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I am a strong advocate of the 'Indus man' and discussed this subject at length in another thread. Few things I would like to add.
1. The Indus Valley Civilization is centred on the geographic Indus Valley which is why it is not called the Gangetic Civilization etc.
2. Like any civilization you don't get a clear cut off point or a exact defined border.They tend to to have central zone which is the centre of gravity and as you move further away the gravity field gets weaker.
3. Without a shred of doubt the Indus Valley is centred on Pakistan, have a look at a map and see how the Indus is Pakistan's main artery. What Nile is to Egypt, Indus is to Pakistan. Cut off the Indus and Pakistan is finished.
4. Therefore Indus Valley Civilization is centred on what is now Pakistan. The main sites Mohenjo Daro [Sindh] or [Harrapa] Punjab are in Pakistan.
4. Imagine a lamp in the dark. proximate to it will be very well lit but as you move further away the effect will get weaker and weaker. Clearly there will bea area that will come within definition of 'lit'. However you can't draw a exact line where the 'unlit' zone starts from. But we know a certain distance from the lamp will be outside it's zone.
5. In the same way the IVC was centred in Pakistan ,however areas as far as Eastern Iran, modern Tajikistan in Central Asia and western India came also under the influence of IVC. But the fact is IVC is central to the Indus Valley which in turn is central to Pakistan.
6. IVC sities have been found all over beyond it's incubation zone, the Indus. However most of these sities are neglible. For example Kalibangan in India is just a hole in the mud. Lothal is Gujrat is just a few huts with modern day excavated reservoir called the dock. I could dig a hole in the ground in Sahara and fill it up with water !!!
7. Now compare the sites where the real meat of the IVC is, in Pakistan. Mohejo Daro or Harrapa. These are huge. Please do go over to Google Earth and see for yourself. On some maps I have seen there appear to be 10s of dots in India suggesting that India has as much if not more of the IVC. The truth is if you check Google ERarth imagery there is nothing on the ground where the dots are placed except Lothal although even that is just a few huts.
8. Any doubts? Well anybody with spare energy and time please upload actual photos of these sites. Group them according to countries and you shall see what I mean. Do please exclude artistic dreams. Let us stick to actual photographs, aerial and ground.
9. If U, V, W, X, Y, Z were my ancestors it does not follow I will look like U or V because over the generations because of new input of blood from W,X,Y I will have evolved. Evolution is everywhere. Anatolian Turks are a Turkic people but they do NOT look like their brothers in Kazakistan because of additional blood from native Anatolia and the Balkans.
10. As part of evolution and change languages also mutate and entire people change religion. Ancient Greeks were not Orthodox Christians but try telling modern Greeks ( Hellas ) that Sparta or Socrates has no connection to them and watch the answer you get. similarly the modern Egyptians speak Arabic and are Muslims. Queen Neferititi did not speak Arabic and was definitely not a Muslim. Yet nobody says Misr ( modern Egypt has no connection or right to the legacy of the Ancient Egypt.
11. So in the case of Pakistan which is the modern political unit covering the Indus Valley is the inheritor of the IVC. There is direct thus - IVC > U> V> W> X> Y> Z> Modern Pakistan. People after people invaded leaving behind a layer. Over time layer after layer the eventual evolved 'product' is the modern Punjabi, Sindhi etc. Pakistan.
12. This is the actiual fact on the ground. Nothing is going to change that. Right now Pakistani's have 'disconnected' from their motherland the Indus Valley but the mighty Indus shall reclaim her people, time is on her side. Increasingly more and more Pakistani's will embrace their motherland and in doing soing accept their forefathers. They have everything to gain for they should take pride that it was their forefathers that gave this part of the world 'civilization'.
13. For people like me I see increasing awareness of Pakistan real background and many Pakistani's like Aitzaz Ahsan's book 'The Indus Man' and Prof. Hasan Dhani [ kindly mentioned by Joe Shearer ] have set the ball rolling. Time will take care of everything. No people, Pakistani's included can stay estranged from their forefathers. This article ' A Muslim Majority Indus' is one more small effort in that direction. Change is slow but it wil happen.
14. Just to clarify some points here, in the formula U,V,W,X etc I openly acknowledge that there will have been Vedic people, Greek people, Buddhist people, Hindu people etc who went into making the modern people of Pakistan.
Ahmad Hassan Dani in A Morning with Farah post by zagham - YouTube
Antiquity Journal
In Memoriam
Pakistan was called Melluha in 8000 BC - Indus Valley Civilization - Zimbio
A interview with Prof. Ahmed Hasan Dhani:
Ancient Indus Valley Script: Dani Interview Text Only
To the Pakistani's of whatever political shade I suggest you all embrace your history from even before IVC going back to MehrGarh
in Balochistan near the Afghan border and anything and everything in between on that 6,000 long years road that has brought us to today. From IVC, Panini, Alexander the Great, Porus, to Taxila, to Buddhist period, then the Hindu Kingdoms and arrival of Islam to the British conquest in 1849 to 1947 and today.
The story of Pakistan - Indus Valley starts here -
Mehrgarh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mehrgarh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia