Quaid-I-Azam birthplace at Wazir Mansion officially known as the Quaid-I-Azam Birthplace Museum is a former family home in the Kharadar district of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, considered to be the birthplace of the country founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
History of Quaid I Azam Birth Place
Wazir Mansion is the place/house where the parents of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah lived at the time of the birth of the supreme leader of the nation. The house where Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah spent sixteen years of his childhood is now a valuable national monument that provides inspiration to our nation.
Wazir Mansion Architecture
The two-storied Wazir Mansion is of the colonial period standing solemnly on New Neham Road (now Haji Sharif Balwani Road), off M.A. Jinnah Road (Old Bunder Road) Near Merewether Tower, Kharadar, Karachi.
It was built sometime between 1860 and 1870 with stone masonry of lime and jute mortar to suit Karachi’s fickle weather. Quaid-i-Azam’s parents Mr. Jinnah Bhai Ponja and Sakina Bano (Mithi Bai) were shifted to Karachi from their ancestral village Paneli (now in Gujrat, India) to Karachi after 1874 and got a flat on the first floor of this building.
It was an auspicious day on 25th December 1876 when the founder of our motherland ie Pakistan and the greatest Muslim leader of the 20th century was born in this house. When Mr. Quaid-i-Azam went to London for higher studies in 1892, his parents and siblings still lived in this house. Quaid-i-Azam returned to Karachi from England in 1896.
In 1898, the entire family moved to Bombay. Among the owners of this building was Mr. Gowardhan Das; it was purchased from him sometime during the 1940s by Mr. Wazir Ali Ponawala (after whom the house was named “Wazir Mansion”).
Preservation of Wazir Mansion
In 1953, the Government of Pakistan purchased this historic building from Mr. Wazir Ali and protected it under the “Ancient Monuments Act, 1904” (later the Antiquities Act, 1975) and the Pakistan Public Works Department (P.W.D.) was entrusted with the work of its renovation and conservation.
After completing the urgent and necessary repairs, the Wazir Mansion was handed over to the Department of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan on 13 August 1953 for its proper upkeep and maintenance. The Birthplace Museum was formally inaugurated by the then Governor General of Pakistan on 14 August 1953.
The Ministry of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan set up a reading room and library on its ground floor and a museum on the 1st floor where relics associated with Quaid-i-Azam were exhibited. To increase its importance, the Government of Pakistan declared Wazir’s residence a “National Monument” and renamed it as Quaid-i-Azam’s birthplace.
The 2nd Floor Gallery was opened in 1982 when Quaid’s Relics Commission collected some items belonging to Quaid-i-Azam from Mohtarma Shereen Jinnah (sister of Quaid-i-Azam).
In 2004, the Ministry of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan launched the Quaid-i-Azam Birthplace (Wazir Mansion) Evaluation, Enhancement, Conservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, Presentation and Modernization Project. with an approved cost of Rs 25.037 crore.
The project was completed in 2010. Now the museum has three floors; the ground floor with a library and reading room, two museum galleries on the 1st and 2nd floors, a custodian’s office, and two washrooms on the 3rd floor.
Wazir Mansion Museum
Museum is located on the 1st floor. It is divided into three rooms; the first room is where Quaid was born, while the second and third rooms display items belonging to the Father of the Nation, which he used as the first Governor General of Pakistan from 14 August 1947 to 11 September 1948).
They contain a cabinet chair (used by the Quaid-i-Azam in presiding over cabinet meetings), an office chair, a large number of law books, a writing chair, a dressing table, side tables, a cushioned settee, rugs, and the bed where he breathed his last.
The second gallery at Quaid i Azam Birth Place
Located on the 2nd floor. There are nine sample cases in which articles related to Quaid-i-Azam such as; manuscript of the Holy Quran, furniture, monocle in leather case, tortoiseshell glasses, Emerson radio, pipe, addresses of welcome, silver lock and key, perfume box, cigarette case, Chinese vase, Porcelain jug on display, writing pad, table a clock, a walking stick, Muslim League badges, clothes and a number of other items.
As of 5 April 2011, this monument of national importance has been transferred to the Sindh Directorate of Archeology and Museums, Ministry of Culture, Antiquities and Tourism, Government of Sindh under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Who built the Wazir Mansion?
Wazir Mansion is located in Karachi, Pakistan and it was built by a wealthy businessman named Haji Abdullah Haroon in the early 1900s. Abdullah Haroon was a prominent figure in the city and served as a member of the Bombay Legislative Council and the Central Legislative Assembly of India.
He was also a philanthropist and contributed significantly to the development of Karachi. Wazir Mansion served as Abdullah Haroon’s residence and is now a museum dedicated to the life and legacy of Pakistan’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who lived there with his family from 1944 to 1948.
Alternative names of Wazir Mansion?
Wazir Mansion is also widely known as Quaid-i-Azam Birth Place and is declared a national Monument or Museum.
