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Pakistan

Pakistan

:See 2005 Kashmir earthquake for the 8 October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان, islāmī jamhūriya i pākistān), or Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان, pākistān) is a country located in South Asia that overlaps onto the Greater Middle East and Central Asia. The country borders India, Afghanistan, Iran (Persia), China and the Arabian Sea. The name of the country "Pakistan" in Urdu and Persian means Land of the Pure. With around 163 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country with the second largest Muslim population. It is a member of the UN, Commonwealth of Nations, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

History

See main article for detailed information: History of Pakistan (Including pre-history, civilizations of the region, and modern events to date) Related articles: History of South Asia, History of Iran, History of India, History of Afghanistan History of Afghanistan, was center of Indus Valley Civilization, 2600 BCE – 1800 BCE]] Pakistan is the birthplace of some of the most ancient civilizations and a strategic center of historic trade routes, including the Silk Road. It exists in a region whose history has overlapped that of many empires (e.g Mughals) and also of countries including India, Afghanistan and Persia (Iran). As one of the cradles of human civilization, the Pakistani region has long been at the crossroads of history. Pakistan was the site of the Indus Valley civilization and was subsequently conquered by many groups, including Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, White Huns, and Scythians. This period saw the country advance in trade and culture to a level where the Gandhara region and the great city of Taxila (Takshashila) became a great center of learning and development.

Ancient History

Nearly all of ancient Pakistan was ruled by the Persian Achaemenid dynasty for over two hundred years beginning in 540 BCE. In 326 BCE, Alexander the Great defeated the Punjabi king Porus (Paurava) at the Hydaspes near Jhelum. After Alexander's death and brief Seleucid control, Chandragupta Maurya gained control of the territory. His grandson Ashoka is known as to have been one of the major proselytizers of Buddhism which spread in the region. After the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty was overthrown in 185 BCE, 185 BCE-171 BCE), founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom]] Demetrius of Bactria conquered Gandhara and Punjab in 184 BCE, establishing an Indo-Greek kingdom that lasted nearly two centuries, until around 10 BCE. To the south, this kingdom captured Sindh and extended to the coast of the Arabian Sea. One of the prominent Greco-Bactrian kings was Menander, who ruled from 155 to 130 BCE and is believed to have been a convert to Buddhism. His territories covered the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria (from the areas of the Panjshir and Kapisa, now in Afghanistan) and extended to the Pakistani province of Punjab with diffuse tributaries to the south and east, possibly even as far as Mathura in modern India. Sagala (modern Sialkot) became his capital and propered greatly under Menander's rule. The last Greek king to rule independently was probably Strato II, whose reign ended about 10 CE. Various Greek kings ruled into the beginning of the 1st century CE, as petty rulers (such as Theodamas) and as administrators, after the area was conquered by various Central Asian groups, most notably the Tocharian Kushans. The Kushan kingdom stretched from modern-day Uzbekistan to northwestern India. The kingdom was founded by King Heraios, and greatly expanded by his successor, Kujula Kadphises. Kadphises' son Vima Takto conquered territory now in India, but lost much of the western parts of the kingdom, including Gandhara, to the Parthian king Gondophares. Later invaders included the Scythians, and White Huns. While the Punjab remained under the Huns and Scythians, the Sassanian Persian Empire then came to control most of western Pakistan and parts of Sind came under the rule of Hindu rajas.

Arrival of Islam

In the eighth century CE, the arrival of the Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab set the stage for the geographic boundaries of the modern state of Pakistan and formed the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate, the region was controlled by the Mughals from 1526 until 1739. From 1739 until the early 19th century the entire area was ruled briefly by Nadir Shah and then by the Afghans and then later the Baluchis and Sikhs came to control Sind and the Punjab.

British rule

To the east, the British had arrived and formed the British East India Company which would eventually spearhead a colonial dominion over South Asia. The Mughal Empire was then at a decline and the eventual collapse of the anti-British struggle by the Muslim leader Tipu Sultan from 1749 to 1799 left the remnants of the Mughal Empire vulnerable. The British did not gain strong footholds in the Pakistani region until the early 19th century and annexed the entire area during the Great Game rivalry with the Russian empire. The Indian War of Independence in 1857 was the last South Asian armed struggle against the British, while the Anglo-Afghan wars continued into the 20th century. After crushing the struggle the British dubbed the event the "Sepoy Mutiny". Even though the War of Independence was a joint Muslim-Hindu struggle to oust the British, the brunt of British retaliation was directed at the Muslim population of the empire employing the infamous "Divide and rule" policy. This suppression and subjugation helped set the stage for the creation of Pakistan - an Islamic state for the Muslims of British India. The greatest proponent of this became Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who later earned the title of Quaid-e-Azam (Urdu: قائد اعظم) meaning "great leader" and founder of Pakistan.

Independence and After Independence

After a 60 year formal and generally unarmed struggle for independence, Pakistan came into existence on 14th August 1947 from the British Empire. The British divided up the Indian empire into three parts: the central part, with a Hindu majority, became modern-day India, the western part along with parts of the Punjab became West Pakistan, while East Bengal (the Muslim majority part of Bengal) became East Pakistan. The Partition of India is believed by many to have been mishandled by the British since it resulted in the worst ever recorded communal riots in the region and perhaps one of the worst in modern history. An estimated 1 to 5 million Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and others in former British India lost their lives as a direct consequence and millions more became refugee migrants to the newly formed Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Due to a hasty British retreat and mishandling of the independence of its former colonies, various disputes would remain between India and Pakistan involving Kashmir and the Rann of Kutch (Sir Creek) regions. Both nations have fought three all out wars due to these unsettled issues. Other inherited legacies of British rule included the Durand Line debate regarding the border with Afghanistan. In 1971, economic and political discontent in East Pakistan – geographically separated from West Pakistan by India – and violent political repression escalated into a civil war (see Bangladesh Liberation War) in East Pakistan and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, resulting in the secession of East Pakistan, which formed the independent state of Bangladesh. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 created a large influx of refugees fleeing to Pakistan from Afghanistan; the largest in the world. In one of the largest covert operations in history, Pakistan and the United States supported anti-Soviet freedom fighters in Afghanistan, and the Soviets withdrew in the late 1980s. Politically since its formation, Pakistan has oscillated between democratic and military rule, while making some impressive recent economic strides.

Origin of the name

The name was coined by Cambridge student and Muslim nationalist Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He devised the word and first published it on January 28, 1933 in the pamphlet Now or Never [http://www.zyworld.com/slam33/non.htm]. He saw it as an acronym formed from the names of the "homelands" of Muslims in South Asia. (P for Punjab, A for the Afghan areas of the region, K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and tan for Baluchistan, thus forming 'Pakstan.' An 'i' was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation, producing Pakistan.) The word also captured in the Persian language the concepts of "Pak" meaning "Pure" and "stan" for "land" or "home" (as in the names of Central Asian countries in the region; Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, etc), thus giving it the meaning Land of the Pure. All Arabic-speaking countries refer to Pakistan as باکستان (Bakstaan), as the Arabic alphabet lacks the letter "P."

Politics

Domestic Politics

Main article: Politics of Pakistan

Form of Government

Politics of Pakistan Constitutionally a federal republic, with considerable autonomy to the four Provinces – Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, and NWFP (North West Frontier Province) (Sarhad) and the state of [http://www.ajk.gov.pk Azad Kashmir] (Azad meaning Free in Urdu). The upper house is called the Senate, which has 100 seats equally distributed among the four provinces of Pakistan, with reserved seats for women and religious minorities, who may also contest the general seats. The lower house is called the National Assembly of Pakistan and has 342 seats including reserved seats for religious and ethnic minorities and women. National Assembly elections were held in October 2002, and Senate elections in February 2003. One notable outcome was the election of 91 women to Parliament – the largest number (and the largest percentage) of women in the parliament of any Muslim-majority country, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. [http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm] Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms. The National Assembly elects the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who then appoints selected members of the National Assembly and Senate as federal ministers in the cabinet. The Electoral College of Pakistan – consisting of the Senate, National Assembly, and the provincial assemblies – elects the President of Pakistan, who is the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President’s appointment and term are constitutionally independent of the Prime Minister’s term. Each province has a Provincial Assembly which is elected for five year terms through competitive multi-party elections, and which in turn elects a Chief Minister – the executive head of the province. Provinces also have governors who are appointed by the Federal Government.

Political Parties

Commander in Chief Before and during the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the secular and centrist Pakistan Muslim league supported the creation of Pakistan while the far-right religious parties such as the Shia Conference , Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind and leaders such as Maulana Azad opposed the creation of Pakistan and supported a united India. The liberal, leftist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as a major political player during the 1970s. During 80s, a new political anti-feudal movement started by unorthodox and educated urban dwellers of Sindh, specially Karachi, now known as MQM. Currently, the largest party in Parliament is the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) and the second largest is the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP). The PML-Q obtained a plurality in the October 2002 elections. Besides these major players, there are several other political parties active in Pakistan. See also: List of political parties in Pakistan

Foreign Relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Pakistan Foreign relations of Pakistan Pakistan was an ally of the United States for much of its early history as a modern nation-state, from the 1950s and as a member of CENTO (Central Treaty Organisation) and SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation). However, it all changed from 1965 when Pakistan went to war with India during the height of the Cold War. The US placed heavy military sanctions on Pakistan during the war forcing Pakistan to agree to the cease fire and pulling out of the war that was heading for a stalemate. After the 1965 war Pakistan had moved away from the US and its relations with China became stronger and soon both nations declared their alliance. Their relations have gone so far that it concerns the Western Super Powers. Despite US opposition, Pakistan dropped out of CENTO and SEATO, and established better relations with China and supported the resolution to move official recognition for the Chinese seat from the Taiwan-based Republic of China to the Beijing government. United States maintained a lukewarm relationship until the 1970s. In 1971, Pakistan was involved in a civil war which led the breaking away of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. China supported Pakistan and did not accept the new nation of Bangladesh for over 3 years, even though in 1973 Pakistan itself had. The US also did not accept Bangladesh in favor of Pakistan until after the Shimla Accord. The Soviet involvement in the war and the Chinese influence on Pakistan prompted USA to bolster ties with a lost ally and the alliance would not be strengthened until the Afghan war. In the 1980s Pakistan was supplied by the US with necessary arms and helped in training supporting anti-Soviet militia in Afghanistan. US promised to provide Pakistan with F-16 fighter jets though only a few were eventually supplied due to the Pressler amendment. China however chose to remain out of this alliance, instead providing moral support. After the Afghan war, which ended in favor of the anti-Soviet Alliance, the relationship with the US deteriorated when sanctions were imposed on Pakistan along with India for their nuclear program. All military equipment aid was again barred. China came to Pakistan's aid and helped them establish ground force and aviation infrastructures. Prior to the US-Led coalition war in Afghanistan, China remained the main exporter and trader with Pakistan. After September 11th, 2001, and the subsequent American-led assault on Afghanistan, current Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf aligned his government again with the US and attempted to seal borders with Afghanistan and silence Islamic radicals along it (especially in the NWFP and other rural, fronteir provinces). Since this strategic re-alignment towards US policy, the economic and military aid has been flowing from the US to Pakistan in large numbers. Besides the US and China, Pakistan enjoys alliances with some Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. PAF pilots fly fighters for these two countries. Libya and Syria are the only two middle eastern countries with whom Pakistan enjoys great relations even though they were once Soviet allies. Pakistan is also an important member of the OIC, which brings it closer to every Muslim country. Besides OIC, Pakistan is a member of the South Asian union of SAARC. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population and its status as a declared nuclear power—the only Islamic nation—also plays into its role on the international scene.

Political History

Pakistan has been ruled by both democratic and military governments. General Ayub Khan was the president from 1958 to 1969, and General Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1971. Civilian rule continued from 1971 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but he was deposed by General Zia-Ul-Haq. General Zia was killed in a plane crash in 1988, after which Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was the youngest woman to ever be elected the Head of Government and the first woman to be elected as the Head of Government of a Muslim country. Her government was followed by that of Nawaz Sharif, and the two leaders alternated until the military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Since the resignation of President Rafiq Tarar in 2001, Musharraf has been the President of Pakistan. Pakistan's first decade was marred with political unrest and instability resulting in frequent collapses of civilian democratic governments. From 1947 to 1958 as many as seven Prime Ministers of Pakistan either resigned or were ousted. This political instability paved the way for Pakistan’s first military take over. On October 7th 1958 Pakistan’s civilian and first President Iskander Mirza in collaboration with General Mohammad Ayub Khan abrogated Pakistan’s constitution and declared Martial Law. Nation-wide parliamentary elections were held in October 2002, with the PML-Q winning a plurality of seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan, and Zafarullah Khan Jamali of that party emerging as Prime Minister. Jamali resigned on June 26, 2004. PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain became interim PM, and was succeeded by Finance Minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz, who was elected Prime Minister on August 27, 2004 by a National Assembly vote of 191 to 151.

Geography

:Main article: Geography of Pakistan Geography of Pakistan Pakistan has a total area of 803,940 square kilometers, over three times the size of the United Kingdom. It has a land area of 778,720, slightly less than the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom put together. To the south is the Arabian Sea, with 1,046 km (650 mile) of Pakistani coastline. To Pakistan's east is India, which has a 2,912 km (1,809 mile) border with Pakistan. To its west is Iran, which has a 909 km (565 mile) border with Pakistan. To Pakistan's northwest lies Afghanistan, with a shared border of 2,430 km (1,510 miles.) China is towards the northeast and has a 523 km (325 mile) border with Pakistan. The northern and western areas of Pakistan are mountainous. Pakistani administered areas of Kashmir contain some of the highest mountains in the world, including the second tallest — K2 — and has areas of preserved moist temperate forest. K2]In the southeast, Pakistan's border with India passes through a flat desert, called the Cholistan or Thar Desert. West-central Balochistan has a high desert plateau, bordered by low mountain ranges. Most areas of the Punjab, and parts of Sindh, are fertile plains where agriculture is of great importance. Pakistan is also the home of some of the world's most ancient civilizations. Places like Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Kot Diji, Thatta, Bhambore, Gandhara, Mehrgarh, Dir are all sites that came into existance near the dawn of civilization several thousand years ago.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Pakistan

Overview

Pakistan, a developing country, is the sixth most populous in the world and has faced a number of challenges on the political and economic fronts. Although a very poor country when it became independent in 1947, in the 1960s Harvard economists proclaimed it to be a model of economic development. In each of its first four decades, Pakistan's economic growth rate was better than the global average, but imprudent policies led to a slowdown in the late 1990s. Since then, the Pakistani government has instituted wide-ranging reforms, and economic growth has accelerated in the current century. Pakistan's economic outlook has brightened and its manufacturing and financial services sectors have experienced rapid expansion. The growth of the non-agricultural sectors has changed the structure of the economy, and agriculture now only accounts for roughly one-fifth of the GDP. There has been a great improvement in its foreign exchange position and a rapid growth in hard currency reserves in recent years. In 2004 Pakistan's GDP growth rate was 8.4% which is (after China) the second-highest among the ten most populous countries in the world.[http://aric.adb.org/default11.asp?handler=country&cid=36]

Macroeconomic Reform and Prospects

According to many sources, the Pakistani government has made substantial economic reforms since 2000, and medium-term prospects for job creation and poverty reduction are the best in nearly a decade. Government revenues have greatly improved in recent years, as a result of economic growth, tax reforms - with a broadening of the tax base, and more efficient tax collection as a result of self-assessment schemes and corruption controls in the Central Board of Revenue - and the privatisation of public utilities and telecomunications. Pakistan is aggressively cutting tariffs and assisting exports by improving ports, roads, electricity supplies and irrigation projects. Islamabad has raised development spending from about 2% of GDP in the 1990s to 4% in 2003, a necessary step towards reversing the broad underdevelopment of its social sector. Liberalisation in the international textile trade has already yielded benefits for Pakistan's exports, and the country also expects to profit from freer trade in agriculture. As a large country, Pakistan hopes to take advantage of significant economies of scale, and to replace China as the largest textile manufacturer as the latter China moves up the value-added chain. These industries play to Pakistan's relative strengths in low labour costs. A perception of stability in the nation's monetary policies has contributed to a reduction in money-market interest rates, and a great expansion in the quantity of credit, changing consumption and investment patterns in the nation. Pakistan's domestic natural gas production, and its significant use of CNG in automobiles, has cushioned the effect of the oil-price shock of 2004-2005. Pakistan is also moving away from the doctrine of import substitution which some developing countries (such as Iran and India) dogmatically pursued in the twentieth century. The Pakistani government is now pursuing a export-driven model of economic growth successfully implemented by South East Asia and now highly successful in China. In 2005, the World Bank reported that :"Pakistan was the top reformer in the region and the number 10 reformer globally — making it easier to start a business, reducing the cost to register property, increasing penalties for violating corporate governance rules, and replacing a requirement to license every shipment with two-year duration licenses for traders." [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20643510~menuPK:158937~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html] In addition, reduced tensions with India and the ongoing peace process raise new hopes for a prosperous and stable South Asia, with more intra-regional trade.

Growing Middle Class

Measured by purchasing power, Pakistan has a 30 million strong middle class enjoying per capita incomes more than $8000-$10,000, according to Dr. Ishrat Husain, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan [http://www.pabe.org/us-chamber-press-article/PressArticlesOctober18_2004.doc]. In addition, Pakistan has a growing upper class with relatively high per capita incomes. However, Pakistan has no individuals with as much as a billion US dollars, according to Forbes magazine, and has the distinction of being the most populous nation to have no billionaires.

Economic History

First Five Decades

Economically, Pakistan was a very poor and predominantly agricultural country at the time of its independence in 1947 from British India. During its first four decades, Pakistan's economic growth rate was better than the global average. Industrial-sector growth, including manufacturing, was also above average. In the early 1960s, Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing. Many countries sought to emulate Pakistan's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied its Second Five Year Plan, 1960-65. Not just that But World financial center in Seoul was modeled after Karachi. Later, economic mismanagement in general, and fiscally imprudent economic policies in particular, caused a large increase in the country's public debt and led to slower growth in the 1990s.

Economic Resilience

Historically, Pakistan's overall economic output (GDP) has grown every year since a 1951 recession. Despite this record of sustained growth, Pakistan's economy had, until a few years ago, been characterized as unstable and highly vulnerable to external and internal shocks. However, the economy proved to be unexpectedly resilient in the face of multiple adverse events concentrated into a four-year period —
- the Asian financial crisis;
- economic sanctions — according to Colin Powell, Pakistan was "sanctioned to the eyeballs";
- global recession;
- a severe drought — the worst in Pakistan's history, lasting four years;
- heightened perceptions of risk as a result of military tensions with India — with as many as a million troops on the border, and predictions of impending (potentially nuclear) war; and
- the post-9/11 military action in neighboring Afghanistan, with a massive influx of refugees from that country. Despite these adverse events, Pakistan's economy kept growing, and economic growth accelerated towards the end of this period. This resilience has led to a change in perceptions of the economy, with leading international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and the ADB praising Pakistan's performance in the face of adversity.

Recent economic history and trends

Since about the turn of the century, the Pakistani government has instituted wide-ranging reforms, and economic growth has accelerated in the current century. Pakistan's economic outlook has brightened and its manufacturing and financial services sectors have experienced rapid expansion. The growth of the non-agricultural sectors has changed the structure of the economy, and agriculture now only accounts for roughly one-fifth of the GDP. There has been a great improvement in its foreign exchange position and a rapid growth in hard currency reserves as a result of its current account surplus. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, Pakistan's GDP growth rate was 8.4% which is (after China) the second-highest among the ten most populous countries in the world. Its exports grew by as much as 17% and the country also saw increasing foreign investments in the IT sector, thanks to cheap labor, a low tax rate and a large pool of English speakers.

Structure of production

Stock Market

In the first three years of the current century, Pakistan's KSE-100 stock market index (Karachi Stock Exchange) was the best-performing major market index in the world, driven in part by profit growth, high dividend yields and greater transparency in publicly traded companies as a result of reforms enacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

Currency

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan The basic unit of currency is the Rupee, which is divided into 100 paisas. Since the turn of the century, a strengthening economy and large current-account surplus has caused the rupee's exchange rate to rise in value. In response, Pakistan's central bank has prevented the rupee from rising too much, by lowering interest rates and buying dollars, in order to preserve the country's export competitiveness. As of 2005, one US dollar is approximately equal to 60 rupees.

Industry

Manufacturing and Finance

Pakistan's manufacturing sector has experienced double-digit growth in recent years, with large-scale manufacturing growing by 18% in 2003. A reduction in the fiscal deficit has resulted in less government borrowing in the domestic money market, lower interest rates, and an expansion in private sector lending to businesses and consumers. Foreign exchange reserves continued to reach new levels in 2003, supported by robust export growth and steady worker remittances. export

Tax Incentives & IT Industry

The Government of Pakistan has, over the last few years, granted numerous incentives to technology companies wishing to do business in Pakistan. A combination of decade-plus tax holidays, zero duties on computer imports, government incentives for venture capital and a variety of programs for subsidizing technical education, are intended to give impetus to the nascent Information Technology industry. This in recent years has resulted in impressive growth in that sector. Pakistan saw an increase in IT exports of 50% from 2003-4 to 2004-5, with total exports standing at $48.5 million. This year the government has set an export goal of $72 million. Exports account for 11% of the total revenues of the IT sector in Pakistan. Compared to its neighbor, India, Pakistan's IT sector is still in the infantile stage, but recent trends have led economists to be optimistic about the IT industries future prospects in Pakistan.

Technology & Internet

Paging and mobile (cellular) telephone were adopted early and freely. Cellular phones and the Internet were adopted through a rather laissez-faire policy with a proliferation of private service providers that led to fast adoption. Both have taken off and in the last few years of the 1990s and first few years of the 2000s. With a rapid increase in the number of internet users and ISPs, and a large English-speaking population, Pakistani society has seen major changes.
- Pakistan has more than 20 million Internet users as of 2005. The country is said to have a potential to absorb up to 50 million mobile phone Internet users in the next 5 years thus a potential of nearly 1 million connections per month.
- Almost all of the main government departments, organizations and institutions have their own websites.
- The use of search engines and instant messaging services is also booming. Pakistanis are some of the most ardent chatters on the Internet, communicating with users all over the world. Recent years have seen a huge increase in the use of online marriage services, for example, leading to a major re-alignment of the tradition of arranged marriages.
- As of 2005 there were 6 cell phone companies operating in the country with nearly 28 million mobile phone users in the country.
- Wireless local loop and the landline telephony sector has also been liberalized and private sector has entered thus increasing the teledensity from less than 3% to more than 10% in span of two years.

Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources

teledensity Pakistan's principal natural resources are arable land, water, and extensive natural gas and petroleum reserves.

Agriculture

About 28% of Pakistan's total land area is under cultivation and is watered by the largest irrigation systems in the world. Water resources include several major rivers, fed by meltwater from snow and glaciers in some of the highest mountains ranges of the world — the Karakorams, Himalayas, and the Hindukush. Other important sources are tube-wells tapping into large aquifers. The most important crops are cotton, wheat, and rice. Other important crops are sugarcane, maize, sorghum, millets, pulses, oil seeds, barley, fish, fruits and vegetables. Pakistan also produces some of the world's best honey. Pakistan is a net exporter of foodgrains.

Energy

Pakistan has extensive energy resources, including fairly sizable natural gas reserves, oil reserves and coal. It also has a large potential for the further development of hydroelectric power. Domestic petroleum production totals only about half the country's oil needs. Pakistan is operating, constructing or planning to construct several nuclear reactors to meet its rapidly growing electricity requirements.

Minerals

Important minerals found in Pakistan are gypsum, limestone, chromites, iron ore, rock salt, silver, gold, precious stones, gems, marble, copper, coal, graphite, sulphur, fire clay, silica. The salt range in Punjab Province has large deposits of pure salt. Balochistan province is a mineral rich area having sub-stantial mineral, oil and gas reserves which have not been exploited to their full capacity. The province has significant quantities of copper, chromite and iron, and pockets of antimony and zinc in the south and gold in the far west. Natural gas was discovered near Sui in 1952, and the province has been gradually developing its oil and gas projects over the past fifty years. [http://www.himalmag.com/2002/july/profile_2.htm]

Trade

Exports

Pakistan exports software, rice, furniture, cotton fiber, cement, tiles, marble, textiles, clothing, leather goods, sports goods (renowned for footballs/soccer balls), surgical instruments, electrical appliances, carpets, and rugs, ice cream, livestock meat, chicken, powdered milk, wheat, seafood (especially shrimp/prawns), vegetables, processed food items, Pakistani assembled Suzukis (to Afghanistan and maybe other countries), defence equipment (submarines, tanks, radars), salt, marble, onyx, engineering goods, fighter planes, and many other items.

Imports

Pakistan's single largest import category is petroleum and petroleum products. Other imports include trucks, automobiles, and industrial machinery. Pakistan also imports computers, computer parts, construction machinery, medicines, pharmaceutical products, food items, airplanes, defence equipment, steel, toys, electronics, other consumer items.

Tourism

petroleum Pakistan's culture, people and landscape are very diverse. Therefore tourism has, in recent years, become a large industry in Pakistan. What is now Pakistan has in the past been invaded and occupied by many different peoples, including Huns, Persians, Arabs, Turks, Mongols and various Eurasian groups, all of which left differences in culture among the different ethnic groups in matters such as dress, food, and religion, especially where indigenous pre-Islamic customs differ from Islamic practices. It is home to a large ancient civilization rivalling those of Egypt and Mesopotamia and also of many smaller civilizations which settled there. There are many tourist attractions in Pakistan. In the North, some of the highest mountains in the world, interest mountain climbers and adventurers from around the world. The Northern Areas of Pakistan are one of the most scenic places to be found with many old army fortresses, towers and other architecture. Among the most beautiful valleys in this area are Chitral and Hunza. The inhabitants of the region are known for their tradition of hospitality, offering food and residence for tourists. In the east, the Punjab province offers a view into the many different civilizations that settled there. Islamic Mughal architecture is very common, such as Badshahi Masjid andthe Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. Pakistan's film industry, Lollywood is also present here.

Demographics

Lollywood Main article: Demographics of Pakistan

Population Statistics

Pakistan has the world's sixth largest population, more than Russia, but less than Brazil. Because of Pakistan's high growth rate, it is expected to overtake Brazil in population before 2025. Based on the high fertility rates of the 1980s, demographers had projected that Pakistan would be the third most populous nation by 2050. However, from 1988 onward, Pakistan's fertility rate has fallen faster than that of any other country except China [http://www.gfeeney.com/pubs/2003-pakistan-fertility-2/2003-pakistan-fertility-2.pdf (Feeney and Alam, 2003, PDF)]. It is now projected that its population will stabilize to a more sustainable level.

Religion

1988 The majority of the people of Pakistan are Muslim (adherents of Islam). Most (75%) are Sunni, some (20%) are Shia. Pakistan has a small non-Muslim population whose numbers remain somewhat difficult to ascertain due to various social conditions within Pakistan, including the inability of the census to account for every person and some alleged discrimination and hesitancy by some to accurately report their professed faith. According to most sources Pakistan's religius minorities consist largely of Christians (2.5%) or 3.9 million, while the remaining 1.2% includes Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jews, and Animists (mainly the Kalash in Chitral). Pakistan's religious demographics were influenced by the partition of British India, which led to the fleeing of 7 million Muslims into Pakistan from India and 6 million Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan to India and led to a larger Muslim majority than had previously existed. Pakistan is also the birthplace of one major world religions, Sikhism and two branches of Buddhism Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Although today there are few Sikhs in Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab was the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism as well the Sikh conqueror Ranjit Singh. In addition, Pakistan is also the birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism, the form of Buddhism practiced by most Buddhists today, including those in China, India, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. It is also the birthplace of Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism. Also, the early formation of the Hindu religion may have taken place here, either amongst the Indus Valley Civilization or in the wake of the Indo-Aryan migration into the area and with the composition of the earliest of the sacred scriptures, the Rig Veda, but most academics believe Hinduism probably formed along the Ganges River further east instead.

Languages

Urdu and English are both recognized as the official languages of Pakistan. English is used in government and corporate business and by the educated urban elite. Private as well as public universities use English as the medium of instruction for degree courses. Urdu is the lingua franca of the people, being widely spoken as a second language, although it is the mother tongue of only 8% of the population, mainly Muhajirs (Muslim refugees from India after 1947) and Punjabis of urban areas. Besides these, nearly all Pakistanis speak mutually related provincial Indo-European languages, of which the most widely spoken is Punjabi, followed by Pashto, Sindhi, and Balochi. Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Seraiki, Dari, Hindko, Pothohari, Gujarati, Shina, Wakhi, Kashmiri, Khowar and many others. In addition, small groups of non-Indo-European languages are also spoken including Brahui which is a Dravidian language and Burushaski which is a language isolate.

Ethnic Groups

Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group in the country. Other important ethnic groups include: Pashtun/Afghans, Sindhis, Balochis, Muhajirs and Seraikis. The numerous other ethnic groups are mainly found in the northern parts of the country such as Turwalis, Kafiristanis, Hindko, Brahui, Kashmiris, Khowar, Shina and so forth. There are also sizeable numbers of refugees from neighboring Afghanistan, who are found mainly in the NWFP and Baluchistan - in the 1980s, Pakistan accommodated over three million Afghan refugees - the largest refugee population in the world, which includes Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Hazaras among others. A sizeable number of Bengali immigrants are mainly concentrated in Karachi, while hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iran are scattered throughout the country.[http://www.minorityrights.org/admin/Download/Pdf/MRGPakistanReport.pdf] People of Sephardic Jewish descent are also found in the country, but probably number less than 200 since the creation of Israel. There is also a sizeable community of Persians, Chinese, Myanmarians (Burmese), and Africans; ther

2005 Kashmir earthquake

The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the Northern Pakistan earthquake or South Asia earthquake) of 2005 was a major seismological disturbance (earthquake) that occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC, 09:20:38 India Standard Time, 08:50:38 local time at epicenter) on October 8, 2005 with the epicenter in the Pakistan-administered region of the disputed territory of Kashmir in South Asia. It registered 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. As of 8 November, the Pakistani government's official death toll was 87,350. Some estimate that the death toll could reach over 100,000. [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-11-08T073130Z_01_YUE827002_RTRUKOC_0_UK-QUAKE-SOUTHASIA-TOLL.xml] [http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5348229,00.html] Most of the affected areas are in mountainous regions and access is impeded by landslides that have blocked the roads. An estimated 3.3 million were left homeless in Pakistan. The UN reported that more than 4 million people are directly affected, as winter snows start. Many of them are at risk of dying from cold and the spread of disease. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz made an appeal to survivors on 26 October to come down to valleys and cities for relief. It has been estimated that damages incurred are well over 5 billion US dollars. Three of the five crossing points have been opened on the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aH5Z2m5aPhRw&refer=top_world_news] [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9626146/] [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/15/content_3620089.htm] [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6H2RYT?OpenDocument] [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pakistan_quake;_ylt=AiCLA0EuD2jdJ4.1wvoymyDGe50v;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl][http://in.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-10T200723Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-222892-3.xml] Pakistans have occurred to the northwest (USGS).]]

The earthquake

USGS Kashmir lies in the area where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates are colliding. Out of this collision, the Himalayas began uplifting 50 million years ago, and continue to rise by about 5 mm/year. [http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/5112/bio.html] This geological activity is the cause of the earthquakes in the area. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured its magnitude as 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale, with its epicenter at , about 19 km (11.8 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan [http://www.google.com/maps?q=34.493%C2%B0N,+73.629%C2%B0E&spn=0.240320,0.532940&t=h&iwloc=A&hl=en], and 100 km (65 miles) north-northeast of Islamabad (Pakistan). The hypocenter was located at a depth of 26 km (16.2 miles) below the surface ([http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdyae.htm USGS]). The Japan Meteorological Agency gave it a magnitude of 7.8. The earthquake is classified as "major" by the USGS. (By comparison, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake had a magnitude of 9.15.) The earthquake caused widespread destruction in northern Pakistan, as well as damage in Afghanistan and northern India. The worst hit areas were Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and western and southern parts of the Kashmir valley in the Indian-administered Kashmir. It also affected some parts of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the city of Karachi experienced a minor aftershock of magnitude 4.6. There have been many secondary earthquakes in the region, mainly to the northwest of the original epicenter. 147 aftershocks were registered in the first day after the initial massive quake that hit at 8:52 am, one of which had a magnitude of 6.2 [http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_dya2.html] (a tremor of magnitude six is rated as a "strong" earthquake). Twenty-eight occurred with a magnitude greater than five during four days after the principal quake and even eleven days after, there were still major quakes. For example, on 19 October there were a series of strong aftershocks one with a magnitude of 5.8 [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usejae.htm], which occurred about 65 km (40.5 miles) north northwest of Muzaffarabad. [http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=106055] There have been more than 978 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 and above, as of 27 October [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKEE-6HWRYR?OpenDocument] and these continue to occur daily. (See [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/10/75_35_eqs.html USGS] for a list of recent aftershocks.)

Casualties

Most of the casualties resulting from the earthquake were in Pakistan where the official death toll has topped 84,000 and is expected to continue to rise, putting it higher than the massive scale of destruction of the Quetta earthquake of May 31, 1935. [http://asc-india.org/gq/19350531_quetta.htm] 1,300 deaths have also been confirmed in India. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051019/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_quake_pk1_22;_ylt=AtKDIsHmlsPI.5bJOQgaSfPGe50v;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl] As Saturday is a normal school day in the region, most students were at schools when the earthquake struck. Many were buried under collapsed school buildings. Many people were also trapped in their homes and, because it was the month of Ramadan, most people were taking a nap after their pre-dawn meal and did not have time to escape during the quake. Reports indicate that entire towns and villages were completely wiped out in Northern Pakistan with other surrounding areas also suffering severe damage. "...a second, massive wave of death will happen if we do not step up our efforts now", Kofi Annan said on 20 October with reference to the thousand remote villages in which people are in need of medical attention, food, clean water and shelter and the 120,000 survivors that have not yet been reached. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1835627,00.html] Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz "made the appeal to survivors" on 26 October to come down to valleys and cities for relief, [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aH5Z2m5aPhRw&refer=top_world_news] because bad weather, mountainous terrain, landslides and blocked roads are making it difficult for relief workers to reach each house and the winter snows are imminent.

Confirmed casualties


- 49,739 have died, the injured around 74,000, Major General Farooq Ahmad Khan told a news conference on Thursday 20 October. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051020/wl_sthasia_afp/quakesasiapakistantoll_051020112616;_ylt=Ah6zlvoYxRx0rmDnEvK7BKfGe50v;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl]
- "At least 40,000 people had been killed and 42,397 people had been hurt", Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said. He also added that "around 11,000 of the dead were in Muzaffarabad". [http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051009113808.mrxeo6hp.html]
- 13,000 confirmed deaths in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
- This report was previously attributed to CNN, which "has not confirmed that figure". Later, the Pakistani-controlled Kashmir region's Minister for Works and Communication, Tariq Farooq, told AFP that more than 30,000 people have died in Kashmir. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051009/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_quake;_ylt=AvOmp8mVeFkhyELYtRaBTghn.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NTMzazIyBHNlYwMxNjk2] [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20051009/wl_sthasia_afp/quakesasiapakistankashmirtoll_051009071744]
- 1,300 people perished and 4,500 were injured in the quake that flattened or damaged 32,000 houses in Jammu and Kashmir, according to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in latest press reports [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1260429.cms].
- 250 bodies have been recovered in Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir according to authorities from Muzaffarabad.
- Around 500 female students were killed when the roof of their school collapsed (Northern Pakistan).
- As of November 9, approximately 2500 Pakistani soldiers were reportedly killed on duty in Pakistan, including three Brigadiers, fifteen battalion commanders as well as scores of junior officers. [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17186452%255E31477,00.html]
- Sixteen Indian soldiers were killed in a bunker collapse in Uri sector of Kupwara.
- At least thirty nine people were killed and over 150 others are being treated for injuries in Srinagar's SMHS hospital.
- According to Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, one girl has been killed when a school collapsed in Rawalpindi in Pakistan and another 200-250 are feared dead. According to a NDTV report, one person died in Baramulla in India's Jammu and Kashmir state when a building collapsed.
- Initial reports said that the quake was felt in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. At least fifteen people were injured and four shops damaged.
- According to the Associated Press, at least a dozen people were injured and dozens more were feared trapped in the rubble of a nineteen story collapsed building, reported earlier, in Islamabad.
- In Pakistani Punjab state, shops and houses collapsed and rescuers cut through rubble to find survivors.
- Two people were killed, including a five-year-old boy, in the border district of Gurdaspur, Indian Punjab.

Estimated casualties


- Maj. Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan said on Pakistan's Geo television "Some people fear that the death toll could be 100,000 and they may be right." (16 October) [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1220755]
- Reuters say "at least 74,500 people are feared dead".
- BBC say "73,000 estimated casualties

Damage

Pakistan


- An assessment of damaged buildings in Muzaffarabad and the surrounding area, by the Earthquake Engineering Center of the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, showed that about 60% of the buildings in urban areas were unreinforced solid concrete block masonry buildings and it was the collapse of more than 60% of these buildings that was responsible for the majority of deaths and injuries. [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKEE-6HWRYR?OpenDocument]
- [http://ptv.com.pk/webptv/top-story.asp Pakistani television] reports widespread severe damage to Balakot (almost completely wiped out), Garhi Habibullah, Rawalakot, and Muzaffarabad (near the epicenter) where 30,000 are thought to have died. The Pakistani Army spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, told a press conference on 10 October that reports of damage in Rawalakot were exaggerated; 90 percent of the garrison city is still standing.
- The quake triggered landslides, burying entire villages and roads in many areas of North-West Frontier Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
- Hundreds of thousands of buildings are thought to have collapsed or sustained severe damage.
- One of two residential towers (Margalla Towers in F-10 sector, Islamabad), believed to contain up to sixty apartments each, collapsed in the earthquake in Islamabad. Pakistani government officials at the site stated the number of people affected by the collapse was in the hundreds, most of whom are feared dead. Efforts by rescue workers are ongoing. Over fifty-two people were rescued from the collapsed residential "Marghalla Towers".
- A team from the International Rescue Corps at the site said they located three more victims on the Sunday morning using audio detection equipment after the difficult task of arranging total silence at the crowded rescue site. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1477724.htm]
- The Karakoram highway is blocked at several points, hindering relief efforts.
- Damage to buildings and several casualties have been reported in surrounding provinces of Punjab and Balochistan.

India


- 1,500 houses were destroyed in Uri. About 90% of the families living in the town, which has a population of 30,000, were affected by the quake. [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-10-2005_pg4_13]
- More than 1,100 houses were flattened in Jammu and Kashmir. The main minaret of the Hazratbal shrine, which houses a relic of the Prophet Muhammad was damaged. [http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/08quake.htm (Rediff)]
- The 200-year-old Moti Mahal fort in Poonch district, Kashmir, collapsed. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4321490.stm (BBC News)]
- Buildings in Delhi and Amritsar were damaged, and tremors caused panic in Gujarat.
- The tremors were also felt in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
- There were over 1800 dead.

Afghanistan

Three deaths were reported in Afghanistan, including a young girl who died in Jalalabad after a wall collapsed on her. The quake was felt in Kabul, but the effects were minimal [http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/quake.pakistan/?section=cnn_topstories]. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051023/ap_on_re_as/afghan_quake_3]

Rescue and relief operations

Relief efforts in many remote villages are hampered, as roads are buried in rubble and many affected areas remain inaccessible. Heavy equipment is needed to clear the roads and to rescue survivors buried under the earthquake wreckage, as many rescuers are still picking the rubble with pickaxes and their bare hands, looking for survivors. Rescue effort are also affected by the numerous aftershocks that continue to rattle the region and put rescue workers in danger as they search through the wreckage for survivors. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5340916,00.html] Five crossing points are to be opened on the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the province of Kashmir. The first has been opened at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch, the second at Kaman Post in Uri (on the road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad) and the third across the Neelum river between Chiliana in Pakistan and Tithwal in India. These will facilitate the flow of relief goods and allow people to meet relatives across the Line of Control. [http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/07nlook.htm Rediff], [http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=81695 Indian Express], [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP112760.htm Reuters] In many areas there is no power, or adequate food or water; there is also the danger of disease spreading [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/11/quake.asia/], including measles. Distributing relief supplies to the victims is especially urgent as the victims face the risk of exposure to cold weather due to the region's high altitude and the approaching winter. Food, medicine supplies, tents and blankets have been identified by relief workers as essential items. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219070/112894718548.htm] On October 10, the United Nations warned that the earthquake left 2.5 million people homeless and they are in need of shelter. The UN made an appeal to raise US$272 million to help victims. On October 13, snow started to fall on the Indian side of Kashmir. Many regions are facing an increasing threat of being cut off from help as snow forces closures of even more roads in the mountainous region. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aQpm_oWgD8kY&refer=top_world_news]

Pakistan

In Northern Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Pakistan Army has been directed to extend all out help to the civilian population in the quake-hit areas. All civilian and military hospitals have been directed to deal with the situation on an emergency basis. The President and the Prime Minister have appealed to the nation to remain calm in the face of the calamity and asked the concerned authorities to carry out an immediate assessment of the extent of damage caused by it. The Government of Pakistan opened President's Relief Fund (Pakistan) [http://www.earthquakepakistan.com/] for Earthquake relief operation, where donations can be made and also appealed for International Aid as the magnitude of the disaster becomes clear. Earthquake relief blankets, tents, medicine, warm clothes, food and many more supplies are needed.[http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Requests#Tents.2C_Blankets_and_Warm_Clothes][http://www.bitsonline.net/earthquake/red-crescent-requirement/][http://www.earthquakepakistan.com/relief_required.php]. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has offered free delivery of goods from anywhere in the world to Pakistan. Turkey has offered to airlift relief goods that arrive in Turkey to Pakistan free of cost. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke on the telephone with authorities in four provinces plus Azad Kashmir, and directed them to utilize all machinery and make all possible efforts to help the victims. He said the entire federal administration, civil and military authorities have been alerted, and relief goods have been provided to them for the victims of the quake. Most of the roads are closed in the Northern Sector near the earthquake, and some have been completely washed out or blocked by landslides, so the Pakistani army is flying supplies in by helicopter. In Garhi Habibullah, a town 15 miles (24 km) from the devastated city of Balakot in north-west Pakistan, Kashmiri fighters known as the mujahideen put aside their weapons and spent two days in helping rescue dozens of girls who were trapped in a collapsed building of a girls' school. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/11/wquake111.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/11/ixnewstop.html] On October 10, Monday, survivors were still being found and rescued from the wreckage including a 2-year-old girl in Islamabad. [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/11/quake.asia/]. Then on Wednesday, a Russian rescue team rescued a 5-year-old girl in Muzaffarabad who has been trapped for nearly 100 hours. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5340916,00.html] On October 14 the Pakistan government agreed that unaccompanied children from the disaster should be taken to the SOS Children emergency shelter in Islamabad for family tracing in a central database and help. They also agreed that SOS should be temporary guardian until relatives were traced. [http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/pakistan-earthquake-third-report.htm (SOS)] Schools have also been giving donations in huge amounts including The Karachi American School, Foundation Public School and many more. The magnitude of this disaster is so vast that the Government alone cannot provide relief to the people affected by this earthquake. The response of the people of Pakistan to help the government in its relief efforts has been overwhelming in the shape of donations, relief goods and volunteers working in the hospitals and the earthquake hit areas. The injured are being ferried from remote areas to the hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad through helicopters every day. The relatives of these injured patients follow them to the twin-cities by road and pursue a long and painful search for their loved ones. Devastated with heavy losses of human lives and homes, these poor people often travel on foot from one hospital to another looking for their injured loved ones.

India


- In the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the injured are being treated at Srinagar's SMHS hospital and the Uri Field Hospital, with many makeshift medical facilities being set up to help the injured. Hundreds of people have been brought in, many of them critically injured. In keeping with a traditional duty since independence, the Indian Army has undertaken a key role in coordinating and running relief operations.
- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani visited quake-hit areas [http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/10quake7.htm (Rediff)] An ex gratia of Rs one lakh (100,000 Indian rupees, about US$2255) to the next of kin of those killed in the quake was being released from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
- As of 10 October, many areas in the Baramulla district with about 15,000 people remain inaccessible. The army is attempting to reach these people using helicopters. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219070/112894718548.htm]

International response

Many countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have offered relief aid to the region, in the form of donation as well as relief supplies including food, medical supplies, tents and blankets. Rescue and relief workers were sent to the region from different parts of the world and they brought along rescue equipment, including helicopters and rescue dogs. The United Nations has appealed for donations to raise at least US$272 million to help victims of the quake.

References


- "A crisis of neglect". (6 November 2005). New Sunday Times, p. 18.
- "Pneumonia hits Pakistan quake zone". (8 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 6.
- "Quake death toll now 87, 350". (9 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 6.

External links

Relief and aid


- See also the WikiPakistan entry under Information section below.
- [http://www.earthquakepakistan.com/ Federal Relief Commission Pakistan]
- [http://www.pakrelief.org/ PakRelief.org: All About Relief, Donations and Rehabilitation]
- [http://rescue.ulhr.edu.pk/ University of Lahore relief Team]
- [http://www.globalgiving.com/kashmir Direct Relief and Rebuilding projects through GlobalGiving]
- [http://www.embassyofpakistan.org/news162b.php Official website of the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington]
- [http://www.southasiaearthquakerelief.org/ South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund]
- [http://www.imana.org/ The Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA.org) - Tax deductible donations, 100% going to the victims of the earthquake]
- [http://www.saharaforlife.org/donation_online.asp Donations to Sahara For Life for Earthquake Victims]
- [http://www.pakcan.com/pakistan_earthquake_relief.shtml Pakistan-Canada Association]
- [http://aopp.org/eq.htm Donate to Earthquake Victims]
- [http://www.yourdil.org/projects/relief/ Youth Outreach, Developments in Literacy]
- [http://www.netpakistani.com/te/?m=v&a=10153154 How and What to Donate?]
- [http://www.tcfrelieffund.org/ The Citizens Foundation Relief Fund for Earthquake Victims] Donate now to rebuild & rehabilitate Kashmir.[http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org/main.php]
- [http://www.zindagitrust.org/ Zindagi Trust - Join Hands to support Earthquake Rebuild Efforts]
- [http://www.pakimp3.org/pakistan_earth_quake.php Pakistan Earthquake - Donation Appeal] Contains Flash Interactive Movie of Affected Areas.
- [http://www.imrankhanfoundation.org/ Imran Khan Earthquake Relief Fund]
- [http://www.epakistanonline.com/ Information on earthquake relief]
- [http://quakehelp.blogspot.com/ South Asia Quake Help] Blog and [http://quakehelp.asiaquake.org/qh/index.php/Main_Page South Asia Quake Help] wiki - created by the team who managed the [http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com TsunamiHelp] blog.
- [http://www.sungi.org Sungi Development Foundation]
- [http://www.pakquake.com Pakistan Earthquake 2005] Blog covering latest reports about the earthquake, relief operations and important contact numbers.
- Make tax-deductible secure online donations to the Edhi Foundation or the President's Relief Fund (Pakistan) via the [http://www.developpakistan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=149 Association for the Development of Pakistan website]
- [http://www.arydigital.tv/aryasia/banners/1/index.php Khawaja Gareeb Nawaz Trust for Earthquake Vicitims]
- [http://www.pakistanseattle.com/ Pakistan Association of Greater Seattle Earthquake fund]
- [http://www.earthquake.org.pk/ Pakistan Victims Database]
- [http://www.helppakistan.net HelpPakistan.Net] A people-to-people relief effort.
- [http://www.muslimhands.org/Site/Pages/Home Pledge Aid for victims]
- [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc108?OpenForm&rc=3&emid=EQ-2005 ReliefWeb.int Pakistan Earthquake Page] ([http://www.reliefweb.int/ ReliefWeb] is the world’s leading on-line gateway to information on humanitarian emergencies and disasters.)
- [http://pmindia.nic.in/fundreliefbody.htm The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (India)] provides immediate relief to people in distress. The Fund depends entirely on voluntary donations received from the public.
- [http://geo.tv/important_events/earthquake05/mkrf/index.html The Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Foundation's Earthquake Relief Fund]
- [http://www.satribune.com/archives/200510/P1_RELIEF_AD.htm SA Tribune's list of Pakistani aid agencies]
- [http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/pakistan_earthquake.htm SOS Children Kashmir Earthquake Appeal]
- [http://donate.vergesms.com Verge Association for Betterment of Community] - Collects donation online and hands over to Edhi Foundation
- [http://www.fac-aec.gc.ca/disaster_help2-en.asp Foreign Affairs Canada - Emergencies and Disasters Abroad: How Canadians Can Help]
- [http://www.dec.org.uk/ Disaster Emergancy Committee] (UK) - Asia quake appeal (for donations)
- [http://www.mercycorps.org] - Relief and long-term recovery for survivors of the Kashmir earthquake
- [http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/emergencies/country/asian_quake/index.htm Oxfam (UK)] - South Asia earthquake (for information and donations)
- [http://www.islamic-relief.com/submenu/appeal/pakistanquake.htm Islamic Relief] - Asia earthquake
- [http://www.helpasia.org/ HelpAsia.org] - Helping Hands for the Asians
- [http://www.saquake.org/ South Asian Earthquake Relief] - Directory of charitable organizations helping with the earthquake relief effort
- [http://bitsonline.net/bitsonline.net%5Fnon%5Fssl/earthquake/ Quake 2005 - Joint Action Committee]
- [http://ej.eomag.com/it-volunteers-wanted/ Tech volunteers sought for Pakistan earthquake relief]
- [http://www.risepak.com/ www.risepak.com: This Site provides and gathers Demographic, Disaster, Access, and Assistance data and maps on all Earthquake Affected Villages to Help Coordinate Relief Efforts]
- [http://quakehelp.blogspot.com/ South Asia Quake Help]
- [http://www.pakistanearthquake2005.com: Relief efforts and contibutions]

Information


- [http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05 WikiPakistan (a Wikicity) pages on the quake], which provides news, information volunteering opportunities and more. It also has pages devoted to information related to:
- [http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Pakistani_Relief_Organizations_for_10-05_Quake India] and
- [http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05_in_Afghanistan Afghanistan]
- [http://www.thepakistanquake.com/ The Pakistan Quake.com] - Provides general information, news, donation information, phone hotlines. Updated frequently.
- [http://www.earthquakepk.com/ EarthQuakePK.com] - A website with Inquiry Phone Numbers, How to Donate, Report Missing and Forums
- [http://www.earthquake.com.pk/ Pakistan Earthquake List of International relief organizations and online donation information]
- [http://www.india-defence.com/browse/earthquake/0 Latest News Reports about the earthquake, magnitude, relief and aid efforts] - India Defence
- [http://www.gsp.gov.pk/ Geological Survey of Pakistan]
- [http://www.pakmet.com.pk/ Pakistani Meteorological Institute]
- [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdyae.htm USGS] - Technical details of the Earthquake
- [http://www.epakistanonline.com/ Information on earthquake relief]
- [http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/general/seismicity/c_asia.html USGS] - Seismicity of Central Asia
- [http://www.muzaffarabadak.com/mzdNGO03.htm A list of NGO welfare agencies working in the immediate vicinity of the earthquake epicenter]
- [http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=266227&page=1&pp=20 SkyscraperCity.com] - Earthquake Information and Redevelopment Information
- [http://asc-india.org/events/051008_pak.htm ASC] Shake report from the Amateur Seismic Centre in Maharashtra, India
- [http://fir.seismology.hu/foldrenges/allomasok/psz/PSZ.200510080000.gif Seismogram of the earthquake as recorded by Piszkes Observatory in Hungary, Central Europe]
- [http://karachi.metblogs.com Metroblogging Karachi] - Updates from Karachi, Pakistan regarding Earthquake Relief Funds, donations, etc.
- [http://lahore.metblogs.com Metroblogging Lahore] - Updates from Lahore, Pakistan regarding Earthquake Relief Funds, donations, etc.
- [http://earthquakeinpakistan.com Earthquake in Pakistan 2005] - Updates from Pakistan regarding Earthquake Relief Funds, donations, etc.
- FurSid writes from Karachi [http://fursid.eomag.com/ Blog] Updates from regarding Earthquake Relief Efforts, Funds, donations, etc.
- [http://rev.seis.sc.edu/earthquakes/2005/10/08/03/50/38 Seismograms from around the world] from REV
- [http://www.mapaction.org/team/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=23&Itemid=31 Situation maps] Maps produced by MapAction based in UN Emergency Response Centre in Islamabad, updated daily.
- [http://www.earthquake.org.pk www.earthquake.org.pk: Web site providing information about missing persons during Earthquake]
- [http://www.quake2005 www.quake2005.com: If you are looking for missing persons, check here, or if you think people are looking for you, check in]
- [http://comet.nerc.ac.uk/news_kashmir.html Finding the Kashmir earthquake fault - initial results from satellite measurements] Government
- [http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/ Government of Pakistan] official site
- [http://presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/ President of Pakistan] official website
- [http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/emergencies/pakistan/default.asp UK DFID (UK government) webpages on South Asia earthquake]
- [http://earthquake05.un.org.pk/ United Nations Emergency Response - Pakistan]
- [http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/south_asia_quake/ USAID (US government) relief updates on South Asia earthquake]

News articles


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Videos


- [http://www.geo.tv/important_events/earthquake05/index_vidz.html Severe Earthquake Jolts Pakistan GEO TV (Videos)]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/nb_wm_fs.stm?checkedBandwidth=nb&nbram=1&subtitles=hide&checkedMedia=asx&news=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&nol_storyid=4331838 Video news articles about the quake on BBC News]
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- [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7078548359754181918 Video of Earthquake caught by surveillance cameras in Islamabad, Pakistan]

Analysis


- [http://www.dinarstandard.com/current/CorporateRelief1005.htm Earthquake Jolts Corporate Responsibility. Also List of Corporate Donors] (from http://www.dinarstandard.com)
- [http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5013740&fsrc=RSS The Economist - Tragedy on one of the world’s main fault lines (October 12 2005)]
- [http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5019727&fsrc=RSS The Economist - Special Report (October 13 2005)]
- [http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-india_pakistan/jihadi_2941.jsp Kashmir: The politics of an earthquake by Jan McGirk (October 19 2005)]
- [http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5064935&fsrc=RSS The Economist - Aftershocks and afterthoughts in Kashmir (October 20 2005)]

Commentary


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Blogs by Eyewitnesses


- [http://www.sajjadzaidi.com/ Sajjad Zaidi, a Pakistani high tech worker documents quake relief efforts in remote areas by blogging what he sees in photos and text.]

Photos


- [http://www.thepakistanquake.com/ The Pakistan Quake.com] - Numerous Pakistan Earthquake Pictures
- [http://www.flickr.com/photos/search/tags:pakistan%2Cearthquake/tagmode:all/ Pakistan Quake photos on Flickr.com]
- [http://www.paki.in/ Paki(dot)In | First hand account of Earthquake and aftermaths] Kashmir earthquake, 2005 Category:Natural disasters Category:Pakistani natural disasters Category:Indian natural disasters Category:Jammu and Kashmir Category:Kashmir Category:History of Pakistan ko:2005년 남아시아 지진 ja:パキスタン地震 (2005年)

Pakistan Administered Kashmir

Azad Kashmir (Urdu: آزاد کشمیر), (also called Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is part of the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas. The name Azad Kashmir means "Free Kashmir" in Urdu. India does not recognize Azad Kashmir as a part of Pakistan and calls the region encompassing Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. It covers an area of 13,300 km² (5,135 mi²), with its capital at Muzaffarabad, and it has an estimated population of over three million people.

General Information and Recent History

The region is extremely mountainous and includes a significant part of the Himalayas, but does not include Nanga Parbat, the world's seventh highest mountain, which falls within the "Northern Areas". After the partition of India in 1947 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Pakistan obtained possession of parts of Kashmir. Pakistan divided the areas of Kashmir it occupied after 1947 into three parts: #Azad Kashmir, 250 miles (400 km)in length with width varying from 10 to 40 miles (15 to 65 km), 13,300 km² (5,135 mi²), # Northern Areas, a much larger area, 72,496 km² (27,991 mi²), incorporated into Pakistan and administered as a de facto dependency, and #A small part, the Trans-Karakoram Tract, of the Northern Areas that was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963. Parts of Azad Kashmir was lost to Indian forces in the 1971 war before it was returned by India as part of the Simla Accord, in 1972. The Azad Kashmir is nominally autonomous, with its own elected President, Prime Minister, Legislature, High Court etc.

Demography

Although a proper census has not been taken in recent years, the best estimates conclude that the Azad Kashmir region has approximately 3.1 million inhabitants. The population of Azad Kashmir includes Kashmiris and also comprises Hindko-speaking Pathans, the Potwari (whose language includes the Mirpuri dialect) and the nomadic Gujjars, who largely inhabit the upper hills and slopes. Tribes or clans (biraderi) are important for some groups in the region and include: the Sudhan(Sadozai) , Rajputs, Mirpuri Jats, and Gujjars. The Hindko and Potwari languages are both related to Punjabi, but have distinct separate features. Potwari is spoken in the United Kingdom by the Mirpuri community; Mirpuri is a local dialect of Potwari spoken in and around the Mirpur and Kotli districts. About 700,000 Mirpuris live in the United Kingdom today. Azad Kashmir is predominantly Muslim, although over 100,000 Hindus and Sikhs lived there until 1947.

Geography

Azad Kashmir is a more mountainous and cold region than the rest of Kashmir. It boasts some of the most scenic mountain tops and river valleys.

See also


- Jammu and Kashmir
- Kashmiri
- Indo-Pakistan Wars

External links


- [http://www.klc.org.pk/ Official website of the Government of Azad Kashmir]
- [http://www.tourism.gov.pk/d_kashmir.html Official tourism site]
- [http://www.ikashmir.org/Temples/sharda.html Hindu sites in the region] [http://www.kplink.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=102]
- Category:Kashmir Category:Subdivisions of Pakistan

Islamic republic

An Islamic republic in its modern context has come to mean several things. Theoretically it is a state under a particular theocratic form of government advocated by some Muslim religious leaders in the Middle East and Africa. In an Islamic republic the laws of the state are required to be compatible with the laws of Islam, while the state remains a republic. In the Islamic Republic of Iran (established in 1979), the president and members of the legislature are elected by direct vote of the citizens (although many westernized and pro-monarchy Iranians object to elections as a means of choosing leaders). Iran's Islamic republic is in contrast to the constitutionally democratic and partially secular state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (proclaimed as an Islamic Republic in 1956) where Islamic laws are technically considered to override laws of the state, though in reality they rarely do. Iran is one of the first contemporary nations to formally attempt to follow this form of the government after a revolution. Today, the creation of an Islamic Republic is the rallying cry for many Muslims all over the world. However the term itself means several things to several people. Many of these Muslims advocate the abolition of the monarchies of the Middle East, regimes which they believe to be overly secular or otherwise destructive to Islam. The nations of Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, and Pakistan all have "Islamic republic" in their full name, though they differ greatly in individual governments and laws. Pakistan for example, only uses the "Islamic" name on its passports and visas. All government documents are prepared under the name of the Federation of Pakistan, and some constitutional scholars believe that this should be the proper name. However, it must be pointed out that the name is specifically mentioned in the Constitution of 1973. Category:Islam Category:Islamic law Category:Religion and politics Category:Republicanism ja:イスラム共和制

South Asia

:Southern Asia sometimes refers to all of Asia that was not part of the Soviet Union. Soviet Union Soviet Union as the international border between India and Pakistan, a position that neither party considers acceptable.)]] The term South Asia is considered often as synonymous with the term Indian subcontinent, and includes the following neighboring states:
- India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; constituting the bulk of the subcontinent proper
- the Himalayan States: Nepal and Bhutan
- the Indian Ocean Island States: Sri Lanka, the Maldives All of these countries are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The US State Department’s South Asia Bureau is currently planning to include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in its definition of South Asia. These countries, however, are historically considered to belong to the category of Central Asia, along with Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia are not, strictly speaking, a part of South Asia. Geographically, the Indian subcontinent would additionally include some disputed territory currently controlled by China, and Myanmar and exclude most of western and northern Pakistan and Kashmir where the Indian plate and Eurasian plate meet and collide. Politically (as in the SAARC member-states), the region covers about 4,480,000 km² (1,729,738 sq. mi.), or 10% of the Asian continent. However, its population accounts for about 40% of Asia. Some or all of Afghanistan is sometimes considered part of the region of South Asia since, due to its geographic proximity, it has shared many historical currents with the region. Recently, Afghanistan has been admitted to the SAARC as a member.

Nomenclature

The term "South Asia"' is a common contemporary term for what in times before 1947, the end of the British Raj and the beginning of the First Indo-Pakistani War, was simply known as "India" and has subsequently been referred to as "British India," though prior to Independence that term referred to those portions of the country that were directly administered by the British, as opposed to the princely states. Historically, South Asia and South-East Asia together constitute what is known as the East Indies, with the first being defined as Hither India or India Citerior and Further India or India Ulterior. These terms, however, have ceased to be current and have become arcane and largely used, if at all, by academics, with only the "East Indies" still retaining some current usage.

Geography

India Ulterior Geographically, the region is bound by the Himalaya to the north and east, and the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal to the south. The Hindu Kush mountains that run through Afghanistan and northern Pakistan are usually considered the northwestern edge of the subcontinent. Geologically, most of this region is a subcontinent because it rests on a tectonic plate of its own, the India Plate, separate from the rest of Eurasia and was once a small continent before colliding with the Eurasian Plate and giving birth to the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau. Even now the India Plate continues to move northward with the result that the Himalaya are growing taller by a few centimetres each decade. In addition, is also home to an astounding variety of geographical features that are typical of much larger continents, such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys, deserts, and grasslands in an area about half the size of the United States. Further, the peoples of the region possess several distinguishing features that set them apart anthropologically from the rest of Asia; the dominant peoples and cultures are Indo-European and Dravidian, and have a greater affinity with Europe than with most other regions of Asia, excepting the Middle East and the Caucasus. South Asia ranks among the world's most densely-populated regions. About 1.6 billion people live there — about a quarter of all the people in the world. The region's population density of 305 persons per square kilometre is more than seven times the world average. The region has a long history. Ancient civilisations developed in the Indus River Valley. The region was at its most prosperous before the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire held sway in the north; European colonialism led to a new conquering of the region, by Portugal and Holland, and later Britain and to a lesser degree France. Most of the region gained independence from Europe in the late 1940s.

Other subregions of Asia


- East Asia
- Southeast Asia
- Central Asia
- Southwest Asia or West Asia (One definition of the Middle East is synonymous with Southwest Asia)
- North Asia (Siberia)
- Northern Eurasia (Extends into Europe)
- Central Eurasia (Extends into Europe)

External links


- [http://www.saarc-sec.org/ SAARC Secretariat]
- [http://www.slbc.lk Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation]
- [http://www.vernoncorea.info Vernon Corea South Asian Broadcaster] Category:Asia South Asia Category:South Asia. zh-min-nan:Lâm-a ko:남아시아 ms:Asia Selatan ja:南アジア th:เอเชียใต้

Middle East

The Middle East is a political and cultural subregion of Asia, or of Africa-Eurasia. The core of the region comprises the lands between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf along with the Anatolian, Arabian and Sinai peninsulas. Sometimes, it is used in a broader sense which can include areas stretching from North Africa in the west to Pakistan in the east and the Caucasus and/or Central Asia in the north. The media and various international organizations (such as the United Nations) usually considers the Middle East to be Southwest Asia (including Cyprus and Iran) plus all of Egypt. The area encompasses several cultural and ethnic groups, including the Iranians, Arabs, Greeks, Jews, Berbers, Assyrians, Kurds and Turks. The main language groups include: the Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Assyrian, Kurdish and Turkish. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner. Most Western definitions of the "Middle East" -- in both established reference books and common usage -- define the region as 'nations in Southwest Asia, from Iran (Persia) to Egypt'. Consequently, Egypt, with its Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is usually considered part of the 'Middle East', although most of the country lies geographically in North Africa. North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, are increasingly being called North African -- as opposed to Middle Eastern (Iran to Egypt - Asia) -- by international media outlets.

History

North African Main article: History of the Middle East Starting in the middle of the 20th century, the Middle East has been at the center of world affairs, and has been an extremely strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. It possesses huge stocks of crude oil and is the birthplace and spiritual centre of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Borders

The term Middle East defines a cultural area, so it does not have precise borders. The most common and highly arbitrary definition includes: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Iran is often the eastern border, but Afghanistan and western Pakistan are often included due to their close relationship (ethnically and religiously) to the larger group of Iranian peoples as well as historical connections to the Middle East including being part of the various empires that have spanned the region such as those of the Persians and Arabs among others. Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and western Pakistan (Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province) share close cultural, linguistic, and historical ties with Iran and are also part of the Iranian plateau, whereas Iran's relationship with Arab states is based more upon religion and geographic proximity. Also the Kurds, another group of Iranic linguistic extraction, are the largest ethnic group in the Middle East without their own state. North Africa or the Maghrib, although often placed outside the Middle East proper, does have strong cultural and linguistic links to the region, and historically has shared many of the events that have shaped the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions including those prompted by Phoenician-colonized Carthage and Greco-Roman civilization as well as Muslim Arab-Berber and Ottoman empires. The Maghrib is sometimes included, sometimes excluded from the Middle East by the media and in informal usage, while most academics continue to identify North Africa as geographically a part of Africa, but being closely related to southwestern Asia in terms of politics, culture, religion, language, history, and genetics. This can be compared with other similar instances in which, for example, Tasmania and Newfoundland, geographically non-European, share many such traits with northwestern western Europe while Madagascar is in some of these respects more like southeast Asia than southeast Africa. The Caucasus region, Cyprus, and Turkey, although often grouped into Southwest Asia based upon geographic proximity and continuity, are generally considered culturally and politically European due to their various historic and recent political ties to that region. For example, Armenia and Cyprus, although both exist in close geographic proximity to the Middle East, possess two important criteria that links them more to Europe than to the Middle East: their national identity that combines an Indo-European linguistic background and majority populations that adhere to Christianity, which are both factors that do not correspond with most typically Middle Eastern countries some of whom possess one trait (Indo-European languages dominate Iran and Afghanistan for example) or the other (Lebanon is the only country that may have a Christian majority but this remains speculative as well). Turkey possesses neither of these European traits, but has deep historic (and according to genetic research DNA) connections with Europe since it was the site of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire that overlapped into Europe. As a prospective candidate of the European Union and a long-time member of NATO, Turkey has adopted the secular traits that dominate Europe and has severed many of its ties to the Middle East with the notable exception of the religion of Islam. Both Georgia and Azerbaijan were radically altered by the dominion of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union and are seen as more 'European' then Middle Eastern and generally viewed as a regional bloc in the Caucasus region. Central Asian countries from the former Soviet Bloc also show varying degrees of affinity and historical ties to the Middle East, but not in any uniform fashion. While the southern states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan display many cultural, historical, and socio-political similarities to the Middle East, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are examples of more remote and mixed cultures. As a result, these states are often viewed as similarly Eurasian to the Caucasus and their Soviet past has set them apart in various ways from the Middle East, while there has been a movement to re-establish ties to the region in Tajikistan, for example, based upon their ethno-linguistic affinities with Iran and Afghanistan. Like the Caucasus and Turkey, Central Asia has strong secular and 'western' affinities that are both Soviet legacies, although this may change with some recent shifts towards a historical-cultural renaissance and resurgence of Islamic identity that were suppressed for decades by Soviet authorities. Lastly, the state of Israel also represents a unique fusion of European and Middle Eastern traits, but due to geographic continuity with the Levant and a majority population that is predominantly Middle Eastern (including Sephardic Jews, Sabras, Israeli Arabs, etc.). However, due to political and religious conflict, Israel is something of an anomaly in a region of exceptions and diversity.

Changes in the meaning over time

Until World War 2, it was customary to refer to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the Near East. The Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East. The sense described in this article evolved during the war, perhaps influenced by the ancient idea of the Mediterranean as the "sea in the middle".

Eurocentrism

Some have criticized the term Middle East for its perceived Eurocentrism. The region is only east from the perspective of western Europe. To an Indian, it lies to the west; to a Russian, it lies to the south. The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Persia, Afghanistan and Central Asia, Turkistan and the Caucasus. In contrast, Far East refers to the countries of East Asia e.g. China, Japan, Koreas, Hong Kong, Taiwan etc. With the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, Near East largely fell out of common use in English, while Middle East came to be applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world. However, the usage of Near East was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history, where it describes an area identical to the term Middle East, which is not used by these disciplines (see Ancient Near East). So in shorter words, the term Middle East came about when the UK/French part of the world used the term. In German the Term Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use. The criticism of Eurocentrism is of course related to the fact that 'East' and 'West' are defined in relation to the lines of Longitude relative to the Prime Meridian or Greenwich Meridian and therefore inherently Eurocentric. This was a result of the British cartography standard being widely accepted in 1884 at the International Meridian Conference.

Indirect translations

There are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages, but, since it is a relative description, the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally. See :fr:Proche-Orient, :fr:Moyen-Orient, and :de:Naher Osten for examples.

Similar terms

In some ways the lack of precise borders of the Middle East is an advantage, since it can be used to describe various cultural and political criteria. This vagueness in definition has led to the emergence of alternative neutral terms used by international organizations and movements, namely Southwest Asia and West Asia, which has become the preferred term of use in India, both by the government and by the media. Arab world is not a synonumous term for the Middle East, although it covers most of the same area. "Middle East-North Africa" (MENA), which is sometimes used to encompass the zone from Morocco to Iran, also occasionally called the Greater Middle East; sometimes this term is used to mean the entire area of Africa from the Sahara to the Mediterranean and Asia west of China and India and south of Russia. It is used by some historians who deal with various empires and civilizations (including that of the Mediterreanean Greco-Romans and Persians as well as the vast Arab Caliphates and the regions where early Muslim Turks established their rule). It can encompass North Africa and Turkey in the west to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east. The term 'Greater Middle East' remains in use by the G8, the US State Department[http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/43293.pdf], and various academic institutions such as the Middle East Institute.[http://www.mideasti.org/countries/countries_main.html]

Middle Easterner

Strictly speaking, A Middle Easterner is someone who lives in, or is from the area around the eastern Mediterranean, from Iran to northern Africa and eastward to Pakistan. The site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Persian and Babylon and Egypt is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Asia

Regions of the Middle East

Main article: Middle Eastern Regions
- Iranian Plateau
- Anatolia - Turkey
- Mediterranean Sea - Cyprus
- Arabia, see Persian Gulf States - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, U.A.E., Oman, Yemen, Bahrain - Iraq
- The Levant - Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

See also


- Assyria
- Orientalism
- Cradle of Humanity
- Southwest Asia
- Near East

External links


- [http://www.mideastforums.com Middle East Forum]
- [http://irangraffiti.blogspot.com/ Urban Art from The Middleeast.]
- [http://www.ancientneareast.net/ Ancient Near East .net] - provides a comprehensive portal to the archaeology and ancient cultures of the Near / Middle East
- [http://www.history-forum.com/index.php/board,7.0.html History of Middle East] releated discussions on [http://www.history-forum.com History Forum]
- [http://fp.arizona.edu/mesassoc/ Middle East Studies Association (MESA) of North America]
- [http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/mideast/ University of Chicago Library - Middle East Department]
- [http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/OldNew.htm The Middle East, Old and New] by Martin Kramer
- [http://www.mepra.org/ Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA)]
- [http://www.kolahstudio.com/ Middle Eastern Artists : Iranian Contemporary and young blood Art.]
- [http://www.mideasti.org/countries/countries_main.html Middle East Institute]

Video


- Category:Asia
- Middle East ko:중동 ja:中東 simple:Middle East th:ตะวันออกกลาง

India

The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises of the majority of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar on the east. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to the island nations of the Maldives on the southwest, Sri Lanka on the south, and Indonesia on the southeast. India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the northwest. India is the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. It is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of over one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. It is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, and a centre of important historic trade routes. Four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have originated from India. Formerly a major part of the British Empire as the British Raj before gaining independence in 1947, during the past twenty years the country has grown significantly, especially in its economic and military spheres, regionally as well as globally. The name India , is derived from the Old Persian version of Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the river Indus; see Origin of India's name. The Constitution of India and general usage also recognises Bharat ( ), which is derived from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Hindu king, whose story is to be found in the Mahabharata, as an official name of equal status. A third name, Hindustan ( ) , or Land of the Hindus in Persian, has been used since the twelfth century, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied due to domestic disputes over its representiveness as a national signifier.

History

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago and developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC onwards, many independent kingdoms came into being. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Ashoka, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, with the successive establishment in the northern Indian Subcontinent of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms, and finally the Kushan Empire. From the 3rd century AD onwards the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age". Gupta dynasty built by emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC]] In the south, several dynasties including the Chalukyas, Cheras, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas and Pandyas prevailed during different periods. Science, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings. Following the Islamic invasions in the beginning of the second millennium, much of north and central India came to be ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, and later, much of the entire subcontinent by the Mughal dynasty. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms remained or rose to power, especially in the relatively sheltered south. Vijayanagara Empire was notable among such kingdoms. During the middle of the second millennium, several European countries, including the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British, who were initially interested in trade with India, took advantage of fractured kingdoms fighting each other to establish colonies in the country. After a failed insurrection in 1857 against the British East India Company, popularly known in India as the First War of Indian Independence and most commonly known in the West as the Indian Mutiny, most of India came under the direct administrative control of the crown of the British Empire. British Empire, Orissa built in the 13th century, is one of the most famous monuments of stone sculpture in the world.]] sculpture in the 10th century AD.]] In the early part of the 20th century, a prolonged and largely non-violent struggle for independence, the Indian independence movement, followed, to be eventually led by Mahatma Gandhi, regarded officially as the Father Of The Nation. The culmination of this path-breaking struggle was reached on 1947-08-15 when India gained full independence from British rule, later becoming a republic on 1950-01-26. As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, India has had its share of sectarian violence and insurgencies in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, it has held itself together as a secular, liberal democracy barring a brief period from 1975 to 1977 during which the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a "state of emergency" with the suspension of civil rights. India has unresolved border disputes with China, which escalated into a brief war in 1962, and Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, and 1971, and a border altercation in the northern state of Kashmir in 1999. India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test, making it an unofficial member of the "nuclear club", which was followed up with a series of five more tests in 1998. Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest growing economies in the world and added to its global clout.

Government

The Constitution of India states India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India is a federal republic, with a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. It has a three branch system of governance consisting of the legislature, executive and judiciary. The President, who is the head of state, has a largely ceremonial role. His roles include interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action, and issuing pardons. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President and Vice-President are elected indirectly by an electoral college for five-year terms. The Prime Minister is the head of government and most executive powers are vested in this office. He (or she) is elected by legislators of the political party, or coalition, commanding a parliamentary majority, and serves a five-year term incumbent upon enjoying this majority. The constitution does not provide for a post of Deputy Prime Minister, but this option has been exercised from time to time. The legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament which consists of the upper house known as the Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, the lower house known as the Lok Sabha, or House of the People, and the President. The 245-member Rajya Sabha is chosen indirectly through an electoral college and has a staggered six year term. The 545-member Lok Sabha is directly elected for a five year term, and is the determinative constituent of political power and government formation. All Indian citizens above the age of eighteen are eligible to vote. The executive arm consists of the President, Vice-President and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. In India's parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature. India's independent judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction over disputes between states and the Centre, and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts of India. There are eighteen appellate High Courts, having jurisdiction over a large state or a group of states. Each of these states has a tiered system of lower courts. A conflict between the legislature and the judiciary is referred to the President.

Politics

Chief Justice of India For most of its independent history, India's national government has been controlled by the Indian National Congress Party. Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, Congress, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over forty years. In 1977, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party, won the election and formed a non-Congress government for a short period after the unpopular 'emergency rule' imposed by Indira Gandhi in the previous Congress regime. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party with a right wing nationalist ideology, became the largest single party, and established for the first time a serious opposition to the largely centre-left Congress. But power was held by two successive coalition governments, who stayed on with the support of the Congress. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with smaller parties and became the first non-Congress government to sustain the full five year term after it returned to power in 1999. The decade prior to 1999 was marked by short-lasting governments, with seven separate governments formed within that period. One however, a Congress government formed in 1991, lasted the full five years and initiated significant economic reforms. In the 2004 Indian elections the Congress party returned to power after winning the largest number of seats, by a narrow margin. Congress formed a government in alliance with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and with several mostly-regional parties called the United Progressive Alliance. The NDA, led by the BJP, currently forms the main opposition. All governments formed since 1996 have required party coalitions, with no single majority party, due to the steady rise of regional parties at the national level.

States and union territories

India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the union government, though some have elected governments. India has had two scientific bases in Antarctica – the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, but has made no territorial claims so far.

Geography

Maitri in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the far east making up most of India's eastern borders]] India's entire north and northeast states are made up of the Himalayan Range. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. Towards western India, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The southern Indian peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau. The plateau is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. India is home to several major rivers such as the Ganga (Ganges), the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari, and the Krishna. The rivers are responsible for the fertile plains in northern India which are conducive to farming. The Indian climate varies from a tropical climate in the south to a more temperate climate in the north. Parts of India which lie in the Himalaya have a tundra climate. India gets most of its rains through the monsoons.

Economy

monsoon India has an economy ranked as the tenth largest in the world in terms of currency conversion and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It recorded one of the fastest annual growth rates of 6.9% for the year ending March 2005. India's per-capita income by purchasing power parity is US$ 3,262, ranked 125th by the World Bank. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 143 billion. Mumbai serves as the nation's financial capital and is also home to both the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bombay Stock Exchange. While a quarter of Indians still live below the poverty line, a large middle class has now emerged along with the rapid growth of the IT industry. The Indian economy has shed much of its historical dependence on agriculture, which now contributes to less than 25 % of GDP. Other important industries are mining, petroleum, diamond polishing, films, textiles, information technology services, and handicrafts. Most of India's industrial regions are centred around major cities. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest players in software and business process outsourcing services, with revenues of US$ 17.2 billion in 2004 to 2005. Many small-scale industries provide steady employment to workers in small towns and villages. business process outsourcing While India receives only around three million foreign visitors a year, tourism is still an important but under-developed source of national income. Tourism contributes 5.3 % of India's GDP. The actual employment generation, both direct and indirect, is estimated to be 42 million, or about 10 % of India's work force. In monetary terms, it contributes about US$4 billion in foreign exchange. India's major trading partners are the United States, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates. India's main exports items include agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewellry, software services and technology, engineering goods, chemicals and leather products while its main import commodities are crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, chemicals. For the year 2004, India's total exports stood at US$ 69.18 billion while the imports were worth at US $89.33 billion.

Demographics

India is the second most populous country in the world, with only China having a larger population. By 2030, India is expected to surpass China with the world's largest population, estimated at 1.6 billion. Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse Indian population today. Its biggest metropolitan agglomerations are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras). Chennai]] India's literacy rate is 64.8 % with 53.7 % of females and 75.3 % of males being literate. The sex ratio is 933 females for every 1000 males. Work Participation Rate (WPR) (the percentage of workers to total population) stands at 39.1 % with male WPR at 51.7 % and female WPR at 25.6 % inote|eu{inote|demostats{inote|religion{ref|languages{inote|tongues{see2|Christianity in India|Jews in India{seealso3|List of Indian languages by total speakers|List of cities in India|Religion in India{main|Culture of India{seealso4|List of World Heritage sites in India|Indian architecture|Indian family name|Cuisine of India{main|Sports in India{main|Holidays in India{Official Holidays of India{Topics related to India{portal{sisterlinks|India{wikitravel{wikicities|india|India{explain-inote{Web reference | title=India facts and figures | work=Embassy of India| URL= http://www.indianembassy.org/dydemo/indiaprofile/profile.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Forex reserves up by $1bn | work=Economic Times| URL= http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1093864.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India Economy | work=Travel Document Systems |URL= http://www.traveldocs.com/in/economy.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Services | work=India in Business| URL= http://www.indiainbusiness.nic.in/india-profile/ser-infotech.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Destination India: An Unpolished Diamond | work=Times of India | URL= http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/819309.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= US, UAE, UK, China, Japan among India's top trade partners | work=Indian Express| URL= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/business/20050102-0.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= CIA Factbook : India | work=CIA Factbook | URL= http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Provisional Population Totals 2001 Census| work=Census of India| URL=http://www.censusindia.net/results/resultsmain.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Debating India & India's literacy rate | work=Debating India | URL= http://india.eu.org/1963.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India – Country profiles | work=indexmundi.com | URL= http://www.indexmundi.com/India/ India | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Census of India 2001, Data on Religion | work=Census of India | URL= http://www.censusindia.net/results/religion_main.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Languages of India | work=India image | URL= http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm| date=August 14 | year=2005{Book reference | Author=K.M. Matthew | Title=Manorama Yearbook 2003 | Publisher= Malaya Manorama | Year=2003 | ID=ISBN 8190046187{mnb|afgh|1{mnb|LoC|2{South Asia{Asia{Commonwealth of Nations{SAARC{Life in India{Link FA|sv{Link FA|sv

Iran

Iran (Persian: ايران) is a Middle Eastern country located in Southwest Asia bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan including its Nakhichevan exclave and Turkmenistan to the north, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, Turkey and Iraq to the west. Until 1935 the country was referred to in the West as Persia. In 1959, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi announced that both terms could be used. In 1979, the Iranian revolution established a theocratic Islamic Republic, changing the country's official name to the Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ايران). Dispute exists as to the country's current official name.

History

Sometime around 1500 to 1000 BC, the Iranian nomads of Indo-European stock emigrated to the Iranian plateau possibly from Central Asia. In 8th century BC, the first Iranian government was established under the Median dynasty and under the following dynasty, the Achaemenids, Iranians built the first world empire. Their empire emerged in the 6th century BC under Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who called himself "King of Iran and beyond". Indeed, the name Persia is derived from Persis, the ancient Greek name for the empire. The Achaemenid dynasty was followed by the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties as Persia's greatest pre-Islamic empires. Alexander the Great first conquered Persia in 331 BC, followed by Islam's Arab forces in the 7th century, and Genghis Khan, and lastly, Tamerlane who conquered a significant portion of Persia in the middle ages. middle ages The 9th century saw the rise of the Saffarids and then other lines of kings or shahs. During the 19th century Persia came under increasing pressure from both Russia and the United Kingdom, leading to a process of modernization that continued into the 20th century. By the 20th century Iranians were longing for a change and thus followed the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905/1911. In 1953 Iran's elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, was removed from power in a complex plot orchestrated by British and US intelligence agencies (dubbed "Operation Ajax"). Many scholars suspect that this ouster was motivated by British-US opposition to Mosaddeq's attempt to nationalize Iran's oil. Following Mosaddeq's fall, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Iran's monarch) grew increasingly dictatorial. With strong support from the USA and the UK, the Shah further modernized Iranian industry but crushed civil liberties. His autocratic rule, including systematic torture and other human rights violations, led to the Iranian revolution and overthrow of his regime in 1979. After more than a year of political struggle between a variety of different groups, an Islamic republic was established under the Ayatollah Khomeini by a revolution. The new theocratic political system instituted some conservative Islamic reforms and engaged in an anti-Western course. In particular Iran distanced itself from the United States due to the American involvement in the 1953 coup, which supplanted an elected government with the Shah's repressive regime. It also declared its refusal to recognize the existence of Israel as a state. The new government inspired various groups considered by a large part of the Western World to be fundamentalist. As a consequence some countries, currently led by the USA, consider Iran to be a hostile power. In 1980 Iran was attacked by neighbouring Iraq and the destructive Iran-Iraq War continued until 1988. The struggle between reformists and conservatives over the future of the country continues today through electoral politics and was a central Western focus in the 2005 Elections where Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphed.

Politics

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iran is a constitutional Islamic Republic, whose political system is laid out in the 1979 constitution. Iran's makeup has several intricately connected governing bodies, some of which are democratically elected and some of which are appointed by religious leaders. The concept of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) plays an influential role in the governmental structure. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for the delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran." In the absence of a single leader, a council of religious leaders is appointed. The Supreme Leader is commander-in-chief of the armed forces; he alone can declare war. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, and the supreme commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also appoints six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians. He, or the council of religious leaders, are elected by the Assembly of Experts, on the basis of their qualifications and the high popular esteem in which they are held. Twelve jurists comprise the Council of Guardians, six of whom are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The head of the judiciary recommends the remaining six, which are officially appointed by Parliament. The Council of Guardians is vested with the authority to interpret the constitution and determines if the laws passed by Parliament are in line with sharia (Islamic law) and the Iranian constitution; if a law passed by Parliament is deemed incompatible, it is referred back to Parliament for revision. After the office of Leadership, the President of Iran is the highest official in the country. His is responsibile for implementing the Constitution and acting as the head of the executive, except in matters directly concerned with the Leadership. All presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running, and are elected to a 4-year term. After his election, the president appoints and supervises the 21-member Council of Ministers (who must then be confirmed by Parliament), coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the parliament. Eight vice presidents serve under the president. The unicameral Iranian parliament consists of 290 members elected to a 4-year term (approved by the Council of Guardians before running). It drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the country's budget. All legislation from the assembly must be reviewed by the Council of Guardians. The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week every year, consists of 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by the public to eight-year terms. Like presidential and parliamentary elections, the Council of Guardians determines eligibility to run for a seat in this assembly. The head of the judiciary is appointed by the Supreme Leader, who in turn appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor. Public courts deal with civil and criminal cases. "Revolutionary" courts try certain categories of offenses, including crimes considered against national security or the republic and narcotics smuggling. Decisions rendered in these courts are final and cannot be appealed. The Special Clerical Court, which functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader, handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving lay people.

Administrative divisions

Provinces

Iran consists of 30 provinces: Provinces are governed from a local center, mostly the largest local city. Provincial authority is headed by a governor (استاندار: ostāndār), who is installed by the Minister of Interior subject to approval of the cabinet. Until 2004 there were 28 provinces. A law passed that year split the province of Khorasan into three new provinces: North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, and South Khorasan.

Major cities

Iran's top four largest cities are:
Image:Meydoon sadeghiyeh.jpg|Tehran: 8,601,473 (2005 pop.) Image:Nadershahtomb.jpg|Mashad: 2,307,177 (2005 pop.) Image:IMG 0414 resize.jpg|Isfahan: 1,547,164 (2005 pop.) Image:Poets tomb tabriz.jpg|Tabriz: 1,424,641 (2005 pop.)
See also: List of cities in Iran.

Geography

List of cities in Iran Iran borders Azerbaijan (length of border: 432 km / 268 mi ) and Armenia (35 km / 22mi) to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan (992 km / 616 mi) to the northeast, Pakistan (909 km / 565 mi) and Afghanistan (936 km / 582 mi) to the east, Turkey (499 km / 310 mi) and Iraq (1,458 km / 906 mi) to the west, and finally the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south. Iran's total land mass is 1,648,000 km² / ≈636,300 mi² (Land: 1,636,000 km² / ≈631,663 mi², Water: 12,000 km² / ≈4,633 mi²). Iran's landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Zagros and Alborz Mountains, the latter of which also contains Iran's highest point, the Damavand at 5,671 m (18,606 ft). The eastern half consists mostly of uninhabited desert basins with the occasional salt lake. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran borders on the mouth of the Arvand river (Shatt al-Arab). Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. The Iranian climate is mostly arid or semiarid, though subtropical along the Caspian coast. Iran is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity".

Climate

Iran's varied landscape produces several different climates. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) the temperatures nearly fall below freezing and remain humid for the rest of the year. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29°C (84°F). Annual precipitation is 680 mm (26 in) in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1700 mm (75 in) in the western side of the plain. At higher elevations to the west, settlements in the Zagros mountains basins experience lower temperatures. These areas have severe winters, with average daily temperatures below freezing and have heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid. They get less than 200 mm (8 in) of rain and have occasional desert. The average summer temperatures exceed 38°C (100°F). The coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern Iran have mild winters and experience very humid and hot summers. The Annual precipitation ranges from 135 mm to 355 mm (6 to 14 in).

Economy

Gulf of Oman Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. The current administration has continued to follow the market reform plans of the previous one and has indicated that it will pursue diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy. Iran is attempting to diversify by investing revenues in other areas, including petrochemicals. Iran is also hoping to attract billions of dollars worth of foreign investment by creating a more favorable investment climate (i.e., reduced restrictions and duties on imports, creation of free-trade zones). Iran is OPEC's second largest oil producer and holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves. It also has the world's second largest natural gas reserves (after Russia). The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent rise in oil prices in 1999/2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room. Iranian budget deficits have been a chronic problem, in part due to large-scale state subsidies–totaling some $7.25 billion per year–including foodstuffs and especially gasoline. gasoline district.]] On March 20, 2006, Iran plans to participate in a new International Oil Bourse, trading oil priced as Petroeuros, rather than Petrodollars, as oil is traded in all other markets (as of 2005). This attempt to rebalance trading relationships in the world economy may trigger a series of far reaching consequences. A few observers, especially among peak oil production theorists who believe that an oil crisis is imminent, argue that there is a potential for a resource war with the United States of America over the flow of both dollars and oil. Others, including military leaders and peak oil theorists who believe that a crisis is further off, argue that the results of war game scenarios cast doubt on the argument that a war is the most likely result of the Oil Bourse. The services sector has seen the greatest long-term growth in terms of its share of GDP, but the sector remains volatile. State investment has boosted agriculture, however, with the liberalization of production and the improvement of packaging and marketing helping to develop new export markets. Large-scale irrigation schemes, together with the wider production of export-based agricultural items such as dates, flowers and pistachios, produced the fastest economic growth of any sector in Iran over much of the 1990s, although successive years of severe drought in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 have held back output growth substantially. Agriculture remains one of the largest employers, accounting for 22% of all jobs according to the 1991 census. According to the U.N. World Drug Report for 2005, Iran has the highest proportion of opiate addicts in the world–2.8 percent of the population over age 15. Only two other countries–Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan–pass the 2 percent mark. With a population of about 70 million and some government agencies putting the number of regular users close to 4 million, Iran has no real competition as world leader in per capita addiction to opiates, including heroin.

Demographics

heroin

Ethnic groups

The majority of Iran's population speak one of the Iranian languages, though only Persian is an official language. While the number, percentage, and definition of the different Iranian peoples is disputed, the major ethnic groups and minorities in Iran include the Persians (51%), Azeris (24%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurds (7%), Arabs (3%), Baluchi (2%), Lurs (2%), Turkmen people (2%), Qashqai, Armenians, Persian Jews, Assyrians and others.

Religion

Assyrians Most Iranians are Muslims; 89% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 10% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in most Muslim countries. Non-Muslim religious minorities include the Bahá'í Faith, Zoroastrians, as well as Jews, Christians, and Mandeans. The latter three are officially recognised minority religions and have reserved seats in the Majlis (Parliament). Iran's population size increased dramatically during the latter half of the 20th century. Iran hosts more than one million foreign refugees, more than any other country on earth.

Culture

earth and guardians of an ancient and sophisticated culture.]] Like all ancient civilizations, culture constitutes the focal point and heart of Iranian civilization. The art, music, architecture, poetry, philosophy, traditions, and ideology of Iran have made it a continuously important nation in the global community. In fact, many Iranians believe their culture to be the one and only reason why their civilization has continuously survived thousands of years of plethoric calamities.

Miscellaneous topics

Notes and references


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-
- Please note that the numbers are according to the 2004 edition of CIA's The World Factbook. Different claims include higher numbers for Persian-speaking groups and respectively lower numbers for Turkic-speaking groups or vice versa. Some people in the first group claim that the CIA statistics are based on guesses made around 1964, while the CIA claims that their numbers are based on information from January 2004.
-
- Additional references and bibliography can be found in the more detailed articles linked to in this article.

External links

Official Government Links

The following websites belong to the various branches of government, or are directly operated by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- [http://www.leader.ir Official site of the Supreme Leader], [http://www.wilayah.org/ (Qom office)]
- [http://www.president.ir Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran] - Official website.
- [http://www.irisn.com/ The Council of Guardians], Official website.
- [http://mellat.majlis.ir/ The Majlis], Iran's parliament. [http://www.majlis.ir/ (2)].
- [http://www.iranjudiciary.org/ The Judiciary of The Islamic Republic of Iran]
- [http://www.mfa.gov.ir Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
- [http://www.ershad.gov.ir/ Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance]
- [http://www.mod.ir/ Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces]
- [http://www.freezones.ir/ Secretariat of The High Council of Iran Free Trade Industrial Zones]
- [http://www.iranculture.org Secretariat of The High Council of The Cultural Revolution]
- [http://www.spk-gov.ir/ Official Spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran]
- [http://www.aeoi.org.ir/ Islamic Republic of Iran Atomic Energy Organization]
- [http://www.iranmiras.ir/ Islamic Republic of Iran Cultural Heritage Organization]
- [http://www.rcs.ir/en Islamic Republic of Iran Red Crescent Society]
- [http://www.irib.com Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting], official website.
- [http://www.shahid.ir/ Bonyad e Shahid Foundation]
- [http://www.iran-bonyad.com/ Bonyad e Mostazafeen Foundation]

Other links


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- [http://www.irpedia.com/ Iran Travel and Tourism Guide]
- [http://www.cais-soas.com Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS)]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/iran_power/html/default.stm BBC News - "Iran, Who holds the power?"]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ir.html CIA World Factbook - Iran]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c2404.htm US State Department - Iran] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Iran/ Open Directory Project - Iran] directory category
- [http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=world&cat=iran Yahoo! News Full Coverage Iran] headline links
- [http://www.gooya.com Directory of Iranian online newspapers]
- [http://www.iranoilgas.com/ Iran Oil and Gas]
- [http://www.iranmilitaryforum.com Iran Military Forum]
- [http://www.iranmilitaryforum.com Iran Military Side]
- [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/221/ Freedom of Expression in Iran] - IFEX
- [http://cns.miis.edu/research/wmdme/iran.htm List of alleged weapons]
- [http://www.islam.org.au/articles/24/iran.htm The Dismal Reality of Ahlus Sunnah in Iran ]
- [http://www.thepersiangulf.org Iran, The Persian Gulf] - Iran in the Persian Gulf
- List of [http://www.irpedia.com/iran/touristinfo.php?ID=1203 Iranian High Commissions, embassies and consulates] around the world.
- [http://www.farhangsara.com/ Farhangsara.com] - an independently-produced Iran encyclopedia Category:Persian Gulf states Category:Iranian people Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:Southwest Asian countries zh-min-nan:Iran ko:이란 ms:Iran ja:イラン simple:Iran th:ประเทศอิหร่าน

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea (anc. Mare Erythraeum) is the part of the Indian Ocean bounded East by India, North by Baluchistan and part of the southern Persian littoral, West by Arabian Peninsula, and South, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somaliland, and Cape Comorin in India. It was known as the Sindhu Sagar to Indians in the Vedic period of their history. It has two important branches--at the south-west the Gulf of Aden, connecting with the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; and at the north-west the Gulf of Oman, connecting with the Persian Gulf. Besides these larger ramifications, there are the Gulfs of Cambay and Kach on the Indian coast. An interest and importance belong to this sea as forming part of the chief highway between Europe and India. Its islands are few, the chief being Sokotra, off the African, and the Laccadives, off the Indian coast. The maximum width of the Arabian Sea is approximately 2,400 km, and its maximum depth is 4,652 metres, in the Arabian Basin approximately at the same latitude as the southernmost tip of India. The Indus River, also known as the Sindhu river, is the only considerable river flowing directly into this sea. In the northwest it narrows to form the Gulf of Oman which in turn connects to the Persian Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz. The countries with coastlines on the Arabian Sea are India, Iran, Oman, Pakistan, Yemen, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Somalia and the Maldives. Cities on the coast include Mumbai (Bombay), (India) and Karachi, (Pakistan). Famous beaches on the coast include
- beaches of Karachi, Clifton beach
- the beaches of Goa
- Juhu Beach, Mumbai
- Kovalam beach in Kerala

References


- Category:Arabia Category:Seas Category:Indian Ocean ko:아라비아 해 ja:アラビア海

Urdu

Urdu (اردو) is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family which developed under and Arabic influence in the South Asia during the time of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). Taken by itself, Urdu is approximately the twentieth most populous natively spoken language in the world, and is the national language of Pakistan as well as one of the 24 national languages of India. However, Urdu is often considered to be part of a wider Hindustani language, in which case it is the fourth most populous language in the world.

Speakers and geographic distribution

In Pakistan, Urdu is spoken as a mother tongue by a majority of urban dwellers in such cities as Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur all in the southern province of Sindh. However, in Sindh Urdu is widely identified as the language of the Mohajir Muslim refugees from India who displaced the largely urban 40% minority of Hindu Sindhis who departed for India after independence in 1947; as such it is widely resented by native Sindhis, who remain a largely rural population, and who continue to regard Urdu as a somewhat foreign element deriving from Delhi and Lucknow. In spite of its status as the national language, only 7.57% [http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/statistics.html] of Pakistanis speak Urdu as their first language, compared to 44.15% [http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/statistics.html] who speak Punjabi as their mother tongue. Urdu is, however, together with English the language of prestige: all signage, and education, is in Urdu and the number of Urdu speakers is increasing quickly in urban centres. That being said, Sindhis complain that they are considerably disadvantaged by the pre-eminence of Urdu in the universities, particularly in the mandatory Muslim religious instruction courses and often they obtain spectacularly poor Islamic studies results -- not at all because they are deficient in their adherence to Islam but only because of the universities' insistence on Urdu rather than Sindhi as the language of religious instruction. In India, Urdu is spoken as a mother tongue in the northern and central states by three times the population it has in Pakistan. While Indian Muslims might ostensibly be seen as identifying more with Urdu, Hindus and Sikhs naturally speak Urdu regardless of religion, especially when they have grown up in such traditional Urdu strongholds as Lucknow and Hyderabad. Indeed, many contend that the language spoken in Bollywood films is closer to Urdu than to Hindi, especially in filmi songs. Urdu is also spoken in urban Afghanistan. Outside the South Asia, it is spoken by large numbers of workers in the major urban centres of the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. Urdu is also spoken by large numbers of immigrants and their children in the major urban centres of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway and Australia. Countries with large numbers of first-language Urdu speakers:

- India (48.1 million [1997]),
- Pakistan (11.77 million [2005][http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/statistics.html]),
- Bangladesh (750,000),
- United Kingdom (745,000 [2001][http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=273]),
- Saudi Arabia (550,000),
- United Arab Emirates (500,000),
- United States (350,000),
- Nepal (275,000),
- South Africa (200,000 South Asian Muslims, many of which speak Urdu),
- Oman (90,000),
- Canada (80,895 [2001] [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/lang/highlights.cfm]),
- Bahrain (80,000),
- Mauritius (74,000),
- Qatar (70,000),
- Germany (40,000),
- Norway (26,950 [2005] [http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/01/10/innvbef_en/tab-2005-05-26-02-en.html]),
- France (20,000),
- Spain (18,000 [2004][http://www.pakistanlink.com/Letters/2004/July04/02/10.html]),
- Sweden (10,000 [2001][http://www.answers.com/topic/demographics-of-sweden]), ,
- Thailand (5,000 South Asians),
- Afghanistan,
- Japan,
- Fiji,
- Guyana,
- Australia,
- Denmark,
- Italy,
- New Zealand.

Official Status

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. It shares official language status with English. Although English is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca, and it is commonly expected to prevail. Urdu is also one of the official languages of India, and in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh, Urdu has official language status. While the government school system in most other states emphasizes Standard , universities in cities such as Lucknow continue to promote Urdu as a language of prestige and learning.

Classification and related languages

Urdu is a member of the Indo Aryan family of languages, which is in turn a branch of the Indo European family. It is part of a dialect continuum which extends across northern South Asia from to . These idioms all have similar grammatical structures and a large portion of their vocabulary in common. Punjabi, for instance, is very similar to Urdu: Punjabi written in the Shahmukhi script can be understood by speakers of Urdu with a little difficulty, but spoken Punjabi has a very different phonology (pronunciation system) and cannot be easily understood by Urdu speakers. However, the language mostly closely linked to Urdu is Standard Hindi. (See below.)

Dialects

Urdu has four recognized dialects, Dakhini, Pinjari, Rekhta, and Modern Vernacular Urdu. Modern Vernacular Urdu is the form of the language that is most widespread and is spoken around Delhi, Lucknow and Lahore. Dakhini (also known as Dakani, Deccani, Desia, Mirgan) is spoken in Maharashtra state in India and around Hyderabad. It has fewer Persian and Arabic words than standard Urdu. In addition, Rekhta (or Rekhti), the language of Urdu poetry, is sometimes counted as a separate dialect.

Grammar

Urdu nouns fall into two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. However, there is disagreement over the gender of some words, particularly words newly introduced from English which do not have genders. In Urdu there is also a singular or a plural noun form.

Levels of formality in Urdu

Urdu in its less formalized register has been referred to as a raikhtha (ریختہ, "rough mixture"). This is essentially Hindustani. The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes referred to as Zaban-e-Urdu-e-Moalla (زبانﹺ اردوﹺ معلہ), the "Language of Camp and Court". The etymology of the word used in the Urdu language for the most part decides how polite or refined your speech is. Urdu speakers would distinguish between paani and aab for example, or between kunwara and mard, or patii and parineeta. If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is considered to be more formal and grand. Similarly, if Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the Izafat are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also considered more formal and grand. An example of this would be the difference between Jinhe naaz hai Hind par, woh kahaan hai and sanaqaan-e-tasdeeq-e-mashriq kahaan hai.

Politeness

A host of words are used to show respect and politeness. These words are generally used with people who are older in age or with whom you are not acquainted. For example the English pronoun 'you' can be translated into three words in Urdu: the singular forms 'tu' (informal, extremely intimate, or derogatory) and 'tum' (informal) and the plural forms 'aap' (formal and respectful).

Vocabulary

Urdu has a vocabulary rich in words with Indian and Middle Eastern origins. The borrowings are dominated by words from Persian, and Arabic. There are also a number of borrowings from Sanskrit, Turkish, Portuguese and more recently English. Many of the words of Arabic origin have different nuances of meaning and usage than they do in Arabic.

Writing System

English Urdu is written in a derivative of the Persian alphabet, which is itself derivative of the Arabic alphabet. Like Semitic Languages, Urdu script is written from right to left. Urdu is similar in appearance and letters to Arabic, Persian, and Pashto. In their modern incarnation, Urdu differs in appearance from Arabic in that it typically uses the more complex and sinuous Nasta’liq style of script, whereas Arabic is more commonly written in the modernized Naskh style. Nasta’liq is notoriously difficult to typeset, so Urdu newspapers were made from hand-written masters (a.k.a katib or khush-navees) till late 1980s. The daily Jang was the first urdu newspaper composed in Nasta’liq on computer. There are efforts underway to develop more sophisticated and user-friendly Urdu support on computers and internet. Now-a-days, nearly all urdu newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals composed on computers via various urdu software. Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into Roman letters omit many phonemic elements which have no equivalent in English or other languages commonly written in the Latin alphabet. It should be noted that a reasonably comprehensive system has emerged with specific notations to signify non-English sounds, but it can only be properly read by someone already familiar with Urdu, Persian, or Arabic for letters such as:ژ خ غ ط ص or ق and Hindi for letters such as ڑ . This script may be found on the internet, and it allows people understanding the language without knowledge of their written forms to communicate with each other. A list of the Urdu alphabet and pronunciation is given below . Urdu contains many historical spellings from Arabic and Persian, and therefore has many irregularities. The Arabic letters yaa and haa are split in two in Urdu; one of the yaa variants is used at the ends of words for a long ē sound, and one of the haa variants is used to indicate the aspirated consonants. The retroflex consonants needed to be added as well; this was accomplished by placing a superscript ط (toay) above the corresponding dental consonants. Several letters which represent distinct consonants in Arabic are conflated in Persian, and this has carried over to Urdu. Urdu is occasionally also written in the Roman script. Roman Urdu has been used since the days of the British Raj, partly as a result of the availability and low cost of Roman movable type for printing presses. The use of Roman Urdu was common in contexts such as product labels. Today it is regaining popularity among users of text-messaging and Internet services and is developing its own style and conventions. Habib R. Sulemani says, "the younger generation of Urdu speaking people around the world are using [Romanized Urdu] on the Internet and it has become essential for them, because they use the Internet and English is its language. A person from Islamabad chats with another in Delhi on the Internet only in Roman Urdu. They both speak (almost) the same language but with different scripts […]. Moreover, the younger generation of those who are from the English medium schools or settled in the west, can speak Urdu but can’t write it in the traditional Arabic script and thus Roman Urdu is a blessing for such a population."

Examples

Literature

Urdu has only become a literary language in recent centuries, as Persian and Arabic were formerly the idioms of choice for "elevated" subjects. However, despite its late development, Urdu literature boasts some world-recognized artists and a considerable corpus.

Prose

Religious

After Arabic, Urdu holds the largest collection of work on Islamic literature and sharia. These include translations and interpretation of Quran, commentary on Hadidh, Fiqh, history, spirituality, sufism and metaphysics. A great number of classical texts from Arabic and Persian, have also been translated into Urdu. Relatively inexpensive publishing, combined with the use of Urdu as a lingua franca among Muslims of South Asia, has meant that Islam-related works in Urdu far outnumber such works in any other South Asian language. One of the most popular Islamic books was originally written in Urdu, the Faizal-e-Amal.

Literary

Secular prose includes all categories of widely known fiction and non-fiction work, separable into genres. The daastaan, or tale, a traditional story which may have many characters and complex plotting. This has now fallen into disuse. The afsaana, or short story, probably the best-known genre of Urdu fiction. The best-known afsaana writers, or afsaana nigaar, in Urdu are Saadat Hasan Manto, Qurat-ul-Ain Haider, Munshi Premchand, Krishan Chander, Ghulam Abbas, Banu Qudsia and Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi. Premchand, a Hindi writer, became known as a pioneer in the afsaana, though some contend that his were not technically the first as Sir Ross Masood had already written many short stories in Urdu. Novels form a genre of their own, in the tradition of the English novel. Other genres include saférnama, sarguzisht, inshaeya, murasela, and khud navvisht.

Poetry

Novel Urdu has been the premiere language of poetry in South Asia for two centuries, and has developed a rich tradition in a variety of poetic genres.
- Ghazal (غزل), as practiced by many poets in the Arab tradition. Mir, Ghalib, Dagh and Faiz are well-known composers of ghazal.
- Nazm
- Qat'ã
- Rubai
- Masnavi
- Musaddas
- Qaseeda
- Geet
- Sehra
- Marsia
- Shehr aashob
- Doha, Urdu Foreign forms such as the sonnet, azad nazm and haiku have also been used by some modern Urdu poets. Probably the most widely recited, and memorized genre of contemporary Urdu poetry is naat—panegyric poetry written in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. Naat can be of any formal category, but is most commonly in the ghazal form. The language used in Urdu naat ranges from the intensely colloquial to a highly Persianized formal language. The great early twentieth century scholar Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, who wrote many of the most well known naats in Urdu, epitomized this range in a ghazal of nine stanzas (bayt) in which every stanza contains half a line each of Arabic, Persian, formal Urdu, and colloquial Hindi. The same poet composed a salaam—a poem of greeting to the Prophet Muhammad, derived from the unorthodox practice of qiyam, or standing, during the mawlid, or celebration of the birth of the Prophet—Mustafa Jan-e Rahmat, which, due to being recited on Fridays in some Urdu speaking mosques throughout the world, is probably the more frequently recited Urdu poems of the modern era. Another important genre of urdu prose are the poems commemorating the martyrdom of imam Hussain and Battle of Karbala, called noha (نوحہ) and marsia. Anees and Dabeer are famous in this regard.

History

Urdu developed as local Indo-Aryan dialects came under the influence of the Muslim courts that ruled the South Asia from the early thirteenth century on. The official language of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and their successor states, as well as the cultured language of poetry and literature, was , while the language of religion was . The mingling of these languages led to a vernacular that is the ancestor of today's . Dialects of this vernacular are spoken today in cities and villages throughout Pakistan and northern India. Cities with a particularly strong tradition of Urdu include Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Lucknow. The birthplace of the Urdu language is not known with certainty. Urdu literature has been found from the Delhi Sultanate. One hypothesis proposes that Urdu originated in or around Delhi over a period of several centuries, and that initially it was used and adopted by Muslims. The word urdu itself comes from the word ordu, "tent" or "army", from which we get the word "horde". Hence Urdu is sometimes called "Lashkari zaban" or the language of the Army. Wherever Muslim soldiers and officials settled, they carried Urdu with them. Urdu (along with Persian) enjoyed commanding status in the literary courts of Muslim rulers and nawabs, and flourished under their patronage, partially displacing Sanskrit as the language of religious intellectuals in Indian society. The prestige bestowed upon Urdu at the expense of Sanskrit was a source of irritation for many religious Hindus, and to this day there remains religiously motivated conflict between the languages that sometimes makes dialogue difficult.

Urdu and Hindi

Standard Urdu and Standard Hindi are sometimes considered to be distinct languages, and sometimes dialects of a Hindustani language. There are two fundamental distinctions between them: the source of learned vocabulary (Persian or Sanskrit), and the script used to write them (an adaptation of the Persian script written in Nasta'liq style, or the devanagari alphabet). In colloquial situations in Delhi, where neither learned vocabulary nor writing is used, the distinction between the Urdu and Hindi is nearly meaningless. Outside of the Delhi dialect area, the distinction may be more pronounced even in colloquial speech, for "Hindi" in such cases will often refer to the local dialect. The word 'Hindi' has two uses; confusion of these is one of the primary causes of debate about the identity of Urdu.
- One use of 'Hindi' is to indicate those idioms in the North Indian dialect continuum that are not recognized as separate languages from the language of Delhi. and are not considered Hindi because of their long history as literary languages and because of official recognition. , , and are also often recognized to be distinct languages, though sometimes considered Hindi dialects. However, many other local idioms, such as the languages, which do not have such a distinct identity, are almost always considered to be dialects of Hindi. In other words, the boundaries of "Hindi" have little to do with mutual intelligibility, and instead depend on social perceptions of what constitutes a language.
- The other use of the word is Standard Hindi, the specific form of the Delhi dialect of Hindi (called Hindustani) that is India's foremost national language. Standard Urdu is also a standardized form of Hindustani. Such a state of affairs, with two standardized forms of what is essentially one language, is known as a diasystem. Colloquial Urdu, on the other hand, basically is Hindustani; it can be argued that Standard Hindi is a form of colloquial Urdu, intentionally de-Persianized and de-Arabicized, with its formal vocabulary borrowed instead from Sanskrit. The colloquial language spoken by villagers and the lower classes of Delhi is indistinguishable by ear, whether it is called Hindi or Urdu by its speakers. The only important distinction at this level is in the script: if written in the Arab-Persian script, the language is generally considered to be Urdu, and if written in devanagari it is generally considered to be Hindi. However, since independence the formal registers used in education and the media have become increasingly divergent in their vocabulary. Where there is no colloquial word for a concept, Standard Urdu uses Perso-Arabic vocabulary, while Standard Hindi uses Sanskrit vocabulary. This results in the official languages being heavily Sanskritized or Persianized, and nearly unintelligible to speakers educated in the other standard. These two standardized registers of Hindustani have become so entrenched as separate languages that often nationalists, both Hindu and Muslim, claim that Hindi and Urdu have always been separate languages. However, there are unifying forces as well. For example, it is said that Indian Bollywood films are made in "Hindi", but the language used in most of them is the same as that of Urdu speakers in Pakistan. The dialogue is frequently developed in English and later translated to an intentionally neutral Hindustani which can be easily understood by speakers of most North Indian languages, both in India itself and in Pakistan. The songs, however, are typically pure Urdu, and many of the top Urdu poets make their livings writing for "Hindi" films. That is why Indian films are extremely popular in Pakistan, and Pakistani TV is likewise popular in India.

Footnote

As in Ghalib's famous couplet where he compares himself to his great predecessor, the master poet Mir :
Urdu Script : ریختــہ کے تــم ہـی استــاد نہیں ہـو غــالب : کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانے میں کوئی میر بھی تھا Romanized :Raikhtha kai tum hee ustadh nahee ho Ghalib :Kehthay hain aglay zamaanay main ko'ee Mir bhee thhaa Translation :You, alone, are not the only expert of 'Raikhta', Ghalib :It is said that even once there existed someone named, Mir

Bibliography


- Asher, R. E. (Ed.). (1994). The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-0803-5943-4.
- Azim, Anwar. (1975). Urdu a victim of cultural genocide. In Z. Imam (Ed.), Muslims in India (p. 259).
- Chatterji, Suniti K. (1960). Indo-Aryan and Hindi (rev. 2nd ed.). Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay.
- Dua, Hans R. (1992). Hindi-Urdu as a pluricentric language. In M. G. Clyne (Ed.), Pluricentric languages: Differing norms in different nations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-1101-2855-1.
- Dua, Hans R. (1994b). Urdu. In Asher (Ed.) (pp. 4863-4864).
- Dua, Hans R. (1994a). Hindustani. In Asher (Ed.) (pp. 1554).
- Kelkar, A. R. (1968). Studies in Hindi-Urdu: Introduction and word phonology. Poona: Deccan College.
- Khan, M. H. (1969). Urdu. In T. A. Sebeok (Ed.), Current trends in linguistics (Vol. 5). The Hague: Mouton.
- Narang, G. C.; & Becker, D. A. (1971). Aspiration and nasalization in the generative phonology of Hindi-Urdu. Language, 47, 646-767.
- Ohala, M. (1972). Topics in Hindi-Urdu phonology. (PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles).
- Rai, Amrit. (1984). A house divided: The origin and development of Hindi-Hindustani. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-1956-1643-X.

See also

alphabetically arranged
- Ghazal
- India
- Languages of India
- Languages of Pakistan
- List of Urdu poets
- Muhajir
- Pakistan
- Persian and Urdu
- Urdu poetry

External links

Sites About Urdu


- [http://www.crulp.org/English%20Site/main.html CRULP] Center for research in Urdu language processing
- [http://www.urdustan.com/ Urdustan.com : oldest Urdu language website]
- [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/digbooks/dig_toc.html?BOOKID=PK1983.N2_1999_V1 Introductory Urdu (Volume 1)]
- [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/digbooks/dig_toc.html?BOOKID=PK1983.N2_1999_V2 Introductory Urdu (Volume 2)]
- [http://ur.wiktionary.org Urdu Wiktionary]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Hindi-Urdu_phrasebook Wikitravel Hindi-Urdu Phrasebook]
- [http://www.shaikhsiddiqui.com/urdu.html History of Urdu Literature ]
- [http://www.neosense.com/products/urdu-extension/ NeoSense Urdu Extension for Ligature Parsing]

Online Use of Urdu


- [http://www.shairy.com Shairy.com:] Largest collection of Online Urdu poetry,Urdu Shairee, Shairy and forum
- [http://www.alqamaronline.com/ Al Qamar Online Urdu Network from London]
- [http://www.urduweb.org/wiki/ UrduWiki]
- [http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com Collaborative blog discussing the Urdu language and the affiliated culture]
- [http://www.urduweb.org/wiki/BloggingInUrdu Blogging In Urdu]
- [http://www.urduweb.org/wiki/UrduBlogsDirectory List of blogs in Urdu]
- [http://urdutemplates.blogspot.com/ Templates for blogging in Urdu]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/ BBC News in Urdu]
- [http://www.boriat.com Roznama Boriat Karachi] - Spoof News in Urdu Category:Languages of India Category:Languages of Pakistan Category:Urdu ko:우르두어 ms:Bahasa Urdu ja:ウルドゥー語 th:ภาษาอูรดู

Persian

Persian may mean:
- Persian language, an Iranian language
- Persians, an ethnic group
- Persian (cat), a breed
- Persian (Pokémon), a character
- the Western name for Iranian (see Iran/Persia naming controversy)

See also


- Persia (disambiguation page)
- List of Persia-related topics
- List of Iran-related topics ja:ペルシア帝国 ko:페르시아

List of countries by population

This is a list of sovereign states and other territories by population, estimated for the year 2005. Only the 191 United Nations member states, plus the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Vatican City are numbered; other territories are included for purposes of comparison. For a graphical version of this list, see List of countries by population (graphical).

Notes


- All estimates are for July 2005 by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's The World Factbook [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/], except where noted below.
- Data for the end of June 2005 by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office [http://portal.ksh.hu/pls/ksh/docs/eng/xftp/gyor/nep/enep20506.pdf]
- Does not include Hong Kong, Macau or the territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan, Pescadores, Quemoy and Matsu)
- Estimate for September 18, 2005 by the U.S. Census Bureau [http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html]
- Estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
- Brazil took a count in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,799,170; that figure was about 3.3% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, and is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census
- Estimate for first quarter of 2005 by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany [http://www.destatis.de/indicators/e/vgr910ae.htm]
- Only includes the geographical area of Metropolitan France
- Estimate for July 1 2005 by Spain's National Statistics Institute [http://www.ine.es/en/welcome_en.htm]
- Includes 5,576,076 non-nationals
- Estimate by Department of Statistics Malaysia [http://www.statistics.gov.my/], metholodgy used explained here [http://www.statistics.gov.my/English/frameset_popclock.php?file=malaysia]; CIA World Factbook estimate July 2005: 23,953,136
- Includes Taiwan, Pescadores, Quemoy and Matsu, which are claimed by the People's Republic of China
- Since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of yearend 2000, approximately 65,000 were housed in 131 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West
- The 1997 Mozambican census reported a population of 16,099,246
- In addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers
- Estimate for June 30 2005 by Chile's Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas [http://www.ine.cl/12-pobla/demografia.htm]
- This estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare
- Estimate for October 1, 2005 by the [http://www.cbs.gov.il/ Israeli Bureau of Statistics]. Includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem. Does not include 188,000 foreign workers.
- Includes 166,510 non-nationals
- Estimated resident population for 30 June 2005 by Statistics New Zealand [http://www2.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/pasfull/pasfull.nsf/web/Hot+Off+The+Press+National+Population+Estimates+June+2005+quarter?open]. Excludes the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency.
- Includes 577,293 non-nationals
- Includes an estimated 1,606,079 non-nationals; the 17 December 1995 census presents a total population figure of 2,377,453, and there are estimates of 3.44 million for 2002
- In addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem; estimate for July 2004 by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's The World Factbook [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/]
- Includes 1,291,354 non-nationals
- Other estimates range as low as 810,000
- Other estimates range as low as 800,000
- Includes 235,108 non-nationals
- An estimated 8,000 refugees left the island following the resumption of volcanic activity in July 1995; some have returned
- Estimated resident population at April 2005 published 14 September 2005 by Central Statistics Office (Ireland) [http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/current/popmig.pdf].

See also


- List of countries
- List of countries by area
- List of national capitals
- List of countries by continent
- List of countries and capitals in native languages Population of Countries, list by ja:国の人口順リスト th:รายชื่อประเทศเรียงตามจำนวนประชากร

Muslim

A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. Literally, the word means someone who has submitted/surrendered himself or herself to the will of God.

Definition

Most Muslims accept as a fellow Muslim anyone who has sincerely pronounced the Shahada, a ritual declaration of submission to God and assertion that Muhammad is the last prophet. Muslims describe many Biblical figures, such as Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus), as Muslims because they submitted completely to God.
- For a list of Muslims, see List of Muslims.
- For a list of different Muslim sects and divisions, see Divisions of Islam.

Etymology

The singular form of the word Muslim comes from the Arabic plural form 'Al-Muslimīn, from the tri-consonantal root SLM, also found in the words Islam and salām. The plural form is instanced in the Qur'an, 22:79, Al-Hajj.

Pronunciation and spelling

Until around the late 1980s, the word was commonly spelled Moslem. The spelling has since fallen into disuse. Muslims do not recommend this spelling because it is often pronounced "mawzlem," which sounds somewhat similar to an Arabic word for "oppressor" (Za'lem in Arabic). The word is pronounced "Mus"-lim in Arabic, but some English dictionaries allow both "Mus"-lim and "Muz"-lim. The word is written "Muslim".

Other words for Muslim

Many English-language writers used to call Muslims "Mohammedans" or "Mahometans," meaning "followers of Mohammed," but this terminology is considered incorrect and insulting, because Muslims believe it implies that they worship the prophet Muhammad, contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam itself. This terminology is seen as too similar to Christians as followers and worshippers of Christ. In addition, Muslims believe that the religion of submitting to God (Islām in Arabic) existed long before the birth of Muhammad, making all the prophets before him "Muslims." English writers of the 19th century and earlier sometimes used the words Mussulman, Musselman, or Mussulmaun. Variant forms of this word are still used by many Indo-European languages. These words are similar to the French, Spanish, and Italian words for "Muslim."

Disputes

The Ahmedi sect consider themselves Muslim, and an agnostic or atheist of Islamic background may refer to themselves as a cultural Muslim; however, most mainstream Muslims disagree with both these classifications, since they conflict with the conventional religious definition of Islam.

See also


- Muslim scholar
- Muslim scientists
- Muslim athletes
- Muslim politicians
- Muslim entertainers
- Muslim artists
- Muslim soldiers
- Muslim jurists
- Muslim businessmen
- Muslim leaders

See also


- Islam
- Qur'an
- Muhammad
---- The term Musselman was also used by prisoners in the German concentration camps of World War II (see Holocaust) as a slang term for a prisoner who had lost the will to live [http://www.holocaustcenterbuff.com/vocab.html]. Why this particular religious term should have been "annexed" for such a completely different purpose is unclear. Category:IslamCategory:Muslims ja:ムスリム th:มุสลิม ms:Muslim Insert formula here

United Nations

The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. The UN describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity." It was founded by 51 states and as of 2005 it consists of 191 member states, including virtually all internationally-recognized independent nations. From its headquarters in New York City, the member countries of the UN and its specialized agencies give guidance and make decisions on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. The organization is structurally divided into administrative bodies, including the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, UN Economic and Social Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UN Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice, as well as counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN system agencies, for example, the WHO and UNICEF. The organization's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General. As the UN main building is aging, the UN is in the process of building a new location designed by Fumihiko Maki. The UN was founded at the conclusion of World War II by the victorious world powers, and the founders of the UN had high hopes that it would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible, by fostering an ideal of collective security. The organization's structure still reflects in some ways the circumstances of its founding; specifically, in addition to the rotating national members of the prominent United Nations Security Council, there are five permanent members with veto power — the United States of America, Russia (which replaced the Soviet Union), United Kingdom, France, and the People's Republic of China (which replaced the Republic of China).

Background and history

Republic of China]] The term "United Nations" was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. Its first formal use was in the January 1, 1942 Declaration by the United Nations, which committed the Allies to the principles of the Atlantic Charter and pledged them not to seek a separate peace with the Axis powers. Thereafter, the Allies used the term "United Nations Fighting Forces" to refer to their alliance. The idea for the United Nations was elaborated in declarations signed at the wartime Allied conferences in Moscow, Cairo, and Tehran in 1943. From August to October 1944, representatives of France, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR met to elaborate the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks Estate in Washington, D.C. Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, as well as arrangements to maintain international peace and security and international economic and social cooperation. These proposals were discussed and debated by governments and private citizens worldwide. On April 25 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organizations began in San Francisco. In addition to the Governments, a number of non-government organizations, including Lions Clubs International were invited to assist in the drafting of the charter. The 50 nations represented at the conference signed the Charter of the United Nations two months later on June 26. Poland, which was not represented at the conference, but for which a place among the original signatories had been reserved, added its name later, bringing the total of original signatories to 51. The UN came into existence on October 24, 1945, after the Charter had been ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council — Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States — and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. Initially, the body was known as the United Nations Organization, or UNO. But by the 1950s, English speakers were referring to it as the United Nations, or UN.

Headquarters

The United Nations headquarters building was constructed in New York City in 1949 and 1950 beside the East River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer. UN headquarters officially opened on January 9, 1951. While the principal headquarters of the UN are in New York, there are major agencies located in Geneva, The Hague, Vienna, Bonn and elsewhere. The street address is 760 United Nations Plz New York, NY 10017, US

Membership and Structure

UN membership is open to all peace-loving states that accept the obligations of the UN Charter and, in the judgement of the organization, are able and willing to fulfil these obligations. The General Assembly determines admission upon recommendation of the Security Council. The United Nations is based on six principal organs, part of what is collectively called the United Nations System:
- UN General Assembly
- UN Security Council
- UN Economic and Social Council
- UN Trusteeship Council
- UN Secretariat
- International Court of Justice

Security Council

The Security Council is in practice the most powerful decision-making body of the UN, as its resolutions are backed by the will of the most powerful members of the international community. However, this does not mean that its resolutions (e.g. international sanctions) are necessarily enforced, as the UN does not have its own means to do so. Even when economic sanctions are applied, their effectiveness (e.g. against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1990s, or in abolishing apartheid in South Africa) is unclear.

Financing

South Africa]The UN system is financed in two ways: assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The regular two-year budgets of the UN and its specialized agencies are funded by assessments. In the case of the UN, the General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by national income statistics, along with other factors. The Assembly has established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling' rate, setting the maximum amount any member is assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly agreed to revise the scale of assessments to make them better reflect current global circumstances. As part of that agreement, the regular budget ceiling was reduced from 25 to 22 per cent; this is the rate at which the United States is assessed. The United States is the only member that meets that ceiling, all other members' assessment rates are lower. On the other hand, it is in arrears with hundreds of millions of dollars (see also United States and the United Nations). Under the scale of assessments adopted in 2000, other major contributors to the regular UN budget for 2001 are Japan (19.63%), Germany (9.82%), France (6.50%), the U.K. (5.57%), Italy (5.09%), Canada (2.57%) Spain (2.53%) and Brazil (2.39%). Special UN programmes not included in the regular budget (such as UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, and WFP) are financed by voluntary contributions from member governments. In 2001, it is estimated that such contributions from the United States will total approximately $1.5 billion. Some of this is in the form of agricultural commodities donated for afflicted populations, but the majority is financial contributions.

Aims and activities

International conferences

2001 since 1997.]] The member countries of the UN and its specialized agencies — the "stakeholders" of the system — give guidance and make decisions on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. Governing bodies made up of member states include not only the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and the Security Council, but also counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN system agencies. For example, the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board oversee the work of WHO. Each year, the United States Department of State accredits United States delegations to more than 600 meetings of governing bodies. When an issue is considered particularly important, the General Assembly may convene an international conference to focus global attention and build a consensus for consolidated action. High-level United States delegations use these opportunities to promote United States policy viewpoints and develop international agreements on future activities. Recent examples include:
- The UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, led to the creation of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to advance the conclusions reached in Agenda 21, the final text of agreements negotiated by governments at UNCED;
- The International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1994, approved a programme of action to address the critical challenges and interrelationships between population and sustainable development over the next 20 years;
- The World Summit on Trade Efficiency, held in October 1994 in Columbus, Ohio, cosponsored by UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the city of Columbus, and private-sector business, focused on the use of modern information technology to expand international trade;
- The World Summit for Social Development, held in March 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark, underscored national responsibility for sustainable development and secured high-level commitment to plans that invest in basic education, health care, and economic opportunity for all, including women and girls;
- The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, in September 1995, sought to accelerate implementation of the historic agreements reached at the Third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985; and
- The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), convened in June 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey, considered the challenges of human settlement development and management in the 21st century.

International Years and related

The UN declares and coordinates "International Year of the..." in order to focus world attention on important issues. Using the symbolism of the UN, a specially designed logo for the year, and the infrastructure of the UN system to coordinate events worldwide, the various years have become catalysts to advancing key issues on a global scale.
- UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador

Arms control and disarmament

The 1945 UN Charter envisaged a system of regulation that would ensure "the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources". The advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks after the signing of the Charter and provided immediate impetus to concepts of arms limitation and disarmament. In fact, the first resolution of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly (January 24 1946) was entitled "The Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy" and called upon the commission to make specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction". The UN has established several forums to address multilateral disarmament issues. The principal ones are the First Committee of the General Assembly and the UN Disarmament Commission. Items on the agenda include consideration of the possible merits of a nuclear test ban, outer-space arms control, efforts to ban chemical weapons, nuclear and conventional disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, reduction of military budgets, and measures to strengthen international security. The Conference on Disarmament is the sole forum established by the international community for the negotiation of multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. It has 66 members representing all areas of the world, including the five major nuclear-weapon states (the People's Republic of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States). While the conference is not formally a UN organization, it is linked to the UN through a personal representative of the Secretary-General; this representative serves as the secretary general of the conference. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly often request the conference to consider specific disarmament matters. In turn, the conference annually reports on its activities to the General Assembly.

Peace-keeping

UN peacekeepers are sent to various regions where armed conflict has recently ceased, in order to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage the combatants from resuming hostilities, for example in East Timor until its independence in 2001. These forces are provided by member states of the UN; the UN does not maintain any independent military. All UN peacekeeping operations must be approved by the Security Council. The founders of the UN had high hopes that it would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible, by fostering an ideal of collective security. Those hopes have obviously not been fully realized. From about 1947 until 1991 the division of the world into hostile camps during the Cold War made agreement on peacekeeping matters extremely difficult. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace and co-operation, as several dozen active military conflicts continue to rage around the globe. The breakup of the Soviet Union has also left the United States in a unique position of global dominance, creating a variety of new challenges for the UN. UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular scale, but including a surcharge for the five permanent members of the Security Council (who must approve all peacekeeping operations); this surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less developed countries. In December 2000, the UN revised the assessment rate scale for the regular budget and for peacekeeping. The peacekeeping scale is designed to be revised every six months and is projected to be near 27% in 2003. The United States intends to pay peacekeeping assessments at these lower rates and has sought legislation from the U.S. Congress to allow payment at these rates and to make payments towards arrears. Total UN peacekeeping expenses peaked between 1994 and 1995; at the end of 1995 the total cost was just over $3.5 billion. Total UN peacekeeping costs for 2000, including operations funded from the UN regular budget as well as the peacekeeping budget, were on the order of $2.2 billion. The UN Peace-Keeping Forces received the 1988 Nobel Prize for Peace. In 2001 the United Nations and Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the UN, won the Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." For participation in various peacekeeping operations, the United Nations maintains a series of United Nations Medals which are awarded to military service members of various countries who enforce UN accords. The first such decoration issued was the United Nations Service Medal, awarded to UN forces who participated in the Korean War. The NATO Medal is designed on a similar concept and both the UN Service Medal, and the NATO Medal, are considered international decorations instead of military decorations.

Human rights

The pursuit of human rights was one of the central reasons for creating the United Nations. World War II atrocities and genocide led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations. The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all. The General Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues. The UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), under ECOSOC, is the primary UN body charged with promoting human rights, primarily through investigations and offers of technical assistance. As discussed, the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the official principally responsible for all UN human rights activities (see, under "The UN Family", the section on "Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights"). The United Nations and its various agencies are central in upholding and implementing the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A case in point is support by the United Nations for countries in transition to democracy. Technical assistance in providing free and fair elections, improving judicial structures, drafting constitutions, training human rights officials, and transforming armed movements into political parties have contributed significantly to democratization worldwide. The United Nations is also a forum in which to support the right of women to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their countries. The UN contributes to raising consciousness of the concept of human rights through its covenants and its attention to specific abuses through its General Assembly or Security Council resolutions or ICJ rulings.

Humanitarian assistance and international development

In conjunction with other organizations, such as the Red Cross, the UN provides food, drinking water, shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by some other disaster. Major humanitarian arms of the UN are the World Food Programme (which helps feed more than 100 million people a year in 80 countries), the High Commissioner for Refugees with project in over 116 countries, as well as peacekeeping projects in over 24 countries. At times, UN relief workers have been subject to attacks. The UN is also involved in supporting development, e.g. by the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. Organizations like the WHO, UNAIDS and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are leading institutions in the battle against AIDS around the world, especially in poor countries. The UN Population Fund is a major provider of reproductive services. It has helped reduce infant and maternal mortality in 100 countries. The UN publishes the Human Development Index (HDI) annually, a comparative measure listing and ranking countries based on poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors. The UN promotes human development through various agencies and departments:
- World Health Organization eliminated smallpox in 1977 and is close to eliminating polio.
- World Bank / IMF
- UNEP
- UNDP
- UNESCO
- UNICEF
- UNHCR The UN has helped run elections in countries with little democratic history including recently in Afghanistan and East Timor. The UN also runs international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the Ad-Hoc Court for East Timor.

Treaties and international law

The UN negotiates treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to avoid potential international disputes. Disputes over use of the oceans may be adjudicated by a special court. The International Court of Justice is the main court of the United Nations. Its purpose is to adjudicate disputes amoung states. The ICJ began in 1946 and continues to hear cases. Important cases include: Congo v. France, where the Democratic Republic of Congo accused France of illegally detaining former heads of state accused of war crimes. Nicaragua v. United States, where Nicaragua accused the United States of illegally arming the Contras. This case led to the Iran-Contra affair.

Criticism and Controversies

Reforming the UN

In recent years there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations. There is, however, little clarity, let alone consensus, about what "reform" might mean in practice. Some want the UN to play a greater or more effective role in world affairs, others want its role reduced to humanitarian work. In 2004 and 2005, allegations of mismanagement and corruption regarding the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq under Saddam Hussein led to renewed calls for reform. An official reform programme was initiated by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan shortly after starting his first term on January 1, 1997. Reforms mentioned include changing the permanent membership of the Security Council (which currently reflects the power relations of 1945); making the bureaucracy more transparent, accountable and efficient; making the UN more democratic; and imposing an international tariff on arms manufacturers worldwide. The United States Congress has shown particular concern with reforms related to UN effectiveness and efficiency. In November 2004, H.R. 4818 mandated the creation of a bipartisan Task Force to report to Congress on how to make the United Nations more effective in realizing the goals of its Charter. The Task Force came into being in January 2005, co-chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. In June 2005, the task force released "American Interests and UN Reform: Report of the Task Force on the United Nations," [http://www.usip.org/un/] with numerous recommendations on how to improve UN performance. On June 17, 2005, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill ([http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h2745: H.R. 2745]) to slash funds to the UN in half by 2008 if it does not meet with certain criteria laid out in the legislation. This reflects years of complaints about anti-American and anti-Israeli bias in the United Nations. The United States of America is estimated to contribute about 22% of the UN's yearly budget, making this bill potentially devastating to the UN. The Bush administration and several former US ambassadors to the UN have warned that this may only strengthen anti-America sentiment around the world and would only serve to hurt current UN reform movements. The bill passed the House in June, and a parallel bill was introduced in the Senate by Gordon Smith on July 13 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s1394:. However, a number of leading Senate Republicans objected to the requirement that the US contributions be halved in the event that the UN failed to meet all of the criteria. The UN Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act of 2005 (S. 1383), introduced July 12, 2005 into the Senate by Sen. Coleman, Norm [R-MN] and Sen. Lugar, Richard [R-IN], called for similar reforms but left the withholding of dues to the discretion of the President [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s1383:]. As of December 2005, neither bill has come to a vote. In September 2005, the United Nations convened a World Summit that brought together the heads of most of its 191 member states, in a plenary session of the General Assembly's 60th session. The UN billed the summit as "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations" [http://www.un.org/ga/documents/overview2005summit.pdf]. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had proposed that the summit agree upon a global “grand bargain” to reform the United Nations, revamping international systems for addressing peace and security, human rights and development to make those systems capable of addressing the extraordinary challenges facing the United Nations in the 21st century. No such grand bargain emerged. Instead, world leaders agreed upon piecemeal reforms: the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission to provide a central mechanism to help countries emerging from conflict; agreement that the international community has the right to step in when national governments fail to fulfil their “responsibility to protect” their own citizens from atrocity crimes, a vague promise to create a better UN institution on human rights, and agreement to devote more resources to the UN's internal oversight agency. Although the UN's member states achieved little in the way of reform of the UN bureaucracy, Secretary General Kofi Annan continued to carry out reforms under his own authority. He established a ethics office, responsible for administering new financial disclosure and whistleblower protection policies. As of late December 2005, the UN Secretariat was completing a review of all General Assembly mandates more than five years old. That review is intended to provide the basis for decision-making by the member states about which duplicative or unnecessary programs should be eliminated.

Successes and failures in security issues

A large share of UN expenditures address the core UN mission of peace and security. The peacekeeping budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year is approximately $5 billion (compared to approximately $1.5 billion over the same period for the UN core budget), with some 70,000 troops deployed in 17 missions around the world. The UN's activities have made a significant difference. The Human Security Report 2005 [http://www.humansecurityreport.info/], produced by the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia with support from several governments and foundations, documented a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses over the past decade. The Report, published by Oxford University Press, argued that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War. The Report singles out several specific investments that have paid off [http://www.humansecurityreport.info/HSR2005/Overview.pdf , p. 9]: ° A sixfold increase in the number of missions to prevent wars mounted by the UN between 1990 and 2002. ° A fourfold increase in efforts to stop existing conflicts 1990-2002. ° A sevenfold increase in the number of ‘Friends of the Secretary-General’, ‘Contact Groups’ and other government-initiated mechanisms to support peacemaking and peacebuilding missions between 1990 and 2003. ° An elevenfold increase in the number of economic sanctions in place against regimes around the world between 1989 and 2001. ° A fourfold increase in the number of UN peacekeeping operations between 1987 and 1999. These efforts were both more numerous and, on average, substantially larger and more complex that those of the Cold War era. However, in many cases United Nations members have shown reluctance to achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions. In 2003, controversy surrounded the United States-led invasion of Iraq conducted in the face of strong disapproval by a majority of members and by Israel's decade-long defiance of resolutions calling for the dismantling of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Such failures stem from the UN's intergovernmental nature — in many respects it is an association of 191 member states who must reach consensus, not an independent organization. Even in the case of actions mandated by the 15-member Security Council, the UN Secretariat is rarely given the full resources needed to carry out the mandates.
- Failure to encourage the developed world to act during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when current Secretary General Kofi Annan worked in the peacekeeping department of the UN.
- Failure by MONUC (UNSC Resolution 1291) to effectively intervene during the Second Congo War, which claimed nearly five million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1998-2002 (with fighting reportedly continuing), and in carrying out and distributing humanitarian relief.
- Failure to intervene during 1995 killings in Srebrenica, despite the fact that the UN designated it a "Safe Haven" for refugees and assigned 600 Dutch peacekeepers to protect it.
- Failure to successfully deliver food to starving citizens of Somalia; the food was usually seized by local warlords instead of reaching those who needed it. A US/UN attempt to apprehend the warlords seizing these shipments resulted in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.
- Sexual abuse of girls by U.N. peacekeepers; In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is reported that U.N. peacekeepers from several nations are sexually abusing and gang raping girls as young as 12 or 13. This abuse is called widespread and ongoing despite many revelations and probes by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services. [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42088][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4262743.stm]

Hypocrisy in committee membership

Inclusion on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of nations, such as Sudan, Cuba and Libya, which demonstrably have abysmal records on human rights, and also Libya's chairmanship of this Commission, has been an issue. These countries, however, argue that Western countries, with their history of colonialist aggression and brutality, have no right to argue about membership of the Commission.

Oil-for-Food scandal

The Oil-for-Food Programme established by the United Nations in 1996 and terminated in late 2003, was intended to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs of ordinary Iraqi citizens who were affected by international economic sanctions, without allowing the Iraqi government to rebuild its military in the wake of the first Gulf War. It was discontinued in 2003 amidst allegations of widespread abuse and corruption; the former director, Benon Sevan of Cyprus, was first suspended, and then resigned from the United Nations as an interim progress report[http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/Third%20Interim%20Report.pdf] of a UN-sponsored investigatory panel led by Paul Volcker concluded that Sevan had accepted bribes from the former Iraqi regime and recommended that his UN immunity be lifted, to allow for a criminal investigation.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131602.stm] Under UN auspices, over US$65 billion worth of Iraqi oil was sold on the world market. Officially, about US$46 billion used for humanitarian needs, with additional revenue paying Gulf War reparations through a Compensation Fund, supporting UN administrative and operational costs for the programme (2.2 per cent), and paying costs for the weapons inspection programme (0.8 per cent). Also implicated in the scandal is United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose son Kojo Annan is alleged to have illegally procured UN oil-for-food contracts on behalf of a Swiss company, Coctecna.

The UN in popular culture

The existence of the UN as a large, world-encompassing government organization has prompted many ideas about world government and world democracy. The UN is also often the subject of conspiracy theories. An education activity called Model United Nations has grown popular in schools worldwide. Model UN has students simulate (usually) a body in the United Nations system, like the Economic and Social Council, the Economic and Finance Committee of the General Assembly, or the Executive Committee of UNICEF, to help them develop skills in debate and diplomacy. The United Nations has been shown in several films. In the 1958 film North by Northwest, director Alfred Hitchcock wanted to film in the U.N but did not have permission. Shots were secretly done and recreated on a sound stage. The 2005 film The Interpreter is the first feature to be filmed on location in the United Nations. It features Nicole Kidman as an interpreter who becomes involved in international intrigue. Fictional UN branches appear in many books, movies, and video games, including:
- United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition in Deus Ex
- United Nations Intelligence Taskforce in Doctor Who
- United Nations Naval Service in some David Feintuch novels
- United Nations Space Command in the Halo video game series
- United Nations Special Agency NERV in Neon Genesis Evangelion
- United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Force in the Godzilla series of films
- United Nations Global Defense Initiative from the Command and Conquer series of games
- United Nations International Critical Response and Tactical Team from the Clive Cussler novel Sahara Similar-themed World or Galactic Bodies that model the UN in some way include:
- League of Non-Aligned Worlds and Interstellar Alliance from Babylon 5.
- Earth Sphere Unified Nation (ESUN) and ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty) from the Gundam Universe
- Allied Nations, from the movie Street Fighter
- DOOP (Democratic Order of Planets) from Futurama

Notes

# With the exception of the Holy See, the sole permanent observer state, all internationally recognized independent countries are members. Other political entities, notably the Republic of China (Taiwan), Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) and Palestinian Authority (Palestine) have some international diplomatic recognition from selected states, but are not UN members. The Political status of Taiwan makes the Republic of China the only nation ever removed from the Security Council.

See also


- United Nations System
- United Nations General Assembly
- United Nations Association
- Oil-for-Food Programme
- 2005 World Summit on the Millennium Development Goals and Reform of the United Nations
- Mundialization
- League of Democracies: proposed replacement for the U.N.
- Independent Inquiry Committee: investigated the corruption and fraud in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme.
- Model United Nations

Further reading


- An Insider's Guide to the UN, Linda Fasulo, Yale University Press (November 1, 2003), hardcover, 272 pages, ISBN 0300101554
- United Nations:The First Fifty Years, Stanley Mesler, Atlantic Monthly Press (March 1, 1997), hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0871136562
- United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 1994), hardcover, 589 pages,ISBN 0198279264
- A Guide to Delegate Preparation: A Model United Nations Handbook, edited by Scott A. Leslie, The United Nations Association of the United States of America, 2004 edition (October 2004), softcover, 296 pages, ISBN 1880632713
- "U.S. At War - International." Time Magazine XLV.19 May 7, 1945: 25-28.

External links


- [http://www.un.org/ United Nations] - Official site
  - [http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html United Nations Charter] - Charter text
  - [http://www.onlinevolunteering.org United Nations Volunteers]
  - [http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html Universal Declaration of Human Rights]
- [http://www.uno-komitee.de Website] of the Committee for a Democratic UN (German and English versions)
- [http://www.globalpolicy.org Website] of the Global Policy Forum, an independent think-tank on the UN
- [http://www.economist.com/background/displayBackground.cfm?story_id=3398746 Economist.com background]
- [http://www.numismondo.com/pm/unn United Nations Paper Money, 1946-56] "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Agpeace.pdf"Agenda for Peace: B.-Boutros Ghali
- [http://unitednationsexposed.blogspot.com/ United Nations Exposed website] - Criticisms of the UN from the Right
- Category:International organizations Category:Nobel Peace Prize winners zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p-kok ko:국제 연합 ms:Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu ja:国際連合 simple:United Nations th:สหประชาชาติ

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. It was once known as the British Commonwealth of Nations or British Commonwealth, and some still call it by that name, either for historical reasons or to distinguish it from the other commonwealths around the world, such as the Commonwealth of Australia and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of State of 16 Commonwealth Realms, is the Head of the Commonwealth; this title, however, does not imply any political power over member nations, and does not automatically belong to the British monarch. The Commonwealth is primarily an organisation in which countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an opportunity for close and equal interaction. The primary activities of the Commonwealth are designed to create an atmosphere of economic cooperation between member nations, as well as the promotion of democracy, human rights, and good governance in them. The Commonwealth is not a political union of any sort, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organisation's other members. While some nations of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth Realms, recognize the British Monarch as their head of state, the majority do not.

Origins

Although performing a vastly different function, the Commonwealth is the successor of the British Empire. In 1884, whilst visiting Adelaide, South Australia, Lord Rosebery described the changing British Empire, as its former colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations". The formal organisation of the Commonwealth has its origins in the Imperial Conferences of the late 1920s (conferences of British and colonial Prime Ministers had occurred periodically since 1887), where the independence of the self-governing colonies and especially of Dominions was recognized, particularly in the Balfour Declaration at the Imperial Conference in 1926, when the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This relationship was eventually formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. 1931 After World War II, the Empire was gradually dismantled, partly owing to the rise of independence movements in the then-subject territories (such as that started in India under the influence of the Mohandas Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah), and partly owing to the British Government's strained circumstances resulting from the cost of the war. The word "British" was dropped in 1946 from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect the changing position. Burma (1948) and Aden (1967) are the only former colonies not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Among the former protectorates and mandates, Egypt (1953), Israel (1948), Iraq (1932), Bahrain (1971), Qatar (1971), United Arab Emirates (1971), Jordan (1946), Kuwait (1961) and Oman (1971) never became members of the Commonwealth. The Republic of Ireland was a member but left the Commonwealth upon becoming a republic in 1949. However, the Ireland Act 1949 was passed by the Parliament of Westminster and gave citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of other citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law. The issue of republican status within the Commonwealth was resolved in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. India agreed that when it became a republic in January 1950 it would accept the King as ‘symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such Head of the Commonwealth’. The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's continuing membership of the association. (At Pakistan’s insistence, India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed that other states would be accorded the same treatment as India.) The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. As the Commonwealth grew, the United Kingdom and the pre-1945 Dominions (a term that was formally dropped in the 1940s) became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", particularly in the 1960s onwards when some of them differed with poorer, Afro-Asian (or New Commonwealth) members over various issues at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings. Accusations that the old, "White" Commonwealth has different interests from African Commonwealth nations in particular, as well as charges of racism and colonialism, arose during heated debates concerning Rhodesia in the 1970s, the imposition of sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more recently, over the issue of whether to press for democratic reforms in Nigeria and then Zimbabwe. The term "New Commonwealth" is also used in Britain in debates over non-white immigration from these countries. In recent years, the term "White Commonwealth" has been used in a derogatory sense to imply that the wealthier, white nations of the Commonwealth had different interests and goals from the non-white, and particularly the African members. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has used the term frequently to allege that the Commonwealth's attempts to catalyse political changes in his country is motivated by racism and colonialist attitudes and that the White Commonwealth dominates the Commonwealth of Nations as a whole. In Britain, the term New Commonwealth was used in the 1960s and 1970s to refer to recently decolonised countries that were predominantly non-white and underdeveloped. The term was often used in reference to immigration to Britain from "New Commonwealth" countries.

Membership

immigration The Commonwealth encompasses a population of approximately 1.8 billion people, making up about 30% of the world's total. India is the most populous member, with a billion people at the 2001 census, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria each contain more than 100 million people; Tuvalu, by contrast, the smallest, has only 11,000 inhabitants. The land area of the Commonwealth nations equals about a quarter of the world's land area, with Australia, Canada (the world's second-largest nation by area) and India each having more than 1.5 million square miles. Membership is open to countries that accept the association's basic aims. Members are also required to have a present or past constitutional link to the United Kingdom or to another Commonwealth member. Not all members have had direct constitutional ties to the United Kingdom: some South Pacific countries were formerly under Australian or New Zealand administration, while Namibia was governed by South Africa from 1920 until independence in 1990. Cameroon joined in 1995 although only a fraction of its territory had formerly been under British administration through the League of Nations mandate of 1920–46 and United Nations Trusteeship arrangement of 1946–61. There is only one member of the present Commonwealth which has never had any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member. Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony was admitted in 1995 on the back of the triumphal re-admission of South Africa and Mozambique's first democratic elections, held in 1994. The move was supported by Mozambique's neighbours, all of whom were members of the Commonwealth and who wished to offer assistance in overcoming the losses incurred as a result of the country's opposition to white minority regimes in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. In 1997, amid some discontent, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that Mozambique's admission should be seen as a special case and should not set a precedent.

Non-members

Tongue in cheek, Charles de Gaulle twice suggested that France, though it was never a member of the British Empire (even if for centuries English/British monarchs claimed the title 'King of France') should apply for Commonwealth membership; this idea was never realised, but may be seen as a follow-up to a proposal made by Churchill to join the British and French governments during World War II, instead of the puppet regime of Vichy France. David Ben-Gurion suggested that Israel join the Commonwealth, but this proposal was opposed by most Israelis for suggesting dependence upon the United Kingdom, and by the organisation as suggesting a firmer support for Israel than it actually offered. Egypt and Iraq have never shown an interest in joining the Commonwealth, despite their histories of British rule. Similarly Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman are not members. Nor is the United States, which was formed from former British colonies in 1776 and maintains close cultural ties with the United Kingdom. Hong Kong also did not join the Commonwealth following the end of British rule in 1997, as it became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.

Suspension

In recent years the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for failure to uphold democratic government. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation. Fiji, which had ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth 1987–1997 as a result of a republican coup d'etat, was suspended 2000–2001, after a military coup, as was Pakistan from 1999 until 2004. Nigeria was suspended between 1995 and 1999. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF government, before withdrawing from the organisation in 2003.

Termination of membership

As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left the Commonwealth in 1972 in protest at Commonwealth recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined in 1989. Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in 2003 when Commonwealth Heads of Government refused to lift the country's suspension on human rights and governance grounds. Although Heads of Government have the power to suspend member states, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. However, Commonwealth Realms which become republics automatically cease to be members unless, like India in 1950, they obtain the permission of other members to remain in the organisation as a republic. The Republic of Ireland did not apply for re-admittance after becoming a republic in 1949, as the Commonwealth at the time did not allow republican membership. However the leader of its Opposition at the time, Eamon de Valera, believed the Republic of Ireland's decision not to apply to stay was a mistake. He and his successor as Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, both considered re-applying. Éamon Ó Cuív, a minister in the present Irish Government (and himself de Valera's grandson), raised the issue of the Republic's possible reapplication a number of times in the 1990s. However, the issue arouses both some hostility and indifference in Ireland, where some people still associate the Commonwealth with British imperialism, even though the majority of member states are now republics. The Republic of Ireland was the first nation ever to leave the Commonwealth and not rejoin. South Africa was effectively prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961 as a result of hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, after the end of apartheid in 1990. The declaration of a republic in the Fiji Islands in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians in Fiji political power, was not accompanied by application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after racialist provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.

Organisation and objectives

Queen Elizabeth II is the nominal Head of the Commonwealth. Some members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth Realms, also recognize the Queen as their head of state. However, the majority of members are republics, and a handful of others are indigenous monarchies. The Queen's position as Head of the Commonwealth is not hereditary, and when and if the present Prince of Wales becomes King, it will be for Commonwealth Heads of Government to decide whether he assumes the role of Head of the Commonwealth. Since 1965 there has been a London-based Secretariat. The current (2005) Commonwealth Secretary-General is Don McKinnon, a former Foreign Minister of New Zealand. The organisation is celebrated each year on Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March. The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by consensus. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over Rhodesia in the 1970s and over apartheid South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between the United Kingdom and African members. The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth presidents or prime ministers assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Prime Ministers' Conferences and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc. The most important statement of the Commonwealth's principles is the 1991 Harare Declaration, which dedicated the organisation to democracy and good government, and allowed for action to be taken against members who breached these principles. Before then the Commonwealth's collective actions had been limited by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other members.

Benefits of membership and contemporary concerns

The Commonwealth has often been likened to an English gentlemen's club, and the issue of membership - who is and who is not a member of the organisation - often seems to be more important, and certainly attracts much more attention, than what the organisation actually does. This is because the main benefit of membership is the opportunity for close and relatively frequent interaction, on an informal and equal basis, between members who share many ties of language, culture, and history. In its early days, the Commonwealth also constituted a significant economic bloc. Commonwealth countries accorded each others' goods privileged access to their markets ("Commonwealth Preference"), and there was a free or preferred right of migration from one Commonwealth country to another. These rights have been steadily eroded, but their consequences remain. Within most Commonwealth countries, there are substantial communities with family ties to other members of the Commonwealth, going beyond the effects of the original colonization of parts of the Commonwealth by settlers from the British Isles. Furthermore, consumers in Commonwealth countries retain many preferences for goods from other members of the Commonwealth, so that even in the absence of tariff privileges, there continues to be more trade within the Commonwealth than might be predicted. On the United Kingdom's entry to the European Union, the Lomé Convention preserved some of the preferential access rights of Commonwealth goods to the UK market. In more recent decades there has been a mutual decline of interest in maintaining active inter-Commonwealth relations, and the organisation's direct political and economic importance has declined. Realist critics have argued that in the 21st Century the organisation is an inherently arbitrary alliance with members that are united only through a historical accident of British colonialism. They argue that the organisation lacks a balanced membership, and point out that it is very unusual for any international organisation to exclude highly important regions of the world such as most of Western Europe and South America from membership. Indeed, many Commonwealth members look increasingly to regional partners, non-Commonwealth as well as Commonwealth, to form their most important alliances. The United Kingdom has forged closer relationships with other European countries through the European Union; the UK's entry was widely felt as a betrayal by citizens of the "Old Commonwealth" whose economies had been developed on the assumption of access to British markets. Similarly, former British colonies have forged closer relationships with non-Commonwealth trading partners and closer geographic neighbours. Reaction to immigration from the new Commonwealth countries into the United Kingdom in the 1950s and early 1960s led to the restriction of the right of migration. The Commonwealth today mainly restricts itself to encouraging community between nations and to placing moral pressure on members who violate international laws, such as human rights laws, and abandon democratically-elected government. Key activities today include training experts in developing countries and assisting with and monitoring elections. Some Commonwealth countries give Commonwealth citizens privileges that are not accorded to aliens: for example, in the United Kingdom, the right to vote is given to all Commonwealth citizens resident in that country. This is reciprocated mainly in the Commonwealth Caribbean, even to the point where in some of the countries (including the UK) resident Commonwealth citizens may even be elected or appointed to the national legislature. However, these privileges are largely not on a reciprocal basis, and it is up to each country to decide what privileges it accords to Commonwealth citizenship, with the exception of the Commonwealth Scholarship. Other privileges that the United Kingdom grants Commonwealth citizens include access to immigration programmes such as the working holidaymaker visa. Some of the privileges offered by the individual countries have eroded over the last few decades, although most countries continue to afford special treatment in the area of immigration (e.g. right of abode in UK for some) and visas.

Cultural Links

The Commonwealth is also useful as an international organisation that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer developing nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds. The common inheritance of the English language and literature, the common law, and British systems of administration all underpin the club-like atmosphere of the Commonwealth. Mostly as a result of their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations share certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as cricket and rugby, driving on the left, parliamentary and legal traditions, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see Commonwealth English). None of these is universal within the Commonwealth countries, nor exclusive to them, but all of them are more common in the Commonwealth than elsewhere. The Commonwealth countries share many links at non-governmental levels, with over a hundred non-governmental organisations that are organised on a Commonwealth wide basis, notably in the areas of sport, culture, education, and other charitable sectors. A multi-sports championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four years, two years after each Olympic Games. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, the games include sports popular throughout the Commonwealth such as bowls. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through offering scholarships, principally the Commonwealth Scholarship, for students to study in universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of France and Portugal and their respective ex-colonies, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese-speaking countries).

Literature

The shared history of British rule has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages - Commonwealth literature. There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies ([http://www.aclals.org ACLALS]) with nine chapters worldwide. ACLALS holds an international conference every three years. The [http://aclals.org/events/2k4/participants.htm 13th Triennial] was held in Hyderabad, India, in August 2004; the next will be held in 2007 in Calgary, Canada. In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the [http://www.commonwealthwriters.com/ Commonwealth Writers Prize] "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin." Caryl Phillips won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 for A Distant Shore. Mark Haddon won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 Best First Book prize worth £3,000 for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Although not affiliated with the Commonwealth in an official manner, the prestigious Booker Prize is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country. This honour is one of the highest in literature.

Commonwealth Business Council

The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at the Edinburgh CHOGM in 1997. The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity. The CBC acts as a bridge for cooperation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas:
- Enhancing Trade
- Mobilising Investment
- Promoting Corporate Citizenship
- Facilitating ICT for Development
- Public Private Partnerships Commonwealth countries are major stakeholders in the process and success of the Doha Development Agenda. Together the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries account for 30 per cent of the world’s population and about 25 per cent of its international trade and investment. Commonwealth countries account for 40 per cent of WTO membership. CBC’s trade development objectives include encouraging trade facilitation and further liberalisation of services; encouraging developing countries to play an active role in the WTO, and in new trade rounds, by maximising their negotiating strength through cooperative action. The CBC helps to mobilise investment into Commonwealth countries through measures including ensuring access to international capital markets; strengthening 26 domestic capital markets; encouraging regional integration; committing the private sector to work together with governments to help achieve a successful market economy for generating investment. A key feature of CBC is its global membership, comprising corporate members from both developed and developing countries. This gives CBC the capacity to make a special contribution to the debate on corporate citizenship, dominated by developed countries. The CBC has been working to involve private sector engagement in facilitating the implementation of an Information Communications Technologies for Development programme. The CBC programme enhances collaborative partnerships between the various stakeholders including governments, private sector, donor agencies and civil society. Major goals include:
- Bridge the digital divide for both social and economic development.
- Promote ICT for development in Commonwealth countries.
- Promote an experience exchange among stakeholders in Commonwealth countries.
- Promote business and government cooperation for development.
- Create awareness and enhance the knowledge of policy makers regarding economic, technical and legal aspects of implementation of ICT for development.
- Provide and facilitate training and capacity building. CBC believes that there remains a significant gap for independent support to emerging market governments in the structuring and transacting of ICT infrastructure opportunities. The key CBC objectives are:
- Examine how support from highly experienced individuals can assist through the creation of an infrastructure technical advisory unit.
- Provide senior-level government support to provide focused advice.
- Provide mechanisms that will help governments leverage the huge capacity of the private sector to address the demand for better infrastructure. The CBC has a dedicated team, CBC Technologies, based in London focused on the international technology and global services industry throughout the Commonwealth.

List of Commonwealth members


- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by continent
- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by date joined
- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by name

See also


- Anglosphere
- British Empire
- British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
- British Overseas Territory
- Commonwealth of Independent States
- Community of Portuguese Language Countries
- Dominion
- La Francophonie
- High Commissioner
- List of Commonwealth visits made by Queen Elizabeth II

References


- The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth, by K C Wheare. Clarendon Press, 1960. ISBN 0313236240

Further Reading


- The Commonwealth in the World, by J D B Miller. Harvard University Press, 1965. ISBN 0674147006
- The Commonwealth Experience: From British to Multiracial Commonwealth, by N Mansergh. University of Toronto Press, 1982. ISBN 0802024920
- Making the New Commonwealth, by R J Moore. Clarendon Press, 1988. ISBN 0198201125

External links


- [http://www.thecommonwealth.org The Commonwealth Secretariat]
- [http://www.commonwealth.org.uk/ The Commonwealth Institute, London]
- [http://www.rcsint.org The Royal Commonwealth Society]
- [http://rcs.ca/ The Royal Commonwealth Society (of Canada)]
- [http://empiremuseum.co.uk/ British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, Bristol, England]
- [http://www.acu.ac.uk/ Association of Commonwealth Universities]
- [http://sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies/index.htm University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies]
- [http://aclals.org Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies]
- [http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21707 The Commonwealth as a popular club]
- [http://www.globaled.org.nz/schools/pdfs/factsheets/Commonwealth.pdf What is the Commonwealth]
- [http://www.cpahq.org The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association]
- [http://www.chogm2005.mt The Commonwealth Meeting in Malta, 2005] Category:International organizations Category:Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Category:British Empire Category:Current British colonies Category:Former British colonies ko:영국 연방 ms:Negara-negara Komanwel ja:イギリス連邦

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, proposed by Ziaur Rahman, the then-president of Bangladesh, was established on December 8, 1985. SAARC is an association of eight countries of South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and most recently admitted, Afghanistan. These countries comprise an area of 5,127,500 km2 and a fifth of the world's population. SAARC encourages cooperation in agriculture, rural development, science and technology, culture, health, population control, narcotics control and anti-terrorism. SAARC has intentionally stressed these "core issues" and avoided more divisive political issues, above all the Kashmir dispute which bitterly divides the two largest member states, India and Pakistan. However, political dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC meetings. In 1993, SAARC countries signed an agreement to gradually lower tariffs within the region. Nine years later, at the 12th SAARC summit at Islamabad, SAARC countries devised the South Asia Free Trade Agreement which will create a framework for the creation of a free trade zone covering 1.4 billion people. Barring any further political trouble in the region, this agreement should come into force on January 1, 2006.

List of SAARC Summits

# December 8, 1985 at Dhaka # November 17, 1986 at Bangalore # November 4, 1987 at Kathmandu # December 31, 1988 at Islamabad # November 23, 1990 at Malé # December 21, 1991 at Colombo # April 11, 1993 at Dhaka # May 4, 1995 at New Delhi # May 14, 1997 at Malé # July 31, 1998 at Colombo # January 6, 2002 at Kathmandu # January 6, 2004 at Islamabad # November 12, 2005 at Dhaka

Areas of Cooperation

Dhaka
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Health and Population Activities
- Women, Youth and Children
- Environment and Forestry
- Science and Technology and Meteorology
- Human Resources Development
- Transport

Future Membership

On 22 February 2005, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi, indicated Iran's interest in joining SAARC, saying that his country could provide the region with "East-West connectivity". The People's Republic of China has also been suggested as a possible SAARC member, such membership being encouraged by Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, India is more reluctant about the prospect of Chinese membership, while Bhutan does not even have diplomatic relations with China. At the 2005 summit in Dhaka, member states decided to give China and Japan observer status.

Results of Dhaka 2005 Summit

On November 13, 2005, the Dhaka Summit issued a declaration to admit the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as a member, and to accord observer status to China and Japan. The nations also agreed to organize development funds under a single financial institution with a permanent secretariat, that would cover all SAARC programs ranging from social, to infrastructure, to economic ones.

See also


- South Asia Free Trade Agreement
- Trade bloc

References

# [http://www.arabnews.com/?article=59390 Iran's membership prospects] # [http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=63499 China's membership prospects] # [http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-13-voa4.cfm Afghan and further Chinese membership prospects] # [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1293872.cms SAARC Admits Afghanistan]

External links


- [http://www.saarc-sec.org/ SAARC Website]
- [http://www.mapsofworld.com/saarc-member-countries.htm World Map of SAARC Member Countries] Category:International organizations Category:Foreign relations of Nepal Category:Foreign relations of India Category:Foreign relations of Pakistan Category:Foreign relations of Bangladesh Category:Maldives category:Bhutan Category:Foreign relations of Sri Lanka

History of Pakistan

The History of Pakistan for times preceding 1947 overlaps with that of the history of India, Afghanistan, and Iran. Pakistan was a state created out of the territory of British colonial India in 1947. In 1971, East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh.

Prehistory and the dawn of civilization

Earliest settlements

The Bolan river runs through the Bolan Pass in Baluchistan, Pakistan, a natural passageway connecting the Indus plain to the Iranian plateau. The Bolan region is home to Mehrgarh, the earliest known agricultural settlement in Pakistan, dating from about 7000 - BC. In Baluchistan there was the Kulli culture more or less contemporary with the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilisation The Indus Valley Civilization, 2800 BC-1800 BC, was one of the most ancient civilizations, on the banks of Indus River in ancient India now in present-day Pakistan. The Mohenjo-daro ruins were once the center of this ancient society. Indus Civilization settlements spread as far south as Bombay, as far east as Delhi, as far west as the Iranian border, and as far north as the Himalayas. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi. At its peak, some archeologists opine that the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million. To date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region to the east of the Indus River in Pakistan.

Ancient Empires

Vedic Civilization

Main Article: Vedic civilization Vedic civilization The origin of the Vedic civilization and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization remains highly controversial and politically charged; see the Aryan Invasion Theory for details. Mainstream scholarship places the Vedic civilization into the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, with some claims dating it as early as the 5th millennium BC based on alleged astronomical information in the texts. Historical records set in only after the end of the Vedic period, and remain scarce throughout the Middle Ages. The end of Vedic period is marked by linguistic, cultural and political changes. The grammar of Panini (born in Shalatula, in present-day Pakistan, ca. 520–460 BC) marks a final apex in the codification of sacred texts, and at the same time the beginning of Classical Sanskrit. According to the Oxford History of India: "While settled in the Punjab the Aryans had not yet become Hindu.... The distinctive Brahmanical System appears to have been evolved after the Sutlej had been passed. To the east of Sutlej the Indo-Aryans were usually safe from foreign invasions and free to work out their own rule of life undisturbed. This also explains the absence of Hindu holy cities and temples in Pakistan." (Oxford history of India, By V.A. Smith, 3rd edition).

Achaemenid rule

Brahmanical The part of ancient India and Afghanistan constituting modern-day Pakistan was ruled by the Persian Achaemenid empire from c.520 BC in the reign of Darius the Great to its conquest by Alexander the Great. It became part of the empire as a satrapy that included the lands of present-day Pakistani Punjab, the Indus river from the borders of Gandhara down to the Arabian Sea, together with other parts of the Indus plain, According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, it was the most populous and richest satrapy of the twenty satrapies of the empire. Achaemenid rule lasted about 186 years. The Achaemenids used Aramaic script for the Persian language. After the end of Achaemenid rule, the use of Aramaic script in the Indus plain was diminished, although we know from Asokan inscriptions that it was still in use two centuries later. Other scripts, such as Kharosthi (a script derived from Aramaic) and Greek became more common after the arrival of the Macedonians and Greeks.

Alexander the great

Macedonia The interaction between Hellenistic Greece and Buddhism started when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, the Achaemenid Empire and ancient Pakistan in 334 BC, defeating Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquering much of the Punjab. Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Beas river — which today runs along part of the Indo-Pakistan border — and he took most of his army southwest, adding nearly all of ancient Pakistan to his empire. Alexander created garrisons for his troops in his new territories, and founded several cities in the areas of the Oxus, Arachosia, and Bactria, and Macedonian/Greek settlements in Gandhara (see Taxila) and the Punjab. The regions included the Khyber Pass — a geographical passageway south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush mountains — and the Bolan Pass, on a trade route connecting Drangiana, Arachosia and other Persian and Central Asia areas to the lower Indus plain. It is through these regions that most of the interaction between India and Central Asia took place, generating intense cultural exchange and trade.

Greco-Buddhist period

Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelled Græco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century AD, ultimately spreading to China, Korea and Japan.

Mauryan period

The Mauryan dynasty lasted about 180 years, nearly as long as Achaemenid rule, and began with Chandragupta Maurya, not to be confused with Chandragupta I of the much-later Gupta Dynasty [http://clubweb.interbaun.com/mward/gmc/27_gupta_emp.gif]. Chandragupta Maurya lived in Taxila and met Alexander, and had many opportunities to observe the Macedonian army there. According to Plutarch, Alexander encouraged him to invade the Gangetic kingdom (of Magadha) by capitalizing on the extreme unpopularity of the reigning monarch. Chandragupta recruited warriors from among the northwestern hill tribes and trained them in Macedonian fighting techniques, With this army, and with Macedonian mercenaries, Chandragupta went east to the Gangetic plain to overthrow the Nanda dynasty in Magadha, thereby founding the Maurya dynasty. Following Alexander's death on June 10, 323 BC, his Diadochi (generals) founded their own kingdoms in Asia Minor and Central Asia. General Seleucus set up the Seleucid Kingdom, which included ancient Pakistan. Chandragupta Maurya, taking advantage of the fragmentation of power that followed Alexander's death, invaded and captured the Punjab and Gandhara. Later, the Eastern part of the Seleucid Kingdom broke away to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (3rd–2nd century BC).
Ashoka the Great
2nd century BC Chandragupta's grandson Asoka (273- 232 BC), is said to have been the greatest of the Mauryan emperors. Ashoka the Great was the ruler of the Mauryan empire from 273 BC to 232 BC. A convert to Buddhism, Ashoka reigned over most of South Asia and parts of Central Asia, from present-day Afghanistan to Bengal and as far south as Mysore. He converted to the Buddhist faith following remorse for his bloody conquest of the kingdom of Kalinga in Orissa. He became a great proselytiser of Buddhism, and sent Buddhist emissaries to many lands. He set in stone the Edicts of Asoka. In ancient Pakistan, nearly all of the Asokan edicts are written either in the Aramaic script (Aramiac had been the lingua franca of the Achaemenid empire) or in Kharosthi, a script derived from Aramaic. Brhadrata, the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty, ruled territories that had shrunk considerably from the time of emperor Ashoka, but he was still upholding the Buddhist faith. He was assassinated in 185 BC by his Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga, who made himself the ruler and established the Sunga dynasty. The assassination of Brhadrata and the rise of the Sunga empire led to a wave of decline of Buddhists in India, but not in what is today Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Indo-Greeks

Buddhists-171 BC), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India.]] The Sunga persecution also triggered the 180 BC invasion of northern India by the king Demetrius (the son of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus) going as far as Pataliputra and established an Indo-Greek kingdom that lasted nearly two centuries, until around 10 BC. To the south, the Greeks captured Sindh and nearby Arabian Sea coastal areas. The invasion was completed by 175 BC, and the Sungas were confined to the east, although the Indo-Greeks lost some territory in the Gangetic plain. Meanwhile in Bactria, the usurper Eucratides overcame the Euthydemid dynasty, killing Demetrius in battle.
Menander
Menander I was one of the Greek kings of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in ancient Pakistan from 155 to 130 BC. He had been a general under king Demetrius, who was killed in battle. As a general, Menader drove the Greco-Bactrians out of Gandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush, becoming king shortly after his victory. Menander's territories covered the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria (from the areas of the Panjshir and Kapisa) and extended to the modern Pakistani province of Punjab with diffuse tributaries to the south and east, possibly even as far as Mathura. Menander is one of the few Bactrian kings mentioned by Greek authors, among them Apollodorus of Artemita, who claim that he was an even greater conqueror than Alexander the Great. Strabo ([http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1 11.11.1]) says Menander was one of the two Bactrian kings who extended their power farthest into India. Strabo mint).
Obv: King Menander throwing a spear.
Rev: Athena with thunderbolt. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTIROS MENANDROY "King Menander, the Saviour".]] Sagala (modern Sialkot) became his capital and propered greatly under Menander's rule. His reign (c.155 BC - c.80 BC) was long and successful. Generous findings of coins testify to the prosperity and extension of his empire. The Milinda Pañha, a classical Buddhist text praises Menander, saying that "as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India " (Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890)
Fragmented Indo-Greek kingdoms
Menander's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, Hermaeus, disappeared around 10 AD. The Indo-Greeks suffered a new attack from the descendants of Eucratides around 125 BC, as the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles, son of Eucratides, was fleeing from the invasion of the Yuezhi in Bactria and trying to relocate in Gandhara. The Indo-Greeks retreated to their territories east of the Jhelum River as far as Mathura, and the two houses coexisted in the northern Indian subcontinent. Various kings ruled into the beginning of the 1st century AD, as petty rulers (such as Theodamas) and as administrators, after the conquests of the Scythians (see also Indo-Scythians), Parthians (see also Indo-Parthians) and Yuezhi, a Central Asian people possibly of Tocharian origins who founded the Kushan dynasty.

Kushan Empire

Tocharian-126) with a Hellenistic representation of the Buddha (except for the feet spread apart, Kushan style), and the word "Boddo" in Greek script.]] The rule of Kanishka I, the fourth Kushan emperor, who flourished for at least 28 years from c. 127, was administered from a winter capital in Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and a summer capital in Bagram(then known as Kapisa). The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely oversaw a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India. The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers. Kanishka is renowed in Buddhist tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. This council is attributed with having marked the official beginning of the pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism and its scission with Nikaya Buddhism. Kanishka also had the original Gandhari vernacular, or Prakrit, Mahayana Buddhist texts translated into the high literary language of Sanskrit. Along with the Indian king Ashoka, the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda), and Harsha Vardhana, Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors. The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. The interaction of Greek and Buddhist cultures continued over several centuries until it ended in the 5th century AD with the invasions of the White Huns (see also Indo-Hephthalites), and later the expansion of Islam. During the remaining centuries before the coming of Islam in AD 711, the White Huns, Indo-Parthians, and Kushans shared control of what is today Pakistan with the Sassanid Persian empire which dominated much of western and southern Pakistan.

The population movements of the Pashtuns and Baluchis

It is surmised that Indo-Iranian tribes existed in what is today western Pakistan very early and that Pashtun tribes were inhabitants around the area of Peshawar prior to the period of Alexander the Great as Herodotus refers to the local peoples as the "Paktui" and as a fearsome pagan tribe similar to the Bactrians. Iranian Baluchi tribes would not arrive at least until the 1st millennium AD and would not expand as far as Sind until the 2nd millennium. See also: History of Buddhism, Indo-Greek, Bactria, Menander, Afghanistan, Pashtuns, Baluchistan, and Ashoka

The Arrival of Islam

Arab Rule

Ashoka Prior to the 8th century CE what is today Pakistan was dominated by Brahmin rulers in the east and the Sassanian Persians in the west. During this period, another event occurred in the history of Pakistan which would drastically transform the region, the coming of Islam. A Syrian Muslim chieftain named Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Pakistan early in the 8th century (712) and extended Umayyad Muslim rule to the Indus Valley. Like Alexander the Great, Qasim travelled and subdued the whole of Pakistan from Karachi to Kashmir. Muhammad Bin Qasim, himself a youth of only 20, managed this feat by leading a small force of only 6,000 Syrian tribesmen and reached the borders of Kashmir within three years. Muhammad Bin Qasim's conquests up to Kashmir could not be sustained by the Muslim Arabs for very long. Umayyad rule stretched too far and any further conquests without consolidation would prove futile. From Lisbon in Portugal to Lahore in the Punjab were the apogee of this vast empire. Following Muhammad Bin Qasim's departure and demise, after being recalled to Baghdad, Muslim rule shrank to Sind and southern Punjab where consolidation took place and conversion was widespread, especially amongst the Buddhist majority. In many regions several non-Muslim groups (largely Buddhists and Hindus as well as pagans further north) would remain numerous north of Multan. However, from this period (8th century) onward Pakistan was divided into two parts: the northern region comprising the Panjab remained under the control of Hindu Rajas while the southern area came under Muslim control and comprised Multan, Sind and Baluchistan until Mahmud Ghaznavi appeared on the scene and conquered all of what is today Pakistan. During this 300-year period (712-1000) both the northern and southern parts had their own independent governments --- the latter owing nominal allegiance to the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs.

The Ghaznavid Period

In 1001 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated Jeebal the king of Kabulistan and marched further into Peshawer and in 1005 made it the center for his forces. From this strategic location Mahmud was able to capture Panjab in 1007, Tanseer fell in 1014, Kashmir was captured in 1015 and Qanoch fell in 1017. By 1027 Sultan Mahmud had captured most of northern India. On 1010 Mahmud captured what is today the Ghowr Province (Ghor) and by 1011 annexed Baluchistan. Sultan Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage and its local emir Abu Nasr Mohammad offered his services to Sultan Mahmud and offered his daughter to Muhammad son of Sultan Mahmud. After Nasr’s death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped Mahmud during his expeditions into northern India. In 1030 Sultan Mahmud fell gravely ill and died at the age of 59. Sultan Mahmud was an accomplished military commander and speaker as well as a patron of poetry, astronomy, and math. Mahmud had no tolerance for other religions however and only praised Islam. Universities were formed to study various subjects such as math, religion, the humanities and medicine were taught, but only within the laws of the Sharia. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Perso-Afghan dialect of Dari language was made the official language. Ghaznavid rule in Pakistan lasted for over one hundred and seventy five years from 1010 to 1187. It was during this period that Lahore assumed considerable importance as the eastern-most bastion of Muslim power and as an outpost for further advance towards the riches of the east. Apart from being the second capital and later the only capital of the Ghaznavid kingdom, Lahore had great military and strategic significance. Whoever controlled this city could look forward to and be in a position to sweep the whole of East Punjab to Panipat and Delhi. By the end of his reign, Mahmud's empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. All of what is today Pakistan and Kashmir came under the Ghaznavid empire. The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi , Ferdowsi) give detailed descriptions of the building activity and importance of Lahore, as well as of the conqueror's support of literature. Often reviled as a persecutor of Hindus (and in many cases Hindu temples were looted and destroyed) much of Mahmud's army consisted of Hindus and some of the commanders of his army were also of Hindu origin. Sonday Rai was the Commander of Mahmud's crack regiment and took part in several important campaigns with him. The coins struck during Mahmud's reign bore his own image on one side and the figure of a Hindu deity on the other. Mahmud, as a patron of learning, filled his court with scholars including Ferdowsi the poet, Abolfazl Beyhaghi the historian (whose work on the Ghanavid Empire is perhaps the most substantive primary source of the period) and Al-Biruni the versatile scholar who wrote the informative Ta'rikh al-Hind ("Chronicles of India"). It was said that he spent over four hundred thousand golden dinars rewarding scholars. He invited the scholars from all over the world and was thus known as an abductor of scholars. During his rule, Lahore also became a great center of learning and culture. Lahore was called 'Small Ghazni' as Ghazni received far more attention during Mahmud's reign. Saad Salman, a poet of those times, also wrote about the academic and cultural life of Muslim Lahore and its growing importance.

The Invasions of Muhammad Ghori to the Dehli Sultanate

Muhammad Ghori was a Perso-Afghan conqueror from the region of Ghor in Afghanistan. Before 1160, the Ghaznavid Empire covered an area running from central Afghanistan east to the Punjab, with capitals at Ghazni, a city on the banks of Ghazni river in present-day Afghanistan, and at Lahore in present-day Pakistan. In 1160, the Ghorids conquered Ghazni from the Ghaznevids, and in 1173 Muhammad was made governor of Ghazni. He raided eastwards into the remaining Ghaznevid territory, and invaded Gujarat in the 1180's, but was rebuffed by Gujarat's Solanki rulers. In 1186-7 he conquered Lahore, ending the Ghaznevid empire and bringing the last of Ghaznevid territory under his control. In 1191, he invaded the territory of Prithviraj III of Ajmer, who ruled much of present-day Rajasthan and Haryana, but was defeated at Tarain by Govinda-raja of Delhi, Prithviraj's vassal. The following year Muhammad assembled 120,000 horsemen and once again invaded the Kingdom of Ajmer. Muhammad's army met Prithviraj's army again at Tarain, and this time Muhammad was victorious; Govinda-raja was slain, Prithviraj captured, and Muhammad advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year Muhammad controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. Muhammad returned east to Ghazni to deal with the threat to his eastern frontiers from the Turks and Mongols, but his armies, mostly under Turkish generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal. Muhammad returned to Lahore after 1200 to deal with a revolt of the Ghakkar tribe in the Punjab. He suppressed the revolt, but was killed during a Ghakkar raid on his camp on the Jhelum River in 1206. Upon his death, his most capable general, Qutb-ud-din Aybak took control of Muhammad's Indian conquests and declared himself the first Sultan of Delhi. Muhammad's successors established the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, while the Mamluk Dynasty (mamluk means "slave" and referred to the Turkic slave soldiers who became rulers throughout the Islamic world) in 1211 (however, the Delhi Sultanate is traditionally held to have been founded in 1206) seized the reins of empire. The territory under control of the Muslim rulers in Delhi expanded rapidly. By mid-century, Bengal and much of central India was under the Delhi Sultanate. Several Turko-Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk (1211-90), the Khalji (1290-1320), the Tughlaq (1320-1413), the Sayyid (1414-51), and the Lodhi (1451-1526). As Muslims extended their rule into southern India, only the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar remained immune, until it too fell in 1565. Although some kingdoms remained independent of Delhi in the Deccan and in Gujarat, Malwa (central India), and Bengal, almost all of the area in present-day Pakistan came under the rule of Delhi. The sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial, if superficial, relations with Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. The sultans based their laws on the Quran and the sharia and permitted non-Muslim subjects to practice their religion only if they paid the jizya or head tax. The sultans ruled from urban centers--while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the sultanate was its temporary success in insulating the subcontinent from the potential devastation of the Mongol invasion from Central Asia in the thirteenth century, which nonetheless led to the loss of Afghanistan and western Pakistan to the Mongols (see the Ilkhanate Dynasty). The sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance resulting from the stimulation of Islam by Hinduism. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion left lasting monuments in architecture, music, literature, and religion. In addition it is surmised that the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Dehli Sultanate period as a result of the mingling of Sanskritic prakrits and the Persian, Turkish, Arabic favored by the Muslim invaders of India. The sultanate suffered from the sacking of Delhi in 1398 by Timur (Tamerlane) but revived briefly under the Lodhis before it was conquered by the Mughals in 1526.

Pakistan in the Middle Ages

Mughal rule

Lodhi The arrival of people from the Central Asian nations such as the Turks and Mongols was a significant turning point in the history of present-day Pakistan. The Qalandars (wandering Sufi saints) from Central Asia, Persia and Middle East preached a mystical form of Islam that appealed to the Buddhist and Hindu populations of Pakistan. The concept of equality, justice, spiritualness and secularism of the Islamic faith greatly attracted the masses towards it. The Sufi orders of the Qalandars was established gradually, over a period of centuries. Present-day Pakistan was a place of great cultural and religious diversity. The Mughals were the descendents of Persianized Central Asian Turks (with significant Mongol admixture) and would establish a formidable empire over the breadth of South Asia and beyond. The Mughal Empire included modern Pakistan and reached as far north as eastern Afghanistan and as far south as southern India. It was one of the three major Islamic empires of its day and sometimes contested its northwestern holdings such as Qandahar against invasions from the Uzbeks and the Safavid Persians. Although the first Mughal emperor Babur favored the cool hills of Kabul, his conquests would lay the foundations for a dynasty that would hold sway over South Asia for over two centuries. Most of his successors were capable rulers and during the Mughal period the Shalimar Gardens were built in Lahore (during the reign of Shah Jehan and the Badshahi Mosque was erected during the reign of Aurangzeb. One notable emperor, Akbar the Great was both a capable ruler and an early proponent of religious and ethnic tolerance and favored an early form of multiculturalism. Pakistan still bears marvellous architectural monuments built by the Mughal emperors. During the Mughal period, the cities of Delhi (present-day India) and Lahore (present-day Pakistan) were made the capitals of the empire. The Taj Mahal and other architectural marvels were the results of the growth of Islamic culture and rule over the subcontinent. The Mughals also implemented federal regulations including taxation, social welfare reforms, justice, development of the transport and agricultural system and water canals. The mansabdar system gained prominence during the Mughal Empire and was used to implement a form of ranking military official and landowners throughout the empire and in many ways inspired similar systems in other major Islamic empires of the day such as the Ottoman Empire's tanzimat reforms.

Iranian and Afghan rule

tanzimat In 1739 Nadir Shah attacked India and after defeating the Mughal Emperor Mohammed Shah (Rangeela) claimed Punjab (from Lahore westward), the North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan and Sind as provinces of his Empire. Upon the death of Nadir Shah one of his generals, a Pashtun named Ahmed Shah Abdali (who late changed his name to Ahmad Shah Durrani) estabished the kingdom of Afghanistan in 1747 and made Pakistan part of his newly created state. He claimed Kashmir, Peshawar, Daman, Multan, Sind and Punjab up to the Sutlej. When the Abdali kingdom weakened early in the 19th century due to internecine warfare, the Abdali kingdom began to decline and an independent kingdom arose in Punjab headed by the Sikh leader Ranjit Singh. The British who had established their control over Delhi in 1803 warned Ranjit Singh not to try to impose his authority on the Sikh Sardars of East Punjab i.e., beyond Sutlej. As for Sind, from as early as the last days of Aurangzeb, it had begun to assert its independence and a succession of semi-independent dynasties under the Daudpotas, Kalhoras and Talpurs continued to rule over this province till British conquest in 1843 A.D. Meanwhile, Baluchistan came under the sway of the Khan of Kalat with a few coastal cities such as Gwadar coming under the control of the Sultan of Oman.

Sikh rule in Punjab

In the early 19th century, the Mughal empire and the Afghan Durrani empire weakened in power. Taking advantage of the situation, Sikhs conquered parts of Punjab. Sikh warrior Ranjit Singh defeated the Afghans and took the title of Maharaja(King) of the Punjab and eventually sovereign of the Sikh empire, with his capital at Lahore. It was also the last territory of India to fall to the British Empire mainly due to the betrayal by its top Dogra Generals, during the two bloody Anglo-Sikh wars in 1845-6 and 1848-49. The outcome was a very narrow victory for the British resulting in the annexition of the Punjab and the fall of Sikh rule.

British rule

British conquest and colonization

During the middle of the second millennium, several European countries, such as Great Britain, Portugal, Holland and France were initially interested in trade with Indian rulers including the Mughals and leaders of other independant Kingdoms. The Europeans took advantage of the fractured kingdoms and the divided rule to colonize the country. Most of India came under the crown of the British Empire in 1857 after a failed insurrection, popularly known as the First War of Indian Independence, against the British East India Company by Bahadur Shah Zafar. Present-day Pakistan remained part of British India until August 14, 1947.

The Anglo-Afghan wars and the Great Game

1947 The two Anglo-Afghan wars that involved Pakistan directly took place in 1839 and again in 1842 and 1878 and resulted in the eventual loss of Pashtun/Afghan territory to the expanding British Indian empire. Following the 2nd Anglo-Afghan war, a tenuous peace resulted between Afghanistan and the British empire based in India. Decades later, what is today western Pakistan would come to be annexed by the British. For Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan, delineating the boundary with India (through the Pashtun area) was far more significant, and it was during his reign that the Durand Line was drawn. Under pressure, Abdur Rahman agreed in 1893 to accept a mission headed by the British Indian foreign secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand, to define the limits of British and Afghan control in the Pashtun territories. Boundary limits were agreed on by Durand and Abdur Rahman before the end of 1893, but there is some question about the degree to which Abdur Rahman willingly ceded certain regions. There were indications that he regarded the Durand Line as a delimitation of separate areas of political responsibility, not a permanent international frontier, and that he did not explicitly cede control over certain parts (such as Kurram and Chitral) that were already in British control under the Treaty of Gandamak. The Durand Line cut through both tribes and villages and bore little relation to the realities of topography, demography, or even military strategy. The line laid the foundation, not for peace between the border regions, but for heated disagreement between the governments of Afghanistan and British India, and later, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The issue revolves around the Pashtun nationalist movement known as Pashtunistan. During much of the 19th century, the British and Russian Empires engaged in what came to be known as the Great Game as both sides intrigued over Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Often arming local Pashtun and Tajik tribesmen, both sides sought to undermine the other, while the rulers of Afghanistan were able to maintain some measure of independence in-spite of the loss of territories to the east to British India.

Muslims in the Raj

The first proponents of an independent Muslim nation began to appear in the late 19th and early 20th Century under the British Raj. One of the early Muslim leaders was Sir Syed Ahmed. Soon after Sir Syed's death, however, the All India Muslim League was founded on the sidelines of the 1905 conference of the "Mohammadan" Anglo-Oriental Conference (an organization he had founded). This party was not, right until 1940, separatist. The idea of a separate nation was mooted in humor, satire and on the fringes of the political milieu.

Pakistan movement

1940 By 1930, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who ultimately led the movement for a separate state, had despaired of Indian politics and particularly of getting mainstream parties like the Congress (of which he was a member much longer than the League) to be sensitive to minority priorities. Among the first to make the demand for a separate state was the writer/philosopher Allama Iqbal, who, in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League said that he felt that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated Indian subcontinent. The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution making it a demand in 1935. Iqbal, Jauhar and others then worked hard to draft Mohammad Ali Jinnah to lead the movement for this new nation. Jinnah later went on to become known as the Father of the Nation, with Pakistan officially giving him the title Quaid-e-Azam or "Great Leader". (See Mohammad Ali Jinnah#A "Secular" Jinnah?)

Lahore Resolution of 1940

In 1940, Jinnah called a general session of the All India Muslim League in Lahore to discuss the situation that had arisen due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the Government of India joining the war without taking the opinion of the Indian leaders. The meeting was also aimed at analyzing the reasons that led to the defeat of the Muslim League in the general election of 1937 in the Muslim majority provinces. Jinnah, in his speech, criticised the Congress and the nationalist Muslims, and espoused the Two-Nation Theory and the reasons for the demand for separate Muslim homelands. Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Chief Minister of the Punjab, drafted the original Lahore Resolution, which was placed before the Subject Committee of the All India Muslim League for discussion and amendments. The resolution, radically amended by the subject committee, was moved in the general session by Shere-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, on 23 March and was supported by Choudhury Khaliquzzaman and other muslim leaders. The Lahore Resolution ran as follows: :That the areas where the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the Northwestern and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute 'independent states' in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign. The Resolution was adopted on 23 March, 1940 with great enthusiasm.

Origin of Name

The name was coined by Cambridge student and Muslim nationalist Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He devised the word and first published it on January 28, 1933 in the pamphlet Now or Never [http://www.zyworld.com/slam33/non.htm]. He saw it as an acronym formed from the names of the "homelands" of Muslims in South Asia. (P for Punjab, A for the Afghan areas of the region, K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and tan for Baluchistan, thus forming 'Pakstan.' An 'i' was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation, producing Pakistan.) The word also captured in the Persian language the concepts of "Pak" meaning "Pure" and "stan" for "land" or "home" (as in the names of Central Asian countries in the region; Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, etc), thus giving it the meaning Land of the Pure. All Arabic-speaking countries refer to Pakistan as باکستان (Bakstaan), as the Arabic alphabet lacks the letter "P."

Partition

As the British granted independence to their dominions in India in mid- August 1947, the two nations joined the British Commonwealth as self-governing dominions. The partition left Punjab and Bengal, two of the biggest provinces, divided between India and Pakistan. In the early days of independence, more than two million people migrated across the new border and more than one hundred thousand died in a spate of communal violence. The partition also resulted in tensions over Kashmir leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

Independence to present

Independence

Pakistan's independence was won through a democratic and constitutional struggle. Although the country's record with parliamentary democracy has been mixed, Pakistan, after lapses, has returned to this form of government. Pakistani political history is divided into alternating periods of authoritarian military government and democratic civilian/parliamentary rule. Since independence, Pakistan has also been in constant dispute with India over the territory of Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute has complicated relations between Pakistan and India. In addition, Pakistan has been at odds with Afghanistan over the Pashtunistan issue for much of its history as well.

Military Rule (1958-1971)

1971 Although dominion status ended in 1956 with the formation of a Constitution and a declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic, the military took control in 1958 and held power for more than 10 years. Field Marshall Ayub Khan also started Basic Democracy in which the people elected electors who in turn voted to select the President. He nearly lost the national elections to Fatima Jinnah. During Ayub's rule, relations with the United States and the West grew stronger. A formal alliance including Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey was formed during the Ayub Khan period and was called the Baghdad Pact (later known as CENTO), which was to defend the Middle East and Persian Gulf from Soviet designs. Pakistan engaged in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 with India over Kashmir and the Rann of Kutch. After a nationwide uprising in 1969, Ayub Khan stepped down and handed over power to General Yahya Khan who promised general elections to be held at the end of 1970.

1971 war and the secession of East Pakistan

From August 14, 1947, until 1971, the nation consisted of two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, geographically separated by over a thousand miles, with India in between. Although East Pakistanis, most of whom were Bengalis, constituted 56% of the population, there were allegations of inequal economic development favoring West Pakistan. This factor and the rise in Bengali Nationalism resulted in an independence movement in East Pakistan. Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was in the forefront of this movement. On the eve of the 1970 elections, more than 150,000 people died in one of the largest natural disaster of the twentieth century when a cyclone hit East Pakistan in 12 November, 1970. Despite the tragedy, elections went on, and the results showed a clear division between the Eastern and the Western provinces of the country. The Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a majority in the National Assembly, with 167 of the 169 East Pakistani seats, but with no seats from West Pakistan, where the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won 85 seats in the National Assembly. Yahya and Bhutto refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujib. Meanwhile, Mujib initiated a civil disobedience movement, strongly supported by the general population of East Pakistan and most of its government workers. A round-table conference between Yahya, Bhutto and Mujib was convened in Dhaka, and after it ended without a solution, the Pakistani Army started Operation Searchlight, an organized and brutal crackdown on the East Pakistani army, police, politicians, innocent civilians and students in Dhaka. Mujib and many other Awami League leaders were arrested, while others fled to India. On March 27, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman, a decorated Bengali war-veteran of the East Bengal Regiment of Pakistan Army, declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Mujib. The crackdown broadened and later escalated into a guerrilla warfare between the Pakistani Army and the Mukti Bahini-Bengali "freedom fighters". Although the killing of Bengalis was mostly unsupported by the people of West Pakistan, it continued for 9 months. India supplied the Bengali rebels with arms and training, and also hosted more than 10 million Bengali refugees who fled the turmoil. India]On December 6, 1971, the Indian Army officially joined the war (Indo-Pakistani War of 1971), and launched a massive assault into East Pakistan, where, by that time, the Pakistani Army led by General A. A. K. Niazi, had been weakened and exhausted. Being outflanked by the Indian Army and overwhelmed, it surrendered to the Indian Army-Mukti Bahini joint command on December 16, 1971, in one of the largest surrenders since WW2 - as nearly 90,000 soldiers become PoWs. The official figure of Bengali civilian death toll from the war is reported to be 3 million, although some other sources put the number as low 1.25 to 1.5 million. The result was the emergence of the new nation of Bangladesh. Discredited by the defeat, President Gen. Yahya Khan resigned.

Civilian rule and the 1973 Constitution

Civilian rule returned after the war when General Yahya Khan handed over power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1972, Pakistani intelligence learned that India was close to developing a nuclear bomb, and in response, Bhutto formed a group of engineers and scientists, headed by nuclear scientist Abdus Salam - who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics - to develop nuclear devices. In 1973, Parliament approved the 1973 Constitution. Pakistan was alarmed by the Indian nuclear test of 1974, and Bhutto promised that Pakistan would also have a nuclear device "even if we have to eat grass and leaves." During Bhutto's rule, a serious rebellion also took place in Baluchistan and led to harsh suppression of Baloch rebels with purported assistance from the Shah of Iran lending air support in order to avoid a spilling over the conflit into Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Elections were held in 1977, with Bhutto winning. Bhutto's victory was challenged by the opposition, which accused him of rigging the vote. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in a coup, Bhutto was later executed after being convicted of murdering a political opponent in a controversial 4-3 split decision by Pakistan's Supreme Court.

Front-line state in the anti-Soviet struggle

Pakistan had been a US ally for much of the South Asia usually refers to the political entities of the Indian subcontinent, the Republic of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, including the island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. See History of India and History of Pakistan for the history of the subcontinent proper. For the histories of the other nations usually considered in South Asia, see:
- History of Afghanistan
- History of Bangladesh
- History of Bhutan
- History of the Maldives
- History of Nepal
- History of Sri Lanka
- History of Tibet

See also


- History of Asia
- History of the Middle East
- History of Southeast Asia
- History of Central Asia Category:South Asia Category:Asian history ko:남아시아사

History of Iran

The history'of Iran (Persia) covers thousands of years, from the ancient civilaztion in Iranian plateau, Mani civilization in Azarbaijan and Shar-e sookhteh in Zabol and ancient Kingdom of Jiroft, followed by established kingdom of Elam to the modern Islamic Republic of Iran. (For a more detailed history of Iran, see also the German Wikipedia or Full list of Iranian kingdoms)

Ancient history


- Full list of Iranian kingdoms.]] The ancient nation of Iran was historically known to the West as Persia until March 21, 1935. The name was used in the West due to the ancient Greek name for Iran, Persis. Persia is used to describe the nation of Iran, its people, or its ancient empire. The Persians call their country Iran / Iranshahr since Sassanian period. The name Persia comes from a region in the south of Iran, called Fars or Pars in the Persian language. Persis is the Hellenized form of Pars, based on which other European nations termed it Persia. This region was the core of the original Persian Empire. Westerners referred to the state as Persia until March 21, 1935, when Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call the country by its native name, Iran, which means Land of the Aryans but because of some Persian scholars protests the government announced in 1959 that both Persia and Iran could be used. (see Iran/Persia naming controversy). For the geography of Persia, see Geography of Iran. Once a major empire of superpower proportions, Persia has been overrun frequently and has had its territory altered throughout the centuries. Invaded and occupied by Arabs, Turks, Mongols, British and Archeological findings place knowledge of Persian prehistory at middle paleolithic times (100,000 years ago). The earliest sedentary cultures date from 18,000-14,000 years ago. In 6000 BC the world saw a fairly sophisticated agricultural society and proto-urban population centers. 7000 year old jars of wine excavated in Iran [http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/NearEast/wine.shtml are now on display at The University of Pennsylvania]. Many dynasties have ruled Persia throughout the ages. Scholars and archeologists are only beginning to discover the scope of the independent, non-Semitic Elamite Empire and [http://www.chn.ir/english/eshownews.asp?no=3970 Jiroft civilizations] [http://www.thenoiseroom.com/archNews/archNewsStoryDisplay.php?id=330 (2)] [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200405/what.was.jiroft..htm (3)] 5000 years ago, many of which built ziggurats and cities before the Greek and Egyptian states came into being. At the end of second millennium, nomads from central Asia settled in Persia. The first true empire of global proportions of Persia blossomed under the Achaemenids in (559 - 330 BC). The dynasty was founded by Cyrus the Great, who merged the various tribes and kingdoms into one unified entity. Following the Hellenistic period (300 - 250 BC) came the Parthian (250 BC - AD 226 ) and the Sassanid (226 - 651) dynasties.

Islamic Conquest

Sassanid, kept at The National Museum of Iran.]]
- Its consist of an intermediate era of nearly 150 years between the dissoloution of Sassanid dynasty of Persia and establishment of first native dynasty of Persia after Islam in which iran was been ruled by Caliphates of Umayyads and continued with Abbassids.

Iran after arrival of Islam

Abbassid Following the defeat of Sassanids and reign of Caliphates of Umayyads and Abbassids, Iranians sought to regain their lost independence, beginning with semiautonomous Tahirid dynasty, Persians fought consistently for their full independence. The following three Persian dynasties Saffarid dynasty, Ziyarid dynasty and Samanid dynasty slowly recaptured those provinces of Iran who were still under Abassid rule. The gradual decline of Abassids speeded this progress, reaching to a point where Shi'ite Buwayhid dynasty of Persia subsequent of capture of whole mainland Iran thus completing the Persia's goal of full indepdence. They even invaded Khvarvaran (Iraq) (Aragh-e-Arab) and took the city of Baghdad, the Abassids capital, and imprisoned the Caliph. Culturally, all of intiall dynasties tried more or less to re-establish Persian culture and language. Samanids and Buwayhids were the most steadfast in this restoration process. During this two dynasties many of ancient Persian traditions and festivals reappeared from ashes, and Persian culture found a new life.

The Middle Ages

Baghdad.]] Persia's next ruling dynasties descended from Central Asian Turkic-speaking warriors who had been moving out of Central Asia into Transoxiana for more than a millennium. The Abbasid caliphs began enlisting these people as slave warriors as early as the ninth century. Shortly thereafter the real power of the Abbasid caliphs began to wane; eventually they became religious figureheads while the warrior slaves ruled. As the power of the Abbasid caliphs diminished, a series of independent and indigenous dynasties rose in various parts of Persia, some with considerable influence and power. Among the most important of these overlapping dynasties were the Tahirids in Khorasan (820-872); the Saffarids in Sistan (867-903); and the Samanids (875-1005), originally at Bukhara. The Samanids eventually ruled an area from central Persia to India. In 962 a Turkish slave governor of the Samanids, Aluptigin, conquered Ghazna (in present-day Afghanistan) and established a dynasty, the Ghaznavids, that lasted to 1186. Several Samanid cities had been lost to another Turkish group, the Seljuks, a clan of the Oghuz (or Ghuzz) Turks, who lived north of the Oxus River (present-day Amu Darya). Their leader, Tughril Beg, turned his warriors against the Ghaznavids in Khorasan. He moved south and then west, conquering but not wasting the cities in his path. In 1055 the caliph in Baghdad gave Tughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title King of the East. Under Tughril Beg's successor, Malik Shah (1072-1092), Iran enjoyed a cultural and scientific renaissance, largely attributed to his brilliant Iranian vizier, Nizam al Mulk. These leaders established the observatory where Omar Khayyám did much of his experimentation for a new calendar, and they built religious schools in all the major towns. They brought Abu Hamid Ghazali, one of the greatest Islamic theologians, and other eminent scholars to the Seljuk capital at Baghdad and encouraged and supported their work. A serious internal threat to the Seljuks, however, came from the Ismailis, a secret sect with headquarters at Alamut between Rasht and Tehran. They controlled the immediate area for more than 150 years and sporadically sent out adherents to strengthen their rule by murdering important officials. The word assassins, which was applied to these murderers, developed from a European corruption of the name applied to them in Syria, hashishiyya, because folklore had it that they smoked hashish before their missions.

Before the First World War

hashishiyyaPersia underwent a revival under the Safavid dynasty (1502-1736), the most prominent figure of which was Shah Abbas I. The conqueror Nadir Shah and his successors were followed by the Zand dynasty, founded by Karim Khan, and later the Qajar (1795-1925) and the Pahlavi dynasties (1925-1979). By the 17th century, European countries, including Portugal, Great Britain, Imperial Russia, and France, had already started establishing colonial footholds in the region. Iran as a result lost sovereignty over many of its provinces to these countries via the Turkmanchai treaty, Gulistan Treaty, and others. Modern Iranian (Persian) history began with the Constitutional Revolution of Iran against the Shah (who remained in power) in 1905, the granting of a limited constitution in 1906 (making the country a constitutional monarchy), and the discovery of oil in 1908. The first Majlis (parliament) was convened on October 7, 1906. The key to the region was the British discovery of oil, see William Knox D'Arcy and Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP). Control of the region was disputed between the United Kingdom and Russia, codified in an agreement of 1907 dividing the region into spheres of influence. The Constitutionalist movement of Gilan ended with the rise of Reza Pahlavi and the Pahlavi dynasty in 1921.

World Wars

Pahlavi dynasty During World War I the country was occupied by British and Russian forces but was essentially neutral. In 1919, Britain attempted to establish a protectorate in Iran, aided by the Soviet Union's withdrawal in 1921. In that year a military coup established Reza Khan, a Persian officer of the Persian Cossack Brigade, as dictator and then hereditary Shah of the new Pahlavi dynasty (1925). Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled for almost 16 years, at the beginning mostly secretly aided by the British, installed the new Pahlavi dynasty, thwarted the British attempt at control, and pushed to have the country developed. Under his reign, Persia (Iran) began to modernize and to secularize politics, and the central government reasserted its authority over the tribes and provinces. During World War II, Iran was a vital link in the Allied supply line for lend-lease supplies to the Soviet Union. In August, 1941, British and Indian forces from Iraq and Soviet forces from the north occupied Iran. In September, the British forced Reza to abdicate in favour of his son Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled until 1979. At the Tehran Conference of 1943 the Tehran Declaration guaranteed the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However when the war did end, Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran not only refused to withdraw but backed revolts that established short-lived, pro-Soviet separatist regimes in the northern regions of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, the People's Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kurdish People's Republic in late 1945, both effective Soviet puppet regimes. Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May, 1946 after receiving a promise of oil concessions. The Soviet republics in the north were soon overthrown and the oil concessions were revoked.

United States and the Shah

Kurdish People's Republic Arnaud de Borchgrave wrote: :Several U.S. administrations, beginning in 1953 with a CIA-engineered coup to oust Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and bring back Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from a brief exile in Rome, to the U.S. betrayal of the shah in 1978, interfered directly in the country's internal affairs. [http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050215-091405-8635r.htm] Initially there were hopes that post-occupation Iran could become a constitutional monarchy. The new, young Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi initially took a very hands-off role in government, and allowed parliament to hold a lot of power. Some elections were held in the first shaky years, although they remained mired in corruption. Parliament became chronically unstable, and from the 1947 to 1951 period Iran saw the rise and fall of six different prime ministers. In 1951, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, a nationalist, received the vote required from the parliament to nationalize the British-owned oil industry, in a situation known as the Abadan Crisis. Despite British pressure, including an economic blockade which caused real hardship, the nationalization continued. Mossadegh was briefly forced from power in 1952 but was quickly re-elected by an overwhelming majority, returned, and forced the Shah to flee. Mossadegh then declared a republic, but a few days later the Shah returned and again forced Mossadegh from office on August 19 with illegal U.S. CIA and government support — Operation Ajax. Mossadegh was arrested and a new prime minister was appointed. In return for the US support the Shah agreed, in 1954, to allow an international consortium of British (40%), American (40%), French (6%), and Dutch (14%) companies to run the Iranian oil facilities for the next 25 years, with profits shared equally. In other words, no control or profits went to Iran. There was a return to stability in the late 1950s and the 1960s. In 1957 martial law was ended after 16 years and Iran became closer to the West, joining the Baghdad Pact and receiving military and economic aid from the US. The Iranian government began a broad program of reforms to modernize the country, notably changing the quasi-feudal land system. However the reforms did not greatly improve economic conditions and the liberal pro-Western policies alienated certain Islamic religious and political groups. From the mid-1960s the political situation was becoming increasingly unstable, with organisations such as Mujaheddin-e-Khalq (MEK) emerging. In 1961, Iran initiated a series of economic, social, and administrative reforms that became known as the Shah's White Revolution. The core of this program was land reform. Modernization and economic growth proceeded at an unprecedented rate, fueled by Iran's vast petroleum reserves, the third-largest in the world. The Premier Hassan Ali Mansur was assassinated in 1965 and the internal security service, SAVAK, became more violently active. It is estimated that 13,000-13,500 people were killed by the SAVAK during this period of time, and thousands more were arrested and tortured. The Islamic clergy, headed by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (who had been exiled in 1964), were becoming increasingly vociferous. Internationally relations with Iraq fell into a steep decline, mainly due to a dispute over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway which a 1937 agreement gave to Iraq. Following a number of clashes in April, 1969, Iran abrogated the 1937 accord and demanded a renegotiation. Iran greatly increased its defense budget and by the early 1970s was the region's strongest military power. In November, 1971 Iranian forces seized control of three islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, in response Iraq expelling thousands of Iranian nationals. In mid-1973, the Shah returned the oil industry to national control. Following the Arab-Israeli War of October, 1973, Iran did not join the Arab oil embargo against the West and Israel. Instead it used the situation to raise oil prices, using the money gained for modernization and to increase defense spending. In the early 1970s, the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq organisation assassinated Tehran-based US military personnel and US civilians involved in military contracts, seeking to weaken the regime and remove foreign influence. A border dispute between Iraq and Iran was resolved with the signing of the Algiers Accord on March 6, 1975. However the economic improvements tended to only benefit a very small group and succeeded in disaffecting the vast majority of the population, culminating in widespread religious led protests throughout the late 1970s. There was widespread religious and political opposition to the Shah's rule and programs--especially SAVAK, the hated internal security and intelligence service. Martial law was declared in September 1978 (see Black Friday (1978)) for all major cities but the Shah recognized the erosion of his power-base and fled Iran on January 16, 1979.

Islamic Revolution

After many months of popular protests against the rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee the nation on January 16, 1979. After a period of internal competition over the future of Iran, the contest was eventually won by the alliance led by the Ayatollah Khomeini who supported making Iran a theocratic state. On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returned from France (after 15 years in exile in France, Turkey, and Iraq) overthrowing the shah's government on February 11 and becoming Iran's Supreme Leader. The new government was extremely conservative. It nationalized industry and restored Islamic traditions in culture and law. Western influences were banned and the existing pro-West elite was quick to join the shah in exile. There were clashes between rival religious factions and brutal repression quickly became commonplace.

The Islamic Republic

Supported by Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, militant Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and held it until January 20, 1981 (see Iran hostage crisis). The Carter administration severed diplomatic relations and imposed economic sanctions on April 7, 1980 and later that month attempted a rescue. A commando mission was aborted on April 25 after mechanical problems grounded rescue helicopters and eight American troops were killed in a mid-air collision. On May 24 the International Court of Justice called for the hostages' release. Finally Ronald Reagan ended the crisis on the day of his inauguration, agreeing to nearly all the Iranian terms. On September 22, 1980 Iraq invaded Iran, see Iran-Iraq War. Official U.S. policy sought to isolate Iran, and the U.S. and its allies supplied Iraq with weapons and technology to maintain a balance in the war. Ironically, members of the Reagan Administration covertly sold weapons and parts to Iran in what became known as the Iran-Contra affair. Iran finally agreed to UNSC Resolution 598 in 1988 ending the bloody war. In 1981, Mujaheddin-e-Khalq detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier's office, killing 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti (chief Justice), Mohammad Ali Rajai (President), and Mohammad Javad Bahonar (Prime Minister). Following Khomeini's death on June 3, 1989, the Assembly of Experts—an elected body of senior clerics—chose the outgoing president of the republic, Ali Khamenei, to be his successor as national religious leader in what proved to be a smooth transition. During the Persian Gulf War (1991) the country remained relatively neutral, restricting its action to the condemnation of the U.S. and allowing Iraqi aircraft and refugees into the country. President Rafsanjani was re-elected in 1993 with a more modest majority; some Western observers attributed the reduced voter turnout to disenchantment with the deteriorating economy. Rafsanjani was succeeded in 1997 by the moderate Mohammad Khatami. This led the country into a dangerous rift between a government seeking reform and moderate liberalization against a clergy still extremely conservative. This rift reached a climax in July of 1999, when massive anti-government protests erupted in the streets of Tehran. The disturbances lasted over a week before police and pro-government vigilantes dispersed the crowds. Khatami was re-elected in June of 2001 but his efforts were repeatedly blocked by the religious Guardian Council. After Khatami's reelection, conservative elements within Iran's government moved to undermine the reformist movement, banning liberal newspapers and disqualifying candidates for parliamentary elections. This clampdown on dissent, combined with the failure of Khatami to reform the government, led to growing political apathy among Iran's youth. The ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected president in 2005 in an election that saw the disqualification of over 1,000 candidates by the Guardian Council. On August 9, 2005 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. [http://www.ww4report.com/node/929] See also: full list of Iranian Kingdoms

Further reading


- Iran Between Two Revolutions, Ervand Abrahamian, 1982, ISBN 0691101345
- Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan. Vol. I., Isabella Bird, 1988, Reprint: Viagra Press, London
- All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, Stephen Kinzer, 2003, ISBN 0471265179
- [http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Iran&btnG=Search+News Google News: Iran]

History related articles on Iran


- Persian Corridor
- Constitutionalist movement of Gilan
- Persia, a brief historical review of the empire.
- Persian Constitutional Revolution
- Aratta
- Aratti theory
- Persian mythology
- White Revolution
- Parthia
- Full list of Iranian Kingdoms

External links


- [http://www.cais-soas.com/Essays.htm Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies at SOAS] Category:History of Iran

History of Afghanistan

This article is the top of the History of Afghanistan series.
Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan
Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
Durrani Empire
European influence in Afghanistan
Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war
Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah
Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
History of Afghanistan since 1992

History of Afghanistan

Afghanistan's history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia. Over the centuries, waves of migrating peoples passed through the region--described by historian Arnold Toynbee as a "roundabout of the ancient world"--leaving behind a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. In modern times, as well as in antiquity, vast armies of the world passed through this region of Asia, temporarily establishing local control and often dominating Iran and what is today Pakistan and northern India. During the long Kushana rule, Afghanistan become a major cultural center. Centers of learning and libraries were established throughout the region. The Kushanas patronized scholars of several different faiths: Buddhist, Hindu and Zoroastrian. The Shahis ruled much of Afghanistan for several centuries until the arrival of Islam. Although it was the scene of great empires and flourishing trade for over two millennia, the area's heterogeneous groups were not bound into a single political entity until the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who in 1747 founded the monarchy that ruled the country until 1973. In the nineteenth century, Afghanistan lay between the expanding might of the Russian and British empires. In 1900, Abdur Rahman Khan (the "Iron Amir"), looking back on his twenty years of rule and the events of the past century, wondered how his country, which stood "like a goat between these lions [Britain and Tsarist Russia] or a grain of wheat between two strong millstones of the grinding mill, [could] stand in the midway of the stones without being ground to dust?" Islam played a key role in the formation of Afghanistan's history as well. Despite the Mongol invasion of what is today Afghanistan in the early thirteenth century which has been described as resembling "more some brute cataclysm of the blind forces of nature than a phenomenon of human history," even a warrior as formidable as Genghis Khan did not uproot Islamic civilization, and within two generations his heirs had become Muslims. An often unacknowledged event that nevertheless played an important role in Afghanistan's history (and in the politics of Afghanistan's neighbors and the entire region up to the present) was the rise in the tenth century of a strong Sunni dynasty--the Ghaznavids. Their power prevented the eastward spread of Shiism from Iran, thereby insuring that the majority of the Muslims in Afghanistan and South Asia would be Sunnis. This article briefly outlines each period of History of Afghanistan only; details are presented in separate articles (see the links in the box and below).

Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan (before 651)

Main article: Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost).]] In 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part of the Persian Empire, to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh). Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Gokturks followed in succeeding centuries. During the Kushana rule, Afghanistan and Gandhara became major centers of culture and learning. The Shahis ruled Afghanistan from mid 7th century to the rise of the Gaznavids in the 1th century.

Islamic conquest of Afghanistan (642-1747)

Main article: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam. Afganistan became a clash of civilizations for a century, when Tang China (ruling from Korea to Afghanistan), Tibet and Arabia (ruling from Morocco to Afghanistan) fought for control in Central Asia. The Persians controlled the area until conquered by the Ghaznavid Empire in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazna (Ghazni) into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India. The Ghaznavid dynasty was defeated in 1146 by the Ghurids (Ghor), the Ghaznavid Khans continued to live in Ghazni as the 'Nasher' until the early 20th century but they never regained their once vast power. Various princes and Seljuk rulers attempted to rule parts of the country until the shah Muhammad II of the Khwarezmid Empire conquered all of Persia in 1205. By 1219 the empire had fallen to the Mongols. Led by Genghis Khan, the invasion resulted in massive slaughter of the population, destruction of many cities, including Herat, Ghazni, and Balkh, and the despoliation of fertile agricultural areas. Following Genghis Khan's death in 1227, a succession of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Timur Lenk, incorporated what is today Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur, a descendant of Timur and the founder of India's Moghul Empire at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the capital of an Afghan principality. Afghanistan was divided in three parts in the 16th, 17th and early 18th century. North were the Uzbeks, west was Persia and East was the Mughal empire. The Afghans, or more specific Ghilzai Pashtuns under Khan Nasher rose against Persian rule in the early 18th century. The Persian army was defeated and the Afghans conquered the whole of Persia afterwards. The Ghilzai Pashtuns were defeated and the Durrani Pashtuns became the principal Afghan rulers.

The Durrani Empire (1747-1826)

Main article: Durrani Empire Durrani Empire In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king in the first Loya Jirga after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1929, all of Afghanistan's rulers until the 1978 Marxist coup were from Durrani's Pashtun tribal confederation, and all were members of that tribe's Mohammadzai clan after 1818.

European influence in Afghanistan (1826-1919)

Main article: European influence in Afghanistan Dost Mohammed Khan gained control in Kabul. Collision between the expanding British and Russian Empires significantly influenced Afghanistan during the 19th century in what was termed "The Great Game." British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-1842) resulted in the destruction of a British army; it's remembered as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-1880) was sparked by Amir Shir Ali's refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan. The British retained effective control over Kabul's foreign affairs. Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however. Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the Third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.

Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war (1919-1929)

Main article: Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war King Amanullah (1919-1929) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey--during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Ataturk--introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand.

Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah (1929-1973)

Main article: Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah Prince Mohammed Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He reversed the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation. In 1933, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student. Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. In 1946 another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister. He began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. In 1953 he was replaced as Prime Minister by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law. Daoud sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and a more hostile one towards Pakistan. However dispute with Pakistan led to an economic crisis and he was asked to resign in 1963. From 1963 until 1973 Zahir Shah took a more active role. In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a bicameral legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy" produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society.

Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan (1973-1978)

Main article: Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability. As disillusionment set in, on April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly supported by the USSR.

Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1978-1992)

Main article: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The PDPA, as a pro-communist socialist party, implemented a socialist agenda which included decrees abolishing usury, banning forced marriages, state recognition of women’s rights to vote, replacing religious and traditional laws with secular and Marxist ones, banning tribal courts, and land reform. Men were obliged to cut their beards, women couldn't wear a burqa, and mosque visiting was forbidden. The PDPA invited the Soviet Union to assist in modernising its economic infrastructure (predominantly its exploration and mining of rare minerals and natural gas). The USSR also sent contractors to build roads, hospitals, schools and mine for water wells; they also trained and equipped the Afghan army. These reforms and the PDPA's monopoly on power were met with a large backlash, partly led by members of the traditional establishment. Many groups were formed in an attempt to reverse the dependence on the Soviet Union, some resorting to violent means and sabotage of the country's industry and infrastructure. The government responded with a heavy handed military intervention and arrested, exiled and executed many mujahedin "holy Muslim warriors". In 1979 the Afghan army was overwhelmed with the number of incidents, and the Soviet Union sent troops to crush the uprising, install a pro-Moscow government, and support the new government. On December 25, 1979 the Soviet army entered Kabul. This was the starting point of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended only in 1989 with a full withdrawal of Soviet troops under the Geneva accords reached in 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan. For over nine years the Soviet Army conducted miliary opearations against the Afghan mujahedin rebels. The American CIA, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia assisted in the financing of the resistance because of their anti-communist stance, and, in the case of Saudi Arabia, because of their Islamist inclinations. Osama bin Laden was a prominent mujahideen organizer and financier; his Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK) (Office of Order) funnelled money, arms, and Muslim fighters from around the world into Afghanistan, with the assistance and support of the American, Pakistani, and Saudi governments. In 1988, bin Laden broke away from the MAK with some of its more militant members to form Al-Qaida, in order to expand the anti-Soviet resistance effort into a worldwide Islamic fundamentalist movement. The Soviet Union withdrew its troops in February 1989, but continued to aid the government, led by Mohammed Najibullah. Massive amounts of aid from the CIA and Saudi Arabia to the mujahadin also continued. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Najibullah government was overthrown on April 18, 1992 when Abdul Rashid Dostum mutinied, and allied himself with Ahmed Shah Massoud, to take control of Kabul and declare the Islamic State of Afghanistan.

History of Afghanistan (1992 to present)

Main article: History of Afghanistan since 1992 When the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias' ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued. An interim Islamic Jihad Council was put in place, first led by Sibghatullah Mojadeddi for two months, then by Burhanuddin Rabbani. Fighting among rival factions intensified. In reaction to the anarchy and warlordism prevalent in the country, and the lack of Pashtun representation in the Kabul government, a movement of religious scholars, many of them former mujahideen, arose. The Taliban took control of 90% of the country by 1998, limiting the opposition mostly to a small, largely Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley. The opposition formed the Afghan Northern Alliance, which continued to receive diplomatic recognition in the United Nations as the government of Afghanistan. In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States and its coalition allies launched a successful invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban government. Sponsored by the UN, Afghan factions met in Bonn and chose a 30 member interim authority led by Hamid Karzai. After governing for 6 months, former King Zahir Shah convened a Loya Jirga, which elected Karzai president, and gave him authority to govern for two more years. Then, on 9 October 2004, Karzai was elected president in Afghanistan's first ever direct presidential election.

See also


- Timeline of Afghan history
- History of present-day nations and states

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1162668.stm BBC: Country profile: Afghanistan]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/18/international/asia/18AFGH.html HISTORY: For Ages, Afghanistan Is Not Easily Conquered, New York Times, 9/18/2001]

Further reading


- Anthony Arnold, Afghanistan's Two-Party Communism
- Henry S. Bradsher, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union
- Louis Dupree, Afghanistan
- Arnold Charles Fletcher, Afghanistan: Highway of Conquest
- Vartan Gregorian, The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization, 1840-1946
- Kawun Kakar Hasan, Government and Society in Afghanistan: The Reign of Amin 'Abdal-Rahman Khan
- W. Kerr Fraser-Tytler, Afghanistan: A Study of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia
- Raiz Muhammad Khan, Untying the Afghan Knot: Negotiating the Soviet Withdrawal
- Richard S. Newell, The Politics of Afghanistan
- Leon B. Poullada, Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan, 1919-1929
- Olivier Roy, Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan
- Barnett Rubin, The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System
- [http://www.spongobongo.com/her9886.htm Donald Newton Wilber], Afghanistan
- Bernard, P. 1994. “The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia.” In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing., pp. 99-129.
- Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." 2nd Draft Edition.[http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html]
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html]
- Sarianidi, V. I. 1971. “The Lapis Lazuli Route in the Ancient East.” V. I. Sarianidi. Archaeology Magazine, January 1971, pp. 12-15.
- Sarianidi, Victor. 1985. The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan. Harry N. Abrams, New York.
- Sarianidi, Victor. 1989. “Early Kushan Jeweller's Art.” International Association for the Study of the Cultures of Central Asia Information Bulletin, Issue 15. Moscow, Nauka Publishers, pp. 124-134.
- Sarianidi, V. 1990-1992 “Tilya Tepe: The Burial of a Noble Warrior.” PERSICA XIV, 1990-1992, pp. 103-130.
- Vogelsang, Willem. 2002. The Afghans.
- Watson, Burton. Trans. 1961. Records of the Grand Historian of China: Translated from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Chap. 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press.
- Wood, John. 1872. A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus. New Edition, edited by his son, with an essay on the "Geography of the Valley of the Oxus" by Henry Yule. John Murray, London.

References


- [http://www.history-forum.com/index.php?topic=154.0 Ancient/Medeival History of Afghanistan] at History Forum
- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5380.htm#history U.S. Department of State Background Note] on Afghanistan
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aftoc.html Library of Congress Country Study] of Afghanistan
- [http://www.rulers.org/rula1.html#afghanistan Rulers.org — Afghanistan] list of rulers for Afghanistan Category:History of Afghanistan

Indus Valley Civilization

-Ghaggar river and their tributaries. The Mohenjo-daro ruins pictured above were once the center of this ancient society.]] The Indus Valley Civilization, 3300 BCE–1800 BCE, was an ancient civilization thriving along the lower Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra river in what is now Pakistan and western India. Among other names for this civilization is the Harappan Civilization of the Indus Valley, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa.

Overview

The Indus Civilization is among the world's earliest civilizations, contemporary to the Bronze Age civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. It peaked around 2500 BCE in the western part of South Asia, declined during the mid-2nd millennium BCE and was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 1920s by RD Banerjee. Geographically, it was spread over an area of some 1,260,000 km², comprising the whole of modern day Pakistan and parts of modern-day India and Afghanistan. There were Indus civilization settlements spread as far south as Mumbai, as far east as Delhi, as far west as the Iranian border, and as far north as the Himalayas. Thus there is an Indus Valley site on the Oxus river at Shortughai in northern Afghanistan (Kenoyer 1998:96) and the Indus Valley site Alamgirpur at the Hindon river is located only 28 km from Delhi (S.P. Gupta 1995:183). At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million. The Indus civilization is still poorly understood. Its very existence was forgotten until the 20th century. Its writing system remains undeciphered. Among the Indus civilization's mysteries are fundamental questions, including its means of subsistence and the causes for its sudden disappearance beginning around 1900 BCE. We do not know what language the people spoke. We do not know what they called themselves. All of these facts stand in stark contrast to what is known about its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. The native name of the Indus civilization may be preserved in the Sumerian Me-lah-ha, which Asko Parpola, editor of the Indus script corpus, identifies with the Dravidian Met-akam "high abode/country" (see also Proto-Dravidian). He further suggets that the Sanskrit word mleccha for "foreigner, barbarian, non-Aryan" may be derived from that name.

Settlements

Aryan To date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Kalibanga, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi. Additionally, there is some disputed evidence indicative of another large river, now long dried up, running parallel and to the east of the Indus. The dried-up river beds overlap with the Hakra channel in Pakistan, and the seasonal Ghaggar river in India. Over 500 ancient sites belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered along the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries (S.P. Gupta 1995: 183). In contrast to this, only 90 to 96 of the over 800 known Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries. A section of scholars claim that this was a major river during the third and fourth millennia BCE, and propose that it may have been the Sarasvati River of the Rig Veda. Some of those who accept this hypothesis advocate designating the Indus Valley culture the "Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization", Sindhu being the ancient name of the Indus River. Most archeologists dispute this view, arguing that the old and dry river died out during the mesolithic age at the latest, and was reduced to a seasonal stream thousands of years before the Vedic period.

Predecessors

The Indus civilization was predated by the first farming cultures in south Asia, which emerged in the hills of what is now called Balochistan, to the west of the Indus Valley. The best-known site of this culture is Mehrgarh, established around 6500 BCE. These early farmers domesticated wheat and a variety of animals, including cattle. Pottery was in use by around 5500 BCE. The Indus civilization grew out of this culture's technological base, as well as its geographic expansion into the alluvial plains of what are now the provinces of Sindh and Punjab in contemporary Pakistan and Northern India. By 4000 BCE, a distinctive, regional culture, called pre-Harappan, had emerged in this area. (It is called pre-Harappan because remains of this widespread culture are found in the early strata of Indus civilization cities.) Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures and distant sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. Villagers had, by this time, domesticated numerous crops, including peas, sesame seeds, dates, and cotton, as well as a wide range of domestic animals, including the water buffalo, an animal that remains essential to intensive agricultural production throughout Asia today.

Emergence of Civilization

The first appearance of the Indus civilization was the early Harappan/Ravi Phase. This Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River, lasted from approximately 3300 BC, or even 3500 BC, to 2800 BC. This phase is related to the Hakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley to the west, and predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800-2600 BC), named after a site in northern Sindh near Mohenjo-daro. Increasing knowledge of the Ravi and Kot Diji Phase occupations at Harappa, and of contemporary settlements throughout northwestern South Asia, permits glimpses of later Indus Civilization. Some of the most exciting discoveries in Ravi Phase levels have been of early writing. The origins of the Indus script-like signs dates from 3300-2800 BC. This would make the origins of writing in South Asia approximately the same time as in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. [http://www.essays.cc/free_essays/a3/myv94.shtml] The civilization's mature Harappan period began from 2600 BC.

Cities

A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley civilization. The quality of municipal town planning suggests knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene. The streets of major cities such as Mohenjo-daro or Harappa were laid out in a perfect grid pattern, comparable to that of present day New York. The houses were protected from noise, odors, and thieves. As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and the recently discovered Rakhigarhi, this urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The ancient Indus systems of sewage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Empire were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of modern Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. The massive citadels of Indus cities that protected the Harappans from floods and attackers were larger than most Mesopotamian ziggurats. The purpose of the "Citadel" remains a matter of debate. In sharp contrast to this civilization's contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, no large monumental structures were built. There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples—or, indeed, of kings, armies, or priests. Some structures are thought to have been granaries. Found at one city is an enormous well-built bath, which may have been a public bath. Although the "Citadels" are walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive. They may have been built to divert flood waters. Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans, who lived with others pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighborhoods. Materials from distant regions were used in the cities for constructing seals, beads, and other objects. Among the artifacts made were beautiful beads made of glazed stone called faïence. The seals have images of animals, gods, etc., and inscriptions. Some of the seals were used to stamp clay on trade goods, but they probably had other uses. Although some houses were larger than others, Indus civilization cities were remarkable for their apparent egalitarianism. For example, all houses had access to water and drainage facilities. One gets the impression of a vast middle-class society.

Science

The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their measurements were extremely precise. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights. Brick sizes were in a perfect ratio of 4:2:1, and the decimal system was used. Weights were based on units of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure whole sections of the horizon and the tidal dock. In addition, they evolved new techniques in metallurgy, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves, and currents. In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan made the startling discovery that the people of Indus Civilization, even from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of medicine and dentistry. The physical anthropologist that carried out the examinations, Professor Andrea Cucina from the University of Missouri-Columbia, made the discovery when he was cleaning the teeth from one of the men.

Arts and Culture

Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, steatite have been found at the excavation sites. A number of bronze, terracotta, and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form. Sir John Marshall is known to have reacted with surprise when he saw the famous Indus bronze statuette of the slender-limbed "dancing girl" in Mohenjo-daro: :"… When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were prehistoric; they seemed to completely upset all established ideas about early art. Modeling such as this was unknown in the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece, and I thought, therefore, that some mistake must surely have been made; that these figures had found their way into levels some 3000 years older than those to which they properly belonged. … Now, in these statuettes, it is just this anatomical truth which is so startling; that makes us wonder whether, in this all-important matter, Greek artistry could possibly have been anticipated by the sculptors of a far-off age on the banks of the Indus." A harp-like instrument depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments. Seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and one sitting cross-legged; perhaps the earliest indication, at least illustration, of the practice of yoga. A horned figure in a meditation pose (see image, Pashupati, below right) has been interpreted as one of the earliest depictions of the god Shiva.

Trade

The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. These advances included bullock-driven carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal. Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilization artifacts, the trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and central India, and Mesopotamia (see Meluhha).

Agriculture

The nature of the Indus civilization's agricultural system is still largely a matter of conjecture due to the limited amount of information surviving through the ages. Some speculation is possible, however. Indus civilization agriculture must have been highly productive; after all, it was capable of generating surpluses sufficient to support tens of thousands of urban residents who were not primarily engaged in agriculture. It relied on the considerable technological achievements of the pre-Harappan culture, including the plough. Still, very little is known about the farmers who supported the cities or their agricultural methods. Some of them undoubtedly made use of the fertile alluvial soil left by rivers after the flood season, but this simple method of agriculture is not thought to be productive enough to support cities. There is no evidence of irrigation, but such evidence could have been obliterated by repeated, catastrophic floods. The Indus civilization appears to contradict the hydraulic despotism hypothesis of the origin of urban civilization and the state. According to this hypothesis, cities could not have arisen without irrigation systems capable of generating massive agricultural surpluses. To build these systems, a despotic, centralized state emerged that was capable of suppressing the social status of thousands of people and harnessing their labor as slaves. It is very difficult to square this hypothesis with what is known about the Indus civilization. There is no evidence of kings, slaves, or forced mobilization of labor. It is often assumed that intensive agricultural production requires dams and canals. This assumption is easily refuted. Throughout Asia, rice farmers produce significant agricultural surpluses from terraced, hillside rice paddies, which result not from slavery but rather the accumulated labor of many generations of people. Instead of building canals, Indus civilization people may have built water diversion schemes, which—like terrace agriculture—can be elaborated by generations of small-scale labor investments. In addition, it is known that Indus civilization people practiced rainfall harvesting, a powerful technology that was brought to fruition by classical Indian civilization but nearly forgotten in the 20th century. It should be remembered that Indus civilization people, like all peoples in South Asia, built their lives around the monsoon, a weather pattern in which the bulk of a year's rainfall occurs in a four-month period. At a recently discovered Indus civilization city in western India, archaeologists discovered a series of massive reservoirs, hewn from solid rock and designed to collect rainfall, that would have been capable of meeting the city's needs during the dry season.

Writing or Symbol System

monsoon Main article: Indus script. It has long been claimed that the Indus Valley was the home of a literate civilization, but this has recently been challenged on linguistic and archaeological grounds. Well over 400 Indus symbols have been found on seals or ceramic pots and over a dozen other materials, including a 'signboard' that apparently once hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira. Typical Indus inscriptions are no more than four or five characters in length, most of which (aside from the Dholavira 'signboard') are exquisitely tiny; the longest on a single surface, which is less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) square, is 17 signs long; the longest on any object (found on three different faces of a mass-produced object) carries only 26 symbols. It has been recently pointed out that the brevity of the inscriptions is unparalleled in any known premodern literate society, including those that wrote extensively on leaves, bark, wood, cloth, wax, animal skins, and other perishable materials. Based partly on this evidence, a controversial recent paper by Farmer, Sproat, and Witzel (2004)[http://www.safarmer.com/fsw2.pdf], which has been widely discussed in the world press (see external links), argues that the Indus system did not encode language, but was related instead to a variety of non-linguistic sign systems used extensively in the Near East. It has also been claimed on occasion that the symbols were exclusively used for economic transactions, but this claim leaves unexplained the appearance of Indus symbols on many ritual objects, many of which were mass produced in molds. No parallels to these mass-produced inscriptions are known in any other early ancient civilizations. Photos of many of the thousands of extant inscriptions are published in the Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions (1987, 1991), edited by A. Parpola and his colleagues. Publication of a final third volume, which will reportedly republish photos taken in the 20s and 30s of hundreds of lost or stolen inscriptions, along with many discovered in the last few decades, has been announced for several years, but has not yet found its way into print. For now, researchers must supplement the materials in the Corpus by study of the tiny photos in the excavation reports of Marshall (1931), Mackay (1938, 1943), Wheeler (1947), or reproductions in more recent scattered sources.

Geography

The Indus valley was by main rivers, the Indus River. The Indus River was very important to Indus life. The river provided irrigation, and also created fertile land for farming. In the middle of India is the Deccan Plateau, which might have helped protect the Indus people from foriegn invaders. The Himalayas are also located near the Indus Valley, as is the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Decline, collapse and legacy

Around 1900 BC, signs of a gradual decline begin to emerge. People started to leave the cities. Those who remained were poorly nourished. By around 1800 BC, most of the cities were abandoned. In the aftermath of the Indus civilization's collapse, regional cultures emerged, to varying degrees showing the influence of the Indus civilization. In the formerly great city of Harappa, burials have been found that correspond to a regional culture called the Cemetery H culture. At the same time, the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture expands from Rajasthan into the Gangetic Plain. It is in this context of the aftermath of a civilization's collapse that the Indo-Aryan migration into northern India is discussed. In the early twentieth century, this migration was forwarded in the guise of an "Aryan invasion", and when the civilization was discovered in the 1920s, its collapse at precisely the time of the conjectured invasion was seen as an independent confirmation. In the words of the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, the Indo-Aryan war god Indra "stands accused" of the destruction. It is however far from certain whether the collapse of the IVC is a result of an Indo-Aryan migration. It seems rather likely that, to the contrary, the Indo-Aryan migration was as a result of the collapse, comparable with the decline of the Roman Empire and the incursions of relatively primitive peoples during the Migrations Period. A possible natural reason of the IVC's decline is connected with climate change. In 2600 BC, the Indus Valley was verdant, forested, and teeming with wildlife. It was wetter, too; floods were a problem and appear, on more than one occasion, to have overwhelmed certain settlements. As a result, Indus civilization people supplemented their diet with hunting. By 1800 BC, the climate is known to have changed. It became significantly cooler and drier. The crucial factor may have been the disappearance of substantial portions of the Ghaggar-Hakra river system. A tectonic event may have diverted the system's sources toward the Ganges Plain, though there is some uncertainty about the date of this event. Such a statement may seem dubious if one does not realize that the transition between the Indus and Gangetic plains amounts to a matter of inches. The region in which the river's waters formerly arose is known to be geologically active, and there is evidence of major tectonic events at the time the Indus civilization collapsed. Although this particular factor is speculative, and not generally accepted, the decline of the IVC, as with any other civilization, will have been due to a combination of a variety of reasons. In the course of the 2nd millennium BC, remnants of the IVC's culture will have amalgamated with that of other peoples, likely contributing to what eventually resulted in the rise of historical Hinduism. Judging from the abundant figurines depicting female fertility that they left behind, indicate worship of a Mother goddess (compare Shakti and Kali). IVC seals depict animals, perhaps as the object of veneration, comparable to the zoomorphic aspects of some Hindu gods. Seals resembling Pashupati in a yogic posture have also been discovered. Like Hindus today, Indus civilization people seemed to have placed a high value on bathing and personal cleanliness. The houses of Mohenjo-Daro usually had a private well and bathing platforms were often near the well (Kenoyer 1998: 58-60). Unlike other ancient civilizations, the archaeological record of the Indus civilization provides practically no evidence of armies, kings, slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative traits that we traditionally associate with early civilization, although this could simply be due to the sheer completeness of its collapse and subsequent disappearance.

See also


- Gandhara culture, a later Buddhist culture also situated on the Indus
- Meluhha
- Dilmun, contemporary civilization based in present day Bahrain with extensive trade links with the Indus Valley Civilization

Bibliography


- Gupta, S.P. (ed.). 1995. The lost Sarasvati and the Indus Civilization. Kusumanjali Prakashan, Jodhpur.
- Kenoyer, J. Mark. 1998. Ancient cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195779401
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- Jim G. Shaffer. 1992. "The Indus Valley, Baluchistan and Helmand Traditions: Neolithic Through Bronze Age." In Chronologies in Old World Archaeology. Second Edition. R.W. Ehrich, (Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. I:441-464, II:425-446.
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External links and references


- [http://www.safarmer.com/fsw2.pdf Paper published in 2004 by Farmer, Sproat, and Witzel questioning the traditional Indus-script thesis ]
- [http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/index.html An invitation to the Indus Civilization (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum)]
- [http://www.harappa.com/ Photos and descriptions of archaeological excavations — 90 page intro to Indus] (harappa.com)
- [http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/harappa-mohenjodaro.html The Harappan Civilization]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1272010.stm Prehistoric dentistry evidence found in Indus - BBC News]
- [http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati/html/artefacts.htm Indus artefacts]
- [http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?674&soc Cache of Seal Impressions Discovered in Western India ]
- [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/members/indus.html Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization]
- [http://lah.ru/fotoarh/megalit/asia/india.htm image collection] Category:Ancient peoples Category:Bronze Age Category:History of India Category:History of Pakistan Category:Civilizations ja:インダス文明

Silk Road

The Silk Road (Traditional Chinese: 絲綢之路; Simplified Chinese: 丝绸之路; pinyin: sī chóu zhī lù, Persian راه ابریشم Râh-e Abrisham, Turkish: İpekyolu, Kyrgyz: Jibek Jolu,) was an interconnected series of routes through Southern Asia traversed by caravan and ocean vessel, and connecting Chang'an (today's Xi'an), China, with Antioch, Asia Minor, as well as other points. Its influence carried over into Korea and Japan. These exchanges were critical not only for the development and flowering of the great civilizations of Ancient Egypt, China, India and Rome but also laid the foundations of our modern world. Silk road is a translation from the German Seidenstraße, the term first used by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in the 19th century. The continental Silk Road diverges into northern and southern routes as it extends from the commercial centers of North China, the northern route passing through the Bulgar-Kypchak zone to Eastern Europe and the Crimean peninsula, and from there across the Black Sea, Marmara Sea and the Balkans to Venice; the southern route passing through Turkestan-Khorasan into Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and then through Antioch in Southern Anatolia into the Mediterranean Sea or through the Levant into Egypt and North Africa. The last missing railroad link on the Silk Road was completed in 1992, when the international railway communication Almaty - Urumqi opened. The Silk Road on the Sea extends from South China, present-day Philippines, Brunei, Siam, Malacca, Ceylon, India, Persia, Egypt, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. On August 7 2005 it was reported that the Antiquity and Monument Office of Hong Kong was planning to propose the Silk Road on the Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Origins

Cross-continental travel

As accomplished waterway shipping and domestication of efficient pack animals both increased the capacity for prehistoric peoples to carry heavier loads over greater distances, cultural exchanges and trade developed rapidly. For example, shipping in predynastic Egypt was already established by the 4th millennium BC along with domestication of the donkey, with the dromedary possibly having been domesticated as well. Domestication of the Bactrian camel and use of the horse for means of transport then followed (see Domestication of the horse). Just as waterways provide easy means for distant transport, broad stretches of grasslands -- all the way from the shores of the Pacific to Africa and deep into the heart of Europe -- provide fertile passage for grazing, plus water and fuel for caravans. These waterway and overland routes allowed passage that avoided trespassing on agricultural lands, presenting ideal conditions for caravans, merchants and warriors to travel immense distances without arousing the hostility of more settled peoples. While goods and religious ideas may have communicated greater distances, ancient trade was probably conducted over only sections of the routes. The Silk Road is unlikely to have been travelled in entirety -- between Africa, Europe or the Middle East and China -- by land.

Ancient transport

The ancient peoples of the Sahara had already imported domesticated animals from Asia between 7500 and 4000 BC (see Sahara: History, Cattle period). Foreign artifacts dating to the 5th millennium BC in the Badarian culture of Egypt indicate contact with distant Syria [http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/badari/trade.html]. By the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, ancient Egyptians in Maadi were importing pottery [http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/neolithic/maadi.html] as well as construction ideas from Canaan [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/maadi.htm]. Lapis lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient world – Badakshan, in what is now northeastern Afghanistan – as far as Mesopotamia and Egypt by the second half of the 4th millennium BC. By the third millennium BC lapis lazuli trade was extended to Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the Indus valley. Routes along the Persian Royal Road (constructed 5th century BC) may have been in use as early as 3500 BC. There is evidence that Ancient Egyptian explorers may have originally cleared and protected some branches of the Silk Road. Between 1979 and 1985, charcoal samples found in the tombs of Nekhen, which were dated to the Naqada I and II periods, were identified as cedar from Lebanon [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hierakonpolis.htm]. In 1994 excavators discovered an incised ceramic shard with the serekh sign of Narmer, dating to circa 3000 BC. Mineralogical studies reveal the shard to be a fragment of a wine jar exported from the Nile valley to Israel (see Narmer). The ancient harbor constructed in Lothal, India, may be the oldest sea-faring harbor known.

Egyptian maritime trade

The Palermo stone mentions King Sneferu of the 4th Dynasty sending ships to import high-quality cedar from Lebanon (see Sneferu). In one scene in the pyramid of Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty, Egyptians are returning with huge cedar trees. Sahure's name is found stamped on a thin piece of gold on a Lebanon chair, and 5th dynasty cartouches were found in Lebanon stone vessels. Other scenes in his temple depict Syrian bears. The Palermo stone also mentions expeditions to Sinai as well as to the diorite quarries northwest of Abu Simbel. The oldest known expedition to the Land of Punt was organized by Sahure, which apparently yielded a quantity of myrrh, along with malachite and electrum. The 12th-Dynasty Pharaoh Senusret III had a "Suez" canal constructed linking the Nile River with the Red Sea for direct trade with Punt. Around 1950 BCE, in the reign of Mentuhotep III, an officer named Hennu made one or more voyages to Punt. A very famous expedition was conducted by Nehsi for Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BCE to obtain myrrh; a report of that voyage survives on a relief in Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri. Several of her successors, including Thutmoses III, also organized expeditions to Punt.

British tin

Britain had large reserves of tin in the areas of Cornwall and Devon in what is now southwest England. By around 1600 BC the southwest of Britain was experiencing a trade boom, as mined British tin was being exported across Europe (see Prehistoric Britain). When the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age around the Mediterranean the shipping of tin ended between 1200 and 1100 BC. No land route has ever been found between ancient Britain and Mediterranean civilizations.

Chinese and Central Asian contacts

From the 2nd millennium BC nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of Yarkand and Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in Badakhshan and, although separated by the formidable Pamir mountains, routes across them were, apparently, in use from very early times. Pamir plaques, in the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes. 4th-3rd century BC. British Museum.]] The Tarim mummies, Chinese mummies of an Indo-European type, have been found in the Tarim Basin, such as in the area of Loulan located along the Silk Road 200 kilometers east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BC and suggesting very ancient contacts between East and West. It has been suggested that these mummified remains may have been the work of the ancestors of the Tocharians whose Indo-European language remained in use in the Tarim Basin (modern day Xinjiang) of China until the 8th century CE. Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk have been found in Ancient Egypt from 1070 BC. Though the originating source seems sufficiently reliable, silk unfortunately degrades very rapidly and we cannot double-check for accuracy whether it was actually cultivated silk (which would almost certainly have come from China) that was discovered or a type of "wild silk," which might have come from the Mediterranean region or the Middle East. Following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories in the 8th century BC, gold was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze with alternate versions in jade and steatite.

Persian Royal Road

By the time of Herodotus (c. 475 BC) the Persian Royal Road ran some 2,857 km from the city of Susa on the lower Tigris to the port of Smyrna (modern Izmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. It was maintained and protected by the Achaemenid empire (c.700-330 BC) and had postal stations and relays at regular intervals. By having fresh horses and riders ready at each relay, royal couriers could carry messages the entire distance in 9 days, though normal travellers took about three months. This Royal Road linked into many other routes. Some of these, such as the routes to India and Central Asia, were also protected by the Achaemenids, encouraging regular contact between India, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. There are accounts in Esther of dispatches being sent from Susa to provinces as far out as India and Cush during the reign of Xerxes (485-465 BC).

Roman and Egyptian transatlantic voyages

In 1975 two intact amphorae were recovered from the bottom of Guanabara Bay, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1981 archeologist Robert Marx discovered thousands of pottery fragments in the same locality, including 200 necks from amphorae. The amphorae have been shown to be of Roman make, from the 2nd Century BC. Also, tests done on internal tissue samples from ancient Egyptian mummies have revealed traces of chemicals only found in the Americas in antiquity, such as tobacco and coca. Because the samples taken from sundry Egyptian mummies were of internal tissues, the likelihood for contamination is smaller (see Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact).

Hellenistic conquests

Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact (230-200 BC)]]Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact-2nd century BCE, Sampul, Urumqi Xinjiang Museum.]]The first major step in opening the Silk Road between the East and the West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great deep into Central Asia, as far as Ferghana at the borders of the modern-day Xinjiang region of China, where he founded in 329 BC a Greek settlement in the city of Alexandria Eschate "Alexandria The Furthest", Khujand (also called Khozdent or Khojent - formely Leninabad), in the state of Tajikistan. When Alexander the Great's successors, the Ptolemies, took control of Egypt in 323 BC, they began to actively promote trade with Mesopotamia, India, and East Africa through their ports on the Red Sea coast, as well as overland. This was assisted by the active participation of a number of intermediaries, especially the Nabataeans and other Arabs. The Greeks were to remain in Central Asia for the next three centuries, first through the administration of the Seleucid Empire, and then with the establishement of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Bactria. They kept expanding eastward, especially during the reign of Euthydemus (230-200 BC), who extended his control to Sogdiana, reaching and going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate. There are indications that he may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 200 BC. The Greek historian Strabo writes that "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (China) and the Phryni" ([http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1 Strabo XI.XI.I]).

Chinese exploration of Central Asia

Zhang Qian (138-126 BCE)

Seres from 138 to 126 BCE, Mogao Caves mural, 618-712 CE.]]The next step came around 130 BC, with the embassies of the Han Dynasty to Central Asia, following the reports of the ambassador Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiong-Nu, in vain). The Chinese emperor Wudi became interested in developing commercial relationship with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria and Parthia: “The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria (Ta-Hia) and Parthia (Anxi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China” Hou Hanshu (Later Han History). Later Han HistoryThe Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses in the possession of the Dayuan (named "Heavenly horses"), which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as Seleucid Syria. “Thus more embassies were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined the Alans ], Lijian [Syria under the Seleucids], Tiaozhi [Chaldea], and Tianzhu [northwestern India]…As a rule, rather more than ten such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least five or six.” Hou Hanshu (Later Han History). The Chinese campaigned in Central Asia on several occasion, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman legionnaires (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by the Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BC battle of Sogdiana (Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions. The Roman historian Florus also describes the visit of numerous envoys, included Seres (Chinese), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BCE and 14 CE: :"Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with reverence to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus even Scythians and Sarmatians sent envoys to seek the friendship of Rome. Nay, the Seres came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied four years. In truth it needed but to look at their complexion to see that they were people of another world than ours." ("Cathey and the way thither", Henry Yule). The "Silk Road" essentially came into being from the 1st century BC, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. A maritime "Silk Route" opened up between Chinese-controlled Jiaozhi (centred in modern Vietnam [see map above], near Hanoi) probably by the first century CE. It extended, via ports on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, all the way to Roman-controlled ports in Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea. Red Sea-102 CE).]]

Ban Chao (97-102 CE)

In 97 CE Ban Chao crossed the Tian Shan and Pamir mountains with an army of 70,000 men in a campaign against the Xiongnu (i.e., Huns). He went as far west as the Caspian Sea and the Ukraine, reaching the territory of Parthia, where he reportedly also sent an envoy named Gan Ying to Daqin (i.e., Rome). Gan Ying detailed an account of the western countries; although he likely reached only the Black Sea before turning back. The Chinese army made an alliance with the Parthians and established some forts at a distance of a few days march from the Parthian capital Ctesiphon, planning to hold the region for several years. In 116 CE, the Roman Emperor Trajan advanced into Parthia to Ctesiphon and came within one day's march of the Chinese border garrisons, but no direct contacts are known.

The Roman Empire and silk

Trajan Soon after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, China, the Middle East, Africa and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. Land and maritime routes were closely linked, and novel products, technologies and ideas began to spread across the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the 'Great Powers.' Intense trade with the Roman Empire followed soon, confirmed by the Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees: :"The Seres (Chinese), are famous for the woolen substance obtained from their forests; after a soaking in water they comb off the white down of the leaves... So manifold is the labour employed, and so distant is the region of the globe drawn upon, to enable the Roman maiden to flaunt transparent clothing in public" (Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE, The Natural History). The Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds: the importation of Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered to be decadent and immoral: :"I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body" (Seneca the Younger (c.3 BCE–65 CE, Declamations Vol. I). The Hou Hanshu records that the first Roman envoy arrived in China by this maritime route in 166 CE, initiating a series of Roman embassies to China.

Central Asian commercial & cultural exchanges

Roman embassies to China, 1st century AD.]]1st century AD, 2nd century AD.]]1st century AD 1st century AD.]]Notably, the Buddhist faith and the Greco-Buddhist culture started to travel eastward along the Silk Road, penetrating in China from around the 1st century BC. The Kushan empire, in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, was located at the center of these exchanges. They fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China and India, such as in the archeological site of Begram. The heyday of the Silk Road corresponds to that of the Byzantine Empire in its west end, Sasanid Period to Il Khanate Period in the Nile-Oxus section and Three Kingdoms to Yuan Dynasty in the Sinitic zone in its east end. Trade between East and West also developed on the sea, between Alexandria in Egypt and Guangzhou in China, fostering the expansion of Roman trading posts in India. Historians also talk of a "Porcelain Route" or "Silk Route" across the Indian Ocean. The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, the Silk Road sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese.
Chinese.]]Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously living in isolation along the Silk Road or pastoralists who were of barbarian cultural development were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the civilizations connected by the Silk Road, taking on the trades of marauders or mercenaries. Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands, and forge strong military empires. The Silk Road gave rise to the clusters of military states of nomadic origins in North China, invited the Nestorian, Manichaean, Buddhist, and later Islamic religions into Central Asia and China, created the influential Khazar Federation and at the end of its glory, brought about the largest continental empire ever: the Mongol Empire, with its political centers strung along the Silk Road (Beijing in North China, Karakorum in central Mongolia, Sarmakhand in Transoxiana, Tabriz in Northern Iran, Astrakhan in lower Volga, Bahcesaray in Crimea, Kazan in Central Russia, Erzurum in eastern Anatolia), realizing the political unification of zones previously loosely and intermittently connected by material and cultural goods. The Roman empire, and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, crumbled in the West around the 5th century. In Central Asia, Islam expanded from the 7th century onward, bringing a stop to Chinese westward expansion at the Battle of Talas in 751 CE. Further expansion of the Islamic Turks in Central Asia from the 10th century finished disrupting trade in that part of the world, and Buddhism almost disappeared. See also: Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

Artistic transmission on the Silk Road

Silk Road transmission of Buddhism province. Dated circa 200 CE. The hair, the moustache, the robe indicate heavy influence by Gandharan styles.]] :Main article: Silk Road transmission of Art. Many artistic influences transited along the Silk Road, especially through the Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influence were able to intermix. In particular Greco-Buddhist art represent one of the most vivid examples of this interaction.

Buddhist deities

The image of the Buddha, originating during the 1st century CE in northern India (areas of Gandhara and Mathura) was transmitted progressively through Central Asia and China until it reached Korea in the 4th century CE and Japan in the 6th century CE. However the transmission of many iconographical details are clear, such as the Hercules inspiration behind the Nio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples, and also representations of the Buddha reminiscent of Greek art such as the Buddha in Kamakura. Another Buddhist deity, Shukongoshin, is also an interesting case of transmission of the image of the famous Greek god Herakles to the Far-East along the Silk Road. Herakles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China, Korea, and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples.Vajrapani, Tarim Basin, 7th century. Right: Japanese Wind God Fujin, 17th century.]]

Wind god

Various other artistic influences from the Silk Road can be found in Asia, one of the most striking being that of the Greek Wind God Boreas, transiting through Central Asia and China to become the Japanese Shinto wind god Fujin.

Floral scroll pattern

Finally the Greek artistic motif of the floral scroll was transmitted from the Hellenistic world to the area of the Tarim Basin around the 2nd century CE, as seen in Serindian art and wooden architectural remains. It then was adopted by China between the 4th and 6th centuries CE and displayed on tiles and ceramics; then it transmitted to Japan in the form of roof tile decorations of Japanese Buddhist temples circa 7th century CE, particularly in Nara temple building tiles, some of them exactly depicting vines and grapes.

Mongol era

:See main article, Mongol Empire: Silk Road. Mongol Empire: Silk Road c.1280]] The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1215 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-establish the Silk Road (vis-à-vis Karakorum). In the late 13th century, a Venetian explorer named Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China. Westerners became more aware of the Far East when Polo documented his travels in Il Milione. He was followed by numerous Christian missionnaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, Andrew of Longjumeau, Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de Marignolli, Giovanni di Monte Corvino, and other travellers such as Ibn Battuta or Niccolo Da Conti. Luxury goods were traded from one middleman to another, from China to the West, resulting in high prices for the trade goods.

Technological transfer to the West

Niccolo Da Conti, 1459.]]1459 and Atlantic and Mediterranean ships. Depicted in Fra Mauro map, image above.]]Main article: Medieval technology Many technological innovations from the East seem to have filtered into Europe around that time. The period of the High Middle Ages in Europe saw major technological advances, including the adoption through the Silk Road of printing, gunpowder, the astrolabe, and the compass, in many ways sustaining the development of Renaissance Europe and the Age of Exploration. Chinese maps such as the Kangnido and Islamic mapmaking seem to have influenced the emergence of the first practical world maps, such as those of De Virga or Fra Mauro. Ramusio, a contemporary, states that Fra Mauro's map is "an improved copy of the one brought from Cathay by Marco Polo". Large Chinese junks were also observed by these travelers and may have provided impetus to develop larger ships in Europe. ships were also observed :"The ships, called junks, that navigate these seas carry four masts or more, some of which can be raised or lowered, and have 40 to 60 cabins for the merchants and only one tiller." (Text from the Fra Mauro map, 09-P25) :"A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors and four hundred men-at-arms, including archers, men with shields and crossbows, who throw naphtha... These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun (a.k.a Zaitun; today's Quanzhou; 刺桐) and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants. (Ibn Battuta)

Disintegration

However, with the disintegration of the Mongol Empire also came discontinuation of the Silk Road's political, cultural and economic unity. Turkmeni marching lords seized the western end of the Silk Road - the decaying Byzantine Empire. After the Mongol Empire, the great political powers along the Silk Road became economically and culturally separated. Accompanying the crystallization of regional states was the decline of nomad power, partly due to the devastation of the Black Death and partly due to the encroachment of sedentary civilizations equipped with gunpowder. The effect of gunpowder and early modernity on Europe was the integration of territorial states and increasing mercantilism; whereas on the Silk Road, gunpowder and early modernity had the opposite impact: the level of integration of the Mongol Empire could not be maintained, and trade declined (though partly due to an increase in European maritime exchanges). The Silk Road stopped serving as a shipping route for silk around 1400.

The great explorers: Europe reaching for Asia

The disappearance of the Silk Road following the end of the Mongols was one of the main factors that stimulated the Europeans to reach the prosperous Chinese empire through another route, especially by the sea. Tremendous profits were to be obtained for anyone who could achieve a direct trade connection with Asia. When he went West in 1492, Christopher Columbus reportedly wished to create yet another Silk Route to China. It was allegedly one of the great disappointments of western nations to have found a continent "in-between" before recognizing the potential of a "New World." The wish to trade directly with China was also the main drive behind the expansion of the Portuguese beyond Africa after 1480, followed by the powers of the Netherlands and Great Britain from the 17th century. As late as the 18th century, China was usually still considered the most prosperous and sophisticated of any civilization on earth. After Leibniz who, in the 17th century, wrote: "Everything exquisite and admirable comes from the East Indies... Learned people have remarked that in the whole world there is no commerce comparable to that of China" (Leibniz), still, more than a century later, Adam Smith, echoing the prevaling perception in Europe until the Industrial Revolution, declared: :"China is a much richer country than any part of Europe" (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776). In effect, the spirit of the Silk Road and the will to foster exchange between the East and West, and the lure of the huge profits attached to it, has conditioned most of the history of the world during these last three millennia.

See also


- List of cities along the Silk Road.
- The detailed histories listed under Kashgar, Khotan, and Yarkand.

External links


- [http://www.char4u.com/article_info.php?articles_id=45 Chinese Silk and The Chinese Silk Road]
- [http://www.cnto.org/silkroad.asp China National Tourist Office]
- [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/cities/map.html Cities Along the Silk Road (University of Washington)]
- [http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html The history of the Silk Road by Oliver Wild]
- [http://idp.bl.uk/ International Dunhuang Project]
- [http://www.ciolek.com/owtrad.html Old World Traditional Trade Routes Project]
- [http://www.studyrussian.com/seidenstrasse/silkroad/index.htm Travel report incl. photos along the Silk Road]
- [http://www.silk-road.com/ Silkroad Foundation]
- [http://www.silkroadproject.org/ Silk Road Project]

References


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- Ray, Himanshu Prabha. 2003. The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521804558 (hardback); ISBN 0521011094 (paperback).
- Sarianidi, Victor. 1985. The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan. Harry N. Abrams, New York.
- Stein, Aurel M. 1907. Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.[http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/]
- Stein, Aurel M. 1912. Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal narrative of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 2 vols. Reprint: Delhi. Low Price Publications. 1990.
- Stein, Aurel M. 1921. Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980.[http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/]
- Stein Aurel M. 1928. Innermost Asia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, 5 vols. Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981.
- Stein Aurel M. 1932 On Ancient Central Asian Tracks: Brief Narrative of Three Expeditions in Innermost Asia and Northwestern China. Reprinted with Introduction by Jeannette Mirsky. Book Faith India, Delhi. 1999.
- von Le Coq, Albert. 1928. Buried Treasures of Turkestan. Reprint with Introduction by Peter Hopkirk, Oxford University Press. 1985.
- Whitfield, Susan. 1999. Life Along the Silk Road. London: John Murray.
- Wimmel, Kenneth. 1996. The Alluring Target: In Search of the Secrets of Central Asia. Trackless Sands Press, Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 1-879434-48-2
- Yan, Chen. 1986. “EARLIEST SILK ROUTE: The Southwest Route.” Chen Yan. China Reconstructs, Vol. XXXV, No. 10. Oct. 1986, pp. 59-62.
- Ming Pao. Hong Kong proposes Silk Road on the Sea as World Heritage, August 7 2005, p. A2. Category:Eurasian history Category:Asian history Category:Economic history Category:History of China Category:Ancient Roman foreign relations Category:Ancient Greeks in Asia ja:シルクロード

Mughals

The Mughal Empire, (Persian: مغل بادشاہ) was an empire that at its greatest territorial extent ruled parts of Afghanistan, Balochistan and most of the Indian Subcontinent between 1526 and 1857. The empire was founded by the Mongol leader Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. The word "Mughal" is the Indo-Aryan version of "Mongol." The religion of Mughals was Islam. The empire was largely conquered by Sher Shah during the time of Humayun, but under Akbar, it grew considerably, and continued to grow until the end of Aurangzeb's rule. Jahangir, the son of Akbar, ruled the empire between (1605-1627). In October 1627, Shah Jahan, son of Jahangir, "succeeded to the throne", where he "inherited a vast and rich empire" in India; and "at mid-century this was perhaps the greatest empire in the world". The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, commissioned between (1630 - 1653), the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India. After Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire started a slow and steady decline in actual power, although it maintained all the trappings of power in the Indian subcontinent for another 150 years. In 1739 it was defeated by an army from Persia led by Nadir Shah. In 1756 an army of Ahmad Shah looted Delhi again. The British Empire finally dissolved it in 1857, immediately prior to which it existed only at the sufferance of the British East India Company. The alternate spelling of the empire, Mogul, is the source of the modern word mogul.

Religion

mogul] The Mughal ruling class were jovial and clement Muslims, although many of the subjects of the Empire were Hindu. When Babur first founded the Empire, he did not emphasize his religion, but rather his Mongol heritage. Under Akbar, the court abolished the jizya, the tax on non-Muslims, and abandoned use of the lunar Muslim calendar in favor of a solar calendar more useful for agriculture. One of Akbar's most unusual ideas regarding religion was Din-i-Ilahi (Godism in English), which was an eclectic mix of Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions were later retracted by Aurangzeb, known for his religiosity.

Political Economy

The Mughals used the mansabdar system to generate land revenue. The emperor would grant revenue rights to a mansabdar in exchange for promises of soldiers in war-time. The greater the size of the land the emperor granted, the greater the number of soldiers the mansabdar had to promise. The mansab was both revocable and non-hereditary; this gave the center a fairly large degree of control over the mansabdars.

Establishment and reign of Babur

In the early 16th century, descendants of the Mongol, Turkic, Persian, and Afghan invaders of Southwest Asia — the Mughals — invaded the India under the leadership of Zahir-ud-Din Babur. Babur was the great-grandson of Timur Lenk (Timur the Lame, from which the Western name Tamerlane is derived), who had invaded India and plundered Delhi in 1398 and then led a short-lived empire based in Samarkand (in modern-day Uzbekistan) that united Persian-based Mongols (Babur's maternal ancestors) and other West Asian peoples. Babur was driven from Samarkand and initially established his rule in Kabul in 1504; he later became the first Mughal ruler (1526–30). His determination was to expand eastward into Punjab, where he had made a number of forays including an attack on the Gakhar stronghold of Pharwala. Then an invitation from an opportunistic Afghan chief in Punjab brought him to the very heart of the Delhi Sultanate, ruled by Ibrahim Lodi (1517-26). Babur, a seasoned military commander, entered India in 1526 with his well-trained veteran army of 12,000 to meet the sultan's huge but unwieldy and disunited force of more than 100,000 men. Babur defeated the Lodi sultan decisively at Panipat (in modern-day Haryana, about ninety kilometers north of Delhi). Employing gun carts, moveable artillery, and superior cavalry tactics, Babur achieved a resounding victory. A year later, he decisively defeated a Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sangha. In 1529 Babur routed the joint forces of Afghans and the sultan of Bengal but died in 1530 before he could consolidate his military gains. He left behind as legacies his memoirs (Baburnama), several beautiful gardens in Kabul and Lahore, and descendants who would fulfil his dream of establishing an empire in the Indian Subcontinent.

Reign of Humayun

When Babur died, his son Humayun (1530–56) inherited a difficult task. He was pressed from all sides by a reassertion of Afghan claims to the Delhi throne, by disputes over his own succession, and by the Afghan-Rajput march into Delhi in 1540. He fled to Persia, where he spent nearly ten years as an embarrassed guest at the Safavid court of Shah Tahmasp. During Sher Shah's reign, an imperial unification and administrative framework were established, but would be further developed by Akbar later in the century. In 1545 Humayun gained a foothold in Kabul with Safavid assistance and reasserted his Indian claim, a task made easier by the weakening of Afghan power in the area after the death of Sher Shah Suri in May 1545, and took control of Delhi in 1555. However, he was not in power a few years before he took a fatal fall down his library's stairs. Sher Shah Suri by Akbar the Great according to most accounts.]]

Reign of Akbar

Humayun's untimely death in 1556 left the task of further imperial conquest and consolidation to his thirteen-year-old son, Jalal-ud-Din Akbar (r. 1556–1605). Following a decisive military victory at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556, the regent Bayram Khan pursued a vigorous policy of expansion on Akbar's behalf. As soon as Akbar came of age, he began to free himself from the influences of overbearing ministers, court factions, and harem intrigues, and demonstrated his own capacity for judgment and leadership. A workaholic who seldom slept more than three hours a night, he personally oversaw the implementation of his administrative policies, which were to form the backbone of the Mughal Empire for more than 200 years. He continued to conquer, annex, and consolidate a far-flung territory bounded by Kabul in the northwest, Kashmir in the north, Bengal in the east, and beyond the Narmada River in central India — an area comparable in size to the Mauryan territory some 1,800 years earlier. Akbar built a walled capital called Fatehpur Sikri (Fatehpur means town of victory) near Agra, starting in 1571. Palaces for each of Akbar's senior queens, a huge artificial lake, and sumptuous water-filled courtyards were built there. The city, however, proved short-lived, the capital being moved to Lahore in 1585. The reason may have been that the water supply in Fatehpur Sikri was insufficient or of poor quality, or, as some historians believe, that Akbar had to attend to the northwest areas of his empire and therefore moved his capital northwest. In 1599, Akbar shifted his capital back to Agra from where he reigned until his death. Akbar adopted two distinct but effective approaches in administering a large territory and incorporating various ethnic groups into the service of his realm. In 1580 he obtained local revenue statistics for the previous decade in order to understand details of productivity and price fluctuation of different crops. Aided by Todar Mal, a Rajput king, Akbar issued a revenue schedule that the peasantry could tolerate while providing maximum profit for the state. Revenue demands, fixed according to local conventions of cultivation and quality of soil, ranged from one-third to one-half of the crop and were paid in cash. Akbar relied heavily on land-holding zamindars. They used their considerable local knowledge and influence to collect revenue and to transfer it to the treasury, keeping a portion in return for services rendered. Within his administrative system, the warrior aristocracy (mansabdars) held ranks (mansabs) expressed in numbers of troops, and indicating pay, armed contingents, and obligations. The warrior aristocracy was generally paid from revenues of nonhereditary and transferable jagirs (revenue villages). An astute ruler who genuinely appreciated the challenges of administering so vast an empire, Akbar introduced a policy of reconciliation and assimilation of Hindus (including Maryam al-Zamani, the Hindu Rajput mother of his son and heir, Jahangir), who represented the majority of the population. He recruited and rewarded Hindu chiefs with the highest ranks in government; encouraged intermarriages between Mughal and Rajput aristocracy; allowed new temples to be built; personally participated in celebrating Hindu festivals such as Deepavali, or Diwali, the festival of lights; and abolished the jizya (poll tax) imposed on non-Muslims. Akbar came up with his own theory of "rulership as a divine illumination," enshrined in his new religion Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith), incorporating the principle of acceptance of all religions and sects. He encouraged widow re-marriage, discouraged child marriage, outlawed the practice of sati, and persuaded Delhi merchants to set up special market days for women, who otherwise were secluded at home. By the end of Akbar's reign, the Mughal Empire extended throughout most of India north of the Godavari River. The exceptions were Gondwana in central India, which paid tribute to the Mughals, Assam in the northeast, and large parts of the Deccan. In 1600, Akbar's Mughal empire had a revenue of £17.5 million. By comparison, in 1800, the entire treasury of Great Britain totalled £16 million. Akbar's empire supported vibrant intellectual and cultural life. A large imperial library included books in Hindi, Persian, Greek, Kashmiri, English, and Arabic, such as the Shahnameh, Bhagavata Purana and the Bible. Akbar sought knowledge and truth wherever it could be found and through a wide range of activities. He regularly sponsored debates and dialogues among religious and intellectual figures with differing views, and he welcomed Jesuit missionaries from Goa to his court. Akbar directed the creation of the Hamzanama, an artistic masterpiece that included 1400 large paintings.

Reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan

Hamzanama Mughal rule under Jahangir (1605-27) and Shah Jahan (1628-58) was noted for political stability, brisk economic activity, beautiful paintings, and monumental buildings. Jahangir married a Persian princess whom he renamed Nur Jehan (Light of the World), who emerged as the most powerful individual in the court besides the emperor. As a result, Persian poets, artists, scholars, and officers--including her own family members--lured by the Mughal court's brilliance and luxury, found asylum in India. The number of unproductive, time-serving officers mushroomed, as did corruption, while the excessive Persian representation upset the delicate balance of impartiality at the court. Jahangir liked Hindu festivals but promoted mass conversion to Islam; he persecuted the followers of Jainism and even executed Guru Arjun Dev, the fifth saint-teacher of the Sikhs. He did so, however, not for religious reasons. Guru Arjun supported Prince Khursaw, another contestant to the Mughul throne, in the civil war that developed after Akbars death.The release of 52 Hindu princes from captivity in 1620 is the basis for the significance of the time of Diwali to Sikhs. Noor Jahan's abortive efforts to secure the throne for the prince of her choice led Shah Jahan to rebel in 1622. In that same year, the Persians took over Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, an event that struck a serious blow to Mughal prestige. Between 1636 and 1646, Shah Jahan sent Mughal armies to conquer the Deccan and the northwest beyond the Khyber Pass. Even though they aptly demonstrated Mughal military strength, these campaigns drained the imperial treasury. As the state became a huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost fourfold, so did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry. Political unification and maintenance of law and order over wide areas encouraged the emergence of large centers of commerce and crafts--such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra, and Ahmadabad--linked by roads and waterways to distant places and ports. The world-famous Taj Mahal was built in Agra during Shah Jahan's reign as a tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It symbolizes both Mughal artistic achievement and excessive financial expenditures when resources were shrinking. The economic position of peasants and artisans did not improve because the administration failed to produce any lasting change in the existing social structure. There was no incentive for the revenue officials, whose concerns primarily were personal or familial gain, to generate resources independent of dominant Hindu zamindars and village leaders, whose self-interest and local dominance prevented them from handing over the full amount of revenue to the imperial treasury. In their ever-greater dependence on land revenue, the Mughals unwittingly nurtured forces that eventually led to the break-up of their empire.

Reign of Aurangzeb and decline of empire

Taj Mahal The last of the great Mughals was Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), who seized the throne by killing all of his brothers and imprisoning his own father. During his fifty-year reign, the empire reached its greatest physical size but also showed the unmistakable signs of decline. The bureaucracy had grown bloated and excessively corrupt, and the huge and unwieldy army demonstrated outdated weaponry and tactics. Aurangzeb was not the ruler to restore the dynasty's declining fortunes or glory. Awe-inspiring but lacking in the charisma needed to attract outstanding lieutenants, he was driven to extend Mughal rule over most of South Asia and to reestablish Islamic orthodoxy by adopting a reactionary attitude toward those Muslims whom he suspected of compromising their faith. Aurangzeb was involved in a series of protracted wars: against the Pathans in Afghanistan, the sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda in the Deccan, the Marathas in Maharashtra and the Ahoms in Assam. Peasant uprisings and revolts by local leaders became all too common, as did the conniving of the nobles to preserve their own status at the expense of a steadily weakening empire. The increasing association of his government with Islam further drove a wedge between the ruler and his Hindu subjects. Aurangzeb forbade the building of new temples, destroyed a number of existing ones, and reimposed the jizya. A fundamentalist and a censor of morals, he banned music at court, abolished ceremonies, and persecuted the Sikhs in Punjab. These measures alienated so many that even before he died, challenges for power had already begun to escalate. Contenders for the Mughal throne were many, and the reigns of Aurangzeb's successors were short-lived and filled with strife. The Mughal Empire experienced dramatic reverses as regional nawabs or governors broke away and founded independent kingdoms. The Mughals had to make peace with Maratha armies, and Persian and Afghan armies invaded Delhi, carrying away many treasures, including the Peacock Throne in 1739.

Descendants


- Bahadur Shah I (Shah Alam I), b. October 14, 1643 in Burhanpur, ruler from 1707-1712, d. February 1712 in Lahore.
- Jahandar Shah, b. 1664, ruler from 1712-1713, d. February 11, 1713 in Delhi.
- Furrukhsiyar, b. 1683, ruler from 1713-1719, d. 1719 in Delhi.
- Rafi Ul-Darjat, ruler 1719, d. 1719 in Delhi.
- Rafi Ud-Daulat (Shah Jahan II), ruler 1719, d. 1719 in Delhi.
- Nikusiyar, ruler 1719, d. 1719 in Delhi.
- Mohammed Ibrahim, ruler 1720, d. 1720 in Delhi.
- Mohammed Shah, b. 1702, ruler from 1719-1720, 1720-1748, d. April 26, 1748 in Delhi.
- Ahmad Shah Bahadur, b. 1725, ruler from 1748-1754, d. January 1775 in Delhi.
- Alamgir II, b. 1699, ruler from 1754-1759, d. 1759.
- Shah Jahan III, ruler 1760?
- Shah Alam II, b. 1728, ruler from 1759-1806, d. 1806.
- Akbar Shah II, b. 1760, ruler from 1806-1837, d. 1837.
- Bahadur Shah II aka Bahadur Shah Zafar, b. 1775 in Delhi, ruler from 1837-1857, d. 1862 in exile in Rangoon, Burma. A few descendants of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, are known to be living in Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

Alternate meanings


- In popular news jargon, Mughal or Mogul also denotes a successful business magnate who has built for himself a vast (and often monopolistic) empire in one or more specific industries. The usage seems to have an obvious reference to the expansive and wealthy empires built by the Mughal kings in India. Rupert Murdoch, for example, is a news mogul. See also Media mogul.

See also


- List of Mughal emperors
- Mogul Era (part of the History of South Asia series)
- Islamic architecture
- Mughal painting

External links


- [http://www.i3pep.org/archives/2005/04/12/mughal-empire/ Mughal Empire]
- [http://www.streetphotos.net/pakistan/wazir.htm Photographs from Lahore's Mughal period walled city]
- [http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/mughals.html The Great Mughals] Timurids-Mongolian dynasty of Turkish origin
- [http://www.mughalgardens.org/html/home.html Gardens of the Mughal Empire] Category:Mughal empire Category:Turkic peoples Category:Historical Indian empires Category:History of Pakistan Category:Empires ms:Kerajaan Mughal ja:ムガル帝国

India

The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises of the majority of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar on the east. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to the island nations of the Maldives on the southwest, Sri Lanka on the south, and Indonesia on the southeast. India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the northwest. India is the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. It is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of over one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. It is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, and a centre of important historic trade routes. Four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have originated from India. Formerly a major part of the British Empire as the British Raj before gaining independence in 1947, during the past twenty years the country has grown significantly, especially in its economic and military spheres, regionally as well as globally. The name India , is derived from the Old Persian version of Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the river Indus; see Origin of India's name. The Constitution of India and general usage also recognises Bharat ( ), which is derived from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Hindu king, whose story is to be found in the Mahabharata, as an official name of equal status. A third name, Hindustan ( ) , or Land of the Hindus in Persian, has been used since the twelfth century, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied due to domestic disputes over its representiveness as a national signifier.

History

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago and developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC onwards, many independent kingdoms came into being. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Ashoka, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, with the successive establishment in the northern Indian Subcontinent of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms, and finally the Kushan Empire. From the 3rd century AD onwards the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age". Gupta dynasty built by emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC]] In the south, several dynasties including the Chalukyas, Cheras, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas and Pandyas prevailed during different periods. Science, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings. Following the Islamic invasions in the beginning of the second millennium, much of north and central India came to be ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, and later, much of the entire subcontinent by the Mughal dynasty. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms remained or rose to power, especially in the relatively sheltered south. Vijayanagara Empire was notable among such kingdoms. During the middle of the second millennium, several European countries, including the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British, who were initially interested in trade with India, took advantage of fractured kingdoms fighting each other to establish colonies in the country. After a failed insurrection in 1857 against the British East India Company, popularly known in India as the First War of Indian Independence and most commonly known in the West as the Indian Mutiny, most of India came under the direct administrative control of the crown of the British Empire. British Empire, Orissa built in the 13th century, is one of the most famous monuments of stone sculpture in the world.]] sculpture in the 10th century AD.]] In the early part of the 20th century, a prolonged and largely non-violent struggle for independence, the Indian independence movement, followed, to be eventually led by Mahatma Gandhi, regarded officially as the Father Of The Nation. The culmination of this path-breaking struggle was reached on 1947-08-15 when India gained full independence from British rule, later becoming a republic on 1950-01-26. As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, India has had its share of sectarian violence and insurgencies in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, it has held itself together as a secular, liberal democracy barring a brief period from 1975 to 1977 during which the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a "state of emergency" with the suspension of civil rights. India has unresolved border disputes with China, which escalated into a brief war in 1962, and Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, and 1971, and a border altercation in the northern state of Kashmir in 1999. India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test, making it an unofficial member of the "nuclear club", which was followed up with a series of five more tests in 1998. Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest growing economies in the world and added to its global clout.

Government

The Constitution of India states India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India is a federal republic, with a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. It has a three branch system of governance consisting of the legislature, executive and judiciary. The President, who is the head of state, has a largely ceremonial role. His roles include interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action, and issuing pardons. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President and Vice-President are elected indirectly by an electoral college for five-year terms. The Prime Minister is the head of government and most executive powers are vested in this office. He (or she) is elected by legislators of the political party, or coalition, commanding a parliamentary majority, and serves a five-year term incumbent upon enjoying this majority. The constitution does not provide for a post of Deputy Prime Minister, but this option has been exercised from time to time. The legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament which consists of the upper house known as the Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, the lower house known as the Lok Sabha, or House of the People, and the President. The 245-member Rajya Sabha is chosen indirectly through an electoral college and has a staggered six year term. The 545-member Lok Sabha is directly elected for a five year term, and is the determinative constituent of political power and government formation. All Indian citizens above the age of eighteen are eligible to vote. The executive arm consists of the President, Vice-President and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. In India's parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature. India's independent judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction over disputes between states and the Centre, and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts of India. There are eighteen appellate High Courts, having jurisdiction over a large state or a group of states. Each of these states has a tiered system of lower courts. A conflict between the legislature and the judiciary is referred to the President.

Politics

Chief Justice of India For most of its independent history, India's national government has been controlled by the Indian National Congress Party. Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, Congress, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over forty years. In 1977, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party, won the election and formed a non-Congress government for a short period after the unpopular 'emergency rule' imposed by Indira Gandhi in the previous Congress regime. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party with a right wing nationalist ideology, became the largest single party, and established for the first time a serious opposition to the largely centre-left Congress. But power was held by two successive coalition governments, who stayed on with the support of the Congress. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with smaller parties and became the first non-Congress government to sustain the full five year term after it returned to power in 1999. The decade prior to 1999 was marked by short-lasting governments, with seven separate governments formed within that period. One however, a Congress government formed in 1991, lasted the full five years and initiated significant economic reforms. In the 2004 Indian elections the Congress party returned to power after winning the largest number of seats, by a narrow margin. Congress formed a government in alliance with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and with several mostly-regional parties called the United Progressive Alliance. The NDA, led by the BJP, currently forms the main opposition. All governments formed since 1996 have required party coalitions, with no single majority party, due to the steady rise of regional parties at the national level.

States and union territories

India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the union government, though some have elected governments. India has had two scientific bases in Antarctica – the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, but has made no territorial claims so far.

Geography

Maitri in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the far east making up most of India's eastern borders]] India's entire north and northeast states are made up of the Himalayan Range. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. Towards western India, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The southern Indian peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau. The plateau is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. India is home to several major rivers such as the Ganga (Ganges), the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari, and the Krishna. The rivers are responsible for the fertile plains in northern India which are conducive to farming. The Indian climate varies from a tropical climate in the south to a more temperate climate in the north. Parts of India which lie in the Himalaya have a tundra climate. India gets most of its rains through the monsoons.

Economy

monsoon India has an economy ranked as the tenth largest in the world in terms of currency conversion and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It recorded one of the fastest annual growth rates of 6.9% for the year ending March 2005. India's per-capita income by purchasing power parity is US$ 3,262, ranked 125th by the World Bank. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 143 billion. Mumbai serves as the nation's financial capital and is also home to both the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bombay Stock Exchange. While a quarter of Indians still live below the poverty line, a large middle class has now emerged along with the rapid growth of the IT industry. The Indian economy has shed much of its historical dependence on agriculture, which now contributes to less than 25 % of GDP. Other important industries are mining, petroleum, diamond polishing, films, textiles, information technology services, and handicrafts. Most of India's industrial regions are centred around major cities. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest players in software and business process outsourcing services, with revenues of US$ 17.2 billion in 2004 to 2005. Many small-scale industries provide steady employment to workers in small towns and villages. business process outsourcing While India receives only around three million foreign visitors a year, tourism is still an important but under-developed source of national income. Tourism contributes 5.3 % of India's GDP. The actual employment generation, both direct and indirect, is estimated to be 42 million, or about 10 % of India's work force. In monetary terms, it contributes about US$4 billion in foreign exchange. India's major trading partners are the United States, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates. India's main exports items include agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewellry, software services and technology, engineering goods, chemicals and leather products while its main import commodities are crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, chemicals. For the year 2004, India's total exports stood at US$ 69.18 billion while the imports were worth at US $89.33 billion.

Demographics

India is the second most populous country in the world, with only China having a larger population. By 2030, India is expected to surpass China with the world's largest population, estimated at 1.6 billion. Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse Indian population today. Its biggest metropolitan agglomerations are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras). Chennai]] India's literacy rate is 64.8 % with 53.7 % of females and 75.3 % of males being literate. The sex ratio is 933 females for every 1000 males. Work Participation Rate (WPR) (the percentage of workers to total population) stands at 39.1 % with male WPR at 51.7 % and female WPR at 25.6 % inote|eu{inote|demostats{inote|religion{ref|languages{inote|tongues{see2|Christianity in India|Jews in India{seealso3|List of Indian languages by total speakers|List of cities in India|Religion in India{main|Culture of India{seealso4|List of World Heritage sites in India|Indian architecture|Indian family name|Cuisine of India{main|Sports in India{main|Holidays in India{Official Holidays of India{Topics related to India{portal{sisterlinks|India{wikitravel{wikicities|india|India{explain-inote{Web reference | title=India facts and figures | work=Embassy of India| URL= http://www.indianembassy.org/dydemo/indiaprofile/profile.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Forex reserves up by $1bn | work=Economic Times| URL= http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1093864.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India Economy | work=Travel Document Systems |URL= http://www.traveldocs.com/in/economy.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Services | work=India in Business| URL= http://www.indiainbusiness.nic.in/india-profile/ser-infotech.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Destination India: An Unpolished Diamond | work=Times of India | URL= http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/819309.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= US, UAE, UK, China, Japan among India's top trade partners | work=Indian Express| URL= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/business/20050102-0.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= CIA Factbook : India | work=CIA Factbook | URL= http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Provisional Population Totals 2001 Census| work=Census of India| URL=http://www.censusindia.net/results/resultsmain.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Debating India & India's literacy rate | work=Debating India | URL= http://india.eu.org/1963.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India – Country profiles | work=indexmundi.com | URL= http://www.indexmundi.com/India/ India | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Census of India 2001, Data on Religion | work=Census of India | URL= http://www.censusindia.net/results/religion_main.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Languages of India | work=India image | URL= http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm| date=August 14 | year=2005{Book reference | Author=K.M. Matthew | Title=Manorama Yearbook 2003 | Publisher= Malaya Manorama | Year=2003 | ID=ISBN 8190046187{mnb|afgh|1{mnb|LoC|2{South Asia{Asia{Commonwealth of Nations{SAARC{Life in India{Link FA|sv{Link FA|sv

Afghanistan

Afghanistan(Pashtu/Dari-Persian: افغانستان, Afğānistān) is a country in Asia. It is in Central Asia, fringing upon South Asia and is sometimes allocated to one of these regions. It is also often considered part of the Middle East, due to its location on the Iranian plateau. It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the easternmost part of the country. A part of the disputed Kashmir area claimed by India and Pakistan borders a small portion of the country. It has a population of 29 million people, and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Between the fall of the Taliban after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 Loya jirga, Afghanistan was referred to by the Government of the United States as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. Under its new constitution the country is now officially named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Origin and history of the name

The region currently called Afghanistan has gone through a few name changes in its long history of 5000 years or so. One of the first ancient names, according to historians and scholars, was Ariana - the Greek pronunciation of the ancient Aryanam Vaeja or the Sanskrit "Aryavarta", Land of the Aryans. Today this Old-Persian, and Avestan expression is preserved in the name Iran and it is noted in the name of the Afghan national airline, Ariana Airlines, numerous Afghan owned companies throughout the world, Afghan sports teams, and a popular name for Afghan children, Aryan or Aryana. Many centuries later, Afghanistan evolved into part of Greater Khorasan, and hence was recognized with the name Khorasan (along with regions centered around Merv and Neishabur), which in Pahlavi means "The Eastern Land" (خاور زمین in Persian). (Dehkhoda, p8457) The current name of Afghanistan derives from the alternative name for the Pashtuns: Afghan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies], being the founders of modern Afghanistan. There are a number of scholars who derive the tribal name Afghan from a people known in antiquity as Ashvakan (q.v.), in turn derived from ashva, "horse" (in reference to their equestrian nature). There are, however, some scholars that link the name "Afghan" to the Uzbeki version of the Turkish language (spoken in Northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan), meaning "original". At any rate, given the fact that the Central Asians introduced the horse to the surrounding regions, including Afghanistan, there may be some validity to the claim. The remainder of the name originates from the Persian word stān (country or land). The English word Afghanland that appeared in various treaties between Pashtuns and the United Kingdom was adopted by the Afghans and became Afghanistan.

History

Main article: History of Afghanistan Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a very turbulent history. Through the ages, the region today known as Afghanistan has been on the edge of a number of major empires, including the Persian Empire, the Mauryan Empire, the Kushan Empire, the Hindu Shahi kingdom, the British Empire and the Soviet Union, as well as the empires of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. The Afghanistan nation-state as it is known today came into existence in 1746 under the Durrani Empire, but control was ceded to Britain until King Amanullah acceded to the throne in 1919 (see "The Great Game"). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line, and would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India, and later the new state of Pakistan, over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate. The historical rulers of Afghanistan belonged to the Abdali tribe of the ethnic Afghans, whose name was changed to Durrani upon the accession of Ahmad Shah. They belonged to the Saddozay segment of the Popalzay clan, or to the Mohammadzay segment of the Barakzay clan, of the ethnic Afghans. The Mohammadzay furnished the Saddozay kings frequently with top counsellors, who served occasionally as regents, identified with the epithet Mohammadzay. Since 1900, eleven rulers have been unseated through undemocratic means: in 1919 (assassination), 1929 (abdication), 1929 (execution), 1933 (assassination), 1973 (deposition), 1978 (execution), 1979 (execution), 1979 (execution), 1987 (removal), 1992 (overthrow), 1996 (overthrow) and 2001 (overthrow). The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was between 1933 and 1973, when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. However, in 1973, Zahir's brother-in-law, Sardar Mohammed Daoud launched a bloodless coup. Daoud and his entire family were murdered in 1978 when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched a coup and took over the government. Opposition against, and conflict within, the series of leftist governments that followed, was considerable. In August 1978 the American government commenced funding anti-government mujahideen forces; the Soviet Union invaded on December 24, 1979. Faced with mounting international pressure and losses of approximately 15,000 Soviet soldiers as a result of mujahideen opposition trained by the United States, Pakistan, and other foreign governments, the Soviets withdrew ten years later, in 1989. For more details, see Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Soviet withdrawal was seen as a clear Russian defeat in the West, which many claim to have been the sole objective behind their backing of the mujahideen - especially the United States wanting to "revenge" Russian damages caused during and after the Vietnam war. Having concluded a 'victory' over the USSR, the West stopped paying attention to the issue of Afghanistan. As the vast majority of the elite and intellectuals had either been systematically eliminated by the communists or escaped to take refuge abroad, a dangerous leadership vacuum came to existence. Fighting continued among the various mujahidin factions, eventually giving rise to a state of warlordism. The chaos and corruption involved in warlordism in turn spawned the rise of the Taliban in reaction. The most serious of this fighting occurred in 1994, when 10,000 people were killed from factions fighting in the Kabul area. Using this leadership vacuum, a few regional bedfellows like the Pakistani secret intelligence service (ISI), the regional mafia and a few Arab extremist groups that were looking for a safe operational hub joined forces and created the Taliban movement (Ahmad Rashid, 2000)[http://www.ahmedrashid.com/]. Backed by Pakistan and her strategic allies, the Taliban developed as a politico-religious force, and eventually seized power in 1996. The Taliban were able to capture 90% of the country, aside from Afghan Northern Alliance strongholds primarily in the northeast. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. The Taliban gave safe haven and assistance to individuals and organizations that engaged in terrorism, most notably Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda. The United States and allied military action in support of the opposition following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks forced the group's downfall. In late 2001, major leaders from the Afghan opposition groups and diaspora met in Bonn, and agreed on a plan for the formulation of a new government structure that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) on December 2001. After a nationwide Loya Jirga in 2002, Karzai was elected President. On March 3 and March 25 2002, a series of earthquakes struck Afghanistan, with a loss of thousands of homes and over 1800 lives. Over 4000 more people were injured. The earthquakes occurred at Samangan Province (March 3) and Baghlan Province (March 25). The latter was the worse of the two, and caused most of the casualties. International authorities assisted the Afghan government in dealing with the situation. As the country continues to get its feet back on the ground, as of late 2005, it was struggling against extreme poverty, severe warlordism, a battered infrastructure, a huge number of land mines and other unexploded ordinance, as well as a sizeable illegal poppy and heroin trade. It was also subject to occasionally violent political jockeying as the nation's first elections were successfully held, and occasional acts of violence from a few remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban elements and the on-going military operations to root them out. See also: Afghanistan timeline, Invasions of Afghanistan

Politics

Main article: Politics of Afghanistan Afghanistan is currently led by president Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October of 2004. Before the election, Karzai led the country after having been hand-picked by the administration of United States' President Bush to head an interim government, after the fall of the Taliban. His current cabinet includes members of the Afghan Northern Alliance, and a mix from other regional and ethnic groups formed from the transitional government by the Loya jirga (grand council). Former monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah returned to the country, but was not reinstated as king, and only exercises limited ceremonial powers. Under the Bonn Agreement the Afghan Constitution Commission was established to consult with the public and formulate a draft constitution. The meeting of a constitutional loya jirga was held in December 2003, when a new constitution was adopted creating a presidential form of government with a bicameral legislature. Troops and intelligence agencies from the United States and a number of other countries are present, some to keep the peace, others assigned to hunt for remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda. A United Nations peacekeeping force called the International Security Assistance Force has been operating in Kabul since December 2001. NATO took control of this Force on August 11, 2003. Some of the country remains under the control of warlords. [http://www.newstatesman.com/200502070006] On March 27, 2003, Afghan deputy defense minister and powerful warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum created an office for the North Zone of Afghanistan and appointed officials to it, defying then-interim president Hamid Karzai's orders that there be no zones in Afghanistan. Eurocorps took over the responsibility for the NATO-led ISAF in Kabul August 9, 2004. National elections were held on October 9, 2004. Over 10 million Afghans were registered to vote. Most of the 17 candidates opposing Karzai boycotted the election, charging fraud; [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1354517,00.html] an independent commission found evidence of fraud, but ruled that it did not affect the outcome of the poll. Karzai won 55.4% of the vote. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3977677.stm] He was inaugurated as president on December 7. It was the country's first national election since 1969, when parliamentary elections were last held. On September 18, 2005, parliamentary elections were held. see also: List of leaders of Afghanistan, List of Afghanistan Governors

Subdivisions

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (velayat) which are further divided into districts. Main article: Provinces of Afghanistan Main article: Districts of Afghanistan The 34 provinces are:

Geography

Districts of Afghanistan Main article: Geography of Afghanistan Afghanistan is a mountainous country, with plains in the north and southwest. The highest point, at 7485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level, is Nowshak. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. Afghanistan has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to earthquakes. The major cities of Afghanistan are its capital Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-e Sharif and Kandahar. See also List of cities in Afghanistan, Places in Afghanistan.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Afghanistan Afghanistan is an extremely poor country, highly dependent on farming and livestock raising, but most people only farm enough food to feed themselves. The economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest, while severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998-2001. The majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, medical care, and other problems exacerbated by military operations and political uncertainties. Inflation remains a serious problem. Following the US-led coalition war that led to the defeat of the Taliban in November 2001, many of the country's farmers have resorted to growing cash crops for export, instead of food for the sustenance of their people. A notable example of such a crop is the opium poppy (1,300 km² in 2004 according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the cultivation of which has largely increased during the last decade: Afghanistan has become the first illicit opium producer in the world, before Burma (Myanmar), part of the so-called "Golden Triangle). International efforts to rebuild Afghanistan led to the formation of the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) as a result of the December 2001 Bonn Agreement, and later addressed at the Tokyo Donors Conference for Afghan Reconstruction in January 2002, where $4.5 billion was collected for a trust fund to be administered by the World Bank Group. Priority areas for reconstruction include the construction of education, health, and sanitation facilities, enhancement of administrative capacity, the development of the agricultural sector, and the rebuilding of road, energy, and telecommunication links. Two-thirds of the population live on less than US$2 a day. The infant mortality rate is 166 per 1000 births.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Afghanistan The population of Afghanistan is divided into a large number of ethnic groups. Because a systematic census has not been held in the country recently, exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are not available.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3717092.stm] Therefore most figures are approximations only. According to the CIA World FactBook (updated on 17 May 2005), the ethnic group distribution is as follows: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%. According to the CIA factbook, the official languages of Afghanistan are Persian (local name: Dari) 50% and Pashtu 35%. Other languages include Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%. Also a small number of ethnic minorities, primarily Sikhs and Hindus, speak Punjabi. Bilingualism is common. According to the CIA World Factbook (updated on 17 May 2005), religiously, Afghans are overwhelmingly Muslim (approximately 80% Sunni and 19% Shi'a). There are also Hindu and Sikh minorities. Afghanistan was once home to a many-centuries-old Jewish minority, numbering approximately 5,000 in 1948. Most Jewish families fled the country after the 1979 Soviet invasion, and only one individual remains today, Zablon Simintov. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39702-2005Jan26.html] With the fall of the Taliban a number of Sikhs have returned to the Ghazni, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Kabul Provinces of Afghanistan.

Constitution

Main article: Constitution of Afghanistan According to the 2004 constitution, Afghanistan is run by a president, who is elected by direct popular vote to a five-year term. The president may only serve two terms. A candidate for president must be at least forty years of age, a Muslim, and a citizen of Afghanistan. The country has two vice-presidents. The president serves as head of state and government, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president makes appointments for his cabinet, as well as posts in the military, police force, and provincial governerships, with the approval of parliament. The legislative body of Afghanistan is a parliament consisting of two houses: the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders). The Wolesi Jirga consists of up to 250 members elected to five-year terms through direct elections in proportion to the population of each province. At least two women must be elected from each province. In the Meshrano Jirga, one-third of the members are elected by provincial councils for four years, one-third are elected by district councils of each province for three years, and one-third are appointed by the president for five years, of whom half must be women. The judicial system of Afghanistan consists of the Stera Mahkama (Supreme Court), appeals courts, and lower district courts designated by law. The Stera Mahkama is made up of nine judges appointed by the president, with the approval of parliament, to a ten-year term. Judges must be at least forty years of age, not belong to a political party, and have a degree in law or Islamic jurisprudence. The Stera Mahkama can judge the constitutionality of all laws in the country.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Afghanistan Many of the country's historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars. The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari Rud valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The people of Afghanistan being renowned horsemen, the sport known as Buzkashi is popular there. Afghan hounds (a type of running dogs), originated in Afghanistan. Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in Afghan culture. The Persian language is regarded as one of the richest in the world. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in both Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Private poetry competitions known as “musha’era” are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every home owns one or more poetry collection of some sort, even if it is not read often. The Afghan dialect of the Persian language Dari derives from "Farsi-e Darbari", meaning 'Persian of the royal courts'. It is regarded by scholars as the more original version of the language. Iran, having a larger population, a stronger economy and closer ties to the rest of the world has developed its language further in the course of history. Afghanistan took a more conservative approach mainly due to lack of resources. As a result, Dari has not changed much over the last few centuries. Many of the famous Persian language poets of 10th to 15th centuries stem from what is now known as Afghanistan. They were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages, natural sciences, medicine, religion and astronomy. Examples are Mawlvi Balkhi (Rumi), born and educated in the Balkh province in the 13th century and moved to today’s Istanbul, which was then known as the Eastern Rome), Sanaayi Ghaznavi (12th century, native of Ghazni provice), Jami Heravi (15th century, native of Jam-e-Herat in western Afghanistan), Nizam ud-Din Ali Sher Heravi Nava'i, (15th century, Heart province). Also, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-know in both Iran and Afghanistan includes Ustad Behtab, Khalilullah Khalili [http://www.afghanmagazine.com/arts/khalili/khalili.html], Sufi Ghulam Nabi Ashqari ([http://www.afghanmagazine.com/jan2000/music/kharaabat/], Parwin Pazwak and others. In addition to poets, world-famous science personalities like Avicenna (Ibn Sina Balkhi) came from Afghanistan. Avicenna, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establsh a medical school there, is known by some scholars as the "the father of modern medicine". George Sarton called Ibn Sina "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Avicenna's story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon's The Physician ([ http://www.noahgordonbooks.com/index.html ]), now published in many languages. Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the 20th century has been likened to Vienna during the 18th and 19th centuries. See also: Radio Kabul, music of Afghanistan, Islam in Afghanistan

Education

Main article: Education in Afghanistan In the spring of 2003, it was estimated that 30% of Afghanistan's 7,000 schools had been seriously damaged during more than two decades of Soviet occupation and civil war. Only half of the schools were reported to have clean water, while fewer than an estimated 40% had adequate sanitation. Education for boys was not a priority during the Taliban regime, and girls were banished from schools outright. In regards to the poverty and violence of their surroundings, a study in 2002 by the Save the Children aid group said Afghan children were resilient and courageous. The study credited the strong institutions of family and community. Up to four million Afghan children, possibly the largest number ever, are believed to have enrolled for class for the school year beginning in March of 2003. Education is available for both girls and boys. Literacy of the entire population is estimated at 36%.

See also


- Afghan Scout Association
- Communications in Afghanistan
- Foreign relations of Afghanistan
- Afghan asylum seekers affair in Nauru
- List of sovereign states
- Military of Afghanistan
- Transportation in Afghanistan
- Stamps and postal history of Afghanistan
  - List of birds on stamps of Afghanistan
  - List of fish on stamps of Afghanistan
- Golden Needle Sewing School
- Taliban treatment of women
- Taliban
- List of leaders of Afghanistan

References


- Griffiths, John C. 1981. Afghanistan: A History of Conflict. André Deutsch, London. Updated edition, 2001. Andre Deutsch Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0233050531.
- Levi, Peter. 1972. The Light Garden of the Angel King: Journeys in Afghanistan. Collins, 1972, ISBN 0002110423. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1973, Indianapolis/New York, ISBN 0672512521.
- Moorcroft, William and Trebeck, George. 1841. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara... from 1819 to 1825, Vol. II. Reprint: New Delhi, Sagar Publications, 1971. Oxford University Press, 1979, ISBN 0195771990.
- Toynbee, Arnold J. 1961. Between Oxus and Jumna. Oxford University Press, London. ISBN B0006DBR44.
- Wood, John. 1872. A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus. New Edition, edited by his son, with an essay on the "Geography of the Valley of the Oxus" by Henry Yule. John Murray, London. Gregg Division McGraw-Hill, 1971, ISBN 0576033227.

External links


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- [http://www.afgha.com Afgha.com - News, Discussions, and more about Afghanistan]
- [http://theafghanblog.blogspot.com/ The Afghan Blog]
- [http://www.afghanistan.sc/ Afghanistan Service Center with daily news]
- [http://www.aims.org.af/ Afghanistan Information Management Service] - provided by joint UN projects
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1162668.stm BBC News Country Profile - Afghanistan]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html CIA World Factbook - Afghanistan]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/sa/ci/af/ US State Department - Afghanistan] includes Background Notes, Country Study (1997), Rebuilding, USAID and NATO
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/Afghanistan/ Open Directory Project - Afghanistan] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/regional/countries/afghanistan/ Yahoo! - Afghanistan] directory category
- [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/afghanis.pdf 2002 UN map of Afghanistan] (PDF)
- [http://www.ArianaNet.com/ News Service latest News about Afghanistan, Discussion board]
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/asia/centralasia/afghanistan/returntoafghanistan/returntoafghanistan.htm Return to Afghanistan] - A series of short films by the Washington Post on the New Afghanistan
- [http://www.mod.uk/rcds/bashir.htm British Royal College for Defense Studies analyses and proposes a war in August 2001]
- [http://www.geopium.org Geopium: Geopolitics of Illicit Drugs in Asia (Afghanistan and Burma)]
- [http://topics.developmentgateway.org/afghanistan Development Gateway's Afghanistan Reconstruction Portal]
- [http://www.afghanan.net/index.php Afghanan Dot Net]
- [http://www.AfghanMania.com Afghanistan Portal]
- [http://www.sabawoon.com Sabawoon Online]
- [http://www.afghan-web.com/index.html Afghanistan Online]
- [http://www.whatisindia.com/issues/afghanis/index.html Afghanistan Portal on The Indian Analyst] Index of News, Analysis, and Opinion from many sources
- [http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Archive/Afghanistan.asp/ The Jews of Afghanistan]

Video


- Category:Central Asian countries Category:Landlocked countries als:Afghanistan zh-min-nan:Afghanistan ko:아프가니스탄 ms:Afghanistan ja:アフガニスタン simple:Afghanistan th:ประเทศอัฟกานิสถาน

Persian Empire

The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). Persia's earliest known kingdom was the proto-Elamite Empire, followed by the Medes; but it is the Achaemenid Empire that emerged under Cyrus the Great that is usually the earliest to be called "Persian." Successive states in Iran before 1935 are collectively called the Persian Empire by Western historians.

The name Persia

Persia has long been used by the West to describe the nation of Iran, its people, or its ancient empire. It derives from the ancient Greek name for Iran, Persis. This in turn comes from the name of Cyrus's main clan "Pars" or "Parsa" which has given its name also to a province in southern Iran, called Fars in the modern Persian language and Pars in Middle Persian. Persis is the Hellenized form of Pars, based on which other European nations termed the area Persia. This province was the core of the original Persian Empire. Westerners referred to the state as Persia until March 21, 1935, when Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call the country by its native name. Some Persian scholars protested this decision because changing the name separated the country from its past. It also caused some Westerners to confuse Iran with Iraq; so in 1959 his son Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi announced that both Persia and Iran can be used interchangeably. (See Iran/Persia naming controversy) According to the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, the name "Persian" comes from the Aryan claim of descent from the mythological hero, Perseus.

The rise and fall of empires in Persia

The first Persian state: Achaemenid Persia (648 BC-330 BC)

330 BC] :Main article: Achaemenid dynasty The first record of the Persians comes from an Assyrian inscription from c. 844 BC that calls them the Parsu (Parsuash, Parsumash) and mentions them in the region of Lake Urmia alongside another group, the Madai (Medes). For the next two centuries, the Persians and Medes were at times tributary to the Assyrians. The region of Parsuash was annexed by Sargon of Assyria around 719 BC. Eventually the Medes came to rule an independent Median Empire, and the Persians were subject to them. The Achaemenids were the first line of Persian rulers, founded by Achaemenes (Hakaimanish), chieftain of the Persians around 700 BC. Around 653 BC, the Medes came under the domination of the Scythians, and the son of Achaemenes, a certain Teispes, seems to have led the nomadic Persians to settle in southern Iran around this time -- eventually establishing the first organized Persian state in the important region of Anshan as the Elamite kingdom was permanently destroyed by the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal (640 BC). The kingdom of Anshan and its successors continued to use Elamite as an official language for quite some time after this, although the new dynasts spoke Persian, an Indo-Iranian tongue. Teispes' descendants branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anshan, while the other ruled the rest of Persia. Cyrus II the Great united the separate kingdoms around 559 BC. At this time, the Persians were still tributary to the Median Empire ruled by Astyages. Cyrus rallied the Persians together, and in 550 BC defeated the forces of Astyages, who was then captured by his own nobles and turned over to the triumphant Cyrus, now Shah of a unified Persian kingdom. As Persia assumed control over the rest of Media and their large Middle Eastern empire, Cyrus led the united Medes and Persians to still more conquest. He took Lydia in Asia Minor, and carried his arms eastward into central Asia. Finally in 539 BC, Cyrus marched triumphantly into the ancient city of Babylon. After this victory, he set the standard of the benevolent conqueror by issuing the Cyrus Cylinder. In this declaration, the king promised not to terrorize Babylon nor destroy its institutions and culture. Cyrus was killed during a battle against the Massagetae or Sakas. Sakas Cyrus' son, Cambyses II, annexed Egypt to the Persian Empire. The empire then reached its greatest extent under Darius I. He led conquering armies into the Indus River valley and into Thrace in Europe. His invasion of Greece was halted at the Battle of Marathon. His son Xerxes I also tried to conquer Greece, but was defeated at the Battle of Plataea 479 BC. The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest and most powerful empire the world had yet seen. More importantly, it was well managed and organized. Darius divided his realm into about twenty satrapies (provinces) supervised by satraps, or governors, many of whom had personal ties to the Shah. He instituted a systematic tribute to tax each province. He took the advanced postal system of the Assyrians and expanded it. Also taken from the Assyrians was the usage of secret agents of the king, known as the King's Eyes and Ears, keeping him informed. He built the famous Royal Road by improving ancient trade routes, thereby connecting far reaches of the empire. He moved the administration center from Persia itself to Susa, near Babylon and closer to the center of the realm. The Persians allowed local cultures to survive, following the precedent set by Cyrus the Great. This was not only good for the empire's subjects, but ultimately benefited the Achaemenids, since the conquered peoples felt no need to revolt. During the Achaemenid period, Zoroastrianism became the religion of the rulers and most of the people of Persia. Its founder Zoroaster had lived around 600 BC. The new religion was a new look at the traditional Aryan gods; it emphasized a dualist struggle between good and evil gods and a final battle yet to come. Zoroastrianism and its mystic leaders, called Magi, would become a defining element of Persian culture. Achaemenid Persia united people and kingdoms from every major civilization of a vast region. For the first time, people from very different cultures were in contact with each other under one ruler.

Hellenistic Persia (330 BC-170 BC)

170 BC).]] The later years of the Achaemenid dynasty were marked by decay and decadence. The mightiest empire in the world collapsed in only eight years, when it fell under the attack of a young Macedonian king, Alexander the Great. Persia's weakness was exposed to the Greeks in 401 BC, when the Satrap of Sardis hired ten thousand Greek mercenaries to help secure his claim to the imperial throne (see Xenophon). This exposed both the political instability and the military weakness of late Achaemenid Persia. Philip II of Macedon, leader of most of Greece, and his son Alexander decided to take advantage of this weakness. After Philip's death, Alexander looked toward Persia. Alexander's army landed in Asia Minor in 334 BC. His armies quickly swept through Lydia, Phoenicia, and Egypt, before defeating all the troops of Darius III at Issus and capturing the capital at Susa. The last Achaemenid resistance was at the "Persian Gates" near the royal palace at Persepolis. The Persian Empire was now in Greek hands. Along his route of conquest, Alexander founded many colony cities, all named "Alexandria". For the next several centuries, these cities served to greatly extend Greek, or Hellenistic, culture in Persia. Alexander's empire broke up shortly after his death, but Persia remained in Greek hands. Alexander's general, Seleucus, took control of Persia, Mesopotamia, and later Syria and Asia Minor. His ruling family is known as the Seleucid Dynasty. Seleucid Dynasty Greek colonization continued until around 250 BC; Greek language, philosophy, and art came with the colonists. Throughout Alexander's former empire, Greek became the common tongue of diplomacy and literature. Trade with China had begun in Achaemenid times along the so-called Silk Road; but during the Hellenistic period it began in earnest. The overland trade brought about some fascinating cultural exchanges. Buddhism came in from India, while Zoroastrianism traveled west to influence Judaism. Incredible statues of the Buddha in classical Greek styles have been found in Persia and Afghanistan, illustrating the mix of cultures that occurred around this time (See Greco-Buddhism), although it is possible that Greco-Buddhist art dates from Achaemenid times when Greek artists worked for the Persians. The Seleucid kingdom began to decline rather quickly. Even during Seleucus' lifetime, the capital was moved from Seleucia on the Tigris in Mesopotamia to the more Mediterranean-oriented Antioch in Syria. The eastern provinces of Bactria and Parthia broke off from the Seleucid Kingdom in 238 BC. King Antiochus III's military leadership kept Parthia from overrunning Persia itself, but his successes alarmed the burgeoning Roman Empire. Roman legions began to attack the kingdom. At the same time, the Seleucids had to contend with the revolt of the Maccabees in Judea and the expansion of the Kushan Empire to the east. The empire fell apart and was conquered by Parthia and Rome.

Parthian Persia (170 BC-AD 226)

226), AD 100, kept at The National Museum of Iran, Tehran.]] :Main article: Parthian Empire Parthia was a region north of Persia in what is today northeastern Iran. Its rulers, the Arsacid dynasty, belonged to an Iranian tribe that had settled there during the time of Alexander. They declared their independence from the Seleucids in 238 BC, but their attempts to expand into Persia were thwarted until c. 170 BC under Mithridates I. The Parthian Empire shared a border with Rome along the upper Euphrates River. The two empires became major rivals. Parthian mounted archers proved a match for Roman legions, as in the Battle of Carrhae in which the Parthian General Surena defeated Crassus of Rome. Wars were very frequent, with Mesopotamia serving as the battleground. During the Parthian period, Hellenistic customs partially gave way to a resurgence of Persian culture. However, the empire lacked political unity. By the first century BC, Parthia was decentralized, ruled by feudal nobles. Wars with Rome to the west and the Kushan Empire to the northeast drained the country's resources. Parthia, now impoverished and without any hope to recover the lost territories, was demoralized. The kings had to give more concessions to the nobility, and the vassal kings sometimes refused to obey. In AD 224, the Persian vassal king Ardashir revolted. Two years later, he took Ctesiphon, and this time, it meant the end of Parthia. It also meant the beginning of the second Persian Empire, ruled by the Sassanid kings.

Sassanid Persia (AD 226-650)

650 :Main article: Sassanid Empire During Parthian rule, Persia was only one province in a large, loosely controlled empire. The local king of Persia at this time, Ardashir I, led a revolt against the imperial government of Parthia. In two years he was the shah of a new Persian Empire. The Sassanid (or Sassanian) dynasty (named for Ardashir's grandfather) was the first native Persian ruling dynasty since the Achaemenids; thus they saw themselves as the successors of Darius and Cyrus. They pursued an aggressive expansionist policy. They recovered much of the eastern lands that the Kushans had taken in the Parthian period. The Sassanids continued to make war against Rome; a Persian army even captured the Emperor Valerian in 260. Sassanid Persia, unlike Parthia, was a highly centralized state. The people were rigidly organized into a caste system: Priests, Soldiers, Scribes, and Commoners. Zoroastrianism was finally made the official state religion, and spread outside Persia proper and out into the provinces. There was sporadic persecution of other religions. The Catholic (Orthodox) Christian church was particularly persecuted, but this was in part due to its ties to the Roman Empire. The Nestorian Christian church was tolerated and sometimes even favored by the Sassanids. The wars and religious control that had fueled Sassanid Persia's early successes eventually contributed to its decline. The eastern regions were conquered by the White Huns in the late 400s. Adherents of a radical religious sect, the Mazdakites, revolted around the same time. Khosrau I was able to recover his empire and expand into the Christian countries of Antioch and Yemen. Between 605 and 629, Sassanids successfully annexed Levant and Egypt and pushed into Anatolia. However, a subsequent war with the Romans utterly destroyed the empire. In the course of the protracted conflict, Sassinid armies reached Constantinople, but could not defeat the Byzantines there. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius had successfully outflanked the Persian armies in Asia Minor and handed them a crushing defeat in Northern Mesopotamia. The Sassanids had to give up all their conquered lands and retreat. This defeat was mentioned in Qur'an as a "victory for believers," referring to the Romans, who were monotheists, in contrast to the pagan Sassinids. (Note: The official religion of the Sassanid empire was Zoroastrianism. While not an Abrahamic/Semitic religion like Christianity or Islam, it is not strictly speaking "Pagan" (Polytheistic)). Heavy taxes caused by the very long war caused rebellions across the empire, and the Emperor Khosro II (Parviz) was assassinated in 629. This incident was allegedly fortold by Muhammed as a punishment from God because Khosro humiliated Muhammed's messangers and tore a message from the Prophet which contained a chapter of Qur'an. After a defeat at Nineveh in 642, Khosro's successor Kavdah II was also assassinated. Civil war broke out across the Empire and the country descended into anarchy.

Islam and Persia (650-1219)

:Main article: Islamic conquest of Iran Islamic conquest of Iran, Iran, is a reminder of the blossoming of art and architecture in medieval Persia.]] The explosive growth of the Arab Caliphate coincided with the chaos caused by the end of Sassanid rule. Conquest came easily; most of the country was overrun in 643-650. The last resistance from the remnants of the Sassanid dynasty ended two years later. Persia's conquest by Islamic Arab armies marks the transition into "medieval" Persia. Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian King, died ten years after he lost his empire to the newly-formed Muslim Caliphate. He tried to recover some of what he lost with the help of the Turks and the Tatars but they were easily defeated by Muslim armies. Then he sought the aid of the Chinese but they refused to help him. He is believed to have lived on the borders of the Islamic Persia. Some historians say that he lived inside the Islamic Persia. The Arab empire, ruled by the Umayyad Dynasty, was the largest state in history up to that point. It stretched from Spain to the Indus, from the Aral Sea to the southern tip of Arabia. Yet the Umayyads borrowed heavily from Persian and Byzantine administrative systems and moved their capital to Damascus, in the center of their empire. The Umayyads would rule Persia for a hundred years. The Arab conquest dramatically changed life in Persia. Arabic became the new lingua franca and Islam quickly replaced Zoroastrianism; and mosques were built. A new language, religion, and culture were added to the Persian cultural milieu. In 750 the Umayyads were ousted from power by the Abbasid family. By that time, Iranians had come to dominate not only the bureacracy of the empire, but all branches of the government [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842120115/002-3364650-7768069]. The unrivaled dominance of the Persians on all affairs of the administration of the Caliphate led to the spread and blossoming of Persian culture, science, mathematics, and medicine, throughout the Arab world. The caliph Al-Ma'mun, whose mother was an Iranian, moved his capital away from Arab lands into Merv in eastern Persia. It was he who later founded the Baghdad House of Wisdom, based on the Persian Jondishapour. The scientific movement that resulted from this was to have a direct impact on the European Renaissance centuries later: the Iranian Khwarazmi contributed heavily to the mathematical field of algebra, earning himself the title of [http://www.math.umd.edu/~czorn/hist_algebra.pdf Father of Algebra]. He, along with hundreds of other prominent scholars, carried the torch of the world's most advanced civilizations for hundreds of years. (See full list here). But political unrest continued. In 819, East-Persia was conquered by the Persian Samanids, the first native rulers after the Arabic conquest. They made Samarqand, Bukhara and Herat their capitals and revived the Persian language and culture. It was approximately during this age, when the poet Firdawsi finished the Shah Nama, an epic poem retelling the history of the Persian kings; Firdawsi completing the poem in 1008. In 913, West-Persia was conquered by the Buwayhid, a native Persian tribal confederation from the shores of the Caspian Sea. They made the Persian city of Shiraz their capital. The Buwayids destroyed Islam's former territorial unity. Rather than a province of a united Muslim empire, Persia became one nation in an increasingly diverse and cultured Islamic world.

Persia under the Turkic rule (1037-1219)

:See also: Ghaznavid Empire :Main article: Seljuk Turkish empire The Muslim world was shaken again in 1037 with the invasion of the Seljuk Turks from the northeast. The Seljuks created a very large Middle Eastern empire and continued in the flowering of medieval Islamic culture. The Seljuks built the fabulous Friday Mosque in the city of Isfahan. The most famous Persian writer of all time, Omar Khayyám, wrote his Rubayat of love poetry during Seljuk times. In the early 1200s the Seljuks lost control of Persia to another group of Turks from Khwarezmia, near the Aral Sea. The shahs of the Khwarezmid Empire ruled for only a short while, however, because they had to face the most feared conqueror in history: Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan illustrate just how far east Persian culture extended due to their conquests.]]

Persia under the Mongols and their successors (1219-1500)

:Main article: Ilkhanate :See also: Timurid dynasty In 1218, Genghis Khan sent ambassadors and merchants to the city of Otrar, on the northeastern confines of the Khwarizm shahdom. The governor of Otrar had these envoys executed. Genghis, out for revenge, sacked Otrar in 1219 and continued on to Samarkand and other cities of the northeast. Genghis' grandson, Hulagu Khan, finished what Genghis had begun when he conquered Persia, Baghdad, and much of the rest of the Middle East in 1255-1258. Persia became the Ilkhanate, a division of the vast Mongol Empire. In 1295, after Ilkhan Ghazan converted to Islam, he renounced all allegiance to the Great Khan. The Ilkhans patronized the arts and learning in the fine tradition of Persian Islam; indeed, they helped to repair much of the damage of the Mongol conquests. In 1335, the last Ilkhan's death spelled the end of the Ilkhanate. It splintered into a number of small states. This left Persia open to still more conquest at the hands of another conqueror connected with the Mongol Empire: Timur the Lame or Tamerlane. He invaded Persia beginning around 1370 and plundered the country until his death in 1405. Timur was an even bloodier conqueror than Genghis had been. In Isfahan, for instance, he slaughtered 70,000 people so that he could build towers with their skulls. He conquered a wide area and made his own city of Samarkand rich, but he made no effort to forge a lasting empire. Persia was essentially left in ruins. For the next hundred years Persia was not a unified state. It was ruled for a while by descendants of Timur, called the Timurid emirs. Toward the end of the 1400s, Persia was taken over by the Emirate of the White Sheep Turkmen (Ak Koyunlu). But there was little unity and none of the sophistication that had defined Persia during the glory days of Islam.

A new Persian empire: the Safavids (1500-1722)

1722 The Safavid Dynasty hailed from Azerbaijan, at that time considered a part of the greater Persia region. The Safavid Shah Ismail I overthrew the White Sheep Turkish rulers of Persia to found a new native Persian empire. Ismail expanded Persia to include all of present-day Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq, plus much of Afghanistan. Ismail's expansion was halted by the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, and war with the Ottomans became a fact of life in Safavid Persia. Safavid Persia was a violent and chaotic state for the next seventy years, but in 1588 Shah Abbas the Great ascended to the throne and instituted a cultural and political renaissance. He moved his capital to Isfahan, which quickly became one of the most important cultural centers in the Islamic world. He made peace with the Ottomans. He reformed the army, drove the Uzbeks out of Persia and into modern-day Uzbekistan, and captured a Portuguese base on the island of Ormus. The Safavids were followers of Shi'a Islam, and under them Persia became the largest Shi'ite country in the Muslim world, a position Iran still holds today. Under the Safavids Persia enjoyed its last period as a major imperial power. In the early 1600s, a final border was agreed upon with Ottoman Turkey; it still forms the border between Turkey and Iran today. Turkey. Throughout the Middle Ages, the natural philosophy and mathematics of ancient Greeks were furthered and preserved within the Muslim world. During this period, Persia became a centre for the manufacture of scientific instruments, retaining its reputation for quality well into the 19th century.]]

Persia and Europe (1722-1914)

In 1722, Safavid Persia collapsed. That year saw the first European invasion of Persia since the time of Alexander: Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, invaded from the northwest as part of a bid to dominate central Asia. To make the situation truly hopeless, Ottoman forces accompanied the Russians, successfully laying siege to Isfahan. The country was able to weather the invasions; neither the Russians nor the Turks gained any territory. However, the Safavids were severely weakened, and that same year (1722), the empire's Afghani subjects launched a bloody revolt in response to the Safavids' attempts to convert them from Sunni to Shi'a Islam by force. The last Safavid shah was executed, and the dynasty came to an end. The Persian empire experienced a temporary revival under Nadir Shah in the 1730s and '40s. Nadir drove out the Russians and confined the Afghans to their present home in Afghanistan. He launched many successful campaigns against Persia's old enemies, the nomadic khanates of Central Asia; most of them were destroyed or absorbed into Persia. However, his empire declined after his death. His rule was followed by the weak and short-lived Zand dynasty. Persia was left unprepared for the worldwide expansion of European empires in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Persia found relative stability in the Qajar dynasty, ruling from 1779 to 1925, but lost hope to compete with the new industrial powers of Europe; Persia found itself sandwiched between the growing Russian Empire in Central Asia and the expanding British Empire in India. Each carved out pieces from Persia that became Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenia, Tajikestan, Uzbekistan, and parts of Afghanistan. Although Persia was never directly invaded, it gradually became economically dependent on Europe. The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 formalised Russian and British spheres of influence over the north and south of the country, respectively, where Britain and Russia each created a "sphere of influence", where the colonial power had the final "say" on economic matters. At the same time the young Shah had granted a concession to William Knox D'Arcy, later the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, to explore and work the newly-discovered oil fields at Masjid-al-Salaman in southwest Persia, which started production in 1914. Winston Churchill, as First Sea Lord to the British Admiralty, oversaw the conversion of the Royal Navy to oil-fired battleships and partially nationalized it prior to the start of war. A small Anglo-Persian force was garrisoned there to protect the field from some hostile tribal factions.

Persia in World War One (1914-1918)

Persia was drawn into the periphery of WWI because of its strategic position between Afghanistan and the warring Ottoman, Russian, and British Empires. In 1914 Britain sent a military force to Mesopotamia to deny access to the Persian oilfields from the Ottomans. Germany retaliated on behalf of its ally by spreading a rumour that the Kaiser had converted to Islam, and sent agents through Persia to attack the oil fields and raise a Jihad against British rule in India. Most of those German agents were captured by Persian, British and Russian troops who were sent to patrol the Afghan border, and the rebellion faded away. This was followed by a German attempt to abduct and control the young Shah, with the assistance of his mainly-Swedish bodyguard, which was foiled at the last moment. In 1916 the fighting between Russian and Ottoman forces to the north of the country had spilt down into Persia; Russia gained the advantage until most of her armies collapsed in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917. This left the Caucasus unprotected, and the Caucasian and Persian civilians starving after years of war and depravation. In 1918 a small force of 400 British troops under General Dunsterville moved into the Trans-Caucasus from Persia in a bid to encourage local resistance to German and Ottoman armies who were about to invade the Baku oilfields. Although they later withdrew back into Persia, they did succeed in delaying the Turks access to the oil almost until the Armistice. In addition, the expedition’s supplies were used to avert a major famine in the region, and a camp for 30,000 displaced refugees was created near the Persian-Mesopotamian border.

Persia after World War One (1919-1935)

By WW1 Persia was not the world power it had once been; it had become a tool in the political battles of other empires. In 1919 northern Persia was occupied by the British General Edmund Ironside to enforce the Turkish Armistice conditions and assist General Malleson contain Boshevik influences in the north. Britain also took tighter control over the increasingly lucrative oilfields. In 1925, Reza Shah Pahlavi seized power from the Qajars and established the new Pahlavi dynasty. However, Britain and the Soviet Union remained the influential powers in Persia into the early years of the Cold War. The second-to-last Shah, Reza Pahlavi, asked the world to call the country Iran in 1935, but in 1959 his subsequent successor and son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, announced that both Persia and Iran can be used interchangeably.

List of Kings and Emperors of Persia

This comprehensive list covers 5000 years, even though Persia is much older than that.

See also


- Iran
- History of Iran
- Geography of Iran
- Aryan
- Persians
- List of Iranian scientists
- Persian culture

External links


- [http://www.chn.ir/en Iran’s Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN)]
- [http://www.cais-soas.com/Essays.htm Articles about Ancient Iranian World & Iranian Peoples (CAIS)]
- [http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Persia.html The History of the Ancient Near East]
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS272xB4/ PERSIA], by S.G.W. Benjamin, 1891
- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook05.html] Persian Ancient History
- [http://www.ichodoc.ir/ Iran Cultural Heritage Organization Documentation Center] (Persian)
- [http://www.to-miras.ir/ Iran Cultural Heritage Organization Technical Office for Preservation and Restoration] (Persian)
- [http://www.rcccr.org/ Iran Research Center for Conservation of Cultural Relics]
- [http://www.chn.ir/ Iran Cultural Heritage News Agency] (Recommended)
- [http://www.persepolis.ir/ Persepolis Official website]
- [http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/PA/IRAN/PAAI/PAAI.html Oriental Institute Photographic Archives] (Nearly 1,000 archaeological photographs of Persepolis and Ancient Iran) Category:Ancient Roman enemies and allies Category:Ancient peoples Category:Former monarchies Category:Battles of Persia Pers Category:History of Iran ja:ペルシア ko:페르시아 제국

Indus Valley Civilization

-Ghaggar river and their tributaries. The Mohenjo-daro ruins pictured above were once the center of this ancient society.]] The Indus Valley Civilization, 3300 BCE–1800 BCE, was an ancient civilization thriving along the lower Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra river in what is now Pakistan and western India. Among other names for this civilization is the Harappan Civilization of the Indus Valley, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa.

Overview

The Indus Civilization is among the world's earliest civilizations, contemporary to the Bronze Age civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. It peaked around 2500 BCE in the western part of South Asia, declined during the mid-2nd millennium BCE and was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 1920s by RD Banerjee. Geographically, it was spread over an area of some 1,260,000 km², comprising the whole of modern day Pakistan and parts of modern-day India and Afghanistan. There were Indus civilization settlements spread as far south as Mumbai, as far east as Delhi, as far west as the Iranian border, and as far north as the Himalayas. Thus there is an Indus Valley site on the Oxus river at Shortughai in northern Afghanistan (Kenoyer 1998:96) and the Indus Valley site Alamgirpur at the Hindon river is located only 28 km from Delhi (S.P. Gupta 1995:183). At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million. The Indus civilization is still poorly understood. Its very existence was forgotten until the 20th century. Its writing system remains undeciphered. Among the Indus civilization's mysteries are fundamental questions, including its means of subsistence and the causes for its sudden disappearance beginning around 1900 BCE. We do not know what language the people spoke. We do not know what they called themselves. All of these facts stand in stark contrast to what is known about its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. The native name of the Indus civilization may be preserved in the Sumerian Me-lah-ha, which Asko Parpola, editor of the Indus script corpus, identifies with the Dravidian Met-akam "high abode/country" (see also Proto-Dravidian). He further suggets that the Sanskrit word mleccha for "foreigner, barbarian, non-Aryan" may be derived from that name.

Settlements

Aryan To date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Kalibanga, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi. Additionally, there is some disputed evidence indicative of another large river, now long dried up, running parallel and to the east of the Indus. The dried-up river beds overlap with the Hakra channel in Pakistan, and the seasonal Ghaggar river in India. Over 500 ancient sites belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered along the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries (S.P. Gupta 1995: 183). In contrast to this, only 90 to 96 of the over 800 known Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries. A section of scholars claim that this was a major river during the third and fourth millennia BCE, and propose that it may have been the Sarasvati River of the Rig Veda. Some of those who accept this hypothesis advocate designating the Indus Valley culture the "Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization", Sindhu being the ancient name of the Indus River. Most archeologists dispute this view, arguing that the old and dry river died out during the mesolithic age at the latest, and was reduced to a seasonal stream thousands of years before the Vedic period.

Predecessors

The Indus civilization was predated by the first farming cultures in south Asia, which emerged in the hills of what is now called Balochistan, to the west of the Indus Valley. The best-known site of this culture is Mehrgarh, established around 6500 BCE. These early farmers domesticated wheat and a variety of animals, including cattle. Pottery was in use by around 5500 BCE. The Indus civilization grew out of this culture's technological base, as well as its geographic expansion into the alluvial plains of what are now the provinces of Sindh and Punjab in contemporary Pakistan and Northern India. By 4000 BCE, a distinctive, regional culture, called pre-Harappan, had emerged in this area. (It is called pre-Harappan because remains of this widespread culture are found in the early strata of Indus civilization cities.) Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures and distant sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. Villagers had, by this time, domesticated numerous crops, including peas, sesame seeds, dates, and cotton, as well as a wide range of domestic animals, including the water buffalo, an animal that remains essential to intensive agricultural production throughout Asia today.

Emergence of Civilization

The first appearance of the Indus civilization was the early Harappan/Ravi Phase. This Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River, lasted from approximately 3300 BC, or even 3500 BC, to 2800 BC. This phase is related to the Hakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley to the west, and predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800-2600 BC), named after a site in northern Sindh near Mohenjo-daro. Increasing knowledge of the Ravi and Kot Diji Phase occupations at Harappa, and of contemporary settlements throughout northwestern South Asia, permits glimpses of later Indus Civilization. Some of the most exciting discoveries in Ravi Phase levels have been of early writing. The origins of the Indus script-like signs dates from 3300-2800 BC. This would make the origins of writing in South Asia approximately the same time as in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. [http://www.essays.cc/free_essays/a3/myv94.shtml] The civilization's mature Harappan period began from 2600 BC.

Cities

A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley civilization. The quality of municipal town planning suggests knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene. The streets of major cities such as Mohenjo-daro or Harappa were laid out in a perfect grid pattern, comparable to that of present day New York. The houses were protected from noise, odors, and thieves. As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and the recently discovered Rakhigarhi, this urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The ancient Indus systems of sewage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Empire were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of modern Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. The massive citadels of Indus cities that protected the Harappans from floods and attackers were larger than most Mesopotamian ziggurats. The purpose of the "Citadel" remains a matter of debate. In sharp contrast to this civilization's contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, no large monumental structures were built. There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples—or, indeed, of kings, armies, or priests. Some structures are thought to have been granaries. Found at one city is an enormous well-built bath, which may have been a public bath. Although the "Citadels" are walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive. They may have been built to divert flood waters. Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans, who lived with others pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighborhoods. Materials from distant regions were used in the cities for constructing seals, beads, and other objects. Among the artifacts made were beautiful beads made of glazed stone called faïence. The seals have images of animals, gods, etc., and inscriptions. Some of the seals were used to stamp clay on trade goods, but they probably had other uses. Although some houses were larger than others, Indus civilization cities were remarkable for their apparent egalitarianism. For example, all houses had access to water and drainage facilities. One gets the impression of a vast middle-class society.

Science

The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their measurements were extremely precise. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights. Brick sizes were in a perfect ratio of 4:2:1, and the decimal system was used. Weights were based on units of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure whole sections of the horizon and the tidal dock. In addition, they evolved new techniques in metallurgy, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves, and currents. In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan made the startling discovery that the people of Indus Civilization, even from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of medicine and dentistry. The physical anthropologist that carried out the examinations, Professor Andrea Cucina from the University of Missouri-Columbia, made the discovery when he was cleaning the teeth from one of the men.

Arts and Culture

Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, steatite have been found at the excavation sites. A number of bronze, terracotta, and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form. Sir John Marshall is known to have reacted with surprise when he saw the famous Indus bronze statuette of the slender-limbed "dancing girl" in Mohenjo-daro: :"… When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were prehistoric; they seemed to completely upset all established ideas about early art. Modeling such as this was unknown in the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece, and I thought, therefore, that some mistake must surely have been made; that these figures had found their way into levels some 3000 years older than those to which they properly belonged. … Now, in these statuettes, it is just this anatomical truth which is so startling; that makes us wonder whether, in this all-important matter, Greek artistry could possibly have been anticipated by the sculptors of a far-off age on the banks of the Indus." A harp-like instrument depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects found at Lothal indicate the use of stringed musical instruments. Seals have been found at Mohenjo-daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and one sitting cross-legged; perhaps the earliest indication, at least illustration, of the practice of yoga. A horned figure in a meditation pose (see image, Pashupati, below right) has been interpreted as one of the earliest depictions of the god Shiva.

Trade

The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. These advances included bullock-driven carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal. Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilization artifacts, the trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and central India, and Mesopotamia (see Meluhha).

Agriculture

The nature of the Indus civilization's agricultural system is still largely a matter of conjecture due to the limited amount of information surviving through the ages. Some speculation is possible, however. Indus civilization agriculture must have been highly productive; after all, it was capable of generating surpluses sufficient to support tens of thousands of urban residents who were not primarily engaged in agriculture. It relied on the considerable technological achievements of the pre-Harappan culture, including the plough. Still, very little is known about the farmers who supported the cities or their agricultural methods. Some of them undoubtedly made use of the fertile alluvial soil left by rivers after the flood season, but this simple method of agriculture is not thought to be productive enough to support cities. There is no evidence of irrigation, but such evidence could have been obliterated by repeated, catastrophic floods. The Indus civilization appears to contradict the hydraulic despotism hypothesis of the origin of urban civilization and the state. According to this hypothesis, cities could not have arisen without irrigation systems capable of generating massive agricultural surpluses. To build these systems, a despotic, centralized state emerged that was capable of suppressing the social status of thousands of people and harnessing their labor as slaves. It is very difficult to square this hypothesis with what is known about the Indus civilization. There is no evidence of kings, slaves, or forced mobilization of labor. It is often assumed that intensive agricultural production requires dams and canals. This assumption is easily refuted. Throughout Asia, rice farmers produce significant agricultural surpluses from terraced, hillside rice paddies, which result not from slavery but rather the accumulated labor of many generations of people. Instead of building canals, Indus civilization people may have built water diversion schemes, which—like terrace agriculture—can be elaborated by generations of small-scale labor investments. In addition, it is known that Indus civilization people practiced rainfall harvesting, a powerful technology that was brought to fruition by classical Indian civilization but nearly forgotten in the 20th century. It should be remembered that Indus civilization people, like all peoples in South Asia, built their lives around the monsoon, a weather pattern in which the bulk of a year's rainfall occurs in a four-month period. At a recently discovered Indus civilization city in western India, archaeologists discovered a series of massive reservoirs, hewn from solid rock and designed to collect rainfall, that would have been capable of meeting the city's needs during the dry season.

Writing or Symbol System

monsoon Main article: Indus script. It has long been claimed that the Indus Valley was the home of a literate civilization, but this has recently been challenged on linguistic and archaeological grounds. Well over 400 Indus symbols have been found on seals or ceramic pots and over a dozen other materials, including a 'signboard' that apparently once hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira. Typical Indus inscriptions are no more than four or five characters in length, most of which (aside from the Dholavira 'signboard') are exquisitely tiny; the longest on a single surface, which is less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) square, is 17 signs long; the longest on any object (found on three different faces of a mass-produced object) carries only 26 symbols. It has been recently pointed out that the brevity of the inscriptions is unparalleled in any known premodern literate society, including those that wrote extensively on leaves, bark, wood, cloth, wax, animal skins, and other perishable materials. Based partly on this evidence, a controversial recent paper by Farmer, Sproat, and Witzel (2004)[http://www.safarmer.com/fsw2.pdf], which has been widely discussed in the world press (see external links), argues that the Indus system did not encode language, but was related instead to a variety of non-linguistic sign systems used extensively in the Near East. It has also been claimed on occasion that the symbols were exclusively used for economic transactions, but this claim leaves unexplained the appearance of Indus symbols on many ritual objects, many of which were mass produced in molds. No parallels to these mass-produced inscriptions are known in any other early ancient civilizations. Photos of many of the thousands of extant inscriptions are published in the Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions (1987, 1991), edited by A. Parpola and his colleagues. Publication of a final third volume, which will reportedly republish photos taken in the 20s and 30s of hundreds of lost or stolen inscriptions, along with many discovered in the last few decades, has been announced for several years, but has not yet found its way into print. For now, researchers must supplement the materials in the Corpus by study of the tiny photos in the excavation reports of Marshall (1931), Mackay (1938, 1943), Wheeler (1947), or reproductions in more recent scattered sources.

Geography

The Indus valley was by main rivers, the Indus River. The Indus River was very important to Indus life. The river provided irrigation, and also created fertile land for farming. In the middle of India is the Deccan Plateau, which might have helped protect the Indus people from foriegn invaders. The Himalayas are also located near the Indus Valley, as is the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Decline, collapse and legacy

Around 1900 BC, signs of a gradual decline begin to emerge. People started to leave the cities. Those who remained were poorly nourished. By around 1800 BC, most of the cities were abandoned. In the aftermath of the Indus civilization's collapse, regional cultures emerged, to varying degrees showing the influence of the Indus civilization. In the formerly great city of Harappa, burials have been found that correspond to a regional culture called the Cemetery H culture. At the same time, the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture expands from Rajasthan into the Gangetic Plain. It is in this context of the aftermath of a civilization's collapse that the Indo-Aryan migration into northern India is discussed. In the early twentieth century, this migration was forwarded in the guise of an "Aryan invasion", and when the civilization was discovered in the 1920s, its collapse at precisely the time of the conjectured invasion was seen as an independent confirmation. In the words of the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, the Indo-Aryan war god Indra "stands accused" of the destruction. It is however far from certain whether the collapse of the IVC is a result of an Indo-Aryan migration. It seems rather likely that, to the contrary, the Indo-Aryan migration was as a result of the collapse, comparable with the decline of the Roman Empire and the incursions of relatively primitive peoples during the Migrations Period. A possible natural reason of the IVC's decline is connected with climate change. In 2600 BC, the Indus Valley was verdant, forested, and teeming with wildlife. It was wetter, too; floods were a problem and appear, on more than one occasion, to have overwhelmed certain settlements. As a result, Indus civilization people supplemented their diet with hunting. By 1800 BC, the climate is known to have changed. It became significantly cooler and drier. The crucial factor may have been the disappearance of substantial portions of the Ghaggar-Hakra river system. A tectonic event may have diverted the system's sources toward the Ganges Plain, though there is some uncertainty about the date of this event. Such a statement may seem dubious if one does not realize that the transition between the Indus and Gangetic plains amounts to a matter of inches. The region in which the river's waters formerly arose is known to be geologically active, and there is evidence of major tectonic events at the time the Indus civilization collapsed. Although this particular factor is speculative, and not generally accepted, the decline of the IVC, as with any other civilization, will have been due to a combination of a variety of reasons. In the course of the 2nd millennium BC, remnants of the IVC's culture will have amalgamated with that of other peoples, likely contributing to what eventually resulted in the rise of historical Hinduism. Judging from the abundant figurines depicting female fertility that they left behind, indicate worship of a Mother goddess (compare Shakti and Kali). IVC seals depict animals, perhaps as the object of veneration, comparable to the zoomorphic aspects of some Hindu gods. Seals resembling Pashupati in a yogic posture have also been discovered. Like Hindus today, Indus civilization people seemed to have placed a high value on bathing and personal cleanliness. The houses of Mohenjo-Daro usually had a private well and bathing platforms were often near the well (Kenoyer 1998: 58-60). Unlike other ancient civilizations, the archaeological record of the Indus civilization provides practically no evidence of armies, kings, slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative traits that we traditionally associate with early civilization, although this could simply be due to the sheer completeness of its collapse and subsequent disappearance.

See also


- Gandhara culture, a later Buddhist culture also situated on the Indus
- Meluhha
- Dilmun, contemporary civilization based in present day Bahrain with extensive trade links with the Indus Valley Civilization

Bibliography


- Gupta, S.P. (ed.). 1995. The lost Sarasvati and the Indus Civilization. Kusumanjali Prakashan, Jodhpur.
- Kenoyer, J. Mark. 1998. Ancient cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195779401
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- Jim G. Shaffer. 1992. "The Indus Valley, Baluchistan and Helmand Traditions: Neolithic Through Bronze Age." In Chronologies in Old World Archaeology. Second Edition. R.W. Ehrich, (Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. I:441-464, II:425-446.
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External links and references


- [http://www.safarmer.com/fsw2.pdf Paper published in 2004 by Farmer, Sproat, and Witzel questioning the traditional Indus-script thesis ]
- [http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/index.html An invitation to the Indus Civilization (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum)]
- [http://www.harappa.com/ Photos and descriptions of archaeological excavations — 90 page intro to Indus] (harappa.com)
- [http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/harappa-mohenjodaro.html The Harappan Civilization]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1272010.stm Prehistoric dentistry evidence found in Indus - BBC News]
- [http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati/html/artefacts.htm Indus artefacts]
- [http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?674&soc Cache of Seal Impressions Discovered in Western India ]
- [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/members/indus.html Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization]
- [http://lah.ru/fotoarh/megalit/asia/india.htm image collection] Category:Ancient peoples Category:Bronze Age Category:History of India Category:History of Pakistan Category:Civilizations ja:インダス文明

Achaemenid

The Achaemenid Dynasty (Hakamanishiya in the Old Persian (Avestan ??) language - transliterated Hakamanshee in Modern Persian) - was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire. At the height of their power, around 500 BC, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing parts of today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, small part of Greece, Egypt, Syria, Northern India/Pakistan, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Caucasia, Central Asia, Arabia, and Libya. Darius I ("Darius the Great") was the first to speak of Achaemenes, who he claimed was an ancestor of Cyrus II ("Cyrus the Great", ca. 576 - 529 BC), and therefore the progenitor of the entire line of Achaemenid rulers. However, some scholars hold that Achaemenes was a fictional character used to legitimize Darius' rule, and that Darius I usurped the Persian throne. In any case, the name Achaemenid has been commonly accepted for the line of Persian kings beginning at least with Darius I. When the name refers to the entire line of early Persian rulers, including Cyrus II and his son Cambyses, the Achaemenid era stretches from about 650 to 330 BC. At different times, the Achaemenids also ruled Egypt, although the Egyptians twice regained their independence from Persia. After the practice of Manetho, Egyptian historians refer to the period in Egypt when the Achaemenid dynasty ruled as the Twenty-Seventh (525 BC - 404 BC) and Thirty-First Dynasties (343- 332 BC). The last Achaemenid king was Darius III (336 BC - 330 BC), who was defeated by Alexander III of Macedon. After the Macedonian conquest, the Persian Empire was annexed by Alexander (See "Achaemenid rulers" below for full list of rulers).

History

Macedon The founder of this dynasty was supposedly Achaemenes (Old Persian Haxāmaniš "Of Friendly Mind"). He was succeeded by his son Teispes (Cišpi), who first took the title King of Anšān after seizing that city from the Elamites. Inscriptions indicate that when Teispes died, two of his sons shared the throne as Cyrus I (Kūru), king of Anšān, and Ariaramnes (Ariyāramna "Having the Iranians at Peace"), king of Parsua (later called Pārsa "Persia", hence Fārsi, the native name for modern Persian). They were succeeded by their respective sons Cambyses I of Anshan (Kambūjiya, "the Elder"), and Arsames (Aršāma "Having a Hero's Might") of Persia. In 559 BC, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as king of Anšān by his son Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus II is considered to be the first king of the Achaemenid dynasty to be properly called so, as his predecessors were subservient to Media. Cyrus II conquered Media, Lydia and Babylon. His successors were less successful. Cyrus' unstable son Cambyses II conquered Egypt, but died in July 522 BC as the result of either accident or suicide, during a revolt led by a priest, Gaumata. Gaumata usurped the throne by pretending to be Smerdis (Pers. Bardiya; Cambyses' brother whom he had secretly had assassinated in 525, before starting out for his Egyptian campaign) until he was overthrown in 522 BC by a member of a lateral branch of the Achaemenid family, Darius I (Old Persian Dārayawuš "Who Holds Firm the Good", also known as Darayarahush or Darius the Great). According to Herodotus, the native leadership then debated the best form of government for the Empire. He reports that it was decided that oligarchy would divide them against one another, and democracy would bring about mob rule resulting in a charismatic leader resuming the monarchy. Therefore, they decided a new monarch was in order, particularly since they were in a position to choose him. Darius I was chosen monarch from amongst the leaders. He was cousin to Cambyses II and Smerdis, claiming Ariaramnes as his ancestor. Darius attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis; but as a result of his defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490, he was forced to retract the limits of the empire to Asia Minor. The Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus and Darius who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic worldview, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and in less than thirty years raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. The zenith of Achaemenid power was achieved during Darius' reign (521 BC - 485 BC) and that of his son Xerxes I (485 BC - 465 BC, Old Persian Xšāyaršā "Hero Among Kings"). These two rulers built great, beautiful palaces in the ancient cities of Persepolis, Susa and Ecbatana (Hagmatāna "City of Gatherings"). The Persian Empire reached its greatest extent in this period.

Decline

After the death of Xerxes I (465 BC), the decline of the dynasty began. Persia saw a sequence of weak rulers ruling the empire. Decadence became rampant, and the army, finance and government administration were neglected. The last Achaemenid king was Darius III (336 BC - 330 BC), who was defeated by Alexander III of Macedon. After the Macedonian conquest, the Persian Empire was annexed by Alexander.

System of governing

The Achaemenids were enlightened despots who allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A satrap (governor) administered the region, a general supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a state secretary kept official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the central government. The twenty satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the royal road from Susa to Sardis, built by command of Darius I. Relays of mounted couriers could reach the remotest of areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors, the "eyes and ears of the king," toured the empire and reported on local conditions. The king also maintained a personal bodyguard of 10,000 men, called the Immortals. The language in greatest use in the empire was Aramaic. Old Persian was the official language of the empire, but was used only for inscriptions and royal proclamations. Darius revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage system. Trade was extensive, and under the Achaemenids there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. As a result of this commercial activity, Persian words for typical items of trade became prevalent throughout the Middle East and eventually entered the English language; examples are bazaar, shawl, sash, turquoise, tiara, orange, lemon, melon, peach, spinach, and asparagus. Trade was one of the empire's main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute. Other accomplishments of Darius' reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system upon which much of later Iranian law would be based, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis, where vassal states would offer their yearly tribute at the festival celebrating the spring equinox.

Contributions

Persepolis An important Achaemenid artifact is the Cyrus Cylinder, a declaration issued by Cyrus the Great, son of the founder of the dynasty. Cyrus fought the Babylonians, eventually taking over and giving the Jews the freedom to practice their religion. The religion of the Achaemenids was Zoroastrianism, whose adherents at the time were noted for their dedication to clear lines of right and wrong, and for their apparent honesty. Cyrus' political behaviour was also attributed to his being shrewd - appearing as the "saviour" of a nation virtually guaranteed of their allegiance and well-disposed behaviour. It was the general policy of the Achaemenids to continue the Assyrian and Babylonian policy of transferring large populations between areas, in effect mixing disparate groups together and diluting any nationalism they may otherwise have had - intended as a calming measure, and resulting in the Achaemenid era (ca. 650-330 BC) being known as a relatively peaceful period in Middle Eastern history.

Art

Zoroastrianism; Iran; circa 450 BC]] Achaemenid art, like Achaemenid religion, was a blend of many elements. Just as the Achaemenids were tolerant in matters of local government and custom, as long as Persians controlled the general policy and administration of the empire, so also were they tolerant in art so long as the finished and total effect was Persian. At Pasargadae, the capital of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses in Fars, the Persian homeland, and at Persepolis, the neighbouring city founded by Darius the Great and used by all of his successors, one can trace to a foreign origin almost all of the several details in the construction and embellishment of the architecture and the sculptured reliefs; but the conception, planning, and overall finished product are distinctly Persian and could not have been created by any of the foreign groups who supplied the king of kings with artistic talent. Cyrus may have been the leader of Persian tribes not yet so sophisticated nor so civilized as the Babylonians or Egyptians, but when he chose to build Pasargadae, he had a long artistic tradition behind him that was probably already distinctly Iranian and that was in many ways the equal of any. Two examples suffice: the tradition of the columned hall in architecture and fine gold work. The former can now be seen as belonging to an architectural tradition on the Iranian Plateau that extended back through the Median period to at least the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was in the tradition of the delicate metalwork found in Iron Age II times at Hasanlu and still earlier at Marlik. This Achaemenid artistic style is evident in the iconography of Persepolis, which celebrates the king and the office of the monarch. In its carefully proportioned and well-organized ground plan, rich architectural ornament, and magnificent decorative reliefs, Persepolis, primarily the creation of Darius and Xerxes, is one of the great artistic legacies of the ancient world. In its art and architecture, Persepolis reflected Darius' perception of himself as the leader of a conglomerate people to whom he had given a new and single identity. The Achaemenid art and architecture found there is at once distinctive and highly eclectic. The Achaemenids took the art forms and the cultural and religious traditions of many of the ancient Middle Eastern peoples and combined them into a single form. In describing the construction of his palace at Susa, Darius says, :The cedar timber from there (a mountain by name Lebanon) was brought, the yaka timber was brought from Gandara and from Carmania. The gold was brought from Sardis and from Bactria . . . the precious stone lapis-lazuli and carnelian . . . was brought from Sogdiana. The turquoise from Chorasmia, the silver and ebony from Egypt, the ornamentation from Ionia, the ivory from Ethiopia and from Sind and from Arachosia. The stone-cutters who wrought the stone, those were Ionians and Sardians. The goldsmiths were Medes and Egyptians. The men who wrought the wood, those were Sardians and Egyptians. The men who wrought the baked brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were Medes and Egyptians. This was an imperial art on a scale the world had not seen before. Materials and artists were drawn from all the lands ruled by the Great King, and thus tastes, styles, and motifs became mixed together in an eclectic art and architecture that in itself mirrored the empire and the Persians' understanding of how that empire ought to function. Yet the whole was entirely Persian. So also with the small arts where the Persians excelled: fine metal tableware, jewelry, seal cutting, weaponry and its decoration, and pottery. It has been suggested that the Persians called upon the subject peoples for artists because they were themselves crude barbarians with little taste, and needed quickly to create an imperial art to match their sudden rise to political power. Yet excavations at sites from the protohistoric period show this not to have been the case.

Achaemenid rulers


- Achaemenes of Persia.†
- Teispes of Anshan, his son.
- Cyrus I of Anshan, his son.
- Ariaramnes of Persia,† son of Teispes and co-ruler with Cyrus I.
- Cambyses I of Anshan, son of Cyrus I.
- Arsames of Persia,† son of Ariaramnes and co-ruler with Cambyses I
- Cyrus II the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550 - 530 BC.
- Cambyses II, his son, ruled 530 - 521 BC.
- Smerdis, his alleged brother, ruled 521 BC
- Darius I, his brother-in-law and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521 -486 BC.
- Xerxes I, his son, ruled 486 -465 BC
- Artaxerxes I, his son, ruled 474 - 424 BC.
- Xerxes II, his son, ruled 424 - 423 BC.
- Sogdianus, his half-brother and rival, ruled 424 - 423 BC.
- Darius II, his half-brother and rival, ruled 424 - 404 BC.
- Artaxerxes II, his son, ruled 404 - 358 BC (see also Xenophon).
- Artaxerxes III,his son, ruled 358 - 338 BC
- Artaxerxes IV Arses, his son, ruled 338 - 336 BC
- Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336 -330 BC †The epigraphic evidence for these rulers is highly suspect, and often considered to have been invented by Darius I.

References


- [http://www.cais-soas.com/Essays.htm#History The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies at SOAS (CASI at SOAS)]
- Stronach, David "Darius at Pasargadae: A Neglected Source for the History of Early Persia," Topoi

See also


- Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
- Pharaoh

Further Reading


- Ancient Persia Josef Wiesehofer
- Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia J. E Curtis and N. Tallis
- From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire Pierre Briant
- The Greco-Persian Wars Peter Green
- The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 BC Philip De Souza
- The Heritage of Persia Richard N. Frye
- History of the Persian Empire A.T. Olmstead
- The Persian Empire Lindsay Allen
- The Persian Empire J.M. Cook
- Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West Tom Holland
- Pictorial History of Iran: Ancient Persia Before Islam 15000 B.C.-625 A.D. Amini Sam
- Timelife Persians: Masters of the Empire (Lost Civilizations)

External links


- [http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/achaemenians.html Achaemenids] From www.livius.org
- [http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/inscriptions.html Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions] All of them.
- [http://www.farsinet.com/cyrus/ Cyrus' Charter of Human Rights] - See the cuneiform, read a translation.
- [http://www.iranchamber.com/art/articles/art_of_achaemenids.php| Achaemenid art] Category:Royal families Category:Dynasties of Ancient Egypt Category:Monarchs of Persia Category:History of Iran Category:Iranian peoples Category:Zoroastrianism
- Category:Iron Age Category:History of Afghanistan Category:History of Pakistan ja:アケメネス朝

Greeks

:For other uses of the name "Greek", see Greek (disambiguation) The Greeks are a nation and ethnic group, who have populated Greece from the 17th century BC until the present day.

Identity of the Greek people

17th century BC

Classical and Roman

Herodotus states that the Athenians declared, before the battle of Plataea, that they would not go over to Mardonius, because in the first place, they were bound to avenge the burning of the Acropolis; and, secondly, they would not betray their fellow Greeks, to whom they were bound by:
- A common language1 (the use of one of the dialects of the Greek language)
- Common blood2 (descent from Hellen, son of Deucalion)
- Common shrines, statues and sacrifices (practice of the ancient Greek religion)3 and
- Common habits and customs.  This notion that the Greeks had a common descent was then comparatively recent. As Thucydides observes, the name of Hellas spread from a valley in Thessaly to the Greek-speaking peoples after the formation of the text of Homer (the Panellenes of Il. 2.530 are the troops of Thessaly, contrasting with the Achaeans), not long before his own time. This places the idea in the Archaic period, when Greek-speakers discovered that the world was wider, wealthier, and more cultured than they had hitherto imagined. Homer's Trojan War is, indeed, a conflict among Greeks: the Trojans speak Greek, bear Greek names, and worship the Greek gods; and Priam is descended from Zeus (see Alaksandus). The Carians are the only people Homer considers barbarophonoi. Nor did the late and schematic myth of the sons of Hellen ever convince other mythographers to comply with it. Theseus is descended from Erechtheus, son of the Earth; Oedipus from the Phoenician Cadmus; Agamemnon from Phrygian Pelops; Heracles and Perseus from Egyptian Danaus. Whole cities were not descended from Hellen: Athens, Lemnos, and the Cretans were Pelasgian; and 1 Maccabees 12:21 attests that the Spartans are children of Abraham. The myth of Hellen combined into one group the smaller tribes that participated in the Delphic Amphictyon, such as the Aeolians, the Achaeans, and the Dorians. Traces of the older distinctions remained; Dorians were forbidden in the Parthenon; although the Spartan king Cleomenes I claimed this did not apply to him — as a descendant of Heracles, he was an Achaean. (As in this example, the Greeks almost always reckoned descent only through the male line.) So the exact nature of Greek identity has been an open question since ancient times. It has not become clearer with time: descent is at best a matter of tradition, and the Greeks have altered their language, religion, and customs since Herodotus. Nevertheless, there has been, in practice, a continuous Greek identity since ancient times, containing at least those who chose to be Greek and who had citizenship in a Greek city, or membership of a Greek community. As early as the 5th century BC, Isocrates, after speaking of common origin and worship, says: "the name Hellenes suggests no longer a race but an intelligence, and... the title Hellenes is applied rather to those who share our culture than to those who share a common blood". [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0144:speech=4:section=50|Panegyric 4.50]. After the 4th century BC, Greek became the lingua franca of the East Mediterranean region and was widely spoken by educated non-Greeks. After the 4th century AD, Greeks became Christian. (In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Greeks are descended from Javan, son of Japheth).

Byzantine and Ottoman

Japheth family of Byzantine emperors.]] After the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire, Greek culture shifted from Hellenic (Greek pagan) to Romaic (Greek paganism fused with Christianity), and the word "Hellene" became associated with the pagan past. All Roman citizens, and thus all subjects of the Byzantine Empire, were Romaic. Distinctions between nationalities among the citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire did not become extinct, but became secondary to religious considerations as the renewed Empire used Christianity to maintain its cohesion. It was religion that divided the Empire from the Muslims; and, along different lines, it came to divide the Empire from the Franks, Armenians, Copts, and Syrians. Greek nationalism was reborn after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and the establishment of a number of Greek kingdoms (such as the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus). When the empire was revived in 1261, it became essentially a Greek national state. Adherence to Greek Orthodox rites became the defining characteristic of the Greek people. During the Ottoman rule of Greece, Greek Orthodox Christianity was the only Greek community; the Ottomans considered religion to be the defining characteristic of "national" groups (millet). Greeks who adopted Islam during that period were considered 'Turks'. Following this definition, Alexander Ypsilanti expected the Moldavians and Wallachians, being Greek Orthodox, to rise for Greek independence; but they did not.

Modern independence

This strong relation between Greek national identity and Greek Orthodox religion continued after the creation of the modern Greek state in 1830, and when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed between Greece and Turkey in 1923, the two countries agreed to use religion as the determinant for ethnic identity. However, in many important respects, the Greek state adhered from its founding to remarkably secular principles. For instance, Jews were granted full citizens rights in 1830, the year Greece's independence was formally recognized, thus making Greece the second state in Europe (after France) with an emancipated Jewish community. Today, the deeper integration of Greece into the Western strategic system and the effects of migration (both emigration from Greece in the 1950s and 1960s, and immigration into Greece in more recent years) have led to a perception of Greek national identity similar to that of other Western European nations. The Greek Orthodox faith is now only one of a variety of factors that yield Greek identity.

Names used for the Greek people

Main Article: Names of the Greeks. Names of the Greeks Throughout the centuries, the Greeks have been known by a number of names, including:
- Hellenes (Έλληνες) - In mythology, Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, received from the nymph Orseis three sons, Aeolus, Dorus and Xuthus, each of which founded a primary tribe of Hellas; Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans and Ionians. Originally, only a small tribe in Thessaly were called Hellenes, but the word soon extended to the rest of the peninsula and came to represent all Greek people. In early Christian times it was sometimes used to mean "pagans". It remains in Greece today, the primary national name.
- Greeks (Γραικοί) - In mythology, Graecus was the brother of Latinus and niece to Hellen. It was the name of a Boeotian tribe that migrated to Italy in the 8th century BC and probably through contact with natives there brought the term to represent all Hellenes, which then established itself in Italy and in the West in general.
- Romioi (Ρωμιοί) - Romans is the political name by which the Greeks were known during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The name originally signified the inhabitants of the city of Rome in Italy, but with the elevation of the Greeks in the Roman Empire, it soon lost its connection with the Latins. Emperor Caracella granted all free people in the Roman Empire citizenship, but the Greeks transmogrified the term Roman into the term Romaion. The term was created in order to establish a dualistic connotation that represented the Greeks' Roman citizenship and their Hellenic ancestry. The word Romaions came to represent the Greek inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire. It remains still in use today in Greece, being the most popular national name after Hellene.
- Yunani (Ίωνες) - Yunani, from the Persian Yauna, itself a transliteration of the Greek Ionia, is the name by which the Greeks are known in the East today. The term became established in the ancient Middle East from the Persians, who in contact with the Ionian tribes in western Asia Minor in the 6th century BC, extended the name to all Hellenes.
- Achaeans, Argives, and Danaans are names used interchangeably by Homer, to signify the Greek allied forces.

History of the Greeks

The history of the Greek people is closely associated with the history of Greece itself. While Greeks have migrated away from Greece for many centuries, historically these colonists or emigrants remained close to their homeland. During the Ottoman rule of Greece, a number of Greek enclaves around the Mediterranean were cut off from the core, notably in Southern Italy, the Caucasus, Syria,and Egypt. During the 20th century, a huge wave of migration to the United States, Australia, Canada,and elsewhere created a Greek diaspora which, in many ways, has developed a cultural identity separate from that of the Greeks who remained home.

Greeks around the world

Outside Greece and Cyprus, large Greek communities can be found in a number of countries:
- United States: 1,153,295 (self-reported heritage); 365,435 speak Greek at home. (2000 Census). See Greek-Americans.
- Germany: 363,000 (1995, based on citizenship)
- Canada: 203,354 born in Greece4 (1996 Census); total approx. 320,000 Canadians of Greek heritage (2003 community estimates). See Greek-Canadians
- Australia: 260,000 speak Greek at home (1996 Census); 336,782 self-reported Greek origin (1986 Census[http://www.hellenism.net/cgi-bin/display_article.html?s=49&a=172]). See Greek-Australians
- Albania: 36,000-300,000 by different estimates: 36,000 (Albanian Institute of Statistics, reported by [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3235.htm US Dept. of State], 2005); 62,500 (Albanian census, ibid., 1989); 100,000 ([http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/al.html CIA World Factbook], 1989); 150,000 ([http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/ghm-greeks-albanians.PDF Greek Helsinki Monitor estimate], 1994); 280,000 (Greek estimate reported by [http://www.unpo.org/news_detail.php?arg=23&par=46 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization], 2004).
- Former Soviet Union: Approx. 200,000 remain; 300,000 have migrated to Greece (2003, figures not reliable). Significant Greek communities can also be found in the United Kingdom (mostly Greek Cypriots), Argentina, Mexico, Sweden and South Africa.

Timeline of Greek migrations

South Africa Practically every event in this timeline is disputed by one theory or another. This timeline attempts to represent the mainstream views of modern Greek historians. Some key historical events have also been included for context, but this timeline is not intended to cover history not related to migrations. For more information on the historical context of these migrations, please see History of Greece.
- 20th century BC — Greek tribes migrate into Macedonia (most likely from the Caucasus region), and establish some settlements in peninsular Greece.
- 17th century BC — Decline of Minoan civilization, possibly due to the eruption of Thera. Greek tribes (Achaeans, Ionians) enter southern Greece, establishing the Mycenaean civilization. Greek history begins.
- 13th century BC — First colonies established in Asia Minor.
- 11th century BC — Doric tribes move into peninsular Greece.
- 9th century BC — Major colonization of Asia Minor.
- 8th century BC — First colonies established in Sicily and Southern Italy.
- 6th century BC — Colonies established across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea
- 4th century BC — Campaign of Alexander the Great; colonies established in Egypt and the Middle East.
- 2nd century BC — Conquest of Greece by the Roman Empire.
- 4th century — Establishment of Eastern Roman Empire. Migrations of Greeks throughout the Empire, and of non-Greeks into Greece over the next 6 centuries.
- 13th century — Dissolution of Eastern Roman Empire. Re-emergence of Greek nationalism.
- 14th century — Eastern Roman Empire recreated and refashioned as a Greek state.
- 15th century — Conquest of Greece by the Ottoman Empire . Greek diaspora into Europe begins. Turkish settlements in Greece.
- 1830s — Creation of the Modern Greek State. Immigration to the New World begins.
- 1913 — Macedonia partitioned; Population exchange with Bulgaria; Greek presence in Bulgaria and presence of Slavic peoples in Greece practically end.
- 1910s — Genocide of Pontian Greeks; approximately 350,000 killed.
- 1923 — Treaty of Lausanne. 1.3 million Greeks removed from the newly created Republic of Turkey; 500,000 Turks and other Muslims removed from Greece. Muslim Greeks remain in Turkey. 50,000 Christian Greeks in Constantinople and a number of Muslims in Greek (Western) Thrace excluded from the exchange.
- 1948 — Greek Civil War. Tens of thousands of Greek communists and their families flee into Eastern Bloc nations. Thousands settle in Tashkent.
- 1950s — Massive emigration of Greeks to West Germany, the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries. Large Greek community in Alexandria flees Nasser's regime in Egypt.
- 1955 — Istanbul Pogrom against Greeks. Exodus of Greeks from the city accelerates; less than 2000 remain today.
- 1960s — Republic of Cyprus created, as a joint Greek–Turkish state. Economic emigration continues.
- 1974 — Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus. Almost all Greeks living in northern Cyprus flee to the south; many flee to the United Kingdom.
- 1980s — Civil war refugees allowed to remigrate to Greece. Reverse migration of Greeks from Germany also begins.
- 1990s — Collapse of Soviet Union. Approx. 300,000 ethnic Greeks migrate from Georgia, Armenia and southern Russia to Greece. Approx 35,000 ethnic Greeks migrate from Albania to Greece.
- 2000s — Schengen Treaty increases population mobility within the European Union. Numbers indicate a trend of reverse migration of Greeks from the United States and Australia beginning.

Footnotes

1In Greek: homoglosson () + 2In Greek: homaimon () 3Compare the Christian Greek and Demotic term omothriskon (). 4Includes non-Greeks born in Greece; excludes Greeks not born in Greece; excludes second-generation Greek-Canadians.

Miscellaneous topics


- Greece
- Greek Language
- History of Greece
- Ancient Greece
- Greek mythology
- Hellenistic civilization
- Byzantine Empire
- Byzantium
- List of Greeks
- Greek American
- Category:Greek-Americans
- Greek Canadians
- Greek Australian

External links


- [http://www.chs.harvard.edu/activities_events.sec/conferences.ssp/conf_greeks_on_greekness.pg Greeks on Greekness: The Construction and Uses of the Greek Past among Greeks under the Roman Empire], a conference on how Greeks imagined Greekness in relation to the past during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire. Category:Ethnic groups of Greece Category:Ethnic groups of Macedonia Category:Indo-European peoples

Greco-Bactrian

The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising today's northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion into northern India established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which was to last until around 10 CE.

Independence from the Seleucid Empire (250 BCE)

Indo-Greek Kingdom.]] The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was founded by the Seleucid military governor of Bactria Diodotus around 250 BCE when he wrestled independence for his territory from the Seleucid Empire. :"The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander... Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia, which was named after its ruler." (Strabo, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1 XI.XI.I]) At about the same time in the West, the Parthian Arsacid Dynasty was rising, therefore cutting the Greco-Bactrians from direct contacts with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II.

The Euthydemid dynasty (230 BCE)

Euthydemus overthrew Diodotus II around 230 BCE and started his dynasty. Euthydemus's control extended to Sogdiana, reaching and going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate founded by Alexander the Great in Ferghana.

Conflict with the Seleucid empire and Parthia

Ferghana (230-200 BCE)]] Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BCE. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then succesfully resisted a two-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra, before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius around 206 BCE . Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing the original rebel Diodotus, and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts: :"...for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: seeing that great hords of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised." (Polybius, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+11.34 11.34]). Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded. In the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia, whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus the Great. These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane.

Greek culture in Bactria

Antiochus the Great, 2nd century BCE.]] The Greco-Bactrians were known for their high level of Hellenistic sophistication, and kept regular contact with both the Mediterranean and neighbouring India. They were on friendly terms with India and exchanged ambassadors. India Their cities, such as Ai-Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan (probably Alexandria on the Oxus) demonstrate a sophisticated Hellenistic urban culture. This site gives a snapshot of Greco-Bactrian culture around 145 BCE, as the city was burnt to the ground around that date during nomadic invasions and never re-settled. Ai-Khanoum "has all the hallmarks of a Hellenistic city, with a Greek theater, gymnasium and some Greek houses with colonnated courtyards" (Boardman). Remains of Classical Corinthian columns were found in excavations of the site, as well as various sculptural fragments. In particular a huge foot fragment in excellent Hellenistic style was recovered, which is estimated to have belonged to a 5–6 meters tall statue. Corinthian One of the inscriptions in Greek found at Ai-Khanoum, the Herôon of Kineas, has been dated to 300–250 BC, and describes Delphic precepts: : "As children, learn good manners. : As young men, learn to control the passions. : In middle age, be just. : In old age, give good advice. : Then die, without regret." Some of the Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors the Indo-Greeks, are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BCE), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas (reigned c. 95–90 BCE). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World").

Geographic expansion

Contacts with Eastern Central Asia and China

90 BCE-2nd century BCE, Sampul, Urumqi Xinjiang Museum.]] To the north, Euthydemus also ruled Sogdiana and Ferghana, and there are indications that from Alexandria Eschate the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar and Urumqi in Chinese Turkestan, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BCE. The Greek historian Strabo too writes that: :"they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (Chinese) and the Phryni" (Strabo, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1 XI.XI.I]). Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang museum at Urumqi (Boardman). Urumqi, Urumqi Xinjiang Museum (drawing) .]] Greek influences on Han art have often been suggested (Hirth, Rostovtzeff). Designs with rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han bronze mirrors, dated between 300-200 BCE . There is a possibility that the 210 BCE Terracotta Army of the first great Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, with its colored life-size realism and technical virtuosity, may have been inspired by Greek statuary, as there is no prior evidence of any Chinese realistic life-sized human statues before the reign of Qin. The introduction of China's first round coinage, the banliang, was also ordered by the same emperor. Before uniting China, the Qin were the westernmost people of China, located in Gansu, and were the most likely to receive such influence. Gansu bronze mirror with glass inlays, said to incorporate Greco-Bactrian artistic patterns (rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays). 300-200 BCE. Victoria and Albert Museum.]] Victoria and Albert Museum .]] Numismatics also suggest that some technology exchanges may have occurred on these occasions: the Greco-Bactrians were the first in the world to issue cupro-nickel (75/25 ratio) coins , an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time under the name "White copper" (some weapons from the Warring States Period were in copper-nickel alloy ). The practice of exporting Chinese metals, in particular iron, for trade is attested around that period. Kings Agathocles and Pantaleon made these coin issues around 170 BCE. Copper-nickel would not be used again in coinage until the 19th century. The presence of Chinese people in India from ancient times is also suggested by the accounts of the "Ciñas" in the Mahabharata and the Manu Smriti. The Han Dynasty explorer and ambassador Zhang Qian visited Bactria in 126 BCE, and reported the presence of Chinese products in the Bactrian markets: :""When I was in Bactria (Ta-Hia)", Zhang Qian reported, "I saw bamboo canes from Qiong and cloth made in the province of Shu (territories of southwestern China). When I asked the people how they had gotten such articles, they replied, "Our merchants go buy them in the markets of Shendu (India)."" (Shiji 123, Sima Qian, trans. Burton Watson). Upon his return, Zhang Qian informed the Chinese emperor Wu-Ti of the level of sophistication of the urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria and Parthia, who became interested in developing commercial relationship them: :"The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Ta-Yuan) and the possessions of Bactria (Ta-Hia) and Parthia (An-Xi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" (Han Shu, Former Han History). Numerous Chinese missions were then sent to Central Asia, triggering the development of the Silk Road from the end of the 2nd century BCE.

Contacts with India (250–180)

The Indian emperor Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, had re-conquered India from Alexander the Great around 322 BCE. However, contacts were kept with his Greek neighbours in the Seleucid Empire, Chandragupta received the daughter of the Seleucid king Seleucus I after a peace treaty, therefore probably creating a dynastic alliance, and several Greeks, such as the historian Megasthenes, resided at the Mauryan court. Subsequently, each Mauryan king had a Greek ambassador at his court. Megasthenes and Aramaic), found in Kandahar. Circa 250 BCE, Kabul Museum.]] Chandragupta's grandson Asoka converted to the Buddhist faith and became a great proselytizer in the line of the traditional Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, directing his efforts towards the Indian and the Hellenistic worlds from around 250 BCE. According to the Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, some of them written in Greek, he sent Buddhist emissaries to the Greek lands in Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. The edicts name each of the rulers of the Hellenic world at the time. : "The conquest by Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas (4,000 miles) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni." (Edicts of Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika). Some of the Greek populations that had remained in northwestern India apparently converted to Buddhism. Furthermore, according to Pali sources, some of Ashoka's emissaries were Greek Buddhist monks, indicating close religious exchanges between the two cultures: Pali issued bilingual coins in the Indian square standard, with depictions of the Buddhist lion (the other side represents a Lakshmi).]] : "When the thera (elder) Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror (Ashoka), had brought the (third) council to an end… he sent forth theras, one here and one there: …and to Aparantaka (the "Western countries" corresponding to Gujarat and Sindh) he sent the Greek (Yona) named Dhammarakkhita". (Mahavamsa XII). Greco-Bactrians probably received these Buddhist emissaries and somehow tolerated the Buddhist faith, although little proof remains. In the 2nd century CE, the Christian dogmatist Clement of Alexandria recognized the existence of Buddhist Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Bactrians" meaning "Oriental Greeks" in that period), and even their influence on Greek thought: : "Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins ("Βραφμαναι")." Clement of Alexandria "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV

Expansion into India (after 180 BCE)

Brahmins-180 BCE), wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquest of India.]] Main article: Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus, started an invasion of India from 180 BCE, a few years after the Mauryan empire had been overthrown by the Sunga dynasty, under which Buddhism was persecuted. It has been suggested that the invasion of India was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire, and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Sungas. Demetrius seems to have been as far as the imperial capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna). The invasion was completed by 175 BCE. This established in northern India what is called the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which lasted for almost two centuries until around 10 CE. The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, foremost among them Menander I. It was also a period of great cultural syncretism, exemplified by the development of Greco-Buddhism.

Usurpation of Eucratides

Back in Bactria, Eucratides, either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids, managed to overthrow the Euthydemid dynasty and establish his own rule around 170 BCE, probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II. The Indian branch of the Euthydemids tried to strike back. An Indian king called Demetrius (very likely Demetrius II) is said to have returned to Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper (Justin XLI,6,4), but he apparently was defeated and killed in the encounter. Eucratides campaigned extensively in northwestern India, possibly as far as the Jhelum River in Punjab, but his dynasty was ultimately repulsed by Menander I, who managed to create a huge unified territory.

Defeat against Parthia

Menander I Concurrently, and possibly during one of his Indian campaigns, Eucratides' Bactria was attacked and defeated by the Parthian king Mithridates I, possibly in alliance with partisans of the Euthydemids (Justin, XLI,6,3). In a confused account Justin explains that Eucratides was killed on the field by "his son and joint king", who would be his own son, either Eucratides II or Heliocles I (although there are speculations that it could be his enemy's son Demetrius II). The son drove over Eucratides' bloodied body with his chariot and left him dismembered without a sepulture: "Per sanguinem ejus currum egit et corpus abici insepultum jussit" (Justin XLI,6,5). Following his victory, Mithridates I gained Bactria's territory west of the Arius, the regions of Tapuria and Traxane. Heliocles I ended up ruling in what territory remained. The defeat, both in the west and the east, may have left Bactria very weakened and open to the nomadic invasions from the north that would spell its end.

Nomadic invasions

First Yueh-Chih expansion (c. 162 BCE)

According to the Han Chronicles, following a crushing defeat in 162 BCE by the Xiongnu (Huns), the nomadic tribes of the Yueh-Chih fled from the Tarim Basin towards the west, crossed the neighbouring urban civilization of the "Ta-Yuan" (probably the Greek possessions in Ferghana), and re-settled north of the Oxus in modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in the middle of Greco-Bactrian territory. The Ta-Yuan remained a healthy and powerful urban civilization which had numerous contacts and exchanges with China from 130 BCE. It is not clear whether the incursion of the Yueh-Chih consisted in an invasion of the Greco-Bactrian territory, or possibly a resettlement in front of the Xiongnu attacks from the north, reminescent of the Roman practice of the foederati. The Yueh-chi certainly did not destroy the Greek settlements of the Ferghana, and later adopted many elements of the Hellenic civilization. When Zhang Qian visited the Yueh-Chih in 126 BCE, trying to obtain their alliance to fight the Xiong-Nu, he described them as living peacefully and content, unwilling to be involved in such a fight.

Second Yueh-Chih expansion (c. 120 BCE)

The Yueh-Chih further expanded southward into Bactria around 120 BCE, apparently pushed out by invasions from the northern Wu-Sun. It seems they also pushed Scythian tribes before them, who continued to India, where they came to be identified as Indo-Scythians. Indo-Scythians–125 BCE)]] The invasion is also described in western Classical sources from the 1st century BCE, with different names than those used by the Chinese: : "The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes, opposite the Sacae and Sogdiani."
(Strabo, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.8.1 11-8-1]) Around 125 BCE the king Heliocles abandoned Bactria and moved his capital to the Kabul valley, from where he ruled his Indian holdings. He is technically the last Greco-Bactrian king, although several of his descendants, moving beyond the Hindu Kush, would form the western part of the Indo-Greek kingdom until around 50 BCE. The Yuezhi remained in Bactria, where they were to stay more than a century. They became Hellenized to some degree, as suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet and by some remaining coins, minted in the style of the Greco-Bactrian kings, with the text in Greek. Around 12 BCE the Yuezhi were then to move to northern India where they established the Kushan Empire.

Main Greco-Bactrian kings and territories

House of Diodotus

Kushan Empire Territories of Bactria, Sogdiana, Ferghana, Arachosia:
- Diodotos I (reigned c. 250-240 BCE) [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/diodotos_I/t.html Coins]
- Diodotus II (reigned c. 240-230 BCE) Son of Diodotus I [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/diodotos_II/t.html Coins] Many of the dates, territories, and relationships between Greco-Bactrian kings are tentative and essentially based on numismatic analysis and a few Classical sources. The following list of kings, dates and territories after the reign of Demetrius is derived from the latest and most extensive analysis on the subject, by Osmund Bopearachchi ("Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné", 1991).

House of Euthydemus

Territories of Bactria, Sogdiana, Ferghana, Arachosia:
- Euthydemus I (reigned c. 223- c.200 BCE) Overthrew Diodotus II. [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/euthydemos_I/t.html Coins] 200 BCE The descendants of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus invaded northern India around 190 BCE. Their dynasty was probably thrown out of Bactria after 170 BC by the new king Eucratides, but remained in the Indian domains of the empire at least until the 150s BCE.
- Demetrius I (reigned c. 200–180 BCE) Son of Euthydemus I. Greco-Bactrian king, and conqueror of India. [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/demetrios/t.html Coins] The territory won by Demetrius was separated between western and eastern parts, ruled by several sub-kings and successor kings: Territory of Bactria Bactria
- Euthydemus II (c 180 BCE), probably a son of Demetrius. [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/euthydemos_II/t.html Coins]
- Antimachus I (possibly 180-165 BCE), brother of Demetrius. Defeated by usurper Eucratides. [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/antimachos_I/t.html Coins] Territories of Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara, Punjab Punjab
- Pantaleon (190s or 180s BCE) Possibly another brother and co-ruler of Demetrius I.
- Agathocles (c180-170 BCE) Yet another brother? [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/agathokles/t.html Coins]
- Apollodotus I (reigned c. 175–160 BCE) A fourth brother?
- Antimachus II Nikephoros (160-155 BCE)
- Demetrius II (155-150 BCE) [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Antimachos+II&Thumb=1 Coins]
- Menander (reigned c. 150–135 BCE). Legendary for the size of his Kingdom, and his support of the Buddhist faith. It is unclear whether he was related to the other kings, and thus if the dynasty survived further.[http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Menander+I&Thumb=1 Coins]
- Followed by Indo-Greek kings in northern India.

House of Eucratides

Indo-Greek Territory of Bactria and Sogdiana
- Eucratides I 170-c.145 BCE [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/eukratides_I/t.html Coins]
- Plato co-regent c.166 BCE
- Eucratides II 145-140 BCE [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/eukratides_II/t.html Coins]
- Heliocles (r.c. 145-130 BCE). Heliocles, the last Greek king of Bactria, was invaded by the nomadic tribes of the Yueh-Chih from the North. Descendants of Eucratides may have ruled on in the Indo-Greek kingdom.

Notes

# "A bronze figurine of a kneeling warrior, not Greek work, but wearing a version of the Greek Phrygian helmet.. From a burial, said to be of the 4th century BCE, just north of the Tien Shan range". Ürümqi Xinjiang Museum. (Boardman "The diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity") #"RED EARTHENWARE BOWL, DECORATED WITH A SLIP AND INLAID WITH GLASS PASTE. Eastern Zhou period, 4th-3rd century BC. This bowl was probably intended to copy a more precious and possibly foreign vessel in bronze or even silver. Glass was little used in China. Its popularity at the end of the Eastern Zhou period was probably due to foreign influence." British Museum notice to the bowl (2005) # [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+10.49 Polybius 10.49, Battle of the Arius] # [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+11.34 Polybius 11.34 Siege of Bactra] # "The things which China received from the Graeco-Iranian world- the pomegranate and other "Chang-Kien" plants, the heavy equipment of the cataphract, the traces of Greeks influence on Han art (such as) the famous white bronze mirror of the Han period with Graeco-Bactrian designs (...) in the Victoria and Albert Museum" (Tarn, "The Greeks in Bactria and India", p363-364) # [http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac58bak.html Copper-Nickel coinage in Greco-Bactria.] # [http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20026/sunzi1.htm Ancient Chinese weapons][http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e20026/images/t20026/p581.jpg A halberd of copper-nickel alloy, from the Warring States Period.]

See also


- Greco-Buddhism
- Seleucid Empire
- Indo-Greek Kingdom
- Yuezhi
- Indo-Scythians
- Indo-Parthian Kingdom

References


- "The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies" by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1581152035

- "The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World" by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0192854380

- "The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity" by John Boardman (Princeton University Press, 1994) ISBN 0691036802 Greco-Bactrians Category:Lists of monarchs Category:Ancient Greeks in Asia Category:Former countries in the Hellenistic world Category:History of Afghanistan

Henry Rathvon

Henry Rathvon is a puzzle writer. He and his partner, Emily Cox, write The Puzzler, a cryptic crossword featured each month in the magazine The Atlantic Monthly. They also create acrostic puzzles for the New York Times, Sunday crosswords for the Boston Globe, cryptic crosswords for Canada's National Post, and puzzles for the US Airways in-flight magazine, Attache. In 2005, Rathvon's play Trapezium, a comedy in iambic pentameter, was produced by the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival. Rathvon, Henry

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