Pakistan Journal of History and Civilization
Pakistan Journal of History and Civilization is a rigorously peer-reviewed scholarly journal committed to publishing high-quality research on the historical, cultural, and civilizational aspects of Pakistan and the greater South Asian region. The journal serves as an interdisciplinary forum for historians, social scientists, and scholars from related fields to disseminate original research, critical analyses, and comprehensive reviews that deepen the understanding of Pakistan’s diverse heritage and its interactions within regional and global contexts. By fostering scholarly dialogue and advancing knowledge, the journal aims to contribute significantly to the academic study of history and civilization, encouraging innovative methodologies and inclusive perspectives.
The Pakistan Journal of History and Civilization operates under an open-access policy, allowing unrestricted online access to all published content. Authors retain copyright of their work while granting the journal the right to publish and distribute it. Articles are free to read, download, and share, provided proper attribution is given to the original authors. Commercial use or redistribution without permission is not allowed.
INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE SUBCONTINENT
Cultural exchange between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent has shaped political institutions, religious traditions, artistic expressions, and social structures over centuries. This interdisciplinary study examines these exchanges through historical, sociological, anthropological, economic, and linguistic perspectives. Drawing on trade networks, migration patterns, imperial interactions, and intellectual movements, the article highlights how cross-regional connectivity fostered mutual transformation. The findings emphasize that cultural exchange was not a one-way process but a dynamic interaction that continues to influence contemporary identities. Understanding these historical linkages contributes to regional cooperation, intercultural dialogue, and heritage preservation in South and Central Asia.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Khan, Muhammad Salman Raza , Fatima Noor (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH ASIA DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD
This study examines the socio-economic transformations and patterns of urban development in South Asia during the colonial period. It analyzes how colonial governance, economic restructuring, and infrastructural expansion reshaped cities and social relations. The article explores the emergence of new urban centers, changes in labor systems, commercialization of agriculture, and social stratification. By highlighting the interconnected nature of economic policies and urban planning, this research provides insights into how colonial legacies continue to influence contemporary urban and socio-economic structures in South Asia.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Mahmood , Salman Raza, Zunaira Akram (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, AND SOCIETY: EXPLORING INTELLECTUAL TRADITIONS IN ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
Islamic civilization has produced rich intellectual traditions that integrate religion, philosophy, and social thought. This study examines the historical development and contemporary relevance of Islamic intellectual heritage, focusing on theological debates, philosophical reasoning, and social ethics. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the paper explores how scholars harmonized revelation and reason, shaping governance, education, and community life. The study highlights the enduring influence of Islamic thought on modern Muslim societies and emphasizes its potential role in addressing contemporary social and ethical challenges. By analyzing classical texts and modern interpretations, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of Islamic intellectual continuity and transformation
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Rahman , Muhammad Farooq Ahmed , Sana Khalid (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN THE INDUS VALLEY REGION AND THEIR IMPACT ON MODERN HISTORICAL NARRATIVES
Archaeological work across the Indus Valley region has transformed South Asian historical writing by revealing a Bronze Age urban civilization with planned cities, standardized craft production, and far-reaching exchangenetworks. From the early 1920s excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro—publicly announced in 1924—to later discoveries at sites such as Dholavira and ongoing research at Rakhigarhi, evidence has steadily challenged older narratives that centered political history on later textual traditions. Material data (urban layouts, seals, weights, water systems, burials) now anchors modern interpretations of state formation, economy, ideology, and everyday life, while also exposing limits of certainty—especially the undeciphered script and debated collapse scenarios. Recent scientific approaches, including ancient DNA, have further reshaped discussions of population history and cultural continuity. This article synthesizes key discoveries and explains how they reframe “modern historical narratives” in textbooks, museums, and academic debates—shifting emphasis from dynastic chronologies toward longue-durée social, environmental, and economic histories grounded in archaeology
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Khalid , Hamza Raza , Sana Javed (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND IDENTITY FORMATION IN SOUTH ASIA: A COMPARATIVE CIVILIZATION STUDY
This study explores the role of cultural heritage in shaping identity formation in South Asia through a comparative civilization perspective. By examining historical traditions, religious practices, linguistic diversity, and social institutions, the paper analyzes how collective memory and heritage contribute to individual and national identities. Using interdisciplinary methods, the research highlights the interaction between colonial legacies, globalization, and indigenous traditions. The findings reveal that culturalheritage remains a dynamic force influencing social cohesion, political narratives, and cultural resilience. The study emphasizes the need for inclusive heritage policies to preserve diversity and promote intercultural understanding in contemporary South Asian societies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Malik, Muhammad Faisal Khan , Zunaira Akram (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION AND GOVERNANCE IN POST-COLONIAL PAKISTAN: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS (1947–2000)
This study examines the political transformation and governance structures of Pakistan from 1947 to 2000, focusing on institutional development, civil–military relations, constitutional evolution, and democratic challenges. Using a historical-analytical approach, the research highlights how leadership crises, bureaucratic dominance, and military interventions shaped governance patterns. The study argues that political instability and weakdemocratic traditions hindered sustainable institutional development. By analyzing key political phases, this article contributes to understanding Pakistan’s complex governance trajectory and its implications for democratic consolidation in post-colonial states.
Copyright (c) 2025 Zunaira Akram , Muhammad Rashid Khan , Ayesha Mahmood (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Influence of Ancient Greek Philosophy on Roman Governance and Law
The intellectual legacy of Ancient Greece deeply shaped Roman governance and law, creating a foundation for Western political and legal traditions. Greek philosophical thought, particularly the works of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, was absorbed into Roman institutions, producing a synthesis of rational inquiry and pragmatic governance. Roman lawmakers, jurists, and statesmen adapted Greek concepts such as natural law, civic virtue, and the balance between liberty and authority into a legal system that emphasized universality, citizenship, and codification. This article examines the transmission of philosophical ideas from Greece to Rome, analyzes their integration into Roman law and governance, and highlights the enduring influence on modern legal and constitutional frameworks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Haroon, Samina Riaz, Imran Javed (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Cold War Era: Political Tensions and Ideological Divides
The Cold War era (1947–1991) was characterized by profound political tensions and ideological divides, mainly between the United States and the Soviet Union. This article explores the political conflicts, military confrontations, and ideological battles that defined global relations during this period. Through an in-depth analysis of key Cold War events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall, and the Vietnam War, this paper discusses the broader implications of these tensions on global politics, military strategies, and economic systems. Additionally, the role of ideological divides between communism and capitalism is examined, emphasizing how these ideological conflicts shaped foreign policies, political allegiances, and regional conflicts across the world.
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Aslam, Sami Ullah, Zainab Ali (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Economic Transformations in Post-Colonial Africa: A Historical Analysis
Post-colonial Africa has undergone profound economic transformations that have been influenced by a complex interaction of internal and external factors. These transformations have involved shifts in production, labor markets, and trade relations, alongside significant political and social restructuring. This article examines the historical trajectories of economic changes in post-colonial African nations, focusing on the role of colonial legacies, the impact of political independence, and the challenges of development in a globalized economy. Through a detailed analysis, this paper sheds light on the interplay of economic policies, resource exploitation, and structural inequalities in shaping the economic future of African nations.
Copyright (c) 2025 Hassan Ali, Sarah Khan, Imran Ahmed (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Exploring The Role of The Renaissance in Shaping Western Thought
The Renaissance, a period spanning roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, marked a significant cultural transformation that reshaped Western thought. Beginning in Italy and spreading across Europe, the Renaissance was characterized by a renewed interest in classical antiquity, humanism, and scientific inquiry. This intellectual revolution challenged medieval scholasticism and laid the groundwork for the modern world, influencing art, philosophy, literature, and science. This article explores the profound impact of the Renaissance on the development of Western thought, focusing on key figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Galileo Galilei. By examining the role of humanism, the rise of secularism, and the flourishing of scientific methods, the paper demonstrates how the Renaissance contributed to the evolution of modern Western philosophy, politics, and culture.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ahmed Raza Khan, Fatima Zahra Malik, Dr. Bilal Hassan (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Civilizational Dialogues: Pakistan’s Place in the Islamic Golden Age Legacy
This article repositions the lands of present-day Pakistan—particularly Sindh and the Punjab—as dynamic intellectual corridors within the wider Islamic Golden Age (8th–13th centuries). Rather than treating the “center” of innovation as confined to Baghdad, Nishapur, Bukhara, or Cordoba, we argue that frontier-zones and port cities such as Mansura, Debal/Thatta, Multan, and later Lahore functioned as mediating hubs between the Persianate east, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian subcontinent. Drawing on evidence from textual transmission (Arabic–Persian–Sanskrit), manuscript and coinage studies, monastic and madrasa ecologies, and commercial circuits, we show how the region’s scholars, traders, artisans, and Sufi lineages translated, adapted, and re-circulated knowledge in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, linguistics, and philosophical theology. The result was not a periphery echoing a center, but a polycentric knowledge commons whose legacies endure in Pakistan’s archival, architectural, and Sufi landscapes. We conclude by proposing a research agenda that integrates archaeology, historical GIS, and manuscript metadata to quantify Pakistan’s intellectual brokerage within transregional networks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amina El-Sayed, Prof. David R. Martínez, Nurzhan Akhmetov (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Impact of British Colonial Policies on Rural Agrarian Societies
This article examines how British colonial policy reshaped rural agrarian societies across the empire, with a primary focus on South Asia and comparative glimpses from Africa. We analyze land-revenue settlements (Permanent, Ryotwari, Mahalwari), the commercialization of agriculture, irrigation and infrastructure programs, legal-forest regimes, credit markets, and famine governance. Using a political-economy lens, we show how these instruments restructured property relations, labor mobilization, ecological management, and risk. While state works expanded output in some regions, the wider package—extractive taxation, price exposure, and coercive institutions—often intensified inequality, indebtedness, and vulnerability to shocks, precipitating waves of protest from the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth century. The article closes with a comparative assessment of long-run legacies for land distribution, local institutions, and rural welfare.
Copyright (c) 2025 Eleanor Hughes, Prof. Aamir Siddiqui, Lina Okoye (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Intersections of Religion and Politics in the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
This article examines how the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) braided religious authority with political power across five dynasties—Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, and Lodi. Drawing on chronicles (Baranī, Ibn Battuta), Sufi malfūẓāt, epigraphy, and modern historiography, we analyze four intersecting arenas: (1) juristic authority and statecraft (sharīʿa vs. zawābit), (2) Sufi patronage and autonomy, (3) ritual–fiscal regimes (jizya, endowments, market regulation), and (4) symbolic legitimacy (caliphal investiture, public architecture, and courtly literature). We argue that the Sultanate’s political durability relied less on a monolithic theocracy than on a dynamic negotiation among sultans, ʿulamāʾ, and Sufi lineages, producing a pragmatic, sometimes fraught, governance repertoire whose legacies extended into early modern South Asia.
Copyright (c) 2025 Helena Sørensen, Prof. Karim El-Masry, Aisha Rahman (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Historical Role of Trade Routes in Shaping Civilizations of South Asia
Religious Minorities in Pakistan: A Historical Overview
This article offers a historical overview of religious minorities in Pakistan from 1947 to the present, tracing the legal, political, and socio-economic forces that have shaped minority status and citizenship. Drawing on constitutional milestones, key legislative shifts, landmark court decisions, and episodes of communal violence and reform, we situate the experiences of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Ahmadis, and smaller communities within broader state formation and Islamization processes. We examine how constitutional protections co-exist with exclusionary laws and practices; how demographic change, war, and partition afterlives altered minority geographies; and how civil society, media, and transnational advocacy have periodically expanded space for rights. The analysis highlights convergences and tensions across three arenas—law and institutions, everyday governance and security, and representation and recognition—arguing that sustainable protection requires institutional coherence, provincial–federal coordination, and long-horizon policy instruments that link justice, policing, and social services. A timeline graphic visualizes inflection points affecting minorities’ legal and civic standing.
Copyright (c) 2025 Leila Hartmann, Prof. Arjun Narayanan, Sara Qadeer (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Comparative Study of Colonial and Post-Colonial Urban Planning in Karachi
This article compares the ideological frameworks, instruments, and spatial outcomes of colonial and post-colonial urban planning in Karachi. Under British rule (1839–1947), planning primarily served imperial logistics and mercantile extraction: port fortification, railway and road alignments, sanitary segregation, and administrative enclaves such as Saddar and Civil Lines. Zoning, improvement trusts, and municipal by-laws expressed a hygienist and order-and-control rationality. After 1947, the city’s demographic shock—mass in-migration, industrialization, and regional conflict—forced a pivot from colonial “improvement” to resettlement and metropolitan expansion. Post-colonial planning oscillated between technocratic master-planning (e.g., resettlement schemes and strategic development plans) and pragmatic, citizen-driven urbanism (e.g., community infrastructure and incremental housing). We analyze governance shifts from KMC/KDA technocracy to devolved and then recentralized arrangements; housing regimes from formal estates to katchi abadis; and infrastructures from port-centric corridors to ring roads, BRT corridors, and peri-urban water/solid-waste fixes. The paper argues that while colonial planning produced durable spatial hierarchies and infrastructure path-dependencies, post-colonial Karachi exhibits “hybrid planning”: formal plans intertwined with informality, political brokerage, and civil-society innovation. We conclude with a comparative framework and a policy agenda aimed at equitable densification, climate resilience, and institutional coherence.
Copyright (c) 2025 Eleanor J. Brooke, Eleanor J. Brooke, Prof. David L. Kramer, Nurul A. Rahman (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Philosophy and Politics in the Writings of Allama Iqbal
Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), the poet-philosopher of the East, was a central figure in shaping intellectual and political consciousness in South Asia. His writings, deeply grounded in Islamic philosophy, Sufism, and Western thought, demonstrate a dynamic interplay between metaphysical reflection and political action. This article examines Iqbal’s philosophy of khudi (selfhood), his critique of Western materialism, and his vision of political self-determination for Muslims in India. Through his poetry and prose, Iqbal established a framework where philosophy and politics converge to form an emancipatory vision rooted in ethical self-realization and collective identity. The paper highlights Iqbal’s philosophical engagement with Nietzsche, Rumi, and Bergson while contextualizing his political thought within anti-colonial struggles, pan-Islamism, and the demand for a separate Muslim homeland.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jonathan Miller, Prof. Elena Rodriguez, Ahmed Khan (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Historical Evolution of Urdu Language and Its Civilizational Role
Urdu emerged out of North Indian vernaculars in sustained interaction with Persian and Arabic, developing into a prestigious lingua franca of courts, marketplaces, and later mass publics. This article traces Urdu’s historical evolution from early Hindavi/Rekhta registers to its consolidation under Mughal patronage, its reconfiguration in colonial institutions and print capitalism, and its modern roles in nationalism, education, and digital culture. We situate Urdu within broader civilizational processes—Persianate cosmopolitanism, Indic vernacularization, and modern nation‐state formation—showing how script politics, canon formation, and pedagogical infrastructures shaped linguistic identity. Using a socio-historical lens, we examine the interplay of literary genres (ghazal, masnavi, prose), technologies (lithography, newspapers, Unicode), and institutions (madrasa, Fort William College, Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu) that enabled Urdu’s mobility across regions and classes. We also assess contemporary transformations: diaspora circulation, subaltern media ecologies, and computational language technologies. The argument is that Urdu’s durability stems from its capacity to mediate between elite and popular cultures while remaining adaptable to shifting ideological and technological regimes
Copyright (c) 2025 Michael Reynolds, Aisha Khan, Arjun Subramanian (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Archaeology of Taxila: Cultural and Religious Syncretism
The ancient city of Taxila, located in present-day Pakistan, stands as one of the most remarkable centers of cultural and religious syncretism in South Asia. Its archaeology reflects a layered history of Achaemenid, Greek, Mauryan, Kushan, and Gupta influences, each contributing to the city’s urban fabric and religious traditions. Excavations at Taxila reveal Buddhist monasteries, Hindu shrines, and Greco-Roman architectural styles coexisting within the same urban and ritual landscapes. This paper explores how archaeological evidence demonstrates the blending of diverse cultural and religious traditions, highlighting the role of Taxila as a hub of knowledge, commerce, and spirituality.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amelia Rodriguez, Prof. Jonathan Greene, Hiroshi Tanaka (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Comparative Study of Hindu and Buddhist Iconography in South Asia
This study offers a comparative analysis of Hindu and Buddhist iconography in South Asia from the early historic period to the early modern era. It synthesizes textual canons (Śilpaśāstras, Āgamas, Pāli and Sanskrit vinaya/sūtra literature) with material evidence from sculpture, painting, coins, and architectural programs. We map recurrent motifs—lotus, halo, mudrās, Dharma-wheel, trident, Bodhi tree, stūpa/torana, and yakṣa/yakṣī figures—across regions (Gandhāra, the Deccan, the Gangetic plain, and Sri Lanka) and media (stone, bronze, terracotta, mural). While both traditions share a repertoire of auspicious symbols and hand-gestures encoding doctrine and devotion, their semiotic load and ritual placements diverge: Hindu images foreground embodiment and divine presence (mūrti, darśan), whereas Buddhist programs privilege narrative cycles and soteriological signs (Buddha life scenes, jātakas, wheel-turning). The article proposes a framework for reading hybridity in border zones and workshop ecologies, showing how patronage, pilgrimage, and guild networks shaped iconographic translation over time.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maya R. Venkataraman , Prof. Kenji Sato , Alessandra Conti (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Impact of Persian Language on South Asian Literature and Culture
From roughly the twelfth century to the long nineteenth century, Persian functioned as a prestige lingua franca across much of South Asia. As a court language, a literary standard, and a vehicle of Sufi pedagogy and urban sociability, Persian mediated political ideas, aesthetic forms, and everyday bureaucratic practices. This article synthesizes scholarship on the “Persianate” to map how Persian shaped South Asian literature and culture: from the poetics of panegyric and ghazal to administrative lexicons, calligraphy, and book arts; from translation ateliers and bilingual courts to vernacularization in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Kashmiri, and Dakhni. We argue that Persian did not simply displace local languages; it created dynamic contact zones in which genres, meters, and rhetorical devices were shared, re-keyed, and localized. The long arc—from Sultanate and Mughal courts through regional polities to colonial reforms—reveals both a deep entanglement and a later reconfiguration under print capitalism and language nationalism. The result is a layered cultural field whose contemporary afterlives still structure South Asian public culture, education, and heritage.
Copyright (c) 2024 Emilia Novak, Prof. Farhad Morales, Aisha Chen (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Cultural Dimensions of Islamic Architecture in Lahore
Lahore’s Islamic architecture embodies layered cultural processes that extend far beyond stylistic description. This article analyzes the city’s mosques, gardens, and palace complexes as cultural systems where political theology, artisanal knowledge, epigraphy, urban morphology, and ritual practices converge. Using case studies—Badshahi Mosque, Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the Data Darbar complex—we identify how patronage regimes, guild economies, calligraphic programs, and spatial interfaces with bazaars and processional routes produced durable architectural meanings. A synthetic “Cultural Dimension Richness Index (CDRI)” visualizes the relative intensity of these dimensions across monuments. The study argues that Lahore’s Islamic architecture functions as a civic pedagogy—training memory, ethics, and social order—while also remaining adaptable to conservation, tourism, and community life today.
Copyright (c) 2024 Elena García, Omar Al-Masri, Michael Chen (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Military History of the Subcontinent: From Ghaznavids to Mughals
This article surveys the evolution of warfare in the Indian subcontinent from the Ghaznavid incursions (11th century) through the consolidation of the Mughal Empire (16th–17th centuries). It traces how changing geostrategies, manpower systems, and technologies reshaped campaigns and state formation: from mounted shock tactics and elephant corps to gunpowder artillery, matchlock infantry, and bureaucratized revenue–military institutions. We analyze logistics across the Hindu Kush–Punjab corridor, the iqṭāʿ and later mansabdār systems of recruitment and pay, the rise of composite forces, and the interplay of fortification, siegecraft, and field maneuver. Case studies (Somnath, Tarain, Panipat, Rajput–Mughal wars, Eastern frontiers) illustrate how environment and technology conditioned victory. The paper argues that military adaptation—especially firearms, artillery trains, and standardized pay—interlocked with imperial administration to produce durable rule under the Mughals while also generating frontier pluralities that shaped post-Mughal polities.
Copyright (c) 2024 Elena Marković, Prof. Karim Haddad, Li Wei (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Cross-Cultural Encounters along the Silk Road: South Asia’s Role
This article examines South Asia’s pivotal role in the trans-Eurasian web commonly labeled the “Silk Road,” conceived here as a multi-modal, multi-century assemblage of overland and maritime corridors. We synthesize archaeological, textual, and art-historical evidence to show how South Asian polities, ports, monasteries, merchant guilds, and craft ateliers enabled and shaped cross-cultural encounters among Central Asia, West Asia, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean. The argument proceeds along five vectors—religion and ideas, commodities and technologies, languages and scripts, visual styles and material culture, and institutions and diasporas—demonstrating that South Asia was not a peripheral supplier but a generative hub of translation, standardization, and innovation. We also foreground the Indian Ocean’s “liquid Silk Road,” whose monsoon system synchronized exchange cycles and amplified interactions between inland caravan routes and coastal entrepôts. A conceptual graph visualizes long-term fluctuations in the intensity of cultural exchange involving South Asia from 200 BCE to 1500 CE.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Elena Marquez, Dr. Kenji Nakahara, Dr. Aisha Al-Harthi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role of Poetry in Shaping Cultural Consciousness in Pakistan
Poetry has functioned as a central medium for articulating and negotiating cultural consciousness in Pakistan—from the nation-making years to contemporary debates on gender, language politics, and globalization. This article traces how poetic idioms, public recitations (mushaira), broadcast media, and digital platforms have converted aesthetic expression into civic pedagogy. Through close reading of emblematic poets (Muhammad Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Habib Jalib, Ahmad Faraz, Kishwar Naheed, Fehmida Riaz, Parveen Shakir, among others) and by situating their work within sociolinguistic and political histories, we show how verse has scaffolded national imaginaries, mobilized dissent, transmitted ethical values, and reconfigured identities across Urdu and regional languages. We also present an illustrative graph that models thematic shifts in poetic discourse (1950–2020), highlighting the rise of gendered critique and diasporic consciousness alongside a relative decline of overt nation-building rhetoric. The study argues that Pakistani poetry is not merely reflective but constitutive of cultural horizons, shaping vocabulary, affect, and public reason.Sofia Mendes
Copyright (c) 2024 Sofia Mendes, Prof. Arjun Rao, Leila Haddad (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Islamic Calligraphy and Its Evolution in South Asia
Islamic calligraphy in South Asia developed through sustained interactions among Persianate courts, Arabic textual traditions, and regional craft ecologies. Beginning with early Naskh and Thuluth inscriptions introduced via Sultanate networks, the subcontinent nurtured distinctive scripts—most famously Nastaʿlīq, alongside Bihari and Shikasta—that were adapted for Qur’anic manuscripts, royal farmāns, album folios (muraqqaʿāt), and architectural epigraphy. Patronage from the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and Deccan polities shaped ateliers that integrated paper-making, pigment technology, reed-pen craft, and codicology. Colonial print and stone-lithography reconfigured training lineages and publics, while the twentieth century saw modernist experiments and, more recently, a digital turn in layout and font design for Urdu and related languages. This article synthesizes script genealogies, materials and tools, sites of display, regional accents (Deccan, Bengal, Kashmir, Punjab), and contemporary conservation ethics. A stylized timeline (Figure 1) visualizes the shifting prominence of scripts from the twelfth to the twenty-first century, highlighting the long arc by which South Asia localized transregional Islamic aesthetics.
Copyright (c) 2024 Leyla Rahimi, Prof. Jonathan Wells, Cemre Yıldız (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Comparative Civilizational Analysis: Indus Valley and Ancient Egypt
This article offers a comparative analysis of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE) and Ancient Egypt (c. 3100–1070 BCE), focusing on ecology, urban planning, political organization, economy and trade, writing systems, and religious ideology. Using an interpretive synthesis of archaeological reports and secondary literature, we emphasize how river ecologies (monsoonal, braided Indus vs. seasonally predictable Nile) shaped divergent pathways of urbanism and state formation. While Indus cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa display exceptional civic standardization, water management, and a distributed urban fabric with limited monumental hierarchy, Egyptian settlement patterns coalesced around a territorially centralized kingship that mobilized labor for large-scale cultic monuments and bureaucratic redistribution. The deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic traditions reveal dense administrative integration; by contrast, the short, undeciphered Indus inscriptions complicate inferences about governance despite robust craft specialization and long-distance trade. The comparison demonstrates multiple solutions to early complex society: techno-hydraulic urban planning without explicit royal ideology (Indus) and sacral kingship with intensive textual administration (Egypt).
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Elena Martínez, Prof. David R. Whitfield, Leila Hassan (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Traditional Crafts and Their Role in Pakistan’s Cultural Identity
Traditional crafts—such as Ajrak printing, truck art, blue pottery, woven shawls, metalwork, woodcarving, and embroidery—are more than aesthetic artifacts in Pakistan; they are repositories of memory, skills, and communal identities. This paper examines how crafts construct and express cultural identity across regions and communities, how they contribute to livelihoods and inclusive development, and how contemporary pressures (globalization, mass manufacturing, algorithmic marketplaces, environmental stress) reshape value chains and meanings. Using an interdisciplinary framework drawing on heritage studies, economic anthropology, and design research, we map the sociocultural functions of crafts, highlight successful revival initiatives, and outline policy levers for sustainable safeguarding that respects artisans’ agency. We conclude with a praxis-oriented agenda connecting education, fair markets, digital heritage, and climate resilience.
Copyright (c) 2024 Elena Martínez, Prof. Michael R. Thompson, Aisha Al-Harthi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in the Freedom Struggle of South Asia: A Historical Perspective
This article synthesizes a century of scholarship on women’s participation in South Asia’s freedom struggles—from early reformist mobilizations in the late nineteenth century to mass civil disobedience, clandestine networks, and post-war constitutional settlements in the 1940s. It situates women’s activism within overlapping arenas: associational life (women’s conferences, social-reform leagues, student bodies), mass movements (boycott, picketing, marches), underground and militant activity (revolutionary cells, intelligence, the Indian National Army’s Rani of Jhansi Regiment), welfare and relief work (prisoner aid, refugee care), and knowledge production (schools, journals, literary intervention). Drawing on comparative cases from present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, we show how respectability politics, household-public negotiations, caste/community hierarchies, and transnational feminist networks structured opportunity and constraint. We argue that women’s political labor changed repertoires of protest, broadened claims to citizenship, and left complex legacies—emancipatory in opening new publics, yet ambivalent in how domesticity and communal boundary-making re-inscribed limits. The article closes by mapping research gaps on provincial archives, vernacular periodicals, police/prosecution files, and oral histories needed to write more inclusive regional histories.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Aisha Rahman, Prof. Miguel Álvarez, Priyanka Nair (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Philosophical Influences of Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina on South Asian Thought
Mohenjo-Daro, a UNESCO World Heritage city on the Indus plain, remains the most complete window into South Asia’s earliest urban experiment (ca. 2600–1900 BCE). Recent syntheses of excavation archives, renewed field sampling of architecture and drains, and laboratory analyses—from ceramic petrography and micro-remains to residue and isotopic studies—are reshaping core narratives. The city’s gridded plan and standardized fired-brick modules co-occur with sophisticated storm- and wastewater control, indicating municipal-level maintenance rather than ad-hoc solutions. Craft production was embedded in household clusters but linked through citywide exchange, as shown by bead workshop by-products, shell-working detritus, standardized weights, and seal use. Bioarchaeological signals suggest mixed subsistence (wheat–barley with millets and pulses), broad trade networks (lithics, marine shell), and adaptive strategies to hydro-geomorphic variability of the Indus. Script-bearing seals and sealings point to administrative recording without monumental palaces or royal tombs, challenging top-down state models. This article synthesizes archaeological, environmental, and materials-science evidence to present a holistic account of Mohenjo-Daro’s urban metabolism, governance, and decline, highlighting research gaps and proposing testable hypotheses for future work.
Copyright (c) 2024 Alessandra Ruiz, PhD, Marcus O’Leary, PhD, Keita Nakamura, PhD (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0