Lahore, Pakistan

Lahore is the second largest city in Pakistan, and the capital of the key province of Punjab. Lying only 30km from the border with India, its recent history has been dominated by its partition from that country; a rupture that left the city in which the tricolour of India was first raised belonging to the state most openly hostile to it, Pakistan.

Lahore’s status as Pakistan’s capital of culture, with its liberal leanings, has made it a key target of Islamic revolutionaries in that country. Nevertheless, its cultural roots are deep with Lahore serving as the capital of many states in the region from as far back as the 11th Century. The city was highly patronised by the Mughal Emperors. Akbar, Jahangir (who is buried just outside the City) and Aurangzeb in particular built large monuments there.

The oldest part of the City is the Walled City, or Anderoon Shehr. This area contains most of the city’s ancient mosques, bazaars, sufi shrines (including that of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri) and the famous red-light district known as the Heera Mandi (literally ‘diamond market’). These photographs were taken between the 15th and the 18th of October 2009, largely in the Walled City.