Dr. Khwaja Ekram Prof. Dr. Khwaja Mohd Ekramuddin
Related Articles
M Akram Khan Faridi
Pakistan is one of the biggest states in the world today. The country emerged out of the Indian sub-continent on the map of the world in 1947. The country has a majority of Muslim population. Pakistan celebrates its independence on the 14th of August every year.Pakistan is the land of the Indus as Egypt is a gift of the River Nile. The Indus is one of the mightiest rivers of this planet. It flows through Pakistan for 2,500 kms (1,600 miles) before debouching into the Arabian Sea. It rises as a small spring, appropriately called the Mouth of the Lion , in the distant and inaccessible Land of Tibet. Near its source, the young but ferocious Indus then cuts a narrow, deep gorge through two of the most important mountain ranges of the world: the Himalayas and the Karakoram. Upon entering the plains, it slows down and meanders to the sea through the rugged mountains and plains of the NWFP, the Punjab, Baluchistan and Sindh. En route, it imbibes its five major tributaries; the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Pakistan has a rich and glorious cultural heritage of its own. This is a distinct heritage of a distinct nation. During the six thousand years of the known history of the Indus, this part of the subcontinent indeed remained independent of and separate from India for almost five and half thousand years. Only the three Universal States, those of the Mauryas, the Mughals and the British comprised the whole subcontinent in single empires for an aggregate period of less than five hundred years.
One of the most ancient archeological sites in the world is Mehrgarh. Archeologists have revealed that by around 7000 BC Mehrgarh was already a sizeable settlement of 6 hectares – some 1000 years before the growth of urbanism in Mesopotamia and by 6000BC it had grown to a small town of 12 hectares with an estimated population of 3, 000. According to researchers, these people were using dental drills made of flint 9,000 years ago. Teeth from a Neolithic graveyard in Mehgarh in the country’s Balochistan province show clear signs of drilling. Analysis of the teeth shows prehistoric dentists had a goat curing tooth ache with drills made from flint heads. Flint drill heads are found abundantly at the Mehrgarh site, among assemblages of beads made of bones, shell and turquoise. The form of dental treatment seen at Mehrgarh continued for about 1,500 years, before the practice was stopped in the area. Mehrgarh straddles a route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley to the south.Before the advent of the Aryans, Indus valley had already flowered into a highly developed
civilized system, spread around on a hundred thousand of squares kilometers, and had
then died, burying its glory under massive mounds of sand. The excavation of Moenjodaro and Harappa bear ample testimony to the mature refinement of the society. The use of cotton for textile, the commodious houses, the provision of ample public conveniences like public baths, and an excellent drainage system, indicate that these people were in many ways, far ahead of other ancient civilizations in Persia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The much famed Harappa Civilization that flourished in the Indus valley roughly between mid-third and mid second millennia BC is termed as unique. With its decay, a new type of powerful Gandhara culture flourished in the northwestern Pakistan about the middle of the 1st millennium BC to around 7th century AD. Gandhara region comprised the present Peshawar Valley, Buner, Swat, Bajaur, parts of western Punjab and eastern Afghanistan. In this region, the Mahayana Buddhist religious sculpture, known as Gandhara art, originated and flourished during the first five centuries of the Christian era. It is believed that White Huns destroyed the Gandhara Empire. In AD 711, a youthful Arab general Muhammad Bin Qasim rode eastward along the Makran Coast and conquered Sindh s major seaport Daibul, situated 6o km east of Karachi. The city had a great Buddhist stupa, a dewal, the root of its Arab name Daibul. Muhammad Bin Qasim has the honour of introducing Islam in the Indus valley.Pakistan won independence on14th August 1947 from the British. It is spread over an area
of 7, 96,095 sq. kms with an estimated population of 160 million. It is a federation of four
provinces, namely Balochistan, NWFP, Punjab and Sindh. Balochistan is a land of contrast; lofty and rugged mountains and plains stretching to hundred of kilometers. It has a fascinating history of 7,000 years starting from Mehrgarh to the present times and is typified by the warm heartedness of its people. Its coastline extends over 750 kms from Karachi toJiwani Bay on Pak-Iran border.North West Frontier of Pakistan (NWFP) stretches from the mountainous north, to all the way south as far as Dera Ismail Khan on the Bank of Indus, fertile river basins and semi-arid deserts. There can be few areas in the world where mountains rise in such awesome splendor as in the far north of Pakistan. Among 14 world highest peaks above 8000 meters, five are located in Pakistan. The magnificent pyramid of K2 (Mount Godwin Austin 8, 611 meters), the second highest peak in the world, crowns the Karakoram. Gasherbrum I (8068
Meters), Broad Peak (8047 meters), and Gasherbrum II (8035 meters) are other high peaks of the range. Nanga Parbat (8126 meters) is the last great bastion of the Himalayan range, while Tirich Mir (7736 meters) reigns as the highest of the majestic peaks of the Hindu Kush.& This is the land which was a cradle of Gandhara civilization. Punjab, its name meaning ;Land of five rivers , and the house of granary, is the most fertile land. The people are the proud custodians of the centuries old Harappa Civilization, the grandeur of the Mughal Empire and a culture that even time could not work away.The southern province of Sindh takes its name from Sindhu, an old Sanskrit name of theIndus River. Sindh has a rich cultural background of literature, music and arts. Sindh has rich cultural heritage i.e. Moenjodaro and Thatta, embracing a 5000 years old civilization.
****
