Khaliq Dina Hall & Library

History

The building was funded by Ghulam Hussain Khaliqdina, who gave Rs 18,000 of the Rs 33,000 it cost, and designed by Moses Somake, the Iraqi-Jewish architect responsible for much of colonial Karachi's finest work. It is Palladian in manner — high columns, a triangular pediment, teak ceilings — and functioned from the start as a hall for political and literary gathering as much as a library.

Historical Significance

Two events fix it in the national story. In 1921 Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, a leader of the Khilafat Movement, was tried for sedition here and conducted his own defence — the proceedings became known as the Trial of Sedition. On 15 December 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah renamed the All-India Muslim League as the Pakistan Muslim League in this hall.

Architecture

Built in 1906 with a spacious hall for public meetings and rooms alongside, and home to a public library established within it. The building is of ashlar masonry with a wooden roof — a piece of colonial-era civic Karachi still in use.

Why Visit

Most of Pakistan's founding happened in rooms that no longer exist. This one is still standing, and still a library.

Interesting Facts

• Designed by Moses Somake, an Iraqi-Jewish architect who shaped much of colonial Karachi
• Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar defended himself here in the 1921 Trial of Sedition
• Jinnah renamed the Muslim League in this hall on 15 December 1947
• Ghulam Hussain Khaliqdina personally funded more than half the construction cost