Toward Partition and Beyond: The Photographs of Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti

Toward Partition and Beyond documents the political activism that led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947, as well as the destruction, violence, displacement, and loss of life that took place in the lead up to and in the wake of the Partition of India. Though the photographs of Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti have been displayed in various exhibits and printed in publications over the years, he has not been consistently credited for his labors during this critical time in history. This digital exhibit seeks to make his work accessible to researchers and the public alike. Princeton is grateful to the Bhatti family, particularly Mr. Shahzeb Bhatti, for their trust and patience as we have worked to describe and display Mr. Bhatti's photographs. 

Many thanks go to Dr. Maria-Magdalena Pruss (Princeton Class of 2019, Religion), who contacted Princeton about the collection in 2023 and connected Princeton with the Bhatti family. Maria has provided research support regarding the descriptions and order for many of the photographs, as well as translations of Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti's original Urdu captions when available. Princeton is also grateful for the contributions of Prof. Manav Kapur (University of Texas at Austin), whose knowledge of Lahore and careful eye also greatly enhanced the descriptions for each of the photographs. Thanks also go to Hajra Farooqui (Princeton graduate student in Religion), who carefully translated the Nawa-i-Waqt Sunday Magazine article about the life of Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti from Urdu to English.

Muhammad Bakhsh Bhatti (1921-1975) was an artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose photographs in the collection document the Pakistan Movement and the immediate aftermath of the Partition. His work joins that of other notable Pakistani photographers who captured this period including F. E. Chaudhry, Mian Aziz Ahmed Aznic, and Shri Govind Lal. As noted in a 2009 Nawa-i-Waqt article that chronicled Mr. Bhatti's life, he documented the Pakistan Movement at the same time that he was an active participant in it. As he attended Muslim League gatherings and events, he photographed what was happening around him and sent those photographs to newspapers for further distribution. In the late 1960s, Mr. Bhatti's photographs were exhibited at the Alhamra Art Centre in Lahore. Today, visitors to the Lahore Museum will see a number of his photographs in the Pakistan Movement exhibit therein.