Short answers, pulled from the story.
Lahore is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, with a population of over 14 million, and the largest Punjabi-speaking city in the world.
Lahore reached the height of its splendour under the Mughal Empire between the late 16th and early 18th centuries and served as its capital for many years. Its prosperity and central position have left more Mughal-era monuments in Lahore than in either Delhi or Agra, including the Badshahi Mosque built in 1673 and the Shalamar Gardens laid out in 1641.
The British East India Company seized Lahore in February 1846 from the collapsing Sikh state. After the Sikh defeat at the Battle of Gujrat, Punjab was annexed to the British Indian Empire in 1849 and Lahore became the capital of British Punjab.
The All India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution in 1940 under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Lahore was awarded to Pakistan on the 17th of August 1947 on the basis of its Muslim majority in the 1941 census and became capital of the Punjab province.
Lahore experienced Partition's worst riots. Early riots in March and April 1947 destroyed 6,000 of Lahore's 82,000 homes, and by late August 1947 about 66 percent of Hindus and Sikhs had left the city. The largely Hindu Shah Alami Bazaar was entirely burnt down.
Under Ranjit Singh's rule, the Sikh army stripped the white marble from monuments such as the Tomb of Asif Khan, the Tomb of Nur Jahan, and the Shalimar Gardens to send to other parts of the Sikh Empire. The Badshahi Mosque was converted into an ammunition depot and a stable for horses.
The origin of Lahore's name is unclear. Early Muslim historians recorded it as Luhawar, Luhar, and Rahwar, and theories link it to the Ravi River, to the word Lohar meaning blacksmith, or to a legend that the city was founded by Prince Lava, son of Sita and Rama.