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Nasreddin Murat-Khan
Nasreddin Murat-Khan[a] TI (1904 – 15 October 1970) was a Russian-born Pakistani architect and civil engineer. He is renowned for designing the iconic national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan.[1][2][3] He was also the architect of the Gaddafi Stadium and several other notable buildings and structures. LifeEarly lifeMurat-Khan was born in 1904 to a Kumyk Muslim family, in the town of Buynaksk[4] in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan located in the Russian Empire (modern-day Russian Federation).[5][6] In 1930, he obtained his degree of civil engineering from the Institute of Architects, Town Planners and Civil Engineers at Leningrad State University (now the Saint-Petersburg State University).[7][8] Later, he also obtained degrees of architecture and town planning from the same university.[9] ExileMurat-Khan was keen to free the Muslim Caucasus region from Soviet control.[10] As a result, he had to flee from Dagestan— in fear of his life—to Germany where he landed sometime in 1944.[11] He stayed as a refugee in one of the camps established by the UNRRA in Berlin, later moving to Mittenwald where[12] he married Hamida Akmut, a Turkish refugee, in 1946.[13] PakistanAfter the six-year-long exile in West Germany, Murat-Khan migrated with his family to Pakistan, in 1950.[14] DeathMurat-Khan died of a heart attack on 15 October 1970.[15][16] Professional careerIn 1930, Nasreddin held a variety of posts in Dagestan and in Leningrad.[17] He was arrested during the "Engineers' Purges" undertaken by Stalin, but was re-instated in February 1940 as Chief Engineer and Chief Architect of the Pyatigorsk branch of the North Caucasian Project Trust.[18] He later served as Chief Engineer and Director of the North Caucasian Project Trust in Woroschilowsk, Ukraine, till August 1942.[19] Murat-Khan planned and designed many buildings of the Soviet Union, which includes a Lenin Memorial.[20] In 1950, after his migration to Pakistan, he was hired as Executive Engineer for PWD at Wah Ordinance Factory. He then was reassigned in 1951 as Special Architect, B&R Deptt., PWD, where he designed the buildings of the Nishtar Hospital and the Nishtar Medical College.[21] In addition, he also prepared the designs of the Mansehra Mental Hospital, the Sahala Police Training College, the Sinclair Hall in Forman Christian College,[22][23] the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore (completed in 1959 and initially called the Lahore Stadium) and the Textile College in Faisalabad among many other buildings, townships, residences and other structures.[24] Minar-e-Pakistan Murat-Khan's most notable and memorable work is his design of the Minar-e-Pakistan monument, located at Minto Park (now Iqbal Park) in the walled city of Lahore.[25][26] The foundation stone of Minar-e-Pakistan was laid at Minto Park on 23 March 1960. In 1963, President Ayub Khan reportedly summoned Murat-Khan to his office and took out a fountain pen from his pocket, placed it upright on his desk and instructed Murat-Khan to "build me a monument like this."[27] Murat-Khan was very keen on the supervision of the construction and the design.[28][29] He frequently visited the site to inspect building material, construction quality.[30] He did not take his prescribed fee of Rs. 250,000 and instead donated the amount to the fund created for financing the construction of the Minar-e-Pakistan.[31] The construction of the tower took eight years and by 31 October 1968, the minar was completed at a cost of Rs. 7.5 million.[32][33] AwardsIn recognition of Murat-Khan's services, the then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan, conferred on him the Tamghah-yi Imtiyaz (Medal of Excellence) in 1963.[34][35][36] Views and legacyMurat-Khan was of the view that each local body should have a chief architect of its own.[37] He was also a proponent of Islamic architecture, advocating the retention of a national character in Pakistani architecture.[38] Gallery
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