Before the bloody partition of 1947 the two neighboring countries were divided, Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan both being part of the Indian state of Punjab. Both the cities are also called sister cities or twin cities as they share a striking similarity in terms of food, culture and traditions. The distance between them is just 50 km which can easily be covered in an hour.
Both Lahore and Amritsar are walled cities with many gates that were built to deal with the invaders. The Twin Cities also have comparable maps as Lahore has the Badshahi Mosque, Shahi Qila and Old City on one corner while Amritsar has Durgiana Tirath, a Hindu temple and Gobindgarh Fort on the other side of the border. In addition, both of them have Lahori and Mori gates in their old cities.
During the partition, Shah Alam Bazaar in Lahore and Hall Bazaar in Amritsar came under fire in both the cities. Reportedly, most of the migration during independence took place between the refugee camps in Lahore and Amritsar. The Twin Cities were major commercial centers where people from all three communities lived.
According to author Pran Neville, who has written a book on Lahore, Lahore: A Sentimental Journey, there was no formal boundary between the twin cities until 1965, he told the Daily Times. He claimed that during that period, people used to commute between cities. From merchants to writers, including Balwant Singh, Khushwant Singh and Amrita Pritam migrated from Lahore to different parts of India.
Similarly, some writers from Amritsar also migrated to Lahore due to the proximity of the cities and Lahore being the cultural center of Punjab. Ahmed Rahi, Firozdeen Sharaf and Saifuddin Saif were among the poets who moved from Amritsar to Lahore. Kashmiris who moved from Amritsar to Lahore in 1947 are also said to have had a significant influence on the culture and cuisine of the Pakistani city.
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