Lahore - City of Pakistan

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. It is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its Mughal heritage. Lahore also is often called the cultural heart of Pakistan, as it is the center of Pakistani arts, films and intelligentsia. It is located near the Ravi River, close to the Pakistan-India border. Mughal structures such as the Badshahi Mosque, the Data Durbar Complex, the Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the mausolea of Jehangir and Nur Jehan are popular tourist spots in the city. Lahore is also home to many British colonial structures built in the Indo-Gothic style, such as the Lahore High Court, the General Post Office, and many older universities.

Ptolemy, the celebrated astronomer and geographer, mentions in his Geographia a city called Labokla situated on the route between the Indus River and Palibothra, or Pataliputra, in a tract of country called Kasperia, described as extending along the rivers Bidastes or Vitasta, Sandabal or Chandra Bhaga, and Adris or Iravati. This city may be ancient Lahore.

A legend, based on Hindu oral traditions, states that Lahore was named after Lava, son of the Hindu god Rama, who supposedly founded the city. To this day, the Lahore Fort has a vacant temple dedicated to Lava.

Lahore played a special role in the independence movements of both India and Pakistan. The 1929 Congress session was held at Lahore. In this Congress, the Declaration of the Independence of India was moved by Pandit Nehru and passed unanimously at midnight on 31 December 1929. On this occasion, the contemporary tricolour of India was hoisted as a national flag, and thousands of people saluted it.

The most important session of the All India Muslim League, demanding the creation of Pakistan, was held in Lahore in 1940. Muslims under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam demanded a separate homeland for Muslims of India in a document known as the Pakistan Resolution or the Lahore Resolution. It was during this session that Jinnah, the leader of the league, publicly proposed the Two-Nation Theory for the first time.

On partition, Lahore was made capital of Punjab province in the new state of Pakistan. Almost immediately, large scale riots broke out among Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, causing many deaths as well as damage to historic monuments—including the Lahore Fort, Badshahi mosque and other colonial buildings. Among all cities of India, Lahore suffered the greatest loss due to the Partition of Punjab in 1947. It also drastically altered the demographics of the city and shifted the economic advantage from the Hindus to the Muslims. Meanwhile, the opposite situation occurred in Amritsar, which is a mere 30 miles away from Lahore, although the urban sprawl of Lahore and Amritsar are less that 15 miles apart.

Lahore's culture is unique. Known as the cultural capital or Heart of Pakistan, the city has been the seat of the Mughal Empire and the Sikh Empire as well as the capital of Punjab in Mahmud Ghaznavi's 11th century empire and in the British Empire.

Lahore is known as the City of Gardens. There were many gardens in Lahore during the Mughal era, and although some have since been destroyed, many have still survived. The Shalimar Gardens were laid out during the reign of Shah Jahan and were designed to mimic the Islamic paradise of the afterlife described in the Quran. The gardens follow the familiar charbagh model with three descending terraces. The Lawrence Gardens were established in 1862 and were originally named after Sir John Lawrence, late 19th century British Viceroy to India.

Lahore is known as the education capital of Pakistan, with more colleges and universities than any other city in the country. A true Science & Technology hub of Pakistan. Pakistan’s largest producer of quality professionals in the field of Science & Technology as well as in High Tech such as IT, Engineering, Medical, Nuclear Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Telecommunication, Bio- Technology and Microelectronics etc.

Lahore also boasts one of the finest and most renowned high school in Asia, Aitchison College, that feeds students to all the leading universities across the globe. Aitchison College is also responsible for producing renowned political leaders and sportsmen for Pakistan.