Thursday, December 29, 2022

Pakistan's Punjab And Northwest Frontier

Last week we visited Pakistan's two southern provinces, Sindh and Balochistan. The remaining two provinces are Punjab and the Northwest Frontier. The Northwest Frontier province has been renamed Khyber Pakhunkhwa.

Punjab is Pakistan's most populous province even though Karachi, in Sindh Province, is it's largest city. The name of Punjab means " Five Rivers". The largest city in Punjab is Lahore, which we have already visited in " Lahore And The Mughals".

There is also a state of India called Punjab, and that is because the state of Punjab was divided about equally between India and Pakistan when the two became independent countries. The border runs through the former state of Punjab and Amritsar, the center of the Sikh religion, is on the Indian side.

Taxila, in the far north of Pakistan, was part of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. It had one of the earliest of universities.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.


Multan is a very ancient city in Pakistan's southern Punjab. Multan has been part of many empires down through history, relatively recently the Mughal and Sikh Empires. It was once ruled by Alexander.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.1992095,71.4722833,3a,75y,13h,107.33t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMaOoWGZxj0wzQdfZgyVFWLrrSsjARaVuOLdtOj!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMaOoWGZxj0wzQdfZgyVFWLrrSsjARaVuOLdtOj%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-17.33119-ya110.99679-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Here is more of Multan.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.1950885,71.4427378,3a,75y,20h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPuMWczrzoOcxk-CQYN3W5bEedRzwJXIJamnAM3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPuMWczrzoOcxk-CQYN3W5bEedRzwJXIJamnAM3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-15.746023-ya201.6751-ro5.8308616-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Faisalabad, in sharp contrast to Multan, is a modern city. It was built in the British colonial era. Faisalabad is a planned city that was built in the late Nineteenth Century. The city was originally named Lyallpur but King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was so popular in Pakistan that it was renamed for him, in the late 1970s after he was assassinated by his nephew. Today Faisalabad is Pakistan's third largest city, after Karachi and Lahore, and is especially known for the manufacture of textiles.

The following scenes of Faisalabad begin at the clock tower.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.4184836,73.0790548,3a,75y,1.26h,102.33t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOCXC-mi5j6QWmwZWCER0GqnXAureA5lDvwnXwt!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOCXC-mi5j6QWmwZWCER0GqnXAureA5lDvwnXwt%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya114.041115-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Rawalpindi, in the far north of Pakistan in the area of Taxila, is Pakistan's fourth largest city. It's strategic location is reflected in it's being the site of the headquarters of Pakistan's Army today. Rawalpindi seems to have been first recorded in medieval times.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6000251,72.9827184,3a,75y,180h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMafRuMcfNpH2PM8_0AAEv6Zm0cuvw03QaXqqvS!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMafRuMcfNpH2PM8_0AAEv6Zm0cuvw03QaXqqvS%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-9.977638-ya166.38998-ro-4.443008-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

This is more of Rawalpindi.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6154713,73.0575158,3a,75y,220h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNFDRf3232XmDxS_B_ZssswFL6nU-Otez9Zp4rP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNFDRf3232XmDxS_B_ZssswFL6nU-Otez9Zp4rP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya303-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

Islamabad, adjacent to Rawalpindi, is the capital city of Pakistan. Like Brasilia, it was especially built as a capital city in the 1960s. The first capital of Pakistan, which became independent in 1947, was Karachi, and then Rawalpindi until Islamabad was completed.

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, for whom Faisalabad was named, commissioned the construction of a modernist mosque, that is now Pakistan's national mosque. The following scenes begin there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.72929,73.0383148,3a,75y,20h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPAAYD0OlLQdJXEwgcXQ04_TmpSj0-vtI9E9pLF!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPAAYD0OlLQdJXEwgcXQ04_TmpSj0-vtI9E9pLF%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya20-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

Also in Islamabad is the Pakistan Monument.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6930871,73.0686027,3a,75y,305.07h,90.33t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMdCZ6YNpZOFqIFC79_UOBKodAsL7G54R1m89EG!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMdCZ6YNpZOFqIFC79_UOBKodAsL7G54R1m89EG%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya190.85481-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Peshawar is a very ancient city that was an important stop on the Silk Road that linked Europe with east Asia. It was also a stop on another ancient route, India's Grand Trunk Road.

Peshawar is the major city of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province, which has been renamed Khyber Pakhunkhwa. The region is known for the famed Khyber Pass, in the Himalayan Mountains, which linked central Asia with the Indian Subcontinent.

Peshawar was very much affected by the wars in neighboring Afghanistan. Somewhere around five million refugees have moved into Pakistan.

Here is Peshawar. It is known for it's comfortably cool climate because it is at high altitude.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9981143,71.5391349,3a,75y,240h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPey6CUdU0avhJwuoWkmh5z7kyv-QFspfvdo4Zt!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPey6CUdU0avhJwuoWkmh5z7kyv-QFspfvdo4Zt%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya240-ro0-fo100!7i6080!8i3040

This is more of Peshawar.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0164089,71.603126,3a,75y,240h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNSg4A_ySasV2F7otGXQPe5kKiKbRtpYDoHp1-p!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNSg4A_ySasV2F7otGXQPe5kKiKbRtpYDoHp1-p%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.79045296-ya109.902214-ro-2.8386755-fo100!7i5472!8i2736

So in the northern two provinces of Pakistan we have very ancient cities like Multan and Peshawar. There is Rawalpindi that is first referred to in medieval times. There is Faisalabad that was a planned city from the late Nineteenth Century, and there is Islamabad that was built in the 1960s as Pakistan's capital.

Kashmir is a region that is divided between India and Pakistan, although the majority of the population are Muslims. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. Although a significant portion of Kashmiris would prefer to be an independent country.

Srinagar is the major city of Kashmir.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0850238,74.7968628,3a,75y,180h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN3fUayG7N6WZibsBW-WFrYK20M8cwY4Nx6OOWV!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN3fUayG7N6WZibsBW-WFrYK20M8cwY4Nx6OOWV%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya169.78001-ro0-fo100!7i4096!8i2048

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