The Astana (tomb) of Syed Mir Muhammad is located in Khanqah settlement, one of eight historic settlements in the town of Khaplu. Situated in the northern Pakistan region of Baltistan, Khaplu characterizes the particularly rich and diverse cultural and architectural heritage of the region.

Craftsmen and artisans from Kashmir and other parts of South Asia originally settled Khanqah in the 14th century. These settlers came with the early preachers of Islam, who built the initial mosques and other religious buildings in Baltistan. Home to 40 families, Khanqah has a well-defined community but is subject to the pressures of modernity. Changing lifestyles and loss of social cohesion have led to a decline in the popularity of compact villages and a demand for more space and modern services, with the result that historic structures and surrounding farmlands are facing increasing development pressure.

In various areas of Baltistan, old wooden mosques and religious buildings are being torn down and replaced with unsightly, modern, concrete structures. This demolition of historic buildings reflects the lack of awareness of the enormous wealth of heritage of the region, while the replacement of ancient structures with modern buildings, using foreign materials, disregards the accumulated traditional knowledge of the community.

No heritage legislation or regulations exist in Pakistan to protect ancient structures such as astana, and no guidelines exist for their maintenance or restoration.

Astana are among the most fascinating structures in Baltistan. They are places of eternal rest for saintly persons so are held in reverence and visited frequently by the public.

Built around 300 years ago by Syed Mir Muhammad’s descendants, the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad is considered one of the finest in the area. Like most astana in Baltistan it is a square building topped with a conical tower. The astana has an inner square chamber enclosed by jallie (carved wooden lattice-work screens) in the Kashmiri style, with geometrically-shaped perforations.

In 1999 when the technical study of the astana was carried out, the building was in an advanced state of deterioration. The roof of the tower was in a very dilapidated state as a result of the erosion of the top layers of tamped earth (mud thatch) and the circular roof beams were exposed to the weather. Because of this there was much decay of the timber and jallie work and some roof beams were missing. The structure was fragile and out of alignment, leaning 30 centimeters to the southwest.

The Aga Khan Cultural Service of Pakistan (AKCSP), the operating arm of the Historic Cities Support Programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is an organization which promotes cultural development and heritage conservation. One of the activities of AKCSP is the upgrading of community buildings, which the AKCSP undertakes in order to foster community pride in customary ways of life, thereby encouraging traditional village clusters and reducing pressure on farmlands. In such projects the AKCSP encourages use of traditional building materials so as to promote customary building techniques and skills, such as wood craftsmanship, which have been dying out in the region. The AKCSP believe that revival of ancient skills in Baltisan would both strengthen community pride and generate incomes.

Due to its significance, the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad was one of three sites to be selected by the AKCSP in the late 1990s as pilot demonstration projects to preserve architectural heritage in Baltistan. The restoration of the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad was the result of a successful collaboration between the AKCSP, two international consultants and the Khanqah community. The AKCSP and consultants provided the planning skills and expertise while the community provided labor and materials.

The aim of the project was to restore the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad to its original condition. In the process the structure was to be realigned and made stable and the decorative and historical elements of the building repaired and reinstated.

‘Minimum intervention and maximum retention’ was the team’s motto throughout the project. In keeping with this motto, structural changes were to be minimized while original features maintained. Also,  salvaged and indigenous materials were to be used wherever possible.

Given its fragile and skewed condition, two options for restoring the building were considered. The first option was to dismantle the entire structure piece by piece and then rebuild it; the second option was to nudge the structure back into proper alignment. In the case of the first option, it was feared that the pieces may not fit together again or that some pieces would be damaged during the dismantling process, thus increasing the amount of intervention required. It was decided, therefore, to choose the second option and pull the structure back into place as a whole unit. Such an approach was considered feasible as no iron nails were used in the structure. Rather, the wooden pegs allowed flexibility and the slotted wooden pieces could move as one unit.

Another major decision was over whether or not to construct a new roof for the tower, as much of the original roof was missing. The extent of deterioration of the tower roof meant that knowledge of the original roof design was limited so a new roof might lack authenticity. After extensive discussions with artisans and elder members of the community and thorough research of similar buildings in the region, a decision was made to build a new roof designed on the basis of other astana tower roofs.

The restoration project was expected to take twelve months to complete, but was completed in just six months.

The restoration approach was to minimize intervention and maximize the integrity of the original structure. Therefore few changes were made to the structure, other than to increase the strength and durability of the building.

The first step in the restoration process was to document the entire structure and number all the timber pieces. As a precautionary measure, the structure was supported with wooden posts. The tower was dismantled in units to ensure the sequence of the tower details would not be disturbed. The dismantling process included removing the remaining mud thatch from the tower roof. By removing the thatch and soil, leaving only the wooden doweled frame of the tower, most of the load was taken of the structure, enabling it to be realigned more easily and safely. Realignment was done by pulling tightened wire ropes through turnbuckles. Plumb bobs were fixed to record the leaning.

During the restoration process it was discovered that the building did not have a firm foundation. The existing wooden base was decayed and as a result the structure was sinking. In order to add to the strength and durability of the building a decision was made to provide a stone foundation. Stone slabs were laid beneath the existing wooden base which distributed the load and prevented the structure from sinking further. These slabs also provided protection for the structure against water seeping up from the ground.

The filling of the cribbage walls was not firmly packed and as a result rats had been able to make holes in the structure. In the repair of the cribbage walls, the filling was removed and the walls refilled with soil, boulders and straw. They were then stabilized with cement mortar and a plaster finish consisting of a mix of cement, soil and straw in a ratio of 1:10:2.5.

Because the project aimed to revive and develop traditional skills and improve the capacity of the community to successfully manage their cultural heritage, local materials were used wherever possible and artisans were trained in customary skills. In repairing the broken jallie, for example, artisans used salvaged wood. Likewise, the five replacement jallie were carved by local artisans using traditional methods and materials.

The planks of the inner roof were treated with linseed oil to preserve the wood and protect against termites. The roof was waterproofed using the traditional method of covering the roof with birch bark over a layer of millet straw, which was then covered again with mud and compacted in the traditional way, by foot. Walnut rind was applied to the new tower roof to help it blend in with the remaining elements of the Astana.

Mobilizing resources and people
The astana is co-owned by the Sadaat family, comprising seven households in the community, and by followers of Syed Mir Muhammad. Once mobilized by the AKCSP, community members became enthusiastic about the restoration process and donated materials as well as their labor, collecting and transporting local materials to the site.

By assisting in the restoration of the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad and encouraging restoration rather than demolition and replacement, the AKCSP facilitated a process in which the Khanqah community learned about its wealth of heritage and traditional knowledge, thus fostering a sense of pride in it.

Lessons learned
The project demonstrated to community members that historic structures have heritage value and that their preservation can have positive social and economic impacts. A key lesson learned is that success is more likely when the community has tangible benefits from the project (useful skills) as well as intangible benefits (community pride). Furthermore, this project demonstrates that when heritage preservation is integrated with development policy, such preservation efforts have a greater chance of being successful in the long term.

Due to community involvement and subsequent community-driven heritage conservation efforts, the project is likely to be sustainable. Community pride in the Astana Syed Mir Muhammad will encourage upkeep of the structure while the use of local materials and the development of local artisan skills will ensure that the structure can be affordably maintained.

The restoration managers encouraged community participation in the project, for example by seeking out and incorporating advice from community elders regarding the reconstruction of the tower roof.  Such involvement of the community in major decisions enhanced the restoration of the astana and has established a newfound pride within the community in their heritage, triggering a community-oriented process in Khaplu to upgrade and improve historic buildings surrounding traditional settlements. The ‘Khaplu Town Management and Development Society’ was created to represent community consensus and contribute to decisions regarding future projects and developments.

In addition to this new pride in heritage, the dying craftsmanship of woodwork, both in carvings and jallie, has been revived. A woodcraft workshop has been established to train new apprentices which not only helps to breathe life into the handicraft tradition but also increases the employment prospects of local people, enabling them to generate incomes.

The restoration of the Astana of Syed Mir Muhammad is a successful example of heritage conservation that promotes cultural and economic development. It serves as an example to other towns of Baltistan and other regions of Pakistan.

Further to this restoration the local community has requested assistance from AKCSP to restore the large mosque adjacent to the astana, the Khaplu Khanqah, in keeping with its original character. Prior to the repair of the Astana Syed Mir Mohammad, the community had planned to renovate the Khaplu Khanqah using modern materials, but the example of the astana has shown them the value of using traditional materials and methods.

This project is a significant milestone in nurturing local institutional development, demonstrating rehabilitation benefits, increasing sense of ownership for significant architectural heritage and creating a resource base for continued and self-reliant management of cultural heritage.