Region

Punjab

Mughal architecture, five rivers, and the country's living cultural heart.

Browse all Punjab photos Plan a trip to Punjab

Punjab is home to Lahore's Badshahi Mosque (built 1673, once the world's largest), the Walled City, the Wagah border ceremony, and the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh. Over half of Pakistan's 240 million people live here.

Best time to visit

October to March. Summers reach 45 °C; monsoon runs July to August.

Getting there

Lahore has direct international flights from most GCC and European hubs. Motorway M-2 links Islamabad to Lahore in 4 hours.

Top spots in Punjab

Lahore Walled City
Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort (UNESCO), Wazir Khan Mosque, Shahi Hammam.
Multan
City of Saints; Shah Rukn-e-Alam shrine, blue tile work.
Rohtas Fort
16th-century UNESCO fortress on the Grand Trunk Road.
Cholistan Desert
Derawar Fort and the annual Cholistan Jeep Rally in February.

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Culture, city by city

Drill into the culture, dress, food, games and history of each city in Punjab.

Lahore

The cultural capital — Mughal courts, qawwali nights, and food that doesn't sleep.

Multan

The city of saints — Sufi shrines, blue tile work, and mango orchards.

History timeline for Punjab

The eras of Pakistan's history that most shaped Punjab, from past to present.

3300–1300 BCE
Indus Valley Civilisation
One of the world's three earliest urban civilisations. Mohenjo-daro (Sindh) and Harappa (Punjab) had planned grid streets, brick sewers, and standardised weights 4,500 years ago. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites in modern Pakistan.
500 BCE – 500 CE
Gandhara & the Buddhist era
Alexander the Great crossed into what is now Pakistan in 326 BCE. The Mauryan and later Kushan empires made Taxila (Punjab) and Peshawar (KPK) the intellectual centres of Buddhist Gandhara — home to some of the earliest Buddha statues ever carved.
711–1200 CE
Arrival of Islam
In 712 CE, the 17-year-old Umayyad general Muhammad bin Qasim captured Sindh and Multan — one of the earliest Muslim conquests east of Persia. Two centuries later, Mahmud of Ghazni made Lahore his eastern capital (1021), beginning eight centuries of Islamic rule over the region.
1206–1526
Delhi Sultanate & Sufi shrines
The Delhi Sultans ruled from what is now Pakistan and North India. Sufi masters — Data Ganj Bakhsh (Lahore), Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (Sehwan), Bahauddin Zakariya and Shah Rukn-e-Alam (Multan), Baba Farid (Pakpattan) — turned the subcontinent's spiritual landscape and are still visited by millions.
1526–1707
Mughal Empire
Under the Mughals, Lahore served as the imperial capital during Akbar's reign (1584–1598) and remained a premier city. The Badshahi Mosque (1673), Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens (1642), Rohtas Fort, Mahabat Khan Mosque, and Wazir Khan Mosque were all built in this period — most are UNESCO World Heritage sites today.

Full history of Pakistan

Questions about Punjab

Answers written for travellers, editors and buyers. Every answer is in the page HTML so answer engines can quote it directly.

When is the best time to visit Punjab in Pakistan?+

October to March. Summers reach 45 °C; monsoon runs July to August.

How do I get to Punjab?+

Lahore has direct international flights from most GCC and European hubs. Motorway M-2 links Islamabad to Lahore in 4 hours.

Do foreigners need a permit to visit Punjab?+

No permits required for tourists. Standard visa or e-visa is enough.

How much does it cost to license a photo of Punjab on Pixistan?+

Personal-use licenses start at PKR 500, editorial at PKR 2,500 and commercial at PKR 8,000. Every Punjab photograph on Pixistan lists its exact PKR price on its detail page.

Who takes the Punjab photographs sold on Pixistan?+

Every Punjab photograph on Pixistan is shot on location by a Pakistani photographer. Pixistan does not accept AI-generated or agency stock imagery.