{"id":3858,"date":"2020-10-04T09:54:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-04T04:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?p=3858"},"modified":"2020-10-04T09:54:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-04T04:24:07","slug":"the-heirlooms-of-zarina-begum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/the-heirlooms-of-zarina-begum\/","title":{"rendered":"The heirlooms of Zarina Begum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY SABA SHAHID
Lahore, Pakistan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My maternal grandmother, my Nani, Zarina Abid, was born in 1934 with a ‘silver spoon’ as they say. Her Father Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas was a successful businessman, who expanded his eponymous distribution company (Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas & Sons) towards the middle of the British Raj. In around 1898, he and his father, Haji Sheikh Muhammad Din had established a small crockery business in Lahore\u2019s Dabbi Bazaar but went on to associate with other multinational companies. They soon developed a distribution network of everyday household items across several cities in the Punjab and Kashmir region, working closely with British companies such as the Imperial Tobacco Company, Woodwards & Thompson, Lever Brothers Ltd. and Lipton Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As time passed, S.M. Ilyas proved to be one of the few Muslim business owners who managed to survive the prolonged economic crisis during the Independence Movement, working with a variety of wholesale producers in items ranging from cigarettes, soaps and toiletries to cereals, cements and fertilizers. As S.M. Ilyas & Sons expanded, the company began to be recognised by public officials as well. For instance, the Commissioner Lahore Division presented him with the certificate, dated 5 December 1938, which reads: \u201cDISTRICT DARBARI CERTIFICATE This certificate is awarded to S.M. Ilyas & Sons in recognition of meritorious public service.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sheikh Muhammad Din (L) and Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas (R) (photographs courtesy Ahmad Hasnain)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

His success at the time could largely be attributed to the fact that he continued the distribution of goods even when most businesses wouldn\u2019t or couldn\u2019t, particularly when the ethno-religious riots erupted within the city as news of an imminent Partition drew close. More than often, his team would collect the company\u2019s stocks at great peril from deserted railway stations to ensure an uninterrupted supply to customers.[1]<\/a>   His company kept growing amidst the religious tensions in the Walled City, where S.M. Ilyas along with his wife and eleven children lived in a large haveli in Dabbi Bazaar. My Mother often recalls my Nani telling her of the stress and fear that haunted every girl raised during Partition, regardless of ethnicity, religion or income status. She and her sisters were often exhorted to jump from the bannisters that spiralled the courtyard without thinking twice, in case rioters were to barge into the haveli. Honour would come before life at any cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the new nation of Pakistan was created and soon after, the country\u2019s economy began to grow. Given an increasing demand for all kinds of products, S.M. Ilyas\u2019s business flourished. In due course, he would move the family from the Old Walled City into a landmark house with sprawling lawns in the New Muslim Town. The building was unfortunately demolished after his death and a full-fledged residential colony, including commercial center was established in his name on the vast land area released by the original house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my grandmother, Zarina, S.M Ilyas\u2019s youngest child, got married in 1952, she moved away to Rawalpindi but would always recall the fond memories of her large family and treasured the gifts she took from home. In the wake of unforeseen events, perhaps explained only by divine destiny, she returned to Lahore a year before she died in 2001, and lived in a small house on Ilyas Street in Ilyas Colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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