پرانا لاہور | Old Lahore کرنل ایچ آر گولڈنگ

After describing a few details of the evolution and construction of Lahore's world-famous "Mall Road" in 1851 (when the direct road from Anarkali to Mian Mirؒ was given this name) to its present state, it might be interesting to present a written sketch of it. Coming from Mian Mirؒ, after crossing the canal, nothing could be seen on both sides of the road except barren fields, except for an old two-story bungalow on the left, which is now owned by His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala. For a few years, the Anglican Bishop of Lahore also lived in it, due to which it was called "Bishop's Bourne". Further on, on this side of the road, the Lawrence Gardens and the Lawrence and Montgomery Halls could be seen. On the other side was the Government House. Passing through Government House, we would reach "Arundel", in which R. Burney, ICS, and after him, besides official and non-official officers, other famous personalities of Lahore resided. There is a small piece of land between Kashmir Road and "Arundel Gateway"; I think some people still call it "Burney Garden". After that, we used to walk to the old Punjab Club, which is in the form of a formidable barrack-like building. Behind it is the Racket Court. This shows why Egerton Road was previously known as "Racket Court Road". At this location, Nedou's Hotel (now Avari Hotel stands, which was previously the Hilton Hotel) was established. On the other side of the road, there was no building at the place where the new building of the Masonic Lodge was constructed in 1916. Similarly, there was no building between Charing Cross and Hall Road Chowk, except for Mr. Bremer's photography studio, which was established in a beautiful annex. Opposite it, there were only three bungalows. One bungalow, where the office of the Director of Industries is currently located, was actually Mr. Dave Johnson's estate "Beauparc". And the building now owned by the Ford Motor Company is where Rudyard Kipling served his apprenticeship as a journalist at the "Civil and Military Gazette" newspaper. This building also served as the office of the Military Secretary to the Government of Punjab in the early 1880s. The building now known as Sunny View Hotel was built by Lahore's former Postmaster Mr. George as a private residence; this building was constructed slightly away from the Mall Road. In the section between Hall Road Chowk and the statue of Lawrence, only one building could be seen on the right side of the road, in which the late Jess Davidson's carriage shop remained for many years. On the left side, there were two old bungalows; one of them was famous in recent years as the "Exchange Building". It was demolished to make room for a block consisting of Sir Ganga Ram's business center. The second building remained in the possession of Messrs. Phillips & Co. for many years; it was demolished two years ago to provide space for the showroom and workshops of the Bombay Cycle and Motor Agency. Now, near the place where the statue of Lawrence stands, there was a famous square tower-like building built of ancient Punjabi bricks. This building was used for many years as the residence of a former British Army officer, who, after retiring from the army during the Sikh Wars, took a job as a clerk in the Punjab Civil Secretariat. He held this job until his death. It appears he had no friends or relatives in India, so he spent the rest of his life in seclusion. (Excerpt from Colonel H.R. Goulding's book "Old Lahore")