Description : Lahore (/ləˈhɔːr/; Punjabi: لہور; Urdu: لاہور) is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and is the country's 2nd largest city after Karachi, as well as the 26th largest city in the world. Lahore is one of Pakistan's wealthiest cities with an estimated GDP (PPP) of $65.14 billion as of 2017. Lahore is the largest city and historic cultural centre of the wider Punjab region, and is one of Pakistan's most socially liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities. Lahore's origins reach into antiquity. The city has been controlled by numerous empires throughout the course of its history, including the Hindu Shahis, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and Delhi Sultanate by the medieval era. Lahore reached the height of its splendour under the Mughal Empire between the late 16th and early 18th century, and served as its capital city for a number of years. The city was captured by the forces of the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah in 1739, and fell into a period of decay while being contested between the Afghans and the Sikhs. Lahore eventually became capital of the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century, and regained some of its lost grandeur. Lahore was then annexed to the British Empire, and made capital of British Punjab. Lahore was central to the independence movements of both India and Pakistan, with the city being the site of both the declaration of Indian Independence, and the resolution calling for the establishment of Pakistan. Lahore experienced some of the worst rioting during the Partition period preceding Pakistan's independence. Following the success of the Pakistan Movement and subsequent independence in 1947, Lahore was declared capital of Pakistan's Punjab province. No definitive records exist to elucidate Lahore's earliest history, and Lahore's ambiguous early history have given rise to various theories about its establishment and history. Hindu legend states that Keneksen, the founder of the Great Suryavansha dynasty, is believed to have migrated out from the city. Early records of Lahore are scant, but Alexander the Great's historians make no mention of any city near Lahore's location during his invasion in 326 BCE, suggesting the city had not been founded by that point, or was unimportant. Ptolemy mentions in his Geographia a city called Labokla situated near the Chenab and Ravi Rivers which may have been in reference to ancient Lahore, or an abandoned predecessor of the city. Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang gave a vivid description of a large and prosperous unnamed city when he visited the region in 630 CE that may have been Lahore. The first document that mentions Lahore by name is the Hudud al-'Alam ("The Regions of the World"), written in 982 CE in which Lahore is mentioned as a town which had "impressive temples, large markets and huge orchards." Few other references to Lahore remain from before its capture by the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century. Lahore appears to have served as the capital of Punjab during this time under Anandapala of the Kabul Shahi empire, who had moved the capital there from Waihind. The capital would later be moved to Sialkot following Ghaznavid incursions.
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