Love and social bonds prosper at four walled localities in Ahmedgarh which have been preserved to date.
Situated on four sides of Gandhi Chowk, connecting the outer areas with eight roads, the localities were built by the then nawab of Malerkotla, Ahmed Ali Khan.
Known by names of owners of major parts of the localities, they are each protected by two huge wooden gates even after 125 years of their establishment.
However, the outer gates enclosing the whole residential areas and named after villages — Jand Darwaja, Chhanna Wala Darwarja, Dhulkot Darwaja and Chhapar Darwaja — have almost lost their existence, and their names have nearly been forgotten.
The town’s elderly residents say it was established by nawab Ahmed Ali Khan in 1905 and prosperous families from nearby villages were persuaded to shift to Ahmedgarh. The walled residential localities were established with shared markets and a central community well in the middle of Gandhi Chowk. As most of the residents preached Hinduism, the space was earmarked for temples, including Durga Mata Mandir, Geeta Bhawan and Sat Narayan Mandir.
Starting from Chaudhary Bali Ram Mohalla in the East, Ashok Puri, Chaudhari Biraj Lal Ahata and Dharam Dev Mohalla were established clockwise with Biraj Lal Ahata later divided using an internal partition.
It is planned in a way that all the walled localities had shops catering to the needs to locals and those coming from neighbouring villages for marketing. Similarly, small shops were constructed along the roundabout on all four sides.
Ramesh Chand Ghaie, an octogenarian social activist, said that after establishing the market town, Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan exchanged land with a Dhulkot landlord family for setting up of the area’s first railway station.
Purshotam Lal Sharma, a former councillor, expressed appreciation for the walled localities, which he said promoted love and culture, strengthened social bonding among families and provided protection from outsiders.
“As outsiders were allowed to enter only after screening, women and children used to move freely. Sharing eatables and other household goods was a common practice,” said Sharma, claiming families which once lived here and have now shifted to other places are still in touch with each other.