History of Pakistan

True History of Pakistan
By Ameera Kamal

Introduction

Pakistan lies in the North Western part of South Asia. It is bordered by China in the North, Afghanistan in the North-West, Iran in South-West, Arabian Sea and Indian Sea in the South and India in the East. Pakistan, as evident, is located at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East making it an easy linking point between Central Asia and South Asia.

There have been significant immigration movements, in the areas now constituting Pakistan since pre-historic times. The people of Pakistan are descendants of different racial groups and sub-racial stocks, who entered the subcontinent over the past 5000 years, mainly from central and western Asia from time to time. Yet unlike the popular misconception, it always maintained its identity and individuality separate from its neighbor India who claimed that Pakistan was a part of Aakhand Bharat (Undivided India) on the basis of history. Hence its partition from India is totally unjustified. But thousands of years of history of the sub-continent tells a different story. It tells us that the areas called Pakistan today had consistently remained as a single, compact and a separate geographical and political entity since ancient times.

Few people would be aware of the true history of Pakistan still; few would know that the oldest stone tool in the world, dating back to 2.2 million years was found at Rabat, about fifteen miles away from Rawalpindi and the largest hand Axe was found in the Soan Valley. And to top it all, the site of the first settled life in the world dating back to the 8th millennium BC has been found at Mehergarh in the Sibi districts of Balochistan. Although Pakistan, as an independent country dates only from August 14th, 1947 and the nation itself can trace its beginnings only to a few centuries ago, yet the territories of Pakistan are heir to one of the richest and the oldest civilizations and settlements of the world.