Lahore

Template:Pakistani Cities

Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is a major city of Pakistan and is the capital of the province of Punjab. A native of Lahore is called a Lahori. It is located near the river Ravi and the Indian border. Lahore is estimated to have approximately 7-9 million inhabitants. This makes it the second largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi. It is considered to be one of the thirty largest cities of the world.

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 ever since its accession by the Mughal Empire since the 16th century CE. This is apparent by the vast array of historic buildings, architecture from pre-Mughal, Mughal and British periods, and cultural events held throughout the year.

The recently renovated Data Durbar of Hazrat Syed Abul Hassan Bin Usman Bin Ali Al-Hajweri, is perhaps the most famous example of architecture from pre-Mughal times. Mughal architecture can be seen in the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens. Various buildings originally built by the British (such as the Lahore High Court) still retain their Mughal-Gothic style.

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. A temple of Lav can still be found in the Lahore fort which however is closed. Lahore came under Muslim rule in 713 CE when Umayyad Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Punjab, and the present Pakistan from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. 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 fundaments of an older fort in the 1560s. This fort was later extended by Jahangir, a Mughal emperor who is now buried in the city. Shah Jahan, his son, was born in Lahore and is famous for building the world-renowned Taj Mahal in India. 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, ruling from 1658 to 1707, built the city's most famous monuments, the Badshahi Masjid and the Alamgiri Gate next to the Lahore Fort. The Sikhs ruled it in the 18th and 19th centuries, making Lahore the capital of the Sikh state. However the last Anglo-Sikh war resulted in a British victory thus bringing Lahore under the rule of the British crown.

The famous British author and poet, Rudyard Kipling, lived in Lahore during the 1880s, where his parents were also working. Kipling began working as an editor for a local newspaper and continued tentative steps into the world of poetry; his first professional sales were in 1883. In 1940, the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution which demanded a separate state for the Muslims of British India. In 1947 Pakistan gained independence from British colonial rule. At the time of independence, Lahore was heavily affected by large-scale riots between Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Lahore was briefly threatened by the Indian Army, which managed to capture the outlying areas of the Lahore district, that was later given back as per the Tashkent Agreement.^[1] ^[2]

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 climate of Lahore faces many extremes during the months of May, June, and July. During these months temperatures soar to 45–50 degrees Celsius which is the hottest time of the year. Following the end of July and beginning of August the monsoon seasons starts with heavy rainfall throughout the city as well as the province.

The minimum temperature varies between 39 and 26 degrees Celsius respectively, while December, January and February are the coldest months when temperature can drop to −1 degree Celsius and dropped to its lowest ever in January 2006 at −2.

Government

The City-District of Lahore comprises nine administrative towns and one separate military cantonment but there are also some historic neighbourhoods of Lahore.

Administrative towns

Cont.

Neighbourhoods

Demographics

According to the 1998 census 86.2%, or 6,896,000 of the population are Punjabis, 10.2% or 816,000 are Muhajirs^{[citation needed]}. 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.)

The city of Lahore never sleeps with food & restaurant businesses open all night long. They serve traditional dishes for dinner, till its time for serving breakfast in the morning. The markets are usually open long 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 (for women), the MM Alam Road (for continental food), the new Jail Road which has one of the largest office buildings in Lahore, and the new eight-lane Boulevard Road which has some of Lahore's largest 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, which will be larger than Abu Dhabi. 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 capacity to produce any type of carpet using all the popular motifs: gulls, medallions, paisleys, traceries, and geometric designs in various combinations. However, the new Institute of Carpet Designing and Weaving has been established in Bahawalpur to train teachers. 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 and Turkoman, Persian and Caucasian designs are crafted since they meet the popular taste abroad. Lahore is famous for single-wefted designs in Turkoman and Caucasian style, and double-wefted Mughal types.

Culture

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A swarm of kites on sale on the streets of Lahore on the eve of the Basant festival

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Official Poster to the Lahore Marathon, 2005

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The Prize Horse at the Show

Lahore is a very festive city, the people of Lahore celebrate many traditions throughout the year, with blending of moghal, western and latest trends. As Lahore has large muslim population, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha are celebrated in full swing with various concerts held in the city. Many people decorate their houses and light candles to light up the streets and houses.

Basant is a Punjab festival that marks the coming of spring. Basant celebrations in Pakistan are centered in Lahore and people from all over the country and abroad come to the city for the annual festivities. Kite flying competitions take place all over the city's rooftops during Basant. Currently the kite flying has been drawn under restriction by court due to a number of casualities caused every year by the strings used to fly kites. Now it is considered an illegal phenomenon, sadly a complete ban on kite flying has been put in place to prevent any more injuries. During 2006 the local Government of Punjab banned kite flying until further notice.

The Festival of Lamps or Mela Chiraghan is a very important and popular event in Lahore. This is celebrated at the same time as Basant, every spring on the last Friday of March outside the Shalimar Gardens. During the festival, people from all walks of life gather from all over the province to actively participate in the Festival. National Horse and Cattle Show is one of the most famous annual festivals, the National Horse and Cattle Show is also held in Spring in the Fortress Stadium. During the week long activities, there is a display of the finest livestock, horse and camel dances, tent pegging, colourful folk dances from all regions of Pakistan, mass-band displays and tattoo shows in the evenings.

On August 14, every year all over Pakistan, the people of Pakistan celebrate the day Pakistan gained its independence from the British Raj for an independent state for muslims. There are lots of celebrations in Lahore, the streets are full of joyful people singing and dancing. Concerts are held with many pop and classical singers.

The Lahore Marathon, an elite event is part of an annual package of six international marathons being sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank across Asia, Africa and Middle East. The Lahore marathon race carries prize money of approximately US$ 100,000. More than 20,000 athletes both from Pakistan and all over the world come to Lahore to participate in this event. It was first held on January 30, 2005, and this year it was held on January 29, 2006. More than 22,000 people participated in the race this year. The third Lahore Marathon is scheduled to be held on January 14, 2007 ^[3].

Educational institutions

Lahore boasts hundreds of schools, private and public. The recent decade has witnessed a major surge in higher education institutions' numbers. Lahore is considered one of the most open-minded and enlightened cities of Pakistan. A list of premier education institutions in the city of Lahore include: Aitchison College, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Institute of Islamic Scineces, COMSATS Institute Of Information Technology, Lahore School of Economics (LSE), Lahore University of Management Sciences, 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 and University of the Punjab.

Sites of interest

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The Lahore Museum

General
- Minar-e-Pakistan (Tower of Pakistan)
- Lahore Fort (The citadel of the city)
- Lahore Zoo
- Hazuri Bagh Baradari
- Shahi Mohalla

Gates of Lahore
- Akbari Gate
- Bhati Gate
- Delhi Gate
- Kashmiri Gate
- Lohari Gate (also known as 'Lahori Gate')
- Masti Gate
- Mochi Gate
- Mori Gate
- Roshnai Gate
- Shahalmi Gate
- Shairanwala Gate
- Taxali Gate
- Yakki Gate

Mausoleums
- Data Durbar Complex
- Tomb of Muhammad Iqbal
- Bibi Pak Daman
- Samadhi of Ranjit Singh
- Tomb of Shah Jamal
- Tomb of Lal Hussain
- Tomb of Jahangir
- Tomb of Empress Noor Jehan

Mosques
- Badshahi Masjid
- Dai Anga Mosque
- Data Durbar Complex
- Shia Masjid
- Suneri Mosque
- Wazir Khan Mosque
- Moti Masjid
- Masjid-e-Shuhda (Martyr's Mosque)
- Mosque of Mariyam Zamani Begum

Churches

Museums
- Lahore Museum

Gardens

Famous Roads

Shopping

Lahore's most famous tech-bazaar is the Hafeez Center, located on the Gulberg Main Boulevard and Electronics Market at Hall Road. Here you will find all the latest computer systems, accessories, mobile phones and music CD's that one is looking for. It is a very busy shopping centre which one will be able to find all types of software or components for your personal computer and good prices and with the guidance of computer experts.

Other well known and popular malls are the Liberty Market Center in Gulberg and Pace. When Pace was opened it was very similar to your local Wal-mart or Tesco stores, however, due to popularity the owner converted it into a mall with many shops that offered a wide variety of goods ranging from clothes, groceries to house decorations. There are also many shopping malls located in Gulberg, Model Town, MM Alam Road and Defence. Apart from these are many high rise shopping malls in Gulberg Main Boulevard.

For traditional shopping, Anarkali bazaar is the most fascinating of the city’s many bazaars. The alleys and lanes of this bazaar are full of exciting wares, especially traditional crafts like leather ware, embroidered garments, glass bangles, beaten gold and silver jewellery, creations in silk-anything that your wish for a bargain. It is named after the famous courtesan of Akbar’s court called Anarkali (Pomegranate Blossom). Anarkali too has its share of historical monuments. There is the grave of Emperor Qutbuddin Aibak, who died falling off his horse, while playing polo. And Mahmud Ghaznavi’s General Malik Ayyaz lies buried in the commercial area of Rang Mahal.

Restaurants and cafés

While Lahore has a great many traditional and modern restaurants, the turn of the century has seen the appearance of Western fast food chains such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway Sandwiches, Dunkin Donuts, Nando's and Kentucky Fried Chicken in new shopping centres all over the city. A major tourist attraction in Lahore is the famous Food Street in the old historic district of Gawaalmandi. Food Street has undergone a massive restoration project in which Gawaalmandi was cordoned off and street cafes were established under the lights of the restored havelis.

Food Street in Gawalmandi is a centre of traditional Pakistani food. The site is surrounded by centuries old Kashmiri-Persian buildings and places like Landa Bazaar and Baansan-wala Bazaar. The food street is open to traffic in the morning but as the sun sets, the street is blocked off. Hungry visitors arrive and stay till very late at night, enjoying some of the best local food available in Lahore. More recently another similar food street has been added near Anarkali.

Restaurants in Lahore are mainly concentrated at the M.M. Alam Road located near Gulberg. Here more than two dozen world class restaurants are located ranging from western franchises to the very traditional Village restaurant.

One of Lahore's most famous 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. At different points in the life of this property, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim families have owned it. A famous Lahore cafe is the Pak Tea House in Anarkali which is a favourite haunt for 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 2000, 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, due to an attempt by the government to link one end of the city to the other end.

The Pakistan Railways Headquarters is located in lahore, the only railway operator in Pakistan fully owned by the Government. 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. It has been a great integrating force and forms the life line of the country by catering to its needs for large scale movement of people and freight in and out of Lahore. 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 facilitates for the increasing demand by passengers and the growth of the city for which it was built to accommodate. 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. The Hajj services are operated by the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), however recent news suggests that the Government is going to allow all airlines operating to Pakistan to airlift pilgrims.