Samarcand

Look 'round thee now on Samarcand! - Is not she queen of Earth?

I am like a puzzle- headed chief-mate we had once in the dear old Samarcand when I was a youngster.

She could do no more with Samarcand, Or the mountains of a mountain land And its far white house above cottages Like Venus above the Pleiades.

Smoke Signals from Samarcand: The 1931 Reform School Fire and Its Aftermath

The Mughal architecture and the historic city of Lahore have made their mark across the globe and the great English poet John Milton (1607-80) 'known for his grand style in the epic poem' alludes to the Agra and Lahore to emphasize expansive landscape, 'His eyes might there command whatever stood City of old or modern fame, the seat/ Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls / Of Cambalu, seat of Cathian Can,/ And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne, /To Paquin of Sinaen Kings, and thence To Agra and Lahore of Great Mogul...' The grandeur of the Mughal architecture and advancements was well-known across the seven seas and by the time John Milton penned down his paradise lost in 1667.

Renowned as great builders, Mughals gave Lahore some of its finest architectural monuments, many of these extant today.Such was Lahore's splendor that in his epic poem 'Paradise Lost', the Cromwell era poet John Milton, mentions it in the same breath as some of the most renowned cities:His eyes might there command whatever stood/City of old or modern fame, the seat/Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls/Of Cambalu, seat of Cathian Can/And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne/To Paquin of Sinaen Kings, and thence/To Agra and Lahore of Great Mogul"During this period, the massiveLahore Fort was built.