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Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is the capital of the province of Punjab, and the second most populated city in Pakistan, sometimes known as the Gardens of the Mughals, after the significant rich heritage of the Mughal Empire. It is located near the river Ravi and the Indian border, Wagah. Lahore is estimated to have approximately 6.5 million inhabitants, which makes it the second largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi. It is considered to be one of the thirty largest cities of the world. Since the rise of the Persian Empire, Lahore has been given the status of being the capital of nearly every empire that has ruled the region. During 1021, Mahmud appointed the throne to Ayaz, making Lahore the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire. After the fall of the Ghaznavid Empire, Lahore was ruled by various Muslim dynasties including the Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyid, Lodhis and Suris. It was not until 1524AD that Lahore became part of the Mughal Empire. It was in 1585AD that Mughal emperor Akbar decided to make Lahore the capital of the Mughal Empire. During Akbar's reign he built the fort that was once the citadel of the city. After his death, his son Jahangir took over control and Lahore remained the capital for over a century until the Mughal Empire fell and the city was taken over by the Sikhs. The Sikhs ruled the Punjab region for over half a century until the British Raj took control and Lahore become part of the British empire until independence in 1947AD. Mughal architecture can be seen at its full splendour in the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens and the mausoleums of Jehangir and Nur Jehan. Various buildings originally built by the British (such as the Lahore High Court) still retain their Mughal-Gothic style. Punjabi is the language of the province, and is the most widely spoken language in Lahore. Punjabi spoken by the people of Lahore is known as Lahori Punjabi due to a mixture of Punjabi and colloquial Urdu spoken in Lahore. Lahore is largely thought of as the cultural centre of Pakistan. It is widely called the "heart of Pakistan" in popular culture.
History According to legend, Lahore was named after King Lav (son of Hindu God Rama) who is believed to have ruled Lahore in ancient times; the town of Kasur to the south was named after his twin brother Kush. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni placed it under the rule of his governor, Malik Ayaz. When Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aybak was crowned in 1206 here, he became the first Muslim Sultan of the subcontinent. From 1524 to 1752 Lahore was part of the Mughal Empire. During Akbar's rule, Lahore was the capital of the empire from 1584 to 1598. During this time a massive fort, the Lahore Fort, was built on the ruins of an older fort . A few buildings within the for were added by by Jahangir, the Mughal emperor who is buried in the city. Shah Jahan, his son, was born in Lahore. He, like his father, extended Lahore Fort and built many other structures in the city, showering more affection on his hometown than any other city. The last of the great Mughals, Aurangzeb, who ruled from 1658 to 1707, built the city's most famous monuments, the Badshahi Masjid and the Alamgiri Gate next to the Lahore Fort. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Sikhs captured and ruled the city from 1799 to 1849, making Lahore the capital of the Sikh empire. However the last Anglo-Sikh war resulted in a British victory, bringing Lahore under the rule of the British crown till the state of Pakistan was formed in 1947. Until 1947, Lahore was the capital of the province of the undivided Punjab which comprised of today's Pakistani province of Punjab and Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The most important session of the Indian National Congress the premier party fighting for Indian independence was held at Lahore in Dec-Jan 1929-30 where the "Complete Independence of India" was demanded for the first time by the Congress. Three heroic martyrs in India's struggle struggle for freedom, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, were hanged in Lahore for their revolutionionary activities against the British Government on March 23, 1931. They were cremated and a monument stands at their final resting place in Ferozpur on the Sutlej River bank.• Lahore played host to a most important session of the Muslim League when the Lahore Resolution was passed on 24th March 1940. At the time of independence from British colonial rule in 1947, Lahore was heavily affected by large-scale riots between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. In 1974, Islamic Summit Conference was held in this great city, in 1996 the ICC Cricket World Cup final match was held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Geography and climate Lahore city is bounded on the north and west by the Sheikhupura District, on the east by India and on the south Kasur District. The Ravi River flows on the northern side of Lahore. Lahore city covers a total land area of 404 km², but the city is still growing at a considerable rate. The city lies between 31°15′ and 31°45′ North latitude and 74°01′ and 74°39′ East longitude. The weather of Lahore is extreme during the months of May, June, and July when the temperatures soar to 45–50 degrees Celsius which is the hottest time of the year. Following the end of July the monsoon seasons starts with heavy rainfall throughout the city as well as the province. December, January and February are the coldest months when temperatures can drop to −1 degree Celsius. Government The City-District of Lahore comprises nine administrative towns and one separate military cantonment but there are also some historic neighbourhoods of Lahore.
Demographics According to the 1998 census 86.2%, or 6,896,000 of the population are Punjabis, 10.2% or 816,000 are Muhajirs. There are known to be more than a million Pashtun refugess in Lahore(the vast majority of whom are settling), probably about 15% of the population. Finally, the Seraikis at 0.4% number about 32,000. Many languages are spoken in Lahore, including Punjabi, Urdu and English. Economy The center to Lahore's economy is the LSE, Lahore Stock Exchange, Pakistan's second largest stock exchange which is linked to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) the largest in the country. The single biggest investment is of over 200 million dollars . It has offices of all the Government corporations including WAPDA and WASA as well as other public companies such as Deewan Motors, Habib Bank, Pakistan State Oil and Lever Brothers, (the highest price per share on the LSE.) Lahore also hosts major IT companies established in Pakistan, notably FiveRivers Technologies, NetSol Technologies Inc, Systems Limited, TechLogix, Xvor * Food & restaurant businesses remain open all night long in Lahore. The shopping markets are usually open late into the night. Lahore is the second largest financial hub of Pakistan after Karachi, and has various industrial areas including Kot Lakhpat and the new Sundar Industrial Estate (near Raiwand). Lahore will soon be home to the tallest hotel in Pakistan, the new Pearl Continental Hotel. As Lahore expands the previous residential areas are being turned into commercial centres and the suburban population is constantly moving outwards. This has resulted in the development of the Liberty Market, the MM Alam Road, the new Jail Road which has some of the largest office buildings in Lahore, and the new eight-lane Main Boulevard which has some of Lahore's largest and finest shopping centres. The suburban population from these areas are moving into less busy areas which results in a thriving construction industry and several large housing projects in Lahore. These include Bahria Town, Lake City project, Eden Villas and a project by the Dhabi Group (a joint Pakistan-UAE partnership) to construct a new city on the outskirts of Lahore. Lahore is home to many IT and software firms. Lahore is famous as the hub of handmade carpet manufacturing in Pakistan. At present, hand-knotted carpets produced in and around Lahore are among Pakistan's leading export products and their manufacture is the second largest cottage and small industry. Craftsmen in Lahore have the ability to produce any type of carpet using all the popular motifs: medallions, paisleys, traceries, and geometric designs in various combinations. The Lahore Design Centre at the Punjab Small Industries Corporation maintains a separate section of carpet designing to experiment with new designs. Ninety-five percent of the carpets are produced for export. Lahore is famous for single-wefted designs in Turkoman and Caucasian style, and double-wefted Mughal types. Culture
Educational institutions Lahore boasts hundreds of schools, private and public. The recent decade has witnessed a major surge in higher education institutions' numbers. A list of premier education institutions in the city of Lahore include: King Edward Medical College (KEMC), Government College University (GCU), Aitchison College, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Institute of Islamic Scineces, COMSATS Institute Of Information Technology, Crescent Model Higher Secondary School, Lahore School of Economics (LSE), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Oriental College Of Arts (OCA), University College of Information Technology (PUCIT), University of Central Punjab, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, University of Lahore, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, University of Management and Technology, University of South Asia, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, University of the Punjab, Kinnaird College for Women and National College of Arts. Sites of interest Shopping
Restaurants and cafés Lahoris are known for their taste & love for eating. While Lahore has a great many traditional and modern restaurants, recent years have seen the appearance of Western fast food chains, such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway Sandwiches, Dunkin Donuts, Nando's and Kentucky Fried Chicken all over the city. A recent tourist attraction in Lahore is the famous Food Street in the historic locales of Lahore (Gawaalmandi, Anarkali, and Badshahi). Food Streets have undergone restorations and are cordoned off in the evenings for pedestrian traffic only, with numerous cafés serving local delicacies under the lights and balconies of restored havelis (traditional residential dwellings). Some of the trendiest restaurants in Lahore are concentrated on the M M Alam Road in Gulberg. Here, dozens of high-class culinary outlets, ranging from western franchises to very traditional, ethnic, or theme restaurants, attract all classes of Lahore's citizens. New restaurants are constantly opening, and the business is extremely competitive. It is said that eating well is a peculiarly Lahori attribute, and the innumerable crowded, boisterous restaurants of Lahore that are open late into the night are a visible testament to this passion. One of Lahore's unique café restaurants is "Coocoo's Den", located in the old city just behind the Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort. The restaurant is housed in a 300-year old "Kothi" style house of a famous artist. At different points in the life of this property, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim families have owned it. Another famous Lahore landmark is the Pak Tea House in Anarkali, long a favoured haunt of intellectuals and artists. Transport Lahore is one of the most accessible cities of Pakistan. In addition to the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T. road), a motorway was completed in 1997, from Lahore to Islamabad. Due to Lahore ever increasing traffic problems the government introduced many underpasses to ease conjestions and prevent traffic jams. According to official figures, Lahore has the highest number of underpasses in Pakistan. Lahore still has very high levels of air pollution and smog, mostly due to the industry growing at an ever-increasing rate. The Pakistan Railways Headquarters is located in Lahore. Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation for communters in Lahore. The railway connects the farthest corners of the country and brings them closer to Lahore for business, sight seeing, pilgrimage and education. The Lahore Central Railway Station is also located in the heart of the city, which was built during the British Colonial era. As air travel has been on the rise, the Government built a completely new airport for the city that was constructed in 2003. It was named Allama Iqbal International Airport after the national poet of Pakistan Mohammed Iqbal. It is served by many international airlines as well as the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines. With the opening of Allama Iqbal International Airport, the previous airport now operates as the Hajj Terminal to facilitate the great influx of pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj every year. Sister Cities Lahore has 5 sister cities: | |||||||||||||||
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