Lahore

Lahore (لاهور) is a city in Pakistan, capital of the province of Punjab. It's located near to the river Ravi and the Indian border. Lahore has 6.5 million inhabitants and thus the second biggest city in Pakistan (Karachi being the biggest). It is considered to be the 38th biggest city of the world.

History

According to legends Lahore was founded by Loh, son of Rama, the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana.

The city became Muslim when Qutub-ud-din Aibak was crowned in 1206 and thus 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 and Shah Jahan. 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 gateway to the fort.

Development

The recent road building programme has improved accessibility. A motorway was completed in 2000, linking Lahore to Islamabad, the capital. This apparently coincided with the appearance of McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in the new shopping centres all over the city. The Airport has been renovated and renamed to Allama Iqbal International Airport.