Pakistan is a state which has a very large history of one of the early prominent civilizations. Every Pakistani is in an identity crises that whether he is an Arab, Indian, or Central Asian. This book clearly provides the identity of a Pakistani (Indus person), which has rich history, culture, and tradition and is not an Indian or Arab. Aitzaz Ahsan, a barrister and an ideological politician wrote this highly readable book when he was in jail during the Zia regime. He observed and researched the magnificent history of Indus and our inheritance.
The book consists of three parts. Part one is the “Two Region’’ which is the history of Indus civilization from 2000BC to 1800AD. This part is very influential as it covers the priests of prehistory, the start of feudalization, and the resistance of local Indus heroes. The second part is the “Two Worlds’’ which is the economic divide between Indus with the developed states, and how technological innovation by the Europeans and the Britishers led to the colonization of the subcontinent. The third part is the “Two Nations” which gives the bitter truth of Hindu Muslim divide, the plunder by the invaders, resistance by the Indus fighters, and the partition of India.
The author claims that Indus has almost no direct contact with the Arabs. While Arabs always referred the Indus as ‘al-Sindh’ and to India as ‘al-Hind’. The author emphasizes that people of Pakistan are more closely linked to the peoples of Central Asia and Iran than the Arab. Pakistan has always had an identity but lost in the interpretations based on illogical myths. Throughout history, Indus and India remained distinct and separate with Gangetic River as well as peninsular. These great civilizations of Indus and Ganges though remained close in some periods of history but flowered separately on the banks of two mighty streams.
The author gives historical context on the Indus civilization as Mohenjodaro and Harappa been one of the oldest cities. The modern style of living by the Indus persons, use of cotton for textiles, commodious houses, public baths, and excellent drainage system were far ahead of their contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Most often Indian artisans were also copied by the Mesopotamian (Iraqi) toiletries. In the Indus civilization, no fortress or palace was found which means that civilization and its people were peaceful. Mesopotamians also called the Indus region ‘Meluha’ which was the ancient name of present-day Multan.
In chapter 8 of part 1, the author describes the start of feudalization in the Indus region during the Gupta Empire in 320AD. Gupta feudalism was the predominance of state-owned land. It was like that of Europe. The economy of both the regions was dependent on the labor of the peasants. With the advent of agrarian production, slavery became common all over the world but extinct in the Indus region. Buddhism was a religion of peace, tolerance and non-violence. As Brahminism preached in most of India, Buddhism continued to flourish until the eighth century in Indus. Buddha’s benign and tolerant creed matched the cultural outlook of Indus inhabitants. Then came Afghan invader Mahmud Gaznavi who is considered as the destroyer of idols, but the bitter truth is, he invaded all the Muslims states in the Indus and plundered the region before entering India. It was that time of 12th century when the Baloch tribes moved into the western part of Indus (present-day Baluchistan), originally hailing from Aleppo, Kurdistan, and Babylonia. They travelled from the banks of the Euphrates to Persian Gulf Mekran, from where they spread to north intermixing with the Pashtun tribes.
In the next part, Aitzaz Ahsan tells the bravery of Indus heroes during 1398AD when Timur started to march towards this region. The bravery of Jasrat Ghakkar, Sarang (a leader of peasant movement), and Mir Chakar showed the true face of Indus. Aitzaz highlighted the importance of local heroes who fought for their people and for their native land, despite of the Sultans and emperors who just tried to lavish their lifestyle and expand their empire. A heroic tale of Dulla is the sign of bravery and resistance in the Indus. In Akbar’s reign, Indus and Indian peasants was living on the edge of survival, and the feudatories were given an extravagant lifestyle. Dulla led a spirited band of Muslim and Hindu peasants and resisted against several Mughal expeditions. Dulla’s resistance was famously portrayed by Shah Hussain. The resistance of the Punjab peasantry and the brutal way the army crushed made a lasting impact in the region.
The author named Indus as a “land of resistance”. The cosmic battles of the Vedas were fought by the Indus men heroically resisting with courage and guile. It was Chandragupta who learned guerilla warfare tactics from this region. It was Porus who finally put an end to Alexander’s advancement. Taimurlane was stopped by Indus chieftain Sheikha Gakkhar. It was Tughlaq who fought his last four years in battlefield to block the fire of Genghis khan. It was Abdullah, Khushal, and Jasrat who resisted bravely and showed the true spirit of patriotism.
After the decline of Mughals, a series of attacks started from Nadir Shah, the resistance put up by the Khattars, Ghebas, Gakkhars, Gondal Jats, and Kharral were fabulous, when the king of Delhi Rangeela surrendered without a fight. Indus was the land of many great poets and Sufi’s like Amir Khusrau, Kabir, Sultan Bahu, Shah Latif, and Bulleh Shah. Nanak, founder of Sikhism, was taught by Muslim teacher, Syed Hassan. Nanak preached unity of one. He accepted the validity of Islam and at the same time respected the doctrines of Vedas.
The author briefly talks about the decline of the Indian subcontinent. The technological advancement in Europe spread after the industrial revolution which led to the invention of printing press, gun powder, steam engine, hydraulic press, and modern maritime ships. On the other hand, Mughals with all their splendor and mighty had not taken an eye on technology. Further educational system was even worse in India. Though there were areas in which Indus and India excelled as they thrived on rich trade and industry. They were long manufacturing suppliers of swords, textiles, cotton, silk, and muslins. But superior armed men of England with resources and technology was the worst thing to happen to Indus and India.
The writer explains the reason behind the decline of the region as the very reason was that Europeans were different from Turk, Mongols, and Afghans. The latter absorbed the ways of India while Europeans were from different world order. This was the conquest of agrarian India by a capitalist world order. The author then jumps to the 1857 war, where Britishers took the whole of subcontinent officially under their rule after a rebellion broke out. The hero of Neelibar, Rai Ahmed Kharral commanding the entire area between Multan and Sahiwal revolted against Britishers. Kharral was a great horseman and performed very skillful guerilla operations. Ahmed Kharral bravely resisted against the mighty Britishers to save his land but died on 23 September 1857. After the war, Britian’s bought road, railways, and canal system in Indus and India for their strategic and commercial interests. The cotton growing areas of Indus were directly connected with the Lancashire industry. It is plundering no irony that 70,000 people died of famine in subcontinent, while England was celebrating glory of its Queen that year.
The Hindus and Muslims lived with each other in the Mughal era. Due to the majority, Mughals and Britishers always did favor to Hindus. Despite this Hindu-Muslim divide they coexisted for centuries due to many reasons. The syncretics, the Sufi’s, and the Bhakti saints played a role in developing the spirit of coexistence between the communities. The primary distinction between the Hindu Muslim divide was that the Hindu community had a vigorous bourgeoise while the Muslim society was still agriculture-based and feudal. This distinction was the prime motivating factor behind Pakistan rather than religion. The feudal lords of Indus realized that the capitalists order was like a sentence of death to the feudal order.
Thus, as per my reflections on the book, the author gives a brief overview of our rich civilization and its brave people. The question of identity, which haunts in the minds of the people living in Pakistan, this book gives a clear explanation to that answer. Moreover, this book gives a lesson that we should be proud of our native Indus heroes and not those emperors whose history has been written with lies. The history is full of the resistance shown by the Indus and is the proof of their love and patriotism to their land and to their people. The land of peace, bravery, courage, resistance has seen many ups and downs, but the love an Indus person has to its land is of no words.
The Author, Hanzla Hussain Gul is a undergraduate student, pursuing his degree in Strategic Studies from National Defence University, Islamabad.
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