LAHORE, an extensive province of Hindustan, situated between the thirtieth and thirty-fourth degrees of north latitude. It has been estimated at 340 miles in length by 200 in average breadth. It is bounded on the north by Cashmere and the course of the Indus; on the south by Delhi, Ajmeer, and Moultan; on the east by the mountains of Northern Hindustan; and on the west it is separated from Afghanistan by the Indus. The principal geographical and territorial subdivisions are the Punjab, comprehending other minor subdivisions, and the Kohistan of Lahore. Into these two districts the country is nearly equally divided. The Kohistan is the mountainous tract which occupies the whole north-eastern division, and the Punjab is the flat country to the south-west, so called from the five celebrated rivers by which it is intersected. The mountainous district is not so fertile as the plains. On the sides, however, of those mountains, which are inhabited, wheat, barley, and various other small grains, are produced. There are spaces which project from the body of the hills, in separate flats, in the form of semicircular stairs. Into those projections the soil is propelled by the rains which fall in this quarter from June to October, and the earth washed down is preserved in that state by buttresses of stones. Rice is cultivated in the narrow valleys, but the inhabitants subsist chiefly on wheat-bread and peas made into a thick soup. Pines and willow trees grow on the face of the mountains. The resinous part of the fir is cut into slips, and supplies the place of a lamp. The climate is not favourable to fruits and vegetables. Fossil salt is found in many parts, and the mountainous tracts are supposed to be rich in minerals.

The flat country called the Punjab, or the country of the five rivers, is by far the most productive, though its fertility has been too much extolled, having been represented as the garden of India, which, under a good government, it might have been, from its advantageous situation and its numerous rivers. But it has been exposed to such various revolutions, and has been so much harassed by the contests of the petty Sikh chiefs by whom it is possessed, that it has not profited so much as might have been expected of its natural advantages; and accordingly, except in the immediate vicinity of the rivers, no portion of it is to be compared with the British provinces in Upper Hindustan, and still less with Bengal. The agricultural productions of the Punjab are, in general, wheat, barley, rice, pulse of all sorts, sugar-cane, tobacco, and various fruits. The province of Lahore is watered by the Indus, the Sutlege or Hysudrus, the Beyah or Hyphasis, the Ravey or Hydraotes, the Chinaub or Aeesincs, and the Jhylum or Hydaspes. That part of the Punjab east of the Jhylum, and the nearest to that river, which is flat, is chiefly pastured by herds of oxen and buffaloes; and that most to the east towards the Sutlege, which is wavy, though the most sterile in quality, is the best cultivated. East of the Jhylum there is not a hill; the trees are few, and cultivation is extremely scanty. It contains, however, many fine villages, and some large towns. But the latter, with the exception of Amritsir, the holy city of the Sikhs, are mostly tending to decay.

The commerce of this country was formerly much obstructed by the heavy duties levied on all the goods as they passed through the different territories of the petty Sikhs. It was in consequence carried to Hindustan Proper by the difficult and mountainous route of Jamboe, Nadone, and Serinagur. The Sikh chiefs, however, discovered their error, and many of these heavy and vexatious duties have been reduced; and, by a more strict administration of justice, confidence has been restored to the merchants. The exports from Lahore to the countries west of the Indus are, sugar, rice, indigo, wheat, and white cotton cloths. The imports from these countries are, swords, horses, fruit, lead, and spices. The exports to Cashmere are nearly the same as to Persia; the imports being shawls, a variety of cloths, saffron, and fruits. With Kohistan, the mountainous division of Lahore, the inhabitants of the Punjab exchange cloth, matchlocks, and horses, for iron and other smaller commodities. From the south arc imported sulphur, indigo, salt, lead, iron, European coarse broad cloth, and spices. The exports to the south arc, horses, camels, sugar, rice, white cloth, matchlocks, swords, bows and arrows.

Lahore contains a mixed population of Sikhs, Singhs, Jauts, Rajpoots, Hindus of lower castes, and Mahommedans; the latter a poor, persecuted, despised race, and not numerous. Few of their mosques have escaped destruction. The lower orders of the Sikhs are protected from the tyranny and violence of their chiefs by the precepts of their common religion, and by the privilege which they possess of abandoning a leader whom they dislike, the distance of a few miles placing them under the protection of his rival. In the Punjab it is reckoned that one third of the inhabitants are Singhs or Sikhs. A considerable number of cultivators are Jauts. The natives are composed of different classes, of Hindus. Amongst the mountaineers the goitre or swelled throat is common. On the north-western borders of Lahore the inhabitants are chiefly Afghans, who live in small forts or walled villages, in mutual dread of each other. This quarter is exposed to the depredations of the Sikhs on the Attock and on the adjacent districts. In the Punjab, fakeers or religious devotees and mendicants are common, and are frequently seen travelling about in a palanquin clad in silk, with a great retinue of attendants on horse and foot. These are extremely proud, and in general insolent and abusive to Europeans. The Singhs are active and robust, and have in general the Hindu cast of countenance, somewhat altered by their long beards. They are very courageous, and, under the influence of prejudice or religion, are brave even to desperation. They are all horsemen, though they serve as infantry in foreign armies; of a bold and rough address, speaking invariably in a loud, bawling tone of voice.

Sikh, or Siksha, is a Sanscrit word signifying disciple or devoted follower. The founder of the sect was called Nanak, who was born at the village of Tulwundy, in the district of Bhatti and province of Lahore, a. D. 1419, and died at Kirthipoor Dehra, on the banks of the Ravey. He left two sons, from whom are descended 1400 families, called Shahzadehs, who are greatly respected, and live at Dera, in the Punjab. The descendants of this person ruled amongst the Sikhs, who, during the succeeding centuries, gradually increased in strength. Gooro Govind, who was expelled from Lahore during the reign of Aurungzebc, and is supposed to have died in 1708, new-modelled the government of the Sikhs, and converted them into a band of ferocious soldiers, changing their name from Sikh to Singh, signifying a lion. This person is revered by the Sikhs as the founder of their worldly greatness and political independence, as Gooroo Nanak is of their religion. After the death of Aurungzebe, the Sikhs grew in strength, and wasted the country. On the dissolution of the government which took place at Lahore subsequent to Nadir Shah’s invasion of India, the power of the Sikhs increased; and, during the first invasion of the Afghans in 1746, they possessed themselves of a considerable portion of the country between the Ravey and Jallinder. In 1762 and 1763 they were almost exterminated by Ahmed Shah Abdalli and the Afghans; but by their undaunted resolution they still rose superior to their misfortunes, and at last succeeded in acquiring and consolidating their present territories. For many years prior [7:13:20]to the appearance of Runjeet Singh, this whole country was distracted by the internal feuds that took place between the different chiefs, every village being an object of dispute between brothers and near relations. This powerful chieftain rose into political power from small beginnings. So recently as the year 1805, when Lord Lake advanced into the Punjab, he was contending for ascendency amongst merely rival chiefs. But between this and the year 1812, he had brought almost the whole of the petty princes in the Punjab under his authority, and was even encroaching to the south-east, beyond the boundary of the Sutlege, when he was opposed by the British, with whom, however, he showed not the least desire to contend. Being sensible of his own inability to oppose the British power, he willingly agreed to a treaty of alliance and friendship, by which the latter agreed to relinquish all concern with the territories of the rajah to the north of the Sutlege; and the rajah on his part agreed never to maintain, in the territories occupied by him or his dependents to the south of that river, more troops than were necessary to carry on the internal police of the country, and also to abstain from encroaching on the chiefs to the south of that boundary. Runjeet Singh is an ambitious chief, and he is extremely anxious to improve and increase the warlike resources of his kingdom. His troops are manoeuvred according to the European fashion; they are drilled by European officers, and make a formidable appearance in the field. But they are still very far inferior to the British troops in India in all military qualities; and the Sikh monarch is too wary to risk his recently acquired power in such an unequal contest. He is perpetually endeavouring to extend his territories towards the south and east. He has made several attempts on the hilly country of Cashmere, which have all been unsuccessful. We have no accurate estimate of the population of the Sikh territories. It was the boast of these warlike tribes at one time that they could bring 100,000 horsemen into the field; but at present so large a force could not possibly be mustered among them.

Lahore, the capital of the above provincĕ, is situated on the south side of the Ravey River, which is here about three hundred yards wide. It is surrounded with lofty walls, decorated on the outside, but hastening to ruin, as are most of the private buildings. It is still a place of considerable size, with a good bazar; but it is not inhabited by wealthy people. On account of the frequent sackings it has sustained, they have migrated for safety to Amritsir. The palace was originally founded by Acbar, and enlarged by his successors. Across the Ravey, at Shah Durra, about two miles north of Lahore, stands the celebrated mausoleum of Jehangeer, within a wall of nearly 600 yards square. It is a magnificent building, sixty-six paces on each side, and still in very good condition. To the southward of this, in the open plain, is to be seen the tomb of Noor Jehan Begum, a building thirty-six paces square. In 1812 Runjeet Singh was building a very thick wall and rampart round the city, with a deep, broad ditch. The palace has also been surrounded by a deep and broad ditch, the whole faced with brick, and the earth thrown inwards, so as to form a broad rampart, with bastions at intervals. The city is verging to decay; yet the domes and minarets of the mosques, the lofty walls of the fort, the splendid mausoleum of Jehangeer, and the numberless inferior tombs and temples that surround the town, still render it an object of curiosity and admiration. Lahore was taken by Sultan Baber, a. d. 1520, and was for some time the seat of the Mogul government. Since that period it has undergone many revolutions, and was for a considerable time possessed by the Abdalli Afghans of Cabul, by whom it is named Sikrei. For the last thirty years it has been under the domination of the Sikhs, and has latterly been the headquarters of Rajah Runjeet Singh, the powerful chieftain of that predatory people. The travelling distance from Delhi is 380 miles, from Lucknow 639, from Bombay 1070, and from Calcutta 1356 miles. Long. 74. 3. E. Lat. 31. 36. N.