Origin of Pakistani City Names

origin-of-pakistani-city-names
Love of homeland is a natural thing. If we love our country, we also love its cities. All the cities of Pakistan are very beautiful and dear to every Pakistani. Name of a city not only give it a unique identity but also have historical background. 
Read this full article to know history of major Pakistani cities and also know "how these cities got their current names". We have written details in English as well as in Urdu with beautiful relevant images. 


Pakistan
Pakistan is combination of "Pak" and "istan". Pak mean spiritually pure and clean while "istan" is derived from Sanskrit word "asthan", which means land/ country. So in this way meaning of Pakistan is spiritually pure land or land of spiritually pure people.
P of Pakistan is taken from Punjab, A from Afghania (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), K from Kashmir, S from Sindh and Tan from Baluchistan. 
Origin of word Pakistan
Pakistan

Islamabad

This name was given on the name of religion Islam. It became federal capital of Pakistan in 1959.
Origin of name "Islamabad"
Islamabad

Karachi

It was a village of fishermen about 200 years ago. It got its name from name of a Baloch named Kalachoo or on name of a woman named Kalachi. Kalachi became Karachi with the passage of time.
It got status of a city in 1925. It was federal capital of Pakistan from 1947 to 1959.
Origin of name "Islamabad"
Karachi

Lahore

Lahore is a historical city. We could not find any solid evidence about its name however some people says that its name was originated from word "Loh" or "Lava" which is, according to Ramayana religious book of Hinduism, son of Ram.
Origin of name Lahore
Lahore

Peshawar

Peshawar is a city of Paishawar (professional and skilled) people.
Origin of name Peshawar
Peshawar

Quetta

Word Quetta is derived from Quata which means mountains.
Origin of name Quetta
Quetta

Rawalpindi

This city was homeland of Rawal family. Chaudhry Jhanday Khan Rawal built this city in 15th century so its name was given to it on the name of its founder.
Origin of name Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi

Hyderabad

Ghulam Ahmed Kalhorra built this city. Its old name was Nairoon Kot. Later Kalhorra family changed his name as Hyderabad on the name of Hazrat Ali (R.A).
Origin of name Hyderabad
Hyderabad

Sargodha

Godha was a Hindu saint who live beside a water pool. In Sanskrit, pool is called sar. So this place was called "Godhay wala Sar" which later became Sargodha. Proper city was founded on this place in 1903.
Origin of name Sargodha
Sargodha

Bahawalpur

Nawab Bahawal Khan built this city and name of this city was also given on his name. For a long time, this was capital of State of Bahawalpur. Abbassis were rulers of Bahawalpur. This was the first state that affiliated with Pakistan.
Origin of name Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur

Multan

It is about 4000 years old city. Its old name was Kaisapur.
Multan
Multan

Click here to know origin of other city names of Pakistan



Please, Write History of Your City's Name in the Comments?

3 Comments

  1. Okara is city of Pakistan and it named as okara due to presence of okan plants in huge amount

    ReplyDelete
  2. Renala khurd was named as malya wala due to presence of small plants of mallah

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have belong with "dir" district which means place of "diroji tribe"
    My village name is "Laskhan" which is originated from a person name"liyas khan" due to his bravery

    ReplyDelete
Previous Post Next Post