Recreating history from rubble at Dujana

The story of Dujana is something like reading from the unreadable rubble of the past. No effort was ever made to restore the history of the state long forgotten from the pages of recent past. It all happened in our life time. Loss of its grandeur is one of a painful sights and memories reminding of the gross neglect by everyone beginning from the State Govt. to the new residents that occupied the cultivable land left behind by Musalmans that migrated to Pakistan in the wake of partition of Punjab. It is a village that enjoyed the status of a Capital of a former princely State protected by the British India and ruled by Yusufzai Pathans that turned into a horrendous tale of ruins, crumbling structures, neglect and plunder of material. Only vestige of a few fine masonry buildings scattered here and there and graves of the departed littered with cow dung and household garbage give enough reason to feel sorry about the heritage that belonged to us in this once prosperous village. Located 28 kms south of Rohtak town and 11 from Jhajjar, its dist. Headquarters, it can be approached from a small, potholed road from the NH-352. As one closes the pinnacles of the minarets of the Red Mosque attract attention. On both sides of this moffusil road are agricultural fields. On the eastern boundary of the village a couple of old time buildings in open brick masonry and the sign boards attract attention: one of which is a high school building and the other a Primary Health Center. Both the buildings were designed and built in AD 1929 by masons of Iqtidar Ali Khan, the last Nawab of this small princely state.


Durjan Shah a wandering mendicant in territory of Dujana bestowed favor to Abdus Samad Khan to set up his Headquarters or capital of the newly founded principality. In his owner, the Chief named the place after him. Khan’s ancestors hailed from the Yusufzai territory located in in a remote region in northwestern frontier area of Hindustan. Iqtidar was the eighth in succession that had witnessed partition of Punjab and opted to migrate to Lahore. Late Seth Duli Chand of Dujana, whose forefathers were bankers to the Nawab, had once revealed to this author that he was safely conducted to his new abode but before leaving he disposed of most of his immovable items. As mark of service, the Nawab had gifted his own large size portrait in pencil and a Hukkah cast in Belgian mould glass to the father of Seth Duli Chand.

After settling at the new place, Abdul Samad Khan built a Kachehri and residential haveli and Zenana quarters following which several other buildings came up and as a few wealthy merchants settled on invitation they too built a few havelis and shops. The royal buildings were robust in style, fortified and enduring. In fact, the buildings at Dujana were attractive than those built by the Nawab of Jhajjar at Roshanara Bagh. In the last decades of the 19th century Mumtaz Ali Khan (b1864-1908d), the fifth of the Chiefs in succession, had commissioned erection of a fine mosque in front of the Kachehri. It was clad in red sand stone overlapping brick masonry and embellished with shallow carvings of floral and geometrical motifs on its fascia and the minarets. The vaulted entrance to the edifice that opened on the street with a flight of steps is still a visual treat. Dujana had at a time 30 number of small to big mosques 

built at various times built in lakhauri bricks and lime mortar. The one called Dhauli Masjid built by Hazi ji on the southwestern fringe of the village had the largest vault roof design in this region. The devastating floods of 1995 damaged it. Soon it caved in as its basement got inundated.


The other built heritage of consequence was the Khurshid Palace and an adjoining guest house –popularly known as Bhagh wali Kothi. Khurshid Ali Khan, 8th Nawab of Dujana had built in 1919 this new and spacious bungalow in traditional style bearing some colonial architectural features in the rear of the Red Mosque built by his father. It is now in ruins whereas the Bagh wali Kothi is in shambles. During the long reign of 144 years, the princely state looked after 23 villages: its territory was close to 259 square kilometers comprising Dujana and Mehrana –an adjoining village, and 21 other villages including two large viz. Bahu Jholri and Nahar, as disjointed territory in the south providing the Chief a revenue of about Rs.77 thousand in 1948. The British had allowed the Nawab to maintain a 25 cavalry and 140 infantry and had gifted four 16 pounder cannons with a Treaty to assist the British as and when needed. The cannons cast in a foundry in Bengal were lying in neglect when the pieces were got removed by L. Isa Das, formerly Collector at Rohtak and restored and installed; two of them now adore the gates of the official residence of the Governor of Haryana and the remaining at Mansarovar Park at Rohtak.


Abdus Samad Khan was a soldier of fortune and had served Peshwa Baji Rao but later shifted loyalty and joined General Lake in campaign against Scindia of Gwalior. Due to his unstinted carrier and faithful services rendered to General Lake, he was awarded the territory in Haryana to set up a vassal state under the British. The Sanad or certificate of the award was granted on 4th May, 1806 in perpetuity.

The property of the State withered in the years following partition of Punjab and accession of the territory in 1948 by Govt. of Haryana. It was allotted to the Department of Education that cared little for its maintenance. Neither the parent department nor the Department of Archaeology ever took interest in the maintenance of the heritage of the princely State of Dujana with the result that fatigue and weathering in addition to vegetation took the toll. The memorial tombs of the family of the Nawabs and a graveyard adjacent to the Kachehri are in shambles. Several inscription stones were removed including the decorative work in stone of the memorial of Hazi ji. Similar is the fate of official buildings of the Nawab at Bahu Jholri & Nahar. Now anything that remains of some notice at Dujana are the fine masonry buildings of high school and the Hospital from which a PHC is now run apart from a uniquely built large masonry well –Dargu Walah, in front of the School. Most buildings of Nawab’s time that were documented with time intervals by the author fell apart within a short period of 25 years.