THE APPROACH TO THE FORTRESS OF QUETTA, 1839
Lithograph by Charles and Louis Haghe from a drawing by James Atkinson, published in J. Atkinson, Sketches in Afghaunistan (London, 1842 ), plate 8.
Atkinson’s brief published text read: ‘Kwettah is in the province of Shaul, situated on a wide plain with interior and outer walls, and appears at a distance like a lofty mound. Lord Keane and Staff are seen occupying the middle ground.
The original water-colour by Atkinson for this litho 4, graph is in the India Office Library and Records, London (see Archer (1969), 97, WD 2396).
QUETTA, 1839
Lithograph published in Sir K.A. Jackson Views of Affghaunistan (London, 1841), plate 24.
James Lewis alias Charles Masson visited Quetta in 1828. He recorded these impressions: ‘The town of Shall, or as often called Quetta, and Kot, is surround ed by a slight mud crenated wall, and may comprise three hundred houses. These lie at the base of a huge mound, on which stands the ruinous citadel, now the abode of the governor Jellal Khan. The bazar is tolerably well supplied, and is a fair one for a provincial town, being the centre of much traffic with the neighbouring countries. It is situated conveniently on the road between Kandahar and Shikarpur, as well as with reference to Kalat, and other places. There are many small gardens belonging to the town, which appear as if newly planted, the trees being very young.’ (Masson (1842) I, 328-9).
KANDAHAR GATE, QUETTA, 1839 Lithograph published in Sir K.A. Jackson Views of Affghaunistan (London, 1841), plate 25.
Kwettah, the capital of the Beloochie province of Shawl, is a small town, surrounded by a wall of mud; the houses are built of the same material, and are but few in number, the population being poor and inconsiderable. In the centre, is the citadel, which is the residence of the Governor; it is built on an elevation, overlooking the town, which maybe about four hundred yards across. There are four gates in the wall surrounding it, which open on to a very luxuriant part of the valley. The situation of Kwettah, from its proximity to the mountains, is grand and striking.’ (Jackson, text to plate 25.)
The fort or rniri was the residence of the officials of the Khan of Kalat.
VIEW OF QUETTA FORT, 1843
Pencil drawing by A.J.M. Boileau dated 14 July 1843.
This drawing of Quetta fort would have been done soon after the evacuation of the city by the British following the disastrous aftermath of the First Afghan War.
QUETTA FORT AND CITY, 1885
Engraving from a sketch by Lieut. C.M. Gonne, Royal Artillery, published in The Illustrated London News, 11 April 1885.
QUETTA FORT, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 7.
In 1877 Quetta fort, no longer necessary has a bastion, had been converted into a military arsenal.
THE RESIDENCY, QUETTA, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan. Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 3.
The land upon which the town of Quetta was subsequently developed was bought by the Government between 1878 and 1893. A total of 3754 acres were purchased, 3496 acres for Rs. 215,201 for the Cantonment area and 258 acres at Rs. 39,647 for the civil sta tion.
Thy first Residency building was built in 1877. It was described in 1884 as ‘but a superior sort of bungalow built of materials which largely suggested mud The walls of its compound were (as were the walls of the infant station everywhere) uncompromis r!y mud.’It was pulled down and replaced in 1891-92 by a grander building costing Rs. 125,480 and standing in 45 landscaped acres.
THE SANDEMAN MEMORIAL HALL, QUETTA, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Brem_rer Baluchistan IIlustrated 1900 (Quetta,1900), plate s .
The Sandeman Hall, named after Colonel Sir Robert S Jeman, Agent to the Governor-General for Balu. istan 1877 -1892, had been designed by Col. Swinton Jacob of the Royal Engineers who had been associated with the design of Aitchison College at Lahore. The interior of the Hall was elaborately ornamented and decorated in gypsum by the School of Art at Lahore (the forerunner of the present National College of Arts, Lahore). The Hall was built in 1895 – 99 at a cost of Rs. 116,305, including Rs. 8000 as the cost of the land. The Hall was opened by the Viceroy on 12 April 1900.
THE SANDEMAN MEMORIAL HALL, QUETTA, c. 1930 Postcard, c. 1930.
The bronze statue on the left was by W. Onslow Ford and of Sir Hugh Barnes, who served for twenty years as Political Agent Quetta-Pishin and later as Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner.
DURBAR HALL AND POLITICAL OFFICES, QUETTA, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 5.
Located near the Sandeman Hall, the Durbar Hall was, according to Bremner, one of the first official buildings in Quetta and was used for receptions and other public functions. It was constructed in 1884 at a cost of Rs. 92,000 and served for a while as the first church in Quetta before St. Mary’s Church was built. Later, it was converted into offices for public administration.
ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING, QUETTA, 1900 Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 6.
The Administrative Building on Sandeman Road, completed in September 1892 at a cost of Rs. 197,379,
housed a ‘a maze of offices’, including that of the Political Agent, the Treasury and the Magistrate’s courts. Bremner, proud of his city, regarded the Administrative Building as ‘a great advance on the old dome-shaped mud buildings’ from which the vast province had been administered. Many of these mud buildings were damaged in the severe winter of 1891, when their mud domes collapsed and i lad to be replaced by iron roofs.
ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING, QUETTA, c. 1930
Postcard, c. 1930.
Defying Parkinson’s Law on office space, the Administrative Building over the years was forced , as government departments pro-liferated, to compress its burgeoning occupants into the limited space available.
ST. MARY’S CHURCH, QUETTA, 1900
Photograp ri by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner B. ‘uchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 9.
St. Mary’s Church took three years to build and was completed in June 1892, at a cost of Rs. 265,000. Its nave was 115 feet long and 33 feet wide, with a seating capacity for 1200 worshippers.
Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 15.
Consecrated on 2 October 1898, the Church of Mary as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, was built at a cost of Rs. 80,000 provided by the Government. The design of the structure was described as Romanesque and the materials used were brick and Kolapur stone.
THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE, QUETTA, 1900 Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 12.
Servicing the expanding Cantonment, the Club
covered an area of 10 acres and provided a library, Reading Rooms, and in its gardens badminton, tennis and racquet courts. The Institute was used for other entertainments.
According to the Baluchistan Gazetteer, prior to 1881, Quetta was practically tree-less. Through the efforts of Sir Hugh Barnes (who was assisted by the Treasury Officer Mr Ingle ), over two hundred camel loads of cuttings of various trees were imported from K,, rtdahar and planted at sites and along the roads of Quetta.
The GYMKHANA or RACE COURSE, QUETT 1900.
Photop ph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner ;’aluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 13.
The grounds upon which the Gymkhana was located were known as the chaman or common and were the grazing ground for the horses of the Khan of Kalat. The land was made over in 1877 by Mir Khudad: 1 .1 to Sir Robert Sandeman and assigned for the Gymkhana. The Quetta Gymkhana, spread over about 83 acres of recreation grounds, offered distractions as polo, cricket and for those of a more speculative, bent of mind horse-racing on a course that ran over one and a quarter miles. Race meetings at Quetta, were held every spring and autumn.
QUETTA BAZAAR, 190
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 18.
Bremner photographed the main street in Quetta and some of the Pathan traders and dealers who brought goods from Kandahar, Bukhara and Kabul to the city. He identified the horse-carriage in the foreground as a ‘turn-turn’ or local hackney.
BRUCE ROAD, QUETTA, c. 1930 Postcard, c. 1930.
CHOR OR THIEVES BAZAAR, QUETTA,c. 1930
Postcard, c. 1930.
OLD CANTONMENT MARKET, QUETTA, c. 1930
Postcard, c. 1930.
STAFF COLLEGE, QUETTA, c. 1930 Postcard, c. 1930.
The Baluchistan Gazetteer of 1907 recorded: ‘A Staff College is being constructed on the Hanna Road about a mile from the north-east corner of the old cantonments, and about 3 miles from the Quetta club. The College and the quarters attached to it will cover about 70 acres. Quarters have been authorised (1905) for a Commandant, a Personal assistant to the Commandant, 5 Professors, and for 18 married and 30 unmarried officers attending the College. The estimated cost is about 6 lakhs and the work will, it is hoped, be completed by end of 1906.’ (Gazetteer, p. 341.)
STAFF COLLEGE, QUETTA, c.1930 Photograph, c. 1930.
ST. JOHN MILLS, QUETTA, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 20.
The St. John Mill – ‘the principal commercial building in the province’- was founded by Khan Bahadur Burtjorjee D. Patel, an early settler in
Quetta. The mill,’ as the signboard visible in the picture indicates, contained ‘flour mills, oil, bhoosa and wool presses; patent fuel and block ice machinery; as well as brass and iron foundries, all of which … worked by steam power.’
THE KERANI BREWERY, QUETTA, 1900 Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan IIlustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 21.
The Kerani Brewery, a branch of Murree Brewery Company, was established in 1886. Supervision of the building had been done by a Mr. H.J. Whymper.
MURREE BREWERY, QUETTA, c. 1930 Postcard, c. 1930.
QUETTA RAILWAY STATION, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 22.
THE RAILWAY INSTITUTE, QUETTA, 1900 Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900),
The Railway Institute was in fact a recreation centre for the employees of the Railways, who could either read in its library, play billiards or go outside during the summer into its spacious lawns for a
game of tennis.
1(13 HANNA PASS, NEAR QUETTA, 1900 Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 37.
The Hanna Pass lay six miles north-east of the cantonment of Quetta. Beyond the entrance to the pass lay the Tangi chashma or spring.
BRIDGE ON THE SIND-PISHIN RAILWAY, NEAR QUETTA, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 25.
Built 234 feet above the ground across the rift in the Chapper mountain, the bridge had a single 150 feet span. The bridge had been designed by Sir James Browne, then Chief Engineer of the Railway, and was formally opened by Louise Duchess of Connaught (daughter-in-law of Queen Victoria) on 27 March 1887.
KHOJAK TUNNEL, 1900
Photograph by Fred Bremner, published in F. Bremner Baluchistan Illustrated 1900 (Quetta, 1900), plate 26.
The Khojak Tunnel, over two and a half miles long, was begun in April 1888 and completed over three years later in September 1891 at a cost of Rs. 6,824,164 or Rs. 530 per linear foot. The highest point in tunnel in its centre was indicated by the ringing of a bell attached to the rails.