2-982-456 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Street Scene in Lahore - from drawings by W. Carpenter, Jun., 1858. Few cities have undergone the vicissitudes to which the capital of the Punjaub has been subjected. It is on the highroad from Central Asia to the rich plains of India, which have been, the desire of every Moslem conqueror...Its brightest time was, perhaps, that when Jehangir made it his winter quarters on returning from Cashmere; and almost the only buildings of importance now remaining date from that period. But its present aspect was given to it during the sovereignty of Runjeet Singh, who built the walls and ditch (about four miles round), together with the fortified palace; and here he and his sirdars spent the intervals between their campaigns in the grossest debauchery. It is constructed almost entirely of brick, the streets narrow and the houses lofty; the quarter for the shops or bazaars being separate from that inhabited by the rich, whose houses, within gates, resemble French hotels, having inclosures at the top, with latticework made of tiles for the accommodation of the women, that they may enjoy the cool breeze in the evening without the danger of being overlooked.' From "Illustrated London News", 1858.