Lahore is described as a Hindu principality in the Rajput accounts. Keneksen, the founder of Suryavansha is believed to have migrated out from the city.[30] The Solanki tribe, belonging to Amukhara Pattan which included the Bhatti Rajputs of Jaisalmer "point to Lahore" as their place of earliest settlement. In 1241, Lahore was invaded by Mongols. Though Timur captured the city in 1397, he did not loot it because "it was not rich then".[30]
Ghaznavid Empire to Delhi Sultanate
Main article: Early Muhammadan period in Lahore
Badshahi Mosque was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671.
Lahore appears as the capital of the Punjab for the first time under Anandapala – the Hindu Shahi king who is referred to as the ruler of (hakim i lahur) –after leaving the earlier capital of Waihind.[31] Few references to Lahore remain from before its capture by Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznavi in the 11th century. The sultan took Lahore after a long siege and battle in which the city was torched and depopulated. In 1021, Sultan Mahmud appointed Malik Ayaz to the throne and made Lahore the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire. As the first Muslim governor of Lahore, Ayaz rebuilt and repopulated the city. He added many important features, such as city gates and a masonry fort, built in 1037–1040 on the ruins of the previous one,[32] which had been demolished in the fighting (as recorded by Munshi Sujan Rae Bhandari, author of the Khulasatut Tawarikh in 1695–96). The present Lahore Fort stands on the same location. Under Ayaz's rule, the city became a cultural and academic centre, renowned for poetry.[33] The tomb of Malik Ayaz can still be seen in the Rang Mahal commercial area of town.[34]
After the fall of the Ghaznavid Empire, Lahore was ruled by Turko-Afghan dynasties based in Delhi, known as the Delhi Sultanate,[35] including the Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Mamluk, Sayyid and Lodhis.[36] During the reign of Qutbu l-Din Aibak, Lahore was known as the 'Ghazni of India'. Scholars and poets from as far away as Kashghar, Bukhara, Samarkand, Iraq, Khorasan and Herat, gathered in Lahore and made it a city of learning. Under Aibak, Lahore had more poets of Persian than any other Islamic city.[37] In 1286, Prince Muhammad, who was the son of Balban was defeated in an encounter with the Mongols in the city.[38]
Mughal era
Main article: Mughal period in Lahore
Food street near Shahi Qila.
In the early 16th century, Babur, a Timurid descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Uzbekistan), swept across the Khyber Pass and founded the Mughal Empire, covering modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.[39] The Mughals were descended from Central Asian Turco-Mongols. Lahore reached the zenith of its glory during the Mughal rule from 1524 to 1752. Lahore reached the peak of its architectural glory during the rule of the Mughals, many of whose buildings and gardens have survived the ravages of time.[38]
Humayun, his son married Hamida Banu Begum in Lahore while fleeing to Persia. It was also the headquarters of Mughal rule during Akbar between 1584 and 1598. Thus along with Agra and Delhi, it became an "alternate seat of imperial court". Akbar also held discussions with Portuguese missionaries in the city. Abul Fazl, his court historian calls it a "a great city in Bari Doab, in magnificance and populousness it has few equals".[40]
The Mughal period in Lahore ended with Nader Shah's conquest in 1738. Lahore was part of Nader Shah's Persia between 1738 and 1747. After Nader Shah's death it was captured for a brief period by Ahmed Shah Abdali between 1747 and 1758 who founded the Afghan Durrani Empire .[28]
Maratha reign
In 1758, the Maratha Empire's general Raghunathrao conquered Lahore, Attock and Peshawar, and drove out Timur Shah Durrani, the son and viceroy of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Kashmir and other subahs on the south and eastern side of Attock were under the Maratha rule for the most part. In Punjab and Kashmir, the Marathas were now major players.[41]
Afghan Durrani Empire
In 1761, following the victory at the Third Battle of Panipat between the Afghan Durrani and the Maratha Empire, Ahmad Shah Abdali again captured Lahore and remnants of the Maratha Empire in Punjab and Kashmir regions and consolidated control over them.[42] Afghan rule continued till they were defeated and Lahore was captured by the Sikhs in 1799.
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