Pakistani Culture

“Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.”

As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.”

“People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist.”

Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, of love, and of thought, which, in the coarse or centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved”

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place.”

Every age, every culture, every custom and tradition has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and cruelties; it accepts certain sufferings as matters of course, puts up patiently with certain evils. Human life is reduced to real suffering, to hell, only when two ages, two cultures and religions overlap.”
Hermann Hesse

“Beloved within you  and you seek him here and there He is “closer to you than your vein jugular,” Yourself is the hurdle, between your love and you.”

………..Bhitai [Sur Sasui Abri]

Muhammad Bin Qasim ( 695 – 715)

Muhammad bin QasimMuhammad bin Qasim was orphaned as a child and thus the responsibility of his upbringing fell upon his mother. She supervised his religious instruction herself, and hired different teachers for his worldly education. It was the uncle, Hajjaj bin Yousaf, who taught him the art of governing and warfare.
Qasim was an intelligent and cultured young man who at the age of fifteen was considered by many to be one of his uncle’s greatest assets. As a show of faith in his nephew’s abilities, Hajjaj married his daughter to Qasim. At the age of sixteen, he was asked to serve under the great general, Qutayba bin Muslim. Under his command Muhammad bin Qasim displayed a talent for skilful fighting and military planning. Hajjaj’s complete trust in Qasim’s abilities as a general became even more apparent when he appointed the young man as the commander of the all-important invasion on Sindh, when he was only seventeen years old. Muhammad bin Qasim proved Hajjaj right when he, without many problems, managed to win all his military campaigns. He used both his mind and military skills in capturing places like Daibul, Raor, Uch and Multan. History does not boast of many other commanders who managed such a great victory at such a young age.
Besides being a great general, Muhammad bin Qasim was also an excellent administrator. He established peace and order as well as a good administrative structure in the areas he conquered. He was a kind hearted and religious person. He had great respect for other religions. Hindu and Buddhist spiritual leaders were given stipends during his rule. The poor people of the land were greatly impressed by his policies and a number of them embraced Islam. Those who stuck to their old religions erected statues in his honor and started worshiping him after his departure from their land.
Muhammad bin Qasim was known for his obedience to the ruler. Walid bin Abdul Malik died and was succeeded by his younger brother Suleman as the Caliph. Suleman was an enemy of Hajjaj and thus ordered Qasim back to the kingdom. Qasim knew of the animosity between the two. He was aware that due to this enmity, he would not be well treated. He could have easily refused to obey the Caliph’s orders and declare his independence in Sindh. Yet he was of the view that obeying ones ruler is the duty of a general and thus he decided to go back to the center. Here he became a victim to party politics. He was put behind bars where he died at age of twenty. Many historians believe that had he been given a few more years, he would have conquered the entire South Asian region.

Razia Sultana ( 1205 – 1240 )

   

Bollywood Razia Sultana

Daughter of Iltutmush, Razia Sultana was the first female Muslim ruler of South Asia. She was a talented, wise, just and generous woman. She was a great administrator and was well versed in governmental affairs. She was not only a good leader in the battlefield but herself was also an excellent fighter. As the most capable son of Iltutmush died during his own life, and the rest were incompetent to govern, Iltutmush nominated his daughter, Razia Sultana, as his successor on the throne of Delhi. Whenever Iltutmush had to leave his capital, he used to leave Razia Sultana in charge of the affairs in Delhi. But when Iltutmush died, Rukn-ud-din Firuz, one of his sons, occupied the throne and ruled for about seven months. Razia Sultana, with the support of the people of Delhi, secured the throne after defeating her brother in 1236.
Razia Sultana established complete law and order in her country. To rule the country, she abandoned her femininity and adopted a masculine getup. She used to dress as a man when appearing in public, be it in court or on the battlefield. She made an Ethiopian slave named Jalal-ud-din Yaqut her personal attendant and started trusting him the most. This challenged the monopoly of power claimed by the Turkish nobles.

The Turkish nobles resented having a woman as their ruler, especially when she started challenging their power. They began conspiring against her. In 1239, the Turkish governor of Lahore rebelled against Razia Sultana. However, when she marched against him, he first fled and then apologized. Then the governor of Bhatinda revolted. When Razia Sultana was trying to suppress the rebellion in Bhatinda, her own Turkish officers deposed her from the throne of Delhi and made her brother Bahram the Sultan. Razia Sultana married the governor of Bhatinda, Malik Altunia, and with his help tried to reoccupy the throne. She was defeated by the Turkish nobles and was compelled to flee away. A peasant who had offered her food and shelter while fleeing from an encounter killed her in her sleep. She died in 1240.

History Of Hyderabad Sindh

Hyderabad is a city, district and division in the Sind province. The city is an administrative headquarters lying on the most northern hill of the Ganjo Takkar ridge just east of the River Indus. Being the third largest city of Pakistan, Hyderabad is a communication center, connected by rail with Peshawar and Karachi.
Founded in 1768 on the site of the ancient town of Nirun-Kot by Ghulam Shah Kalhora, the saintly ruler of Sind, it was named after the prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law, Ali, also known as Haidar. It remained the capital of Sind under the Talpur rulers who succeeded the Kalhoras till 1843 when, after the nearby battles of Miani and Dabo, it surrendered to the British, the capital was then transferred to Karachi.

Incorporated as a municipality in 1853, it is an important commercial and industrial center. Its economic activities include textile, sugar, cement, and hosiery mills, manufacturing of glass, soap, ice, paper, and plastics. There are hide tanneries and sawmills. Ornamented silks, silver-work, gold-work and lacquer ware are also some of its exclusive products. Noteworthy antiquities include the tombs of the Kalhora and Talpur ruler, palaces of the former amirs of Sind. Newly developed settlements and industrial estates surround the congested old city area. An noteworthy characteristic of this city is, badgirs (wind-catchers) fixed to housetops to catch sea breezes during the hot summer season. A hospital, municipal gardens, zoo, sports stadium, and several literary societies are in the city. The University of Sind with 32 affiliated colleges was founded in 1947 in Karachi and moved to Hyderabad in 1951, where it lies across the Indus. Other education needs are served by numerous government colleges, the Liaquat Medical College and specialized vocational institutions.

Its remained the capital of the emirate of sind until the British general Sir Charles James Napier conquered Sindh in 1843. From 1947 to 1955 Hyderabad was the capital of Sindh Province, the new capital was shifted to Hyderabad. In 1766 the Kalhora ruler constructed a fort half a square km in area and still stands today. In 1843 the British arrived and defeate the Talpurs, Completing their Conquest of Sindh.
It’s also a second largest city of Sindh Province. It has over 6 Millions population. The city has one of the most interesting bazaar of the country, which is known to be the longest bazaar in Asia. There are two very well arranged ethnological museums in the city One The Sindh Museum and the other the Institute of Sindhology Museum. Both museums present an excellent portrait of cultural and tribal life of Sindh. The city is transit point for the tours from Karachi to the Interior of Sindh A visit to Kalhora Monuments close to the city gate is worth a visit, Mausoleums are beautifully decorated with glazed tiles and frescos. There are also two forts from 18th & 19th Century to see here.
Famous for its cool breeze and balmy nights, and known for its Bombay Bakery Cakes, Its delicate bangles and the paagalkhana called Giddu Bandar, Hyderabad is Sindh’s Second largest city, a city its inhabitants claim is the most beautiful in the world, Its spacious houses are known for their manghan, roshandans or ventillators and it is also known as “mangham jo shahar.”

‘The heart of Sindh’ as many call Hyderabad, was the former capital of SIndh, ruled by the Kalhoras and Talpurs from the Pucca Qila until the British conquest.
A nerve center of Sindhi nationalist and literary movements, the city is now divided along on Sindhi-Mohajir lines to the extent that the warning ethnic groups even have different hospitals and in many cases, even their places of worship and graveyards are divided. The original old city, now dominated by the mohajirs, seems besieged by the surrounding Sindhi suburbs. At one time a hub of economic, educational and cultural activities, a breeding ground of academicians, philanthropists, writers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, actors and actresses, Hyderabad also had its industrialists, trade unionists, political activists, bureaucrats, bankers and diplomats who made a significant contribution to sub continental society. But this gracious city now seems to be slowly dying, although it still produces over a couple of dozen major and minor newspapers in both Sindhi and Urdu.
Hyderabad, once the capital of Sindh and now the third largest city of Pakistan, is one of the oldest cities of the sub-continent. Its history dates back to pre-Islamic times, when Ganjo Taken (barren hill), a nearby hilly trract, was used as a place of worship. The city traces its early history to Neroon, a Hindu ruler of the area from whom the city derived its previous name, “Neroon Kot”.