Pilgrims and Shrines in the Colonial Age
The chapter discusses the ways in which colonial rule transformed the circumstances of pilgrimage for Lahore’s residents both as a result of improvements in communication and the perceived health and security threats from a British perspective. There is examination of pilgrimage within the Punjab, pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Islam and the increased pilgrimage to the leading Sufi Shrine within the city of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh. The chapter makes use of Hajj travelogues of Lahori residents such as Maulvi Feroze ud-Din who travelled to Mecca and Medina. It also uncovers the role of Thomas Cook and the Pilgrimage to Mecca during 1886-93 and how the Company’s withdrawal from the Indian pilgrim traffic opened the way for rival specialist shipping companies.