Lahore

Lahore (ləhôr`), city (1998 pop. 5,063,499), capital of Punjab prov., E central Pakistan, on the Ravi River. It is the second largest city of Pakistan. A railway and air transport center near the Indo-Pakistani border, Lahore is a banking and commercial city that markets the products of the surrounding fertile agricultural area. The city is home to c.20% of Pakistan's industrial producers; manufactures include textiles, rubber, iron, and steel. Handicrafts, especially gold and silver work, also flourish. According to Hindu legend, Lahore was founded by Loh, or Lava, son of Rama, the hero of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. In 1036 it was conquered from a Brahman dynasty by the Muslim Turkish Ghaznavids, who made it the capital of their empire in 1106. It passed in 1186 to the Ghori sultans, also from Afghanistan. India's first Muslim emperor, Kutb-ud-din Aibak, was crowned in Lahore in 1206 and is buried there. The city, which suffered Mongol raids in the 13th and 14th cent., entered the period of its greatest glory in the 16th cent., when it became one of the capitals of the Mughal empire. Lahore declined after the reign of Aurangzeb; it was annexed in 1767 by the Sikhs, who, under Ranjit Singh, made it their capital. It passed to the British in 1849. When Pakistan won independence in 1947, Lahore became the capital of its West Punjab; from 1955 to 1970 it was the capital of the entire province of West Pakistan, composed of all provinces in the western wing; and upon the province's dissolution it became the capital of Punjab prov. The architectural remains of the Mughal period, although imperfectly preserved, are among the most splendid of Mughal art. Especially notable are the palace and mausoleum of emperor Jahangir and the Shalimar gardens, just outside the city; only three sections of the gardens remain of the original seven that had symbolized the divisions of the Islamic paradise. Other landmarks include the Pearl and Golden mosques, the tomb of Ranjit Singh, and the Wazir Khan mosque, which contains the finest known examples of khashi, or inlaid pottery. Lahore's museum of Indian antiquities, which figures in Rudyard Kipling's Kim, is among the most noted in the East. The city's educational facilities include the Univ. of the Punjab (1882), Pakistan's oldest university; several affiliated colleges; and a university of engineering and technology. Lahore also has an atomic research institute.

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Lahore

City (pop., 1998: 5,143,495), capital of Punjab province, northeastern Pakistan. The second largest city of Pakistan, it lies in the upper Indus plain on the Ravi River. It was the capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty in the 12th century and was captured by the Mughal Babur's troops in 1524; it was later under Akbar and Jahangir. Ruled by Sikhs in the early 19th century, it passed to the British in 1849. After Indian independence, Lahore became part of Pakistan in 1947. It is the site of the mosque of Wazir Khan (1634); a mosque built by Aurangzeb; and the Shalimar gardens, laid out in 1641. It is the seat of Pakistan's oldest educational institution, the University of the Punjab (founded 1882).

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Lahore

1. a city in NE Pakistan: capital of the former province of West Pakistan (1955--70); University of the Punjab (1882). Pop.: 6 373 000 (2005 est.)

2. a variety of large domestic fancy pigeon having a black-and-white plumage

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Lahore 

a city in northeastern Pakistan, on the left bank of the Ravi River. The administrative center of Punjab Province. After Karachi, the largest and economically most important city in the country. Population, about 2 million (1971). A transportation junction.

In Lahore and its suburbs and satellite cities (these cities have arisen since 1947) there are textile, food, rubber, and leather-footwear industries; the city also has a small metallurgy industry and a number of metalworking and machine-construction enterprises (railroad shops; enterprises producing agricultural machines, transport equipment, pumps, and electrical-engineering goods). The city has a large steam power plant. It is connected by a gas pipeline with the Sui deposit. Lahore is a centuries-old center of handicrafts (gold and silver articles, embroidery, and ornaments). It is an important cultural center, with a university and colleges.

Lahore arose at the beginning of the Common Era. From 1099 to 1114 and again from 1153 to 1186 it was the capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty. Under the Delhi sultans and the Great Moguls it was the administrative center of Punjab region; it often served as the temporary residence of the Great Moguls. Later, from 1799 to 1849, it was the capital of the Sikh state. During the period of British domination (1849–1947) it was the administrative center of the Lahore region and district of British India. After the formation of Pakistan, the city from 1947 to 1955 was the administrative center of Punjab Province, and from 1955 to 1970 it was the center of Lahore region and of the province of West Pakistan; since July 1970, it has been the administrative center of Punjab Province.

The city is rich in architectural monuments of the 16th and 17th centuries; situated northwest of the city is a fort surrounded by strong walls and towers (1570’s) and containing palace complexes with elegant arcades and pavilions (the Jahangir palace, 1617, architect Abdul Karim), the Pearl Mosque (1645), and other buildings. Within the walls (which have towers) of the old city, which lies immediately south of the fort, Vezir Khan Mosque (1634) and the Golden Mosque (1753) still stand, as do frame-built apartment houses with cornices and with balconies on carved wooden brackets. The district of Anarkali, which lies to the south of the old city, has 19th-century buildings in eclectic style, with national motifs, including the museum, the university, and the Supreme Court building. Among the buildings constructed since 1947 are the National College of the Arts and a ten-story office building (1962–65). The Central Museum (of the fine and applied arts) and the Weapons Museum are in the fort. The Shalimar Gardens (1637, architect Ali Mardan Khan) are located 8 km east of the city. Several kilometers northwest of the fort is Jahangir’s mausoleum (1626).

REFERENCE

Khan, M. W. K. Lahore and Its Monuments. Karachi, 1963.