rawalpindi,

Rawalpindi (; Punjabi, Urdu: راولپنڈی, romanized: Rāwalpinḍī; pronounced [ɾɑːʋəlpɪnɖiː] (listen) ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad, and third populous in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is situated close to Pakistan's capital Islamabad, and the two are jointly known as the "twin cities" because of the social and economic links between them.Rawalpindi is on the Pothohar Plateau, and remained a small town of less importance up until 18th century. Potohar region was known for its ancient Hindu and Buddhist heritage, especially in the neighbouring town of Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1765, the ruling Gakhars were defeated and the city came under Sikh rule, Rawalpindi from a small regional town became an important city within the Sikh Empire based at Lahore. The city's Babu Mohallah neighbourhood was once home to a community of Jewish traders that had fled Mashhad, Persia, in the 1830s.