Heart of Pakistan

Lahore

Lahore is the Heart of Pakistan

Etymology

A legend based on oral traditions holds that Lahore, was known in ancient times as Lavapuri (City of Lava in Sanskrit and was founded by Prince Lava, the son of Sita and Rama while Kasur was founded by his twin brother Prince Kusha.

History

Ancient Lahore

Lahore had been called by different names throughout history. Ptolemy, the celebrated 2nd-century Egyptian astronomer and geographer, mentions in his Geographia a city called Labokla situated on the route east of the Indus River, in a region described as extending along the Jhelum, Chenab, and Ravi rivers which may have been in reference to the ancient settlement of Lahore

Medieval Lahore

Lahore appears as the capital of the Punjab for the first time under Anandapala – the Hindu Shahi king who is referred to as the ruler of (Hakim i Lahur) –after leaving the earlier capital of Waihind.

Few references to Lahore remain from before its capture by Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznavi in the 11th century. The sultan took Lahore after a long siege and battle in which the city was torched and depopulated. In 1021, Sultan Mahmud appointed Malik Ayaz to the throne and made Lahore the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire. As the first Muslim governor of Lahore, Ayaz rebuilt and repopulated the city. He added many important features, such as city gates and a masonry fort, built in 1037–1040 on the ruins of the previous one, which had been demolished in the fighting (as recorded by Munshi Sujan Rae Bhandari, author of the Khulasatut Tawarikh in 1695–1696). The present Lahore Fort stands on the same location. Under Ayaz's rule, the city became a cultural and academic centre, renowned for poetry. The tomb of Malik Ayaz can still be seen in the Rang Mahal commercial area of town.

After the fall of the Ghaznavid Empire, Lahore was ruled by Turko-Afghan dynasties based in Delhi, known as the Delhi Sultanate, including the Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Mamluk, Sayyid and Lodhis. During the reign of Qutbu l-Din Aibak, Lahore was known as the 'Ghazni of India'. Scholars and poets from as far away as Kashghar, Bukhara, Samarkand, Iraq, Khorasan and Herat, gathered in Lahore and made it a city of learning. Under Aibak, Lahore had more poets of Persian than any other Islamic city.In 1286, Prince Muhammad, who was the son of Balban was defeated in an encounter with the Mongols in the city.