towards Anarkali the student also sees the statue of Alfred Woolner and a lonely canon.
Zamzama Gun was made in 1755-56 AD. It was made by a metalsmith named Shah Nazir. The canon also had a twin but the forces of Ahmed Shah lost it in the Chenab. Ahmed Shah Durrani used Zamzam canon which means roar or thunder in his third battle of Panipat in 1761. After casting a crushing defeat on the Marathas he decided to return to Kabul. On his way back, he decided to leave it under the supervision of Khawaja Ubed. He took the other one with him but lost it in the Chenab. Khawaja Ubed was the new governor of Lahore. From the outskirts of Lahore, it got into the hands of Bhangi Sikhs and got its other name “Bhagngianwali Toap.”
For the next few years, it was exchanged among Bhangi Sikhs, Sukerchakias, and Chathas in feudal fights. The Bhangi Sikhs recaptured it and took it to Amristar. In 1802, when Ranjit Singh defeated the Bhangis and conquered the city, he realised the importance of the canon. Ranjit Singh used it in his campaigns of Daska, Wazirabad, Sujanpur, Kasur, and Multan. It was in Multan, when the canon gave up on its strength, Ranjit Singh perceived that after years of causing fear and bloodshed, the canon had decided to retire. He then transferred it to Lahore. In Lahore, it was placed in front of the iconic Delhi Gate.
But the 14 feet canon had more to see. In 1849, Punjab saw its new rulers. The new masters, in 1870, placed it at the Tollinton Market. It was again shifted, not too far, but a little west when the present-day building of the Lahore Museum was constructed.
After years of moving here and there and causing bloodshed everywhere, the canon rests in peace between PUCP, NCA and Lahore Museum. The Persian inscription on it states it as the destroyer of even the strongholds of heaven. But now standing all alone, meaningless, and not being used for its actual purpose all these inscriptions seem to be a mockery. It was once a destroyer of even the strongholds of heaven, but now it is a historical relic in front of many who are unaware of its bloody, terrorising past
