Halim Di Kothi (Haveli of Hafiz Muhammad Halim)

The Haveli of Hafiz Muhammad Halim stands in Bassi Pathana, a historic town between Sirhind and Morinda in Fatehgarh Sahib district. The haveli is one of the few surviving reminders of the town’s Muslim Pathan past. According to legend, Bassi Pathana was founded in 1540. SikhiWiki credits an Afghan named Malik Khan, who settled here during the reign of Sher Shah Suri. As the name suggests, it began as a settlement of Pathans. The name is also said to have been shortened to “Bassi” after the town was visited by Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru. After the sack of Sirhind in 1763, the town was taken by Sardar Diwan Singh of the Dallewalia Misl. It later became the headquarters of the Amargarh Nizamat of the Patiala State, and its fort, gateways, mosque and fountain are listed among the region’s built heritage. The haveli, which looks magnificent and imposing, belongs to this early Pathan period. A popular but unreliable account dates it to around 1560 and describes a large, royal-looking house with brown and yellow walls, blending Rajput and Islamic design. The same account also links it to the Partition of 1947 and to film shoots. Who Hafiz Muhammad Halim was, and how the haveli passed through the town’s changing rulers and communities, is poorly documented. Like many Muslim-owned buildings in East Punjab, its story has largely been lost since 1947, and it remains little known outside Bassi Pathana.