Pakistan, Achaemenid Empire

The Indus Plains formed the most populous and richest satrapy of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, for almost two centuries, starting from the reign of Darius the Great (522-485 BCE). Its heritage influenced the region e.g. adoption of Aramaic script, which the Achaemenids used for the Persian language, but after the end of Achaemenid rule, other scripts became more popular, such as Kharosthi (derived from Aramaic) and Greek. The interaction between Hellenistic Greece and Budhism began when Alexander the Great overthrew the Achaemenid empire in 334 BCE, and marched eastwards.

Pakistan, Vedic Civilisation

Vedic Civilisation: During the Vedic culture , the hymns of the Rigveda were composed and the foundations of Hindism were laid. The city of Taxila , in northern Pakistan, became important to Hinduism (and later Budhism). According to to Hindu Tradition, the Mahabharata Epic was first recited at Taxila at the snake sacrfice Yagnaof King Janamejaya, one of the heroes of the story.

Pakistan, Ancient history

Kabul River;


Leaders of Pakistan has snatched away not only Pakistan but also the heritage of India. Before Indus Valley Civilisation there were two other civilisations. 1. Soanian Culture, 2. Mehrgarh civilisation. From historical point of view both the
civilisations are worth mentioning. The other
civilisations in Ancient times of the valleys of Indus are, 3. Indus Valley Civilisation, 4. Aryan Civilisation, and 5. Vedic Civilisation.
Aryan Civilisation : In the early part of the second Millennium BCE, Indo-European tribes from Central Asia and the southern Russian steppes migrated into the region, and settled in the Sapta Sindhu area between between the Kabul river and the upper Ganges-Yamuna rivers.
According to recent studies Aryans entered this region gradually, as infiltrators, not as forceful invaders.Aryans beeing native of Indus Valley, resulting the Vedic Culture lasted until the middle of the first millenium BCEwhen there are marked linguistic , cultural and political charges.

Pakistan, History,Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro was one of the largest city settlements of the Indus Valley Civilisation of south asia situated in the province of Sindh, Pakistan.Built around 2600 BCE, the city was one of the urban settlements in the world, existing at the same time as the civilisation of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Crete.It is one of the world's heritage site.

Pakistan, Mehrgarh civilisatioon (contd-2)

Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor to the Indus valley civilisation."Discoveries at Mehrgarh changed the entire concept of the Indus Valley civilisation", according to Ahmad Hassan Dani, Prof. emeritus of Archaeology at Quadi-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Here the whole sequence is available right for the begining of settled village life. According to Catherne Jarrigeof the Centre for Archaeological Research Indus Baluchistan, Musee Guirnet, Paris.The Kachi plain and in the Bolan Basin are situated at the Bolan Peak Pass, one of the main routes connecting southern Afghanistan, eastern Iran, the Balochistan hills and the Indus valley.This area of rolling hills is thus located on the western edge of the Indus valley, where, around 2500 BCE, a large urban civilisation emerged at the at the same time as those of Mesopotamia and the ancient Egyptian Empire. For the first time in the Indian subcontinent , a continuous sequence of dwelling-sites has been established from 7000 BCE to 500 BCE,as a result of the explorations in Pirak from 1968 to 1974;in Mehrgarh from 1975 to 1985;and of Nausharofrom1985 to 1996.The people of Mehrgarh also had contacts with contemporary cultures of northern Afghanistan, north eastern Iran and southern central Asia.

Pakistan, Mehrgarh Civilisation (contd-1)

Baluchistan is Pakistan's largest province. It is marked by a rugged , highly differential environment with different habitats . The Makram range in the south divides the interior from the coastal plain.A number of successive mounain chains run from the Arabian sea to the Hindukush, and from a barrier towards the fertile Indus plain inthe east.
These mountains enclose interior highland basins and deserts and are interested by many river valleys.
Southeastern baluchistan is characterised by narrow river valleys which only occasionally provide space for alluviation, and thus agriculture. The catchment areas are smaller and , due to the high gradient of the tributaries, the seasonal floods are often destructive and wash away the soil.












In such a harsh and barren environment , irrigation through channels, qanats, or seasonal flooding is an essential prerequisite for settlement. It thus developed early as an essential measure for the production of crops required by agrowing population. The rising number of settlements from the begining of settled life in the sixth millennium through the midthird millenium BC witnesses the success of food production through farming and pastoralism.
Pioneering archaeological field work in this region was carried out by the great explorer Sir Aurel Stein, Hargreaves , etc of the dept of Archaeology and Museums, Karachi, and a couple of other explorers.























The French excavations at Mehrgarh, Nausharo and Pirak in the Kachhi plain revealed a long cultural sequence from the Neolithic period through the iron age. While another French Mission resumed work in Makram after a 30 year long gap in the late 80s, southeastern Baluchistan had remained a "white spot" on the archaeological landscape.

Pakistan, Mehrgarh Civilisation

It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and Barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats)in south Asia, near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River Valley and between the present day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat, and Sibi. Mehrgarh was discovered in 1974 by French Archaeologist Jean Franchois Jarrige, and was excavated continuously between 1974 to 1986. The earliest settlement at Merhgarh - in the north east corner of the 495-acres site - was a small farming village dated between 7000 BCE-5500 BCE.

Early Merhgarh residents lived in mud brick houses, stored their grain in granaries, fashioned tools with local copper ore, and lined their large basket containers with bitumen. They cultivated six row barley, einkorn,and emmar wheat, jujubes and herded sheep,goats,and cattle. Residents of the later period (5500-2600) BCE put much effort into crafts, including flint knapping , tanning, bead production, and metal working . The site was occuppied continuously until about 2600 BCE.In April, 2006, in the scintific journal it was announced that the oldest evidence in human history for the drilling in teeth of a living person was found in Mehrgarh.