M.A. Jinnah: The Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum Project

Sub title : Architectural Designs, International Correspondence, and Construction Contracts

Subject: Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum | Memorial architecture | International design competition | Architectural contracts

Date of publication: 1950

Language: English

Page: 40 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 28079

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah -- Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum -- Fatima Jinnah -- Memorial architecture -- Design competition | International architects -- Turkey -- Iran -- Egypt -- Ministry of Finance Pakistan | M. Shoaib -- architectural contract -- star and crescent motif -- national monument

Abstract: A collection of administrative and architectural documents concerning the planning and construction of the Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum in Karachi. The file includes high-level governmental correspondence, such as letters from Finance Minister M. Shoaib to Fatima Jinnah and Pakistani ambassadors in Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, seeking recommendations for prominent Muslim architects. It features detailed contractual terms for a selected architect (likely Turkish), outlining remuneration, duties, and supervision responsibilities. Also present is a passionate appeal from a Pakistani citizen whose design was rejected, arguing its superior Islamic symbolism (star and crescent) over the winning entry. These records reveal the international scope, bureaucratic complexity, and ideological importance attached to building a national monument that would properly memorialize Muhammad Ali Jinnah and reflect Islamic cultural traditions.

Description: This file contains a behind-the-scenes look at the institutional and artistic efforts to construct a lasting memorial for Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the decade following his death. The documents showcase the Pakistani state's formal and international approach: engaging ambassadors to source top architects from the Muslim world and drafting meticulous legal agreements for their engagement. A rejected designer's letter to Fatima Jinnah provides a ground-level view of the competition, emphasizing the nationalist desire for Islamic symbolism (like the five-pointed star representing Pakistan's provinces) in the mausoleum's design. The contractual details reveal the significant financial investment and planned oversight for the project. Together, these papers illustrate how Jinnah's legacy was being physically enshrined through a process that blended state bureaucracy, international cultural diplomacy, and public sentiment, aiming to create a monument worthy of the founder of Pakistan. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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