The land of five rivers
Punjabپنجاب
Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous province, named for the five rivers that cross it. Its cities each have a trade: blue tiles and sweets in Multan, salt in the Salt Range, footballs and surgical steel in Sialkot, and leather and gold thread in Lahore’s old city.
Multanملتان
City of saints, blue tiles, glowing lamps and very good sweets.
Chaunsa mangoesچونسہ آم
Pakistan’s famous summer mangoes
Sweet, fibre-free and fragrant: the mango Pakistanis argue is the best in the world.
Multani blue potteryکاشی گری
Hand-painted glazed ceramics
Cobalt and turquoise on white, the colours of Multan’s shrines.
Camel-skin lamp
Painted lamp made from camel hide
Translucent hide painted in gold, lit from within.
Sohan halwaسوہن حلوہ
Dense sweet made with ghee and nuts
Multan’s dense, nutty sweet, sold in round tins.
Faisalabadفیصل آباد
The mill city that prints Pakistan’s summer lawn.
Chiniotچنیوٹ
Woodcarvers on the Chenab, famous for carved furniture.
Kasurقصور
The town that gave its name to Kasuri methi.
Lahoreلاہور
The walled city, where cobblers stitch gold thread into leather.
Sialkotسیالکوٹ
Where much of the world’s football is stitched.
Sialkot cricket batکرکٹ بیٹ
Hand-shaped willow cricket bat
Shaped by hand in the city that equips cricket teams around the world.
Sialkot footballفٹبال
Hand-stitched football
Made in the city that stitched World Cup match balls.
Khewraکھیوڑہ
A hill of pink salt in the Salt Range, mined for centuries.