A maharaja, a tawaif, and an area with a reputation: The story of Heera Mandi

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali debuted on Netflix with his eight-episode drama series 'Heeramandi', based on the life and times of the courtesans of the walled city of Lahore before the Partition. While the series is a period drama based in the 1920s, when the lavish lanes of Heera Mandi were going through a difficult phase, the locality has a fascinating history written in royalty through the times of the Mughals to the Sikh empire.

Long before the Sikhs led by Maharaja Ranjit Singh arrived in Lahore at the end of the 18th century, Heera Mandi was the centre of culture, arts, and trade besides its association with the courtesans and performers who entertained the elite of society. During the time of the Mughals, Heera Mandi was called Shahi Mohallah.

There are different versions of how the locality got its current name. While some accounts state that it got its name due to the diamond (hira) trade in the area during the Mughals, it was under the Sikh empire that the locality was christened Heera Mandi.

When the Sikhs conquered Lahore in 1799 under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the empire's capital was Gujranwala. Both Lahore and Gujranwala are now in Pakistan.

While there were strategic reasons why Maharaja Ranjit Singh shifted his capital to Lahore, he stayed and operated from the area till his death, partly because of his love for a courtesan -- Moran Sarkar.

Here's the story of Heera Mandi, how it evolved under the rule of the Sikh Maharaja and how it got its current name.

THE SHAHI MOHALLAH OF MUGHALS

Heera Mandi's history goes back to the 17th Century. It was first called the 'Shahi Mohallah' or royal neighbourhood, and visited by princes and nobles.

During the Mughal period, women from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were brought to Heera Mandi to entertain the royal court.

These women were trained in various arts, including classical kathak, mujra, thumri, ghazal, and dadra, and became tawaifs upon mastering classical dance and singing.

Tawaifs were highly skilled in music, dance, and other arts and were influential, refined and valued. They were financially independent and possessed agency over their lives and choices.

Though prostitution is forbidden in Islam, Shahi Mohallah continued to thrive under the patronage of Mughal rulers. Lahore was among the three power centres under the Mughal rule, the other two being Delhi and Agra. Its opulence shone bright, and it was reflected in Shahi Mohallah as well.

The area reached its financial and cultural heights during the Mughal rule. But during the early 18th century, after the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire started to wane. After Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Afghan forces entered Lahore on January 12, 1748, Shahi Mohallah was reduced to a hub of prostitution. The situation remained the same until Maharaja Ranjit Singh's conquest of Lahore in 1799.

MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH AND HIS LOVE FOR MORAN

Ranjit Singh, the young chieftain of Shukerchakias, a Sikh group, seized Lahore at the age of 17 and proclaimed himself the Maharaja of Punjab in 1801. While the Maharaja was known for his military prowess, he was also a great lover of beauty and art. Shahi Mohallah attracted his attention.

It was in March 1802, a few days before Holi, that Ranjit Singh came to know about Moran Sarkar, a 12-year-old Muslim dancer from Shahi Mohallah, considered a "perfect model of beauty" and well-versed in the arts of singing and dancing. The Maharaja sent word to her guardians living in the area of courtesans that he would visit them in the evening.

In the evening, a thin, tall girl, dressed in a tight churidar pajama and a long white shirt received Ranjit Singh. Then she offered him a betel leaf containing some grains of saffron.

Accompanied by six musicians on instruments, Moran began singing and dancing for Ranjit Singh. Her steps in dancing, the grace, the rhythm, her slow and steady movements of hands, arms, head, body and feet were mesmerising.

The 21-year-old Maharaja was smitten.

In 'History Of The Sikhs, Vol. V The Sikh Lion of Lahore', author Hari Ram Gupta mentions how Ranjit Singh started spending most of his time in the "house of his beloved Moran".

"He spent nights in the house of his beloved Moran, the dancing girl. His meals and other things were supplied to him there. During his morning exercise, Moran was seated on the same horse and off he went riding with her. No followers were permitted to accompany him. He generally had a full gallop in the level plain between the fort and the river. Ranjit Singh must have enjoyed the greatest glee when Moran feared a fall and cried to the utmost pleasure of the rider," notes Gupta, citing the Persian language text Ibrat Namah written by the contemporary Ali-ud-din.

However, their proximity infuriated the Maharaja's elite and religious companions, who scoffed at Moran's social standing and religion.

But Ranjit Singh's love for Moran knew no bounds. The Maharaja married her and elevated her from being just a royal concubine.

Shortly after, he was summoned to Amritsar before the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikh faith. The Maharaja obeyed. Akali Phula Singh denounced him in the open assembly for violating the social rules of the Khalsa.

"The Maharaja listened to his accusation in a spirit of humility, and stood penitent before the congregation. He begged forgiveness with folded hands again and again. Phula Singh declared that he must be given one hundred lashes on his bare back before the Panth. The Maharaja at once took off his shirt. He was tied to the trunk of a tamarind tree which stood in a wing of the Akal Takht with his hands bound on his back," notes Hari Ram Gupta.

However, the audience could not see their beloved Maharaja go through the punishment and intensely burst into tears. The Akalis accepted the public sentiment and the Maharaja was let go with just one leash on his back.

Ranjit Singh never asked Moran to convert to Sikhism. He also built a mosque in her honour at Pappar Mandi, near Shahi Mohallah, where Moran lived and ran her own court.

Gold and silver coins were struck in her name. She was referred to as 'Moran Sarkar' in these coins.

HOW LAHORE'S SHAHI MOHALLAH BECAME HEERA MANDI

Ranjit Singh's conquest of Lahore revived the cultural and social status of Shahi Mohallah.

Later, the Maharaja's Prime Minister, Hira Singh Dogra, envisioned using Shahi Mohallah as an economic hub, a food market, situated in the heart of Lahore.

The grain market that Hira Singh Dogra established came to be known as 'Hira Singh di Mandi' (Hira Singh's market), and gradually, as 'Hira Mandi'. However, many believed that the name resonated with the women of the place, in admiration of their unparalleled beauty.

However, after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British colonisation of Punjab in 1849, the cultural aspects of traditional dance performances in Heera Mandi came to an end.

The British, influenced by Victorian-era conservatism, made no distinction between cultured tawaifs (courtesans) and common prostitutes, dubbing both as fallen women. This, in turn, led to the elimination of the dance aspect from the livelihoods of the courtesans, confining them to sex work under a cloak of secrecy instead.

Despite these challenges, Heera Mandi continued to produce some of the most famous stars of Pakistani cinema, with entertainers such as Noor Jahan, Mumtaz Shanti, and Khurshid Begum all hailing from the now infamous neighbourhood.

Today, Heera Mandi is a husk of what it used to be. While in the daytime it operates like a normal market, in the nighttime, it turns into a red-light district that sees women indulging in the flesh trade. Rare romantic stories might still be emerging from those dark bylanes of Heera Mandi, but none that matches the tale of a maharajah's love for a courtesan that made him marry her.