Peshawar losing its lustre

FRONTIER POST

Once the capital of great land of Gandhara, Peshawar was known as 'city of artisans' because of its geographical importance and housing various arts and artisans, but now it is fast losing its glory as majority of arts for which the city was famous are either dying or vanished due to various reasons. The word 'Peshawar' is derived from the word 'Peh Shawar' meaning 'City of artisans or skilled men' because the city provided livelihood to the artisans of different arts. In olden times, professionals from different countries used to visit Peshawar - the gateway to South Asia and present their products at 'Melas' (exhibitions), a regular feature of the city at that time.

Arts and artisans were in so abundance in Peshawar that majority of the bazaars of the ancient city are named after different skills like Misgran (copper Bazaar), Reti bazaar (Ironsmith), Bazgaran (Steel utensils), Bazaar-e-Kalan, Sarafa Bazaar (Goldsmith), Battair Bazan (Birds market) etc. The historic Qissa Khawani bazaar, the commercial hub of the city, was not only famous for story-telling to the 'Qehwa' (green tea) sipping travellers, who arrived from different regions for trade, but also for availability of all kind of handmade daily use utensils.

The visit of almost every foreigner, even the dignitary, to the' Peshawar Pottery' in Shah Wali Qatal area was part of their itinerary to Peshawar for purchasing brilliantly tinted decoration pieces of baked special white clay. But a drop in their visits to the region in the wake of September 11 incident in the US ensued in closure of Peshawar pottery, thus resulting in death of 150-year old art passing through three generations. Gone are the days when people, while passing through the historic Misgaran bazaar, heard rhythmical hammering strokes because of copper engraving, an ancient art of decorating copper or brass utensils. The centuries old Bazaar-e-Misgran (Coppersmith Bazaar) no more looks like a market of copper and brass merchants as most of the craftsmen have switched over to other businesses due to falling sales. "The art of copper engraving is vanishing rapidly due to change in people's lifestyle," observed Khawaja Safar Ali, an engraver who inherited the profession from his forefathers . "Our family has been engaged in copper engraving profession for the last four generations. But my children are reluctant to carry on with this art due to economic hardships in the business," said Khawaja Safar Ali Safar, the younger brother of Khawaja Akhtar Ali, the winner of civil Awards in 1980 and 1986 for his unique work in copper engraving. About causes of plummeting business, Khawaja Safar Ali said people had started avoiding use of copper pans due to high price. Earlier, people used to give copper crockery to their daughters in dowry, but now they have stopped buying this expensive metal. "Another reason behind the change in choice of people is that copper pots are now considered as outdated and old-fashioned," he opined.