Nasreddin Murat-Khan
Russian-born Pakistani architect (1904–1970)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nasreddin Murat-Khan[a] TI (1904 – 15 October 1970) was a Russian-born Pakistani architect and civil engineer. He is renowned for designing the iconic national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan.[1][2] He was also the architect of the Gaddafi Stadium and several other notable buildings and structures in Pakistan.
31°35′9″N 74°19′58″E
Architecture
Nasreddin Murat-Khan | |
|---|---|
| Насреддин Муратханов (Russian) نصر الدین مراد خان (Urdu) Nasruddin Muratxan (Kumyk) | |
Murat-Khan in 1962 | |
| Born | 1904 |
| Died | 15 October 1970 (aged 65–66) |
Resting place | New Elahi Park, Misri Shah Cemetery, Lahore 31°35′9″N 74°19′58″E |
| Education | Civil engineering Architecture |
| Notable work | Minar-e-Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium |
| Spouse |
Hamide Akmut (m. 1944–1970) |
| Children | Pari Murat-Khan, Zeynab Ozbek, Maryam Murat-Khan, Mesme Tomason, Meral Murat-Khan (daughters) |
| Awards | .gif){kind=small} Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (1963) |
Life
Early life
Murat-Khan was born in 1904 to a Kumyk Muslim family, in the town of Buynaksk[3] in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan located in the Russian Empire (modern-day Russian Federation).[4] In 1930, he obtained his degree of civil engineering from the Institute of Architects, Town Planners and Civil Engineers at Leningrad State University (now the Saint-Petersburg State University).[5][6] Later, he also obtained degrees of architecture and town planning from the same university.[7]
Exile
Murat-Khan was keen to free the Muslim Caucasus region from Soviet control.[8] As a result, he had to flee from Dagestan— in fear of his life—to Germany where he landed sometime in 1944.[9] He stayed as a refugee in one of the camps established by the UNRRA in Berlin, later moving to Mittenwald where[10] he married Hamide Akmut, a Turkish refugee, in 1946.[11] After the six-year-long exile in West Germany, Murat-Khan migrated with his family to Pakistan, in 1950.[12]
Death
Professional career
In 1930, Nasreddin held a variety of posts in Dagestan and in Leningrad.[15] He was arrested during the "Engineers' Purges" undertaken by Stalin, but was re-instated in February 1940 as Chief Engineer and Chief Architect of the Pyatigorsk branch of the North Caucasian Project Trust.[16] He later served as Chief Engineer and Director of the North Caucasian Project Trust in Woroschilowsk, Ukraine, till August 1942.[17] Murat-Khan planned and designed many buildings of the Soviet Union, which includes a Lenin Memorial.[18] In 1950, after his migration to Pakistan, he was hired as Executive Engineer for PWD at Wah Ordinance Factory. He then was reassigned in 1951 as Special Architect, B&R Deptt., PWD, where he designed the buildings of the Nishtar Hospital and the Nishtar Medical College.[19] In addition, he also prepared the designs of the Mansehra Mental Hospital, the Sahala Police Training College, the Sinclair Hall in Forman Christian College,[20] the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore (completed in 1959 and initially called the Lahore Stadium) and the Textile College in Faisalabad among many other buildings, townships, residences and other structures.[21]
Minar-e-Pakistan
Murat-Khan's most notable and memorable work is his design of the Minar-e-Pakistan monument, located at Minto Park (now Iqbal Park) in the walled city of Lahore.[22][23] The foundation stone of Minar-e-Pakistan was laid at Minto Park on 23 March 1960. In 1963, President Ayub Khan reportedly summoned Murat-Khan to his office and took out a fountain pen from his pocket, placed it upright on his desk and instructed Murat-Khan to "build me a monument like this."[24]
Murat-Khan was very keen on the supervision of the construction and the design.[25][26] He frequently visited the site to inspect building material, construction quality.[27] He did not take his prescribed fee of Rs. 250,000 and instead donated the amount to the fund created for financing the construction of the Minar-e-Pakistan.[28] The construction of the tower took eight years and by 31 October 1968, the minar was completed at a cost of Rs. 7.5 million.[24][29]
Awards
In recognition of Murat-Khan's services, the then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan, conferred on him the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) in 1963.[5][30][31]
Views and legacy
Murat-Khan was of the view that each local body should have a chief architect of its own.[32] He was also a proponent of Islamic architecture, advocating the retention of a national character in Pakistani architecture.[5]
Gallery
- Murat-Khan's architectural contributions
Minar-e-Pakistan at night
Sinclair Hall in Forman Christian College, Lahore
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Buildings of Nishtar Medical College, Multan
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See also
Notes
- Kumyk: Nasruddin Muratxan; Ottoman Turkish: نصر الدین مراد خان ِALA-LC: Naṣru l-dîn Murâd-ḫân; Turkish: Nasreddin Murat-han IPA: [nasɾedˈdin muˈɾathan]; Russian: Насреддин Муратханов ALA-LC: Nasreddin Muratkhanov IPA: [nəsrʲɪˈdʲin mʊrɐtˈxanəf]; Urdu: نصر الدین مراد خان ِALA-LC: Naṣru l-dīn Murād Ḵẖān IPA: [nəsrʊd̪ˈd̪iːn mʊˈrɑːt̪xɑːn]
