Syed Ishrat Husain

Religious and cultural festivals were events of social significance, Lohri, Basant, Holi, Baisakhi, Dussehra, Diwali, Gurpurav and Muharram were symbols of a composite culture.Tthe principal fairs of Lahore were those of Besakhi, Basant, Dussehra and Mela Chiraghan.Basant mela in January-February in the precints of the mausoleum of Madho Lal Husain near Shalamar Gardens. The Muslims […]

The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 marked the beginning of a new era in the lifestyle of the people of Lahore. The decade of the 1930s which had brought about considerable economic depression accompanied by widespread unemployment among the educated, was now over. But soon after the end of war, Lahorias had […]

Few cities in Indian subcontinent can be said to have had a more chequered history than Lahore. In the heyday of its glory as the Imperial capital of Mughals, a proverbial saying often hears was that ‘Isfahan and Shiraz together would not equal even half of LAHORE’. There was something strikingly unusual about this golden […]

Lahore had been a capital of Mughals and Sikhs long before the East India Company’s annexation of the Punjab. Destabilisation in the region after the death of Ranjit Singh served as an alibi for British Military intervention, which enabled the final annexation of Lahore.Lahore came under direct control of the British East India Company in […]

For Ranjit Singh, it was the capture of Lahore that was the ultimate step, transforming him from a warlord to a Maharaja. In July 1799 Ranjit Singh seized Lahore and in 1801 Ranjit Singh proclaimed himself maharaja of the Punjab. In July 1819 he finally expelled the Pashtuns from the Vale of Kashmir, and by […]

The Hindu realm of Loh-awar annihilated with the departure of last Rajput king, who was defeated by the powerful Ghaznavi forces. Lahore was plundered by Genghis khan’s army. Khilji and Tughlaq dynasties didn’t give any attention to Lahore. Then came the Moghuls, Babur’s invasion brought the end of Lodhi’s kingdom. Lahore reached the peak of […]

The Lahore I love is so beautifully expressed by Bapsi Sidhwa; the city conjures up gardens and fragrances, the gardens in thousands of Lahori homes with their riot of spring flowers. The trees bloom in a carnival of jewel colours, the defiant brilliance of kachnar, bougainvillea and gulmohr silhouetted against an azure sky. And the […]

Democracy: is a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Feminism: The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. The advocacy of women’s rights on the […]

Just before the beginning of the month of Ramzan this year, Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan advised country’s youth that they can learn Islamic ethics and values while watching Turkish tv serial Ertugrul. I want our children and youth to know what the difference is about our culture. The show was already a hit in […]

Nader Shah had his son Nasrallah married to a Mughal Princess; a great granddaughter of Aurangzeb Alamgir, Mohammad Shah’s niece. According to protocol, before the wedding, court officials had to examine the ancestry of the bridegroom. When Nader Shah heard this, he said: He is the son of Nader Shah Afshar, the son of the […]