Pakistan: The land of Indus

Imran Jattala
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

Sindh is derived from the Indo-Aryan Sindhi/Sanskrit term Sindhu literally meaning “river”. Food producing era dates back to 7000 years in Indus Valley around 3600 Kms long mighty Indus River — with its centers at Harappa & Mohenjo-daro.

5000 years ago — there was a planned city of 50 thousand people — Mohenjo-daro

Persian king Darius annexed parts of Sind in 516 BC. Persians pronounced ‘Sind’ as ‘Hind’ — Alexander came to ‘Hind’ in 326 BC and Greeks rendered it as ‘Indós’ — which later became ‘Indië’ in European & English literature — concept of the ‘Three Indiës’ was in wide circulation in pre-industrial Europe.

Following the Portuguese expeditions, Dutch had a successful expedition to ‘East Indiës’ in 1596 AD — British, Dutch, Portuguese & Spanish East Indies Companies set out to establish ‘spice trade’ — resulting in colonization of ‘Three Indiës’.

‘Hind’ was known as ‘Hindustan’ throughout the ‘Mughal Era’ 1526 AD to 1857 AD. British East India Company was formed in 1600 AD to pursue trade with the ‘East Indiës’ but ended up trading with Hindustan and China only. British occupied parts of Hindustan in the 17th century, and applied the Greek version of river “Sind” —Hind — Ind — Indós — Indië — “India” to whole country — thus India as a country-name is British invention. River Sind or Indus — through Persian, Greek & European influence — has given names to ‘Three Indiës’ — India, Indonesia & West Indies.

North of Hindustan was always distinct throughout the history of Indus Valley — from Harappa & Mohenjo-daro to Mughal Era to British Raj upto modern day Pakistan — this has been elaborated in detail by Senator Aitzaz Ahsan in his book ‘The Indus Saga’. Harappan civilization was distinct in language & culture from the rest of Hindustan. During Mughal era Kabul, Kashmir, Lahore, Multan, Thatta (Sindh) & Bengal were separate provinces.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar author of Indian Constitution writes in his book published in 1941 ‘Thoughts on Pakistan’ northern India is distinct — what Muslim League has demanded as Pakistan in 1940 resolution. He further writes that British Raj was considering to group Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan & NWFP as one administrative unit since early 1900s. Cabinet Mission Plan of 16 May 1946 to which Muslim League agreed initially stated that Muslim-majority provinces would be grouped, with Sind, Punjab, Baluchistan and North-West Frontier Province forming one group, and Bengal and Assam would form another.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said after the failure of Cabinet Mission that constitutional problems of Muslim-majority provinces cannot be resolved in united India — therefore these provinces should form an independent state — Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah categorically stated that unity of India was a myth.

As Pakistan turns seventy this month — being a proud Pakistani and as a tribute to my motherland — I have decided to write a book on the history of Indus Valley and 7000 years of rich history that we Pakistanis inherit. This article marks the beginning of this year long journey — as I plan to publish my book by 14 Aug 2018.

About the Author: Imran Jattala is National Director of Hult Prize Pakistan, contributing towards development of an Impactful Startup Ecosystem in Pakistan — Sixth largest Nation on Earth. He is Co-Founder of UrbanBazaar a Dubai based e-Commerce Startup.

The views and opinions expressed in this article/post are my own and do not reflect the views of the companies &/or organization I work for &/or advise.

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