Just as neglected as other pearls
Ever heard of the biggest spice market in Asia? It is right here in Lahore. As you reach Delhi Gate, the aroma of thousands of spices gives you the true taste of life. This is the Akbari Mandi, the spice market, which is the biggest market in Asia with more than five hundred spice shops.
The market is named after the great Mughal Emperor Akbar who was third in line of Mughal Empire. Akbar came to Lahore in the 1600s, when he rebuilt the Lahore Fort with burnt bricks and made thirteen entrances to the city. He established this market near the Delhi Gate, which extended to the Akbari Gate of the Walled City of Lahore. The purpose of having the market outside the gate was to ease the traders and keep them away from the city, the reason I will explain later. Presently, the Akbari Mandi is seen outside Delhi Gate, near Shahi Hamam and from the narrow streets it goes on till the Akbari Gate. Aging to Akbar’s period this market holds historic importance.
You will have an exceptionally colourful vista as you traverse the streets of Akbari Mandi. The stacked up spices, herbs and grains look like jewels in the bright sunshine. The market is an assortment house of Asian grains, spices and rice. Some shops deal in wholesale where as others also provide these for household kitchen use. All exceptional Asian spices and herbs available will fill up the pantry of an Asian cooking enthusiast very quickly. Different types of Bay Leaves, Cardamom, Cassia, Cinnamon, Cloves, Curry leaves, Five Spice Powder, Garam Masala, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Kalonji, Ajwain , yellow mustard, black pepper, Sesame , Laksa Leaves, red pepper, Coriander, Lemongrass, Cumin, Mace, Mitsuba, Panch Phoron, Pippali, Radhuni, Rice Paddy Herb, Saffron, Pandan Leaf , Star Anise, Nutmeg ,Turmeric , Henna, and many more are piled in abundance. Trust me it was hard for me to remember all these names! I might be missing many in my list. You think of anything and it is there. It is an amazing view when you find twenty one types of rice in one shop. Most of the material is traded from here to different parts of Asia. You will also find different herbs inside this market.
Now let’s come to another side of the story. This is the place where the British East India Company rooted from. The trade of spices and grains! The sub-continent in those times was known for the aromatic spices and its variety of grains. The British requested the emperor Akbar for trading the spices from here to different parts of Britain. The sharp courtiers of Akbar’s court declined the offer and thought to trade it themselves with different countries. The British were trying hard to enter the great empire built by the Mughals but they achieved the goal in 1615 when the company acquired its first territory in Bombay and in Lahore this was the place which started as the trading point of spices being a part of the Sub continent.
The British East India Company was recognised by Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, to rival the Dutch in spice trade with South and Southeast Asia. It focused its activities on India after the Amboyna massacre in 1623. The company’s monopoly on tea trade with the colonies was one of the key events that led to the American Revolution. The company’s opium smuggling to China provoked the Opium Wars. By 1750, the Mughal Empire had been weakened by a series of wars, and was breaking up into smaller states. The Company took this as an opportunity to extend its territory in India. In 1757, the Nawab of Bengal captured the Company’s settlement at Calcutta. The Company had refused to stop strengthening its walls against a possible attack by the French. The Company recaptured the settlement at the Battle of Plassey, and took control of the whole of Bengal, India’s richest province.
From then on, the East India Company became more of a ruling power than a trading company in India. While the Company grew richer on the profits of its trade, land taxes shot up, and millions of Indians died in terrible famines. Over the following two decades, millions more would be dispossessed of their land, and have their local industries crippled by the actions of the Company. The British government became concerned about the Company’s ability to govern its territories and in 1783 it decided to make Calcutta the centre of government under a new Governor-General. The British government took away the Company’s monopoly in 1813, and after 1834 it worked as the government’s agency until the 1857 India Mutiny when the Colonial Office took full control. The East India Company went out of existence in 1873.
This is how the spice market is marked as an important point in the history of the subcontinent, and it is very much here is Lahore, the largest cultural hub of the world. At present the conditions of the market are not much appreciable for tourists but it can be improved. There are no history boards or signages in the market. I wonder why the government did not focus on such a piece of heritage. The market should be turned into a proper tourist site as in France, Isfahan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Germany and England. These countries take tourism as the strongest pillar for generating the economy but unfortunately it is not a trend in Pakistan. During my tour inside the spice market I spoke to many shopkeepers who also helped me in knowing the names of the spices and herbs. All were of the view that the government did not pay any attention in uplifting the area. Two important issues are of the traffic management and cleanliness. If these are resolved it is no doubt a tourist spot for millions.
