Harking Back: Myths, ‘facts’ and archaeology of Lahore’s origin

Whenever the history of Lahore is discussed, the one question that invariably comes to mind is just how old the city is. The answers to this come in many forms, which are all worth going exploring.

There is a lot of history thrown about, but few verifiable facts. There is the famous myth of the deity Ram and his sons Loh and Kash, which throws matters back into a virtual time warp. This results in a lot of conjecture, all patently unscientific. Then there is the verifiable science of dating in archaeology. Let us in this piece start with a few quotes from books of history, all masterpieces in their own right which should be available in any decent library and archive collection.

The oldest mention of Lahore available is over 1,200 years ago in the year 894 AD (279 AH). The famous chronicler of the Baghdad court, Ahmed bin Yahya Al-Baladhuri writing in his classic ‘Futulhul Buldan’ mentions Lahore by the name ‘Al-Ahvar’ and tells of stories he has heard of its important grain markets, of its fruit trees and the strength of its fort. He mentions that its temples are the finest in the western part of the sub-continent. He mentions the people as peace-loving and friendly.

If we move almost 100 years later we find in ‘Hududul-Alam’, written by an anonymous writer in 372 AH (982 AD), the word Lahore finds first mention as ‘Lahor’ as a town “full of temples and markets and clean streets paved with stones with no Muslims”. Next we see Al-Biruni mentions Lahore in his famous ‘Tarikahul Hind’ during the aftermaths of the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni as surrounded by fertile fields. He uses the word ‘Lauhavar’.

We also see in Sheikh Ahmed Zanjani’s famous treatise ‘Tuhfatul Wasilin’, written in 435 AH (1043 AD) with the remark: “Lahore was founded by Raja Parachit, a descendant of the Pandavas”. He goes on to write that Lahore was depopulated a number of times by famines and by brutal invasions. He goes on to write: “Every time it is depopulated it is reborn. This has been going on for centuries. Raja Bikramjit populated it and then Jogi Samand Pal Nagari expanded it and the town flourished. When Lohar Chand came to power the town was called ‘Loharpur’ and the high fort next to Loharpur was called ‘Loharkot’. The name then corrupted to Lahore”.

Then mention is made by Syed Ali Hasan of Hajveri, known popularly as Data Sahib, in his ‘Kashful Mahjub’ of him living in Lahore and others that followed. In his book there is no mention of the origins of the city. After Ali Hasan the mention of Lahore increases and by the time Qutab-ud-Din Aibak (1150-1210) came to power and was killed playing polo outside the city walls almost 800 years ago, Lahore was a huge city with high mud walls and a fort partially of burnt bricks and huge fruit orchids and sprawling gardens and an important garrison city.

From a few historical accounts it is clear that the origins of Lahore were never clear to any scholar. The evidence from historical accounts is unreliable and not detailed enough to move forward on. So before we deal with archaeological data, let us deal with two major myths, dealing with ingrained hearsay and beliefs. Here the most-used reference is to quote the Hindu religious text the ‘Rigveda’ and the ‘Dasarajna’ (Ten Kings) as given in the Mahabharata, or Book 7, hymns 18, 33 and 83.4-8).

Written in Vedic Sanskrit, now increasingly believed by a lot of Indian linguists and researchers to have sprouted from ancient Punjabi, almost 1750-1100 BC, or 3,750 to 3,100 years ago, it is the oldest text in any Indo-Iranian language. The Battle of the Ten Kings took place in approximately 1700 BC on the banks of the River Ravi near Lahore. Experts have pinpointed the exact location as being at the present Mahmood Booti Bund just north of Lahore’s walled city. The battle was with the ruler of Lahore, the Bharatas, (Vedic Aryans) and the confederation of Trtsu-Bharata led by their ‘puru’ Sudas. Just to clarify the word Porus is a Greek corruption of the word ‘puru’, meaning king. The fight was over diversion of the river water by the Bharatas, which is almost similar to the current Indus Water Treaty ‘misunderstanding’.

So if we are to believe the story of the Rigveda, then Lahore was very much a major capital city of the Punjab 3,700 years ago. But then this brings us to another myth that is peddled the most. Almost every tourist guide on Lahore starts with the colourful description of Lahore being named after Loh, the son of the Hindu deity Ram and his famous wife Sita. They add ‘substance’ by claiming that the nearby town of Kasur is named after the second son Kash. Great stuff for gullible tourists, but what exactly is the myth?

Rama, known as Ramachandra, is claimed to be the seventh ‘avatar’ of the deity Vishnu, and belief has it that he reincarnated in the form of Krishna and also of Gautama Buddha. Most Hindus believe he is the ‘Supreme Being’. If that is the case then trying to pin down Lahore’s age is just not possible. That is why it is such a beautiful myth. But what I do know is that the great Gautama Buddha was born in the year 563BC (2,580 years ago) and died in 480BC (2,497 years ago). This sage visited Lahore and if we follow Buddhist accounts he stayed in Lahore for over three months, most probably in Mohallah Maullian inside Lohari Gate. So we know that Lahore was a major important city almost 2,500 years ago. So much for myths. Now let us proceed further back, but this using scientific archaeological tools.

Two major undertakings are on record. The first was an archaeological dig conducted in 1959 by the Archaeological Department assisted by a British archaeological team of experts. The dig took place at the lowest spot inside the Lahore Fort and it went to a depth of only 52 feet. In this the methodology was to reach levels stage-by-stage till three consecutive stages revealed mud only. This was achieved by the 20th stage. The last stage where human habitation was found was the 17th stage, and carbon dating takes the pottery fragments to over 4,700 years old. So this is undisputed and we know that humans dwelt at the Lahore Fort site well over 4,700 years ago.

But mind you this was one of many high points in the plains on both sides of the River Ravi. Given the annual monsoon floods people of the Punjab built dwellings at ‘safe’ higher places. Amazingly, the results were locked away in the record room as ‘Top Secret’. Why should this be I have no idea. Knowledge does scare bureaucrats. But this is the only known archaeological dig that has taken place in Lahore.

The second piece of evidence was of old pottery found in a recently demolished house in Mohallah Maullian. As the new developers dug deeper and deeper, they kept finding more and more storeys of rooms. At the lowest level were mere earthen pots. These were taken by a history buff to the department of archaeology of the University of Cambridge which dated them using the latest techniques at 4,500 years old.