Frere Hall () is a building in
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
that dates from the early
British colonial era in
Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. Completed in 1865, Frere Hall was originally intended to serve as Karachi's town hall,
[ and now serves as an exhibition space and library.
]
Location
Frere Hall is located in central Karachi's colonial-era Saddar Town
Saddar Town (صدر ٹاؤن) lies in the Karachi District (South), Karachi District South that forms much of the historic colonial core of Karachi, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. According to the 2023 Pakistani census, Saddar Subdivision ...
, in the Civil Lines neighborhood that is home to several consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...
s. The hall is located between Abdullah Haroon Road (formerly Victoria Road) and Fatima Jinnah Road (formerly Bonus Road). It lies adjacent to the colonial-era Sind Club.[
]
History
The building was intended to serve as Karachi's town hall, and was designed by Henry Saint Clair Wilkins, who was chosen from among 12 candidates.
The building's land was purchased at a cost of 2,000 British Indian rupees,[ which had been donated by WP Andrew of the Scinde Railway, and Sir Frederick Arthur Bartholomew.][ The total cost of the Hall was about 180,000 rupees, out of which the Government contributed 10,000 rupees, while the rest was paid for by Karachi municipality.][J.W. Smyth, Gazetteer of the Province of Sind B Vol 1 Karachi District, Government Central Press, Bombay 1919. Reprinted by Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt) Ltd, Karachi Pg 70]
Work commenced in August 1863 and continued until October 1865; construction had not been entirely completed by the time of its inauguration.[
]
In 1877 at Frere Hall, the first attempt was made to form a consistent set of rules of badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
. Following the death of Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere in 1884, the building was renamed in his honour. Frere was a British administrator who was known for promoting economic development in Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
, as well as for making the Sindhi language
Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...
the language of administration in Sindh, rather than the Persian language
Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...
, which had been favoured by the Mughals.
Following the independence of Pakistan, the hall's library was renamed as Liaquat National Library. The library is one of Karachi's largest, and houses a collection of more than 70,000 books, including rare and hand-written manuscripts.
The hall's ceilings were decorated by the world-renowned Pakistani artist Sadequain in the 1980s, with one mural remaining incomplete after his death in 1987. Several other works by Sadequain are found in the hall, and form what is known as the "Galerie Sadequain".[
The hall was closed periodically between 2002 and 2011 due to numerous attempted terrorist attacks on the nearby US consulate,][ and was not reopened permanently until 2011 when the consulate was relocated to a site further away. It is now directly administered by the Karachi Municipal Corporation, and hosts several festivals.]
Architecture
Frere Hall was built in the Venetian-Gothic style that also blends elements of British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and local architecture. The building features multiple pointed arches, ribbed vaults, quatrefoil
A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
s, and flying buttresses. Carving on the walls and beautifully articulated mosaic designs are visible on multiple walls and pillars.[
The building is built primarily out of local yellow-toned limestone,][ with stone details formed from white ]oolite
Oolite or oölite () is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 millimetres; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pis ...
stone quarried from the nearby town of Bholari.[ Red and grey ]sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
is also used in the building, which was quarried from the Sindhi town of Jungshahi.[
A tall octagonal tower is located in one of the building's corner that is crowned by an iron cage.][ The roof of the hall is coated with Muntz metal.][
The hall is surrounded by two lawns originally known as "Queen's Lawn" and "King's Lawn" which after independence were renamed as ''Bagh-e-Jinnah'', or "Jinnah Gardens".][
]
Exhibition space
Frere Hall houses a number of stone busts, including that of King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, which was a gift from local Parsi
The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...
philanthropist Seth Edulji Dinshaw
Seth Edulji (or Eduljee) Dinshaw (18 May 1842 - 8 May 1914) was a Karachi-based Parsis, Parsi philanthropist during the British India, British colonial era. Dinshaw had risen from poverty, and became the largest landowner in the city.
Business ...
. Frere Hall also houses oil paintings by Sir Charles Pritchard, who was a former Commissioner of Sindh.
As of 2022, Frere Hall was open to the public, and it is also one of the most important tourist attractions in Karachi because of the building's notable architecture and its association with British rule in the Subcontinent.[
]
Gallery
File:Frere Hall Karachi. Pakistan.jpg, Frere Hall is surrounded by gardens
File:Frere_Hall_Karachi,_Pk.jpg, Architectural details of Frere Hall
File:Frere_Hall_and_Library..jpg, Frere Hall features Venetian-Gothic architectural elements
File:Balcony Art - Frere Hall.jpg, The hall's balconies feature Venetian-Gothic motifs
File:Stairs Of Frere Hall, Karachi.jpg, Staircases at the building are made of stone
File:Frere Hall right after sunset under stars.jpg, Frere Hall at sunset.
File:Frere Hall and surrounding gardens 1.jpg, Frere Hall Karachi.View from west side of Garden
Image:Frere Hall, Sindh, c1860.jpg, Frere Hall, Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, 1860s
See also
* List of cultural heritage sites in Sindh
References
External links
Dawn (newspaper) "Frere Hall stands in need of repairs"
{{Karachi topics
Buildings and structures in Karachi
Heritage sites in Karachi
British colonial architecture in Pakistan
Venetian Gothic architecture