ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>LAHORE (31º-35'N, 74º-20'E)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="LAHORE"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279LAHORE (31º-35'N, 74º-20'E), pronounced L&#257haur, provincial capital of West Punjab in Pakistan, lies on the left bank of the River R&#257v&#299. Hindu tradition attributes its founding to Lava, son of Lord R&#257ma, but it is neither mentioned in the Greek accounts of Alexander's invasion (326 BC) nor described by Strabo (63 BC-AD 23?) or Pliny (AD 23-79). The earliest recorded mention is by the Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang, who visited it in AD 630. He describes it as a large Br&#257hma&#7751ical city. Alber&#363n&#299 speaks of Lahore as a province, but not as a town. It must have been an unimportant town of the Hindush&#257h&#299 kingdom at the close of the tenth century, for it was not the object of attack in any of Mahm&#363d of <u>Gh</u>azn&#299's plundering raids (997-1026). However, in 1036 Lahore was made capital of the <u>Gh</u>aznivid dominions east of the Indus, and during the reign of Mas&#363d III (1099-1114) it became the capital of the empire. Since then Lahore has remained the capital of the whole or part of the Punjab. Muhammad of <u>Gh</u>or put it to ransom in 1181 and occupied it in 1186. During the Sultanate period (1206-1526), while it grew in importance, strategic as well as commercial, it had to bear the brunt of foreign invasions. The Mongols sacked it in 1241 and put it to ransom in 1246. Balban rebuilt it in 1270, but the Mongols hit it again in 1285. That B&#257bar ransacked it in 1524 is testified by a line in Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) : "For a <i>pahar</i> and a quarter, i.e. for about four hours the city of Lahore was given up to death and destruction" (GG, 1412). It was under the great Mu<u>gh</u>al emperors, Akbar, Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r, Sh&#257hjah&#257&#7749 and Aura&#7749gz&#299b (1556-1707) that Lahore reached its zenith. Travel accounts of Europeans attest to its splendour during this period. The city grew both in area and population. Akbar enlarged and repaired the Fort and surrounded the town with a wall. Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r added the <i>khw&#257bg&#257h</i> or sleeping chambers, the Mot&#299 Masjid or pearl mosque and the tomb of An&#257rkal&#299, sweet-heart of his youth whom, according to tradition, his father, Akbar, had maliciously bricked alive in a wall. Sh&#257hjah&#257&#7749 added another smaller <i>khw&#257bg&#257h</i> with several octagonal towers, the largest of which, Musamman Burj, with its Naulakh&#257 pavilion and Sh&#299sh Mahal, later became the reception chamber of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Singh. Other buildings constructed during the reign of Sh&#257hjah&#257&#7749 (1627-58) and famous for their <i><u>kh</u>&#257sh&#299</i> or inlaid pottery panelling work include mosques of Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n and D&#257&#299 A&#7749g&#257, and the Chauburj&#299 &#7692eo&#7771h&#299 or four turreted gateway built in 1641 by the princess Zeb un-Nis&#257, daughter of Aura&#7749gz&#299b. In the Lahore Fort the <i><u>kh</u>&#257sh&#299</i> panelling covered a total surface of over 6,600 square metres. Sh&#257l&#257m&#257r Gardens, 6 km east of the city, were laid out in 1667 by 'Al&#299 Mard&#257n <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the celebrated engineer of Sh&#257hjah&#257&#7749. Under Aura&#7749gz&#299b, however, Lahore began to decline. The only building of note added by him was the J&#257m&#257 Masj&#299d, besides a 5 km long embankment to prevent inundation caused by the River R&#257v&#299, which however changed course soon after and left the town at a considerable distance. After a period of uncertainty with the invasions of N&#257dir Sh&#257h and Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, Lahore regained its glory and importance under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, who occupied it in 1799 and made it his capital. After the annexation of the Punjab to the British empire in 1849, several innovations were introduced. For civil administration, a municipality was created in 1867, water works opened in 1881, rainage system was completed in 1883 and electricity soon after. Several schools and colleges appeared and the University of the Pañj&#257b was established in 1882. Lahore cantonment was separated from the civil station. Troops from the An&#257rkal&#299 area moved to the new site, 5 km away, in 1851-52.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lahore's connection with Sikh history dates from the days of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, who visited it during his travels across the country. Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s (1534-81) was born in Lahore. Gur&#363 Arjan's martyrdom (1606), a momentous event in the history of the nascent community, also took place here. Gur&#363 Hargobind, N&#257nak VI, visited Lahore more than once. With the removal of the principal seat of gur&#363ship to distant K&#299ratpur in the Siv&#257lik foothills early in 1635, a direct clash with the provincial government of Lahore was averted during the following half century, but militarization of the Sikhs under Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708) alerted the Lahore government. It sent out several expeditions against them reinforcing the Sirhind <i>sark&#257r</i> in whose jurisdiction the new Sikh centres, K&#299ratpur and Anandpur, fell. After the death of Gur&#363 Gobind Singh, the entire Sikh population of the Punjab rose in open rebellion under the leadership, first of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur and then under several local leaders subsequently organized into <i>misls</i> or fighting units which united to form the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. The successive governors of Lahore tried to suppress the Sikhs. They were driven out of their homes and hunted out of their jungle resorts. Those captured in battle or through informers were brought to Lahore where they were herded together in dark, narrow cells, and tortured to death in what was known as Na<u>kh</u>&#257s Chowk or market square for the buying and selling of horses. A shah&#299dgañj or memorial to the martyrs now marks the site. However, the Sikhs' power continued to increase. Barely five months after the Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or the great holocaust of 5 February 1762 in which the Sikhs lost over 20,000 men in a single day, they extended their depredations up to the walls of Lahore, while Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, the victor of P&#257n&#299pat in 1761, sat helpless at Kal&#257naur. On 16 May 1764, the Sikhs of the Bha&#7749g&#299 <i>misl</i> occupied Lahore itself, and although Ahmad Sh&#257h retook it during his next invasion in December 1766, the Bha&#7749g&#299 chiefs reoccupied it on the return of the invader to his own country in July 1767, and ruled it for the next 30 years. Sh&#257h Zam&#257n, a grandson of Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, entered Lahore on 1 January 1797, but was forced to retreat homeward after twenty days. He again occupied it on 30 November 1798 but had to retire on 4 January 1799. This time, on his way back home, he gave Lahore to the Sukkarchakk&#299&#257 chief, Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, as a formal grant. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh (later Mah&#257r&#257j&#257) occupied Lahore on 7 July 1799. Lahore remained the capital of the Punjab province after its annexation to the British dominions. On the partition of India in 1947, Lahore was allocated to Pakistan.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Several historical Sikh shrines were located in Lahore. Some of them are being maintained by the Waqf Board of Pakistan and are occasionally visited by Sikh pilgrims from India. They include :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(1) GURDW&#256R&#256 P&#256TSH&#256H&#298 I within the walled city in <i>mohall&#257</i> Sir&#299&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 commemorating the visit of Gur&#363 N&#257nak and marking the site. where Se&#7789h Dun&#299 Chand, a wealthy merchant,received instruction from him.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(2) GURDW&#256R&#256 JANAM ASTH&#256N GUR&#362 R&#256M D&#256S in Ch&#363n&#299 Ma&#7751&#7693&#299 locality marks the birthplace of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, N&#257nak IV.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(3) DHARAMS&#256L&#256 GUR&#362 R&#256M D&#256S and D&#298W&#256N <u>KH</u>&#256N&#256 GUR&#362 ARJAN S&#256HIB are located in Ch&#363n&#299 Ma&#7751&#7693&#299 area.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(4) GURDW&#256R&#256 DEHR&#256 S&#256HIB marking the site of the martyrdom of Gur&#363 Arjan close to the Fort is the principal Sikh shrine of Lahore, and is one of the few <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> in Pakistan which continued to be attended by Sikh officiants even after the partition of the country in 1947. Gur&#363 Arjan, tortured to death under the orders of Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r, breathed his last on Je&#7789h <i>sud&#299</i> 4, 1663 Bk/30 May 1606 in the River R&#257v&#299 which then flowed close to the Fort here. The shrine was established by Gur&#363 Hargobind and the present building, a typical model of Sikh architecture, was raised by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. The death anniversary of the Gur&#363 is still observed here on Je&#7789h <i>sud&#299</i> 4 (May-June) every year.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(5) SH&#256H&#298D GAÑJ BH&#256&#298 MAN&#298 SI&#7748GH commemorating the martyrdom in 1737 of Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh also stands close to the Fort to the east of it.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(6) B&#256OL&#298 S&#256HIB, a well with steps leading down to water level, constructed by Gur&#363 Arjan is in the &#7692abb&#299 B&#257z&#257r area.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(7) SH&#256H&#298DGAÑJ BH&#256&#298 T&#256R&#362 SI&#7748GH and SHAH&#298D GAÑJ SI&#7748GHA&#7750&#298&#256&#7748 are also close to each other along La&#7751&#7693&#257 B&#257z&#257r, near the main railway station.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(8) There are two <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> dedicated to Gur&#363 Hargobind. One is near Bh&#257&#7789&#299 Gate and the other is in Muza&#7749g in the southern suburbs of the city.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(9) SAM&#256DH (mausoleum) of MAH&#256R&#256J&#256 RA&#7750J&#298T SI&#7750GH, near Gurdw&#257r&#257 Dehr&#257 S&#257hib, has also become a place of pilgrimage for Sikhs. The Government of Pakistan permit large batches of Sikhs from India and other countries to forgather there to observe the death anniversary of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 on 27 June every year.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Baqir, M., <i>Lahore Past and Present</i>. Lahore, 1952<BR> <li class="C1"> Latif, S.M., <i>Lahore</i>. Lahore, 1892<BR> <li class="C1"> Thornton, T.H., and J.L. Kipling, <i>Lahore</i>. Lahore, 1876<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series, Punjab</i>. Calcutta, 1908<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Punjab District Gazetteers, Lahore District</i>. Lahore, 1916<BR> <li class="C1"> Mushtaq, M., "Lahore : Major Urban Regions", <i>Pakistan Geographical Review</i>. 1967<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Ian J. Kerr<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>