SACRED SPACES AS CAMPAIGN OF RESISTANCE: RELIGIOUS HARMONY AMONG HINDUS, MUSLIMS AND SIKHS AND THE POLITICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN COLONIAL LAHORE

Abstract

The following research added to the body of knowledge on the colonial city of Lahore by examining the Multi-religious importance of Sufis shrines. With reference to the vernacular text Tehqeeqat-i-Chishti (1867) authored by Noor Ahmad Chishti, the study indicates that these places of worship acted as a public platform where pluralistic customs were upheld between the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. The analysis is framed within a qualitative, historiographical paradigm that is sensitive to the ideas of Subaltern Studies and post-colonial thought in regards to conceptualising Chishti text as the form of subaltern dispensation related to lived experiences, ritual behaviour and city memories that are generally lacking in colonial record. In that spirit, shrines are identified as counter-hegemonic sites, which were in contention with the British colonial binary opposition system, sacred versus profane, modern versus traditional, and coloniser versus colonised. Empirical evidence shows that exposures in shrines facilitated inter-religious engagement in elements like Urs, Basant and langar hence creating informal opposition, particularly against women, faqirs, and low castes. Such locations exemplified a cross-cultural flow that cut into the day-to-day religion practice and upset the spatial orders dictated by the colonial power and dogma. The agency behind the routine performances of religion advances the British community to enrich the decolonial historiography and understand the significance of exploring plural and vernacular voices in writing a more multicultural history or decolonial urban life.