Stories by Tahir Kamran

IN SPECTRUM: Ali Mardan Khan: Persian engineer who transformed Mughal Lahore

Ali Mardan Khan occupies a distinctive place in the history of 17th century Punjab. He was at once a soldier,...

Published 27 Sep, 2026 07:25am

In Spectrum: Dara Shikoh: where spiritual traditions met (Part-II)

Dara Shikoh’s engagement with India’s diverse religious traditions was neither an incidental curiosity nor ...

Published 20 Sep, 2026 07:56am

IN SPECTRUM: Dara Shikoh, Lahore and Mian Mir: The prince who sought meeting of two oceans — Part-I

Few figures in the history of South Asia embody the tension between political power and spiritual freedom as...

Published 13 Sep, 2026 06:58am

IN SPECTRUM: Nur Jahan — the empress who made Lahore her paradise

“Lahore ra jn barbar kharda-im; jn dda-im va jannat-e-dgar kharda-im.”

Published 06 Sep, 2026 04:08am

In Spectrum: Kucha Chabuk Sawaran: an urban-historical perspective

Kucha Chabuk Sawaran is one of the historically significant yet comparatively understudied neighbourhoods of...

Published 30 Aug, 2026 07:01am

in Spectrum: Lahore under martial law: The aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh – II

The violence at Jallianwala Bagh marked only the beginning of a much wider campaign of repression across Punjab. In...

Published 23 Aug, 2026 07:09am

In Spectrum: Lahore under martial law: The aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh – I

The events of April 1919 marked one of the darkest turning points in the history of colonial Punjab. The massacre at...

Published 16 Aug, 2026 04:20am

IN SPECTRUM: Rhizomatic resistance in colonial Punjab: Diffuse insurgencies of 1857

In A Thousand Plateaus, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari reject the classical image of political organisation as a...

Published 02 Aug, 2026 07:16am

In Spectrum: Satluj: The film India could not watch

In South Asia, the state has often existed in tension with society, asserting control not only over governance but...

Updated 26 Jul, 2026 06:12pm

In Spectrum: A welcome addition to the Punjab Studies

The emergence of Punjab Studies as a distinct interdisciplinary field has been long overdue. Despite Punjab’s...

Published 19 Jul, 2026 07:02am

IN SPECTRUM: Rudyard Kipling’s literary imagination with respect to Lahore

Few cities shaped the literary imagination of Rudyard Kipling as profoundly as Lahore. Between 1882 and 1889, while...

Published 12 Jul, 2026 06:55am

In Spectrum: Dr Manzur Ijaz and intellectual reclamation of Punjab

Dr. Manzur Ijaz belonged to a rare category of intellectuals who did not simply write about their culture; they...

Published 05 Jul, 2026 06:52am

In Spectrum: Colonial making of ‘criminal tribes’ in Punjab

The study of the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871-72 is significant because it reveals how colonial power extended beyond...

Published 28 Jun, 2026 07:53am

In Spectrum: Thara and architecture of public life: vernacular spheres of discourse

The idea of the thara-a raised, open, semi-public platform embedded in the everyday architecture of Punjabi life -...

Published 21 Jun, 2026 07:06am

In Spectrum: Izzat Majeed: Life, music and legacy

Izzat Majeed departs as one of those rare figures whose life cannot be contained within biography alone but must ...

Published 14 Jun, 2026 05:21am

in Spectrum: Najam Hussain Syed and reclamation of Punjabi literary consciousness

Najam Hussain Syed occupies a singular position in modern Punjabi literature. Emerging during the literary...

Published 07 Jun, 2026 05:19am

In Spectrum: Memory, migration and making of Lahore’s urban soul (Part-II)

Gawalmandi holds a distinctive place in Lahore’s urban imagination as a vivid example of how cities are...

Published 31 May, 2026 06:57am

Shereen Ratnagar: archaeologist who refused convenient myths

For generations of students and readers, Ratnagar represented something increasingly uncommon in public life: intellectual courage joined with scholarly humility.

Published 30 May, 2026 06:03am

In Spectrum: Memory, migration and making of Lahore’s urban soul (Part-I)

One of the most striking aspects of Gawalmandi is the way public life unfolds in the street itself.

Published 24 May, 2026 06:56am

In Spectrum: Dhola in Punjabi cultural memory

The term dhola in Punjabi culture signifies far more than merely a lover or beloved. It embodies an entire...

Published 17 May, 2026 06:56am