The bridge connecting Rohri to Sukkur, famously known as the Lansdowne Bridge, was completed by the British in 1889, while they ruled Sindh.
Construction of the Lansdowne bridge, named after the Viceroy of India, was overseen by an Indian engineer – Visera. It was a unique bridge for being the world’s first cantilever bridge, namely it had no supporting pillar underneath.
Chairman of Sindhi Language Authority, Ishaq Samejo narrates that the British Empire’s interest in the region revolved around economic gain and taking away raw materials and goods away from here.
He says that Sukkur (Lansdowne) Bridge was built with the objective of transporting goods by rail to Sukkur, where they could be sent to Karachi for the onward journey.
Lawyer and writer Sohail Memon says that the Sukkur bridge was initially regarded as a marvel due to its unique design. Railway drivers, however, were reluctant to cross it due to the absence of pillars underneath it.
Memon narrates that among the most famous folk stories relating to the Sukkur bridge is that the British made a deal with a prisoner on death row in Sukkur jail – Jamal, that they would release him if he successfully rode a train across the cantilever bridge.
This courageous act by Jamal in crossing the bridge without incident, led to his release from incarceration. The family celebrated with the victory song, “Khati Aya Khair Saan, Ho Jamalo,” (We won peacefully, Ho Jamalo).
But historian Syed Imdad Hussain Shah disputes the popular version. He says that the book `Sukkur Suharnho’ published in 1940 quotes people who were alive at the turn of the century.
In that book, Shah claims people merely said that Jamal was a black man, leaving it ambiguous as to whether he was a local black or a foreign black. Therefore, he says it is hard to pin down the main character of this folk song.
Samejo calls folk songs the national heritage of any culture, in which new characters are added over time, and where the language changes and new episodes are added with the passage of time.
He `calls Ho Jamalo’ an ancient folk song, associated with the arrival of the British in Sindh – and which represents the identities of Sindhi culture over different phases in history.