LLETS SEE PAKISTANA trip through Pakistan is face to face encounter with a fascinating land that has withstood countless invasions and preserved the essence of its conquerors on the form of present day monuments and archaeological heritage.
See for yourself the excavated sites at Moenjodaro and Taxila – seats of the ancients Indus Valley and Gandhara civilizations; the architectural monuments of the Moghul; the Khyber Pass – the historic inlet to South Asia – or the ancient unchanging traditions of the Kafir Kalash of the Chitral Valley. For those with an intrinsic lover of mountains, Pakistan offers pleasure of its northern mountain ranges, the Himalayas, the Hindukush and the Karakorum – a mountain wonderland unrivalled in the entire world with such formidable peaks as the K-2, the Nanga Parbat, the Rakaposhi, and the Trichmir. These ranges present an awesome challenge for those looking for trekking, mountaineering, angling, or jeep safaris. The resorts in these remote valleys made for an ideal summer get-away.
Pakistan emerged on the amp of the world as an independent sovereign state in August 1947, as a result of the division of the British Indian Empire. The land of Pakistan (area 8, 03, 950 square kilometer (including FATA and FANA), population nearly 13.60 million – 1998 Census is rich in landscapes and cultural traditions. Half a dozen civilizations have flourished here and left their imprint. Historically, this is one of the most ancient lands known to man. Its cities flourished before Babylon was built; its people practiced the art of good living and citizenship before the celebrated ancient Greeks. Pakistan traces its history back to at least 2.500 years before Christ, when a highly developed civilization flourished in the Indus Valley area. Excavations at Harappa, Moenjodaro and Kot Diji have brought to light evidence of an advanced civilization flourished in the Indus existing even in most ancient times. Around about 1500 BC the Aryans overwhelmed this region, and by and by east. Latter, the Persian occupied the northern region in the 5th century BC and again and again up to the 2nd century AD. The Greeks came in 327 BC under Alexander of Macedon and passed away like a meteor. In 712 AD the Arabs, led by Mohammad Bin Qasim landed somewhere near Karachi and ruled lower half of Pakistan for two hundred years. During this time Islam took roots in the soil and influenced the life, culture and traditions of the people. In the 10th century AD began the systematic conquest of Indo-Pakistan by the Muslim from central Asia who ruled almost the whole subcontinent up to the 18th century AD when the British became masters of the land and ruled for nearly 200 years – for only 100 years over what is Pakistan now. The Muslim revivals began towards the end of the last century when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a renowned Muslim leader and educationist, launched a movement for intellectual renaissance of the Indian Muslim. In 1930, the well – known poet philosopher Dr. Mohammad Iqbal conceived the idea of separate state for the Muslims of the sub-continent in 1940 a resolution was adopted by the All – India Muslim League demanding a separate homeland for the Muslim of India. After seven years of the brilliant leadership Quid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan emerged on the map of the world as a sovereign state on 14th August, 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent states – India and Pakistan.