History Of Lahore

Part 1

Lahore History

Few cities in the Indian subcontinent can be said to have had • more chequered history than Lahore, a

city ruled by Hindu kings, Moghul emperors, Sikh monarchs and British sovereigns. There was something strikingly unusual about this golden land of dreams and legends. An embodiment of fabulous wealth and splendour, Lahore had captured the imagination of mighty men from far and near. For centuries, the city had attracted trade caravans, plundering hordes and conquerors in search of wealth and power. Scholars, historians and travellers passing through the city were enchanted by its majesty and grandeur. In the heyday of its glory as the imperial capital of the Moghuls, a proverbial saying often heard was that 'Isfahan and Shiraz together would not equal even half of Lahore'. John Milton (1608-74) mentions Lahore arming the cities seen by Adam from the hill of paradise: His eye might there command wherever stood City of old or modern fame, the sear Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can, And Samarchand by Oxus, Temir's throne, To Paquin of Sinaean Kings, and thence To Agra and Lahore of Great Mogul... (Paradise Lost, Bk. XI, 385-9)
Thomas Moore, another celebrated poet (1779-1852), in his classic work Ulla Redd,: An Oriental Romance, written in 1817, observed that 'brilliant displays of life and pageantry among the palaces and domes and gilded minaret of Lahore nude the city altogether like a place of enchantment'. Rudyard Kipling 11863-1936), who was brought up in Lahore and played around Tasmania in his childhood, has immortalized Lahore in his writings. Situated on the banks of the river Ravi, famous in history as the camping ground of the early Aryans, Lahore was founded, according to popular tradition, by Lava or Loh, one of the twin sons of Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya, the epic hero of the Ramayana. The other son, Kush, is said to have founded the neighbouring town of Kusawar or Kasur. Lahore means the 'Fort of Loh'. The first syllabk perpetuates the Hindu tradition, and the second, away, is derived from the Sanskrit awaram, meaning a 'fort' or 'enclosure'. The time when Valmiki composed his celebrated epic, the Ramayana, is unknown. Hindus attribute it to the Sarya Tugs or the age of righteousness, which they place several thousand years ago. Western historians, on the other hand, believe the personages in the Ramayana existed between the sixth and the sixteenth century K. From this it appears that Lahore is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is not merely in local tradition that the name of Lahore is made illustrious; it is also celebrated in the legends and quasi-historic traditions of other ancient Hindu states associated with the age of chivalry of the Hindus and their ancient civilization. Raj Tatangini, the ancient chronicle of Kashmir, mentions Lahore as a dependency of the great Lalitadirya. The 'Deshwa Map' , a compilation from the Puranas, gives an account of a battle in which Ran Mal, the Raja of Lahore, a mighty prince with an army of ten thousand horsemen, was defeated by Shim Sen. The ballads of the region commemorate the 'forest near Lahore, then called Udinagar, as the battlefield where the monster Rakhas was killed in a fight with Rank, son of Salvahn, the Raja of Sialkoe. Coming to more recent times, the annals of Raiputans refer to Lahore as a Hindu principality. Keneksen, the founder of the Suryavanshi (solar) royal line, is said to have migrated from there. The Solanki the of Arnukhara Pattan which had the Thant of Jaisa!met, whose name is still borne by one of the city gates, point to Lahore as the seat of their earlier settlement. The fin: historical reference to the city is found in the journals of the Chinae pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, written in AD 630. At the time of the first Muslim invasion in the late seventh century, Lahore was in the possession of a Ghauhan prince belonging tom family of Ajmer. For two centuries the Hindu rulers of Lahore gallantly withstood the Muslim onslaught, preventing the invader from advancing hatter into the country. However, in 1008, Anathema], the last Raj put king, who was defeated by the superior forces of Mahrnud of Ghazni, fled to Ajmer. In 1012, Mahmud seized and plundered Lahore without encountering any opposition. The Hindu principality of Lahore was annihilated forever. The princes and the people of Lahore played a prominent role in the long-drawn mingle between Islam and Hinduism that marked the entry of the former into India. The Ghaznavis, especially the later ones, adopted a conciliatory policy towards their Hindu subjects. In 1241, Lahore was taken and plundered by the hordes of Gen& Khan and in 1286 Prince Muhammad, son of Gias-ud-din Balban, perished in an encounter with the Mongols on the banks of the Ravi. During the Khilji and Tughlak dynamics Lahore was not a prominent place in the political hurory of the day. In 1397, Tuttur the Great, the 'firebrand of the universe', captured Lahore but did not plunder it, probably because the city was not pattioularly rich then. Looting and killing were commonplace occurrences until the empire of the Moghuls was established, when they became much less frequent. In 1524, Babur took Lahore, which was plundered and burnt by his soldiers. bk could not reach Delhi, having been forced to retreat from Sirhind. The foliose/inn year Babur again launched an invasion of Hindustan. After defeating Ibrahim Lodhi at the historic Battle of Panipat (1526) he captured Delhi and founded the MogItul empire, an empire destined to achieve a dazzling en of splendour. The reigns of Ba bur's successors—Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb—may be considered the golden period in the history of Lahore as the city rose from semi-obscurity to prominence. It became the city of historical monuments and gardens. It was in Lahore that Hums yun, when fleeing before

the victorious army of Sher Shah, met and married the fifteen year-old Hamida &gum, who gave birth to Akbar, the greatest of the Moghuls. Akbar made Lahore his headquarters from 1584 to 1598, during which period he extended his empire to Kashmir, and elevated the city from a provincial centre to a capital city of the Moghul empire. Thereafter, together with Agra and Delhi, lam was an alternative sat of the imperial court. It was at Lahore that Akbar held discussions with learned scholars of different faiths, including Portuguese missionaries, imbibing principles of religious liberality for which he is so renowned. Ak bar enclosed the city with a brick wall of considerable height and founded a palace that was later enlarged by his succason. The city beanie a place of royal residence with gardens, mosques and pavilions. Abul Faml in his celebrated work AwiAklmi (the Minor of Ak bar's times) describes Lahore as, 'a great city in the Bari Doatx in magnificence and populousness it has few equals; in old history it is called Lohawar. In the time of His Majesty the fort has been bah of sold bricks and lime and as from time to time, the seat of government wasestablished here, lofty palaces were built, to which additional beauty was lent by luxuriant gardens. It is the resort of people of all nations from every city, and wonderful works have been made here.' Lahore is also associated with royal romances. It was here that Prince Salim, who ascended the throne as Jahangir, fell in love with the beautiful but unfortunate Anarkali (pomegranate blossom), the title given to Nadira Begun. or Sharaf-un-Nisa for her beauty. She was the favourite inmate of Akbar's harem and was by his orders buried alive because he saw her exchanging smiles with his son Salim in the hall of mirrors of his palace. In Lahore, too, Salim first saw Mehr•un-Nisa, a Persian beauty married to one of Akbar's generals. Theirs was as romantic a love tragedy as ever enacted. Melts-tin•Nip became the celebrated Empress Nur Jahan (Light of the World), one of the most brilliant figures in the colourful history of India. The tombs of Jahangir and Nur Jahan form the chief architectural glories of the city. Jahangir's tomb, with its four tall minarets capped with graceful cupolas of white marble, dominates a vast garden that was once known as Baghe-Dilkusha, the pleasure-garden of his beloved (cont...........)

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