Things to know about pakistan....

[amigo]

I always had curiosity to know abt diff. cultures especially abt south asian culture. being an indian i got to know abt diff. indian cultures. now being member of PDF i want to know few things abt pakistan. the list is as follows.

1) how different is the culture of mainland pak(punjab, sindh) from westren parts(baluchistan, FATA,khyber-pakhtunkhwa).

2) can a person from mainland pak understand or speak pashto or baluchi without having basic knowledge of these lang.

3) i get to know that punjabi is not spoken all over pakistani punjab, there are other lang. such as saraiki, hindko, potohari. how much these lang. are diff. from main punjabi.

4) whether peshawar area(not only city) is pashto speaking area or hindo speaking.

5) i have heard that there is good population of non-muslims in chitral area. is it true if yes then who are they?

6) why burqa or hizab is not common among pak women.

the list is long but for now only this. i hope to get appropriate answers.

 

[amigo]

no reply yet????????

 

[SQ8]

I have lived in Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad...
So ill see if I can help...The following may not be accurate..its based on What I saw and heard.

First.. mainland Pak too has its little idiosyncratic differences.. The culture's below the multan belt start showing signs of a rajistani and sindhi influence...and similar trends exist.

1). The western parts are more rigid in merging their cultural heritage with religion.. at times confusing the both..and while there is no dearth of religious people in the mainland..the level of rigidity is varied. Also..the essence of Personality worship,superstition and seasonal celebrations are more dominant in the mainland.
Women are not necessarily liberated in terms of rights in the mainland.. but enjoy a greater freedom of movement compared to the western half.
Also.. women have a greater participation in cultural celebrations as compared to the west.. at least in public.
These trends can be observed in the Urban areas as well..although it is nullified in Karachi as it forces out cultural tendencies from all residents.. in an effort to fit in..


2). Improbable.. Pashto has a few common terms with Punjabi..
However..due to cross settlement.. there is a population of Pashto speaking individuals in Punjab..and vice versa.. also.. due to the thriving land transport community.which compromise of mostly Pathan's and Punjabi's.. the dissemination of the Pashto language is widespread..
In urban areas this is more evident.. as settlers from rural areas tend to adopt Urdu as the main medium while mixing it with thier local terms.. due to which even those unfamiliar with Pushto or Punjabi eventually pick up certian terms and verbs.

3). Dialects.. each having tactile and discernible differences..but with certain similarities.

4). Peshawar has a large population of Punjabi settlers..and while they may come from Hindko backgrounds.. to adapt they speak Pashto and may resort to it even in the household.

5). The Kalash..do a search on the internet.

6).The burqa is a strict interpretation of the Islamic "satar" or dress requirements for women...
most Pakistani women wear the dupatta common in india as well..as it fulfills the requirements of showing modesty..whilst allowing for freedom of movement. The Burqa or Abaya is an element of rigid Islamic doctrine.. not a cultural dress.
In places where it is extremely common..
such as the western areas of Pakistan.. it was forced by the religiois nutjobs created after the Afghan war..
The traditional covering for most Pathan women is the chador..a large shawl..which they wrap around to fulfill satar..
Usually in the house..this is removed..and they cannot be distinguished from their fellow countrywomen as such in terms of fashion..infact..they follow it quite well.

There is somebody here who can answer this last one better.. alias jana
just go look for her and pester her till she answers.

 

[Materialistic]

I always had curiosity to know abt diff. cultures especially abt south asian culture. being an indian i got to know abt diff. indian cultures. now being member of PDF i want to know few things abt pakistan. the list is as follows.

1) how different is the culture of mainland pak(punjab, sindh) from westren parts(baluchistan, FATA,khyber-pakhtunkhwa).

2) can a person from mainland pak understand or speak pashto or baluchi without having basic knowledge of these lang.

3) i get to know that punjabi is not spoken all over pakistani punjab, there are other lang. such as saraiki, hindko, potohari. how much these lang. are diff. from main punjabi.

4) whether peshawar area(not only city) is pashto speaking area or hindo speaking.

5) i have heard that there is good population of non-muslims in chitral area. is it true if yes then who are they?

6) why burqa or hizab is not common among pak women.

the list is long but for now only this. i hope to get appropriate answers.

Just a correction there is no mainland to remote land or island relationship between regions of Pakistan.

Pakistan is completely linked together geographically. Western part of the country might be less developed but its all one Mainland with a few small islands along the coastal line.

Mainland in detail (link)

 

[amigo]

I have lived in Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad...
So ill see if I can help...The following may not be accurate..its based on What I saw and heard.

First.. mainland Pak too has its little idiosyncratic differences.. The culture's below the multan belt start showing signs of a rajistani and sindhi influence...and similar trends exist.

1). The western parts are more rigid in merging their cultural heritage with religion.. at times confusing the both..and while there is no dearth of religious people in the mainland..the level of rigidity is varied. Also..the essence of Personality worship,superstition and seasonal celebrations are more dominant in the mainland.
Women are not necessarily liberated in terms of rights in the mainland.. but enjoy a greater freedom of movement compared to the western half.
Also.. women have a greater participation in cultural celebrations as compared to the west.. at least in public.
These trends can be observed in the Urban areas as well..although it is nullified in Karachi as it forces out cultural tendencies from all residents.. in an effort to fit in..


2). Improbable.. Pashto has a few common terms with Punjabi..
However..due to cross settlement.. there is a population of Pashto speaking individuals in Punjab..and vice versa.. also.. due to the thriving land transport community.which compromise of mostly Pathan's and Punjabi's.. the dissemination of the Pashto language is widespread..
In urban areas this is more evident.. as settlers from rural areas tend to adopt Urdu as the main medium while mixing it with thier local terms.. due to which even those unfamiliar with Pushto or Punjabi eventually pick up certian terms and verbs.

3). Dialects.. each having tactile and discernible differences..but with certain similarities.

4). Peshawar has a large population of Punjabi settlers..and while they may come from Hindko backgrounds.. to adapt they speak Pashto and may resort to it even in the household.

5). The Kalash..do a search on the internet.

6).The burqa is a strict interpretation of the Islamic "satar" or dress requirements for women...
most Pakistani women wear the dupatta common in india as well..as it fulfills the requirements of showing modesty..whilst allowing for freedom of movement. The Burqa or Abaya is an element of rigid Islamic doctrine.. not a cultural dress.
In places where it is extremely common..
such as the western areas of Pakistan.. it was forced by the religiois nutjobs created after the Afghan war..
The traditional covering for most Pathan women is the chador..a large shawl..which they wrap around to fulfill satar..
Usually in the house..this is removed..and they cannot be distinguished from their fellow countrywomen as such in terms of fashion..infact..they follow it quite well.

There is somebody here who can answer this last one better.. alias jana
just go look for her and pester her till she answers.

thank you buddy.

 

[amigo]

Just a correction there is no mainland to remote land or island relationship between regions of Pakistan.

Pakistan is completely linked together geographically. Western part of the country might be less developed but its all one Mainland with a few small islands along the coastal line.

Mainland in detail (link)

cooldown buddy, no intention to hurt feelings, i was just try to differntiate b/w 2 cultures.

 

[Materialistic]

@ Topic

Just a few facts..

All the regional languages of Pakistan along with different dialects and versions total up to 92.

Pakistan is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited regions.
With artifacts found dating back to 2,000,000 BC (2 million years before Christ). Which were tools belonging to Homo erectus found in Riwat.

Pakistan which is an acronym composed from the initial letters of the name of its provinces namely, Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh and the last three letters of Balochistan.

-This Source contains more details on history
-History Of Pakistan

 

[Materialistic]

cooldown buddy, no intention to hurt feelings, i was just try to differntiate b/w 2 cultures.

I think u misunderstood, I was not offended. It was just a correction.
Instead i liked your thread.

 

[amigo]

@ Topic

Just a few facts..

All the regional languages of Pakistan along with different dialects and versions total up to 92.

Pakistan is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited regions.
With artifacts found dating back to 2,000,000 BC (2 million years before Christ). Which were tools belonging to Homo erectus found in Riwat.

Pakistan which is an acronym composed from the initial letters of the name of its provinces namely, Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh and the last three letters of Balochistan.

This Source contains more details on history
History Of Pakistan

thank you for providing link. i think u got me wrong initially.

 

[Devil Soul]

what to know about it ?
a corrupt nation with anti india sentiment running through its veins ,
deceives US and uses the money for fighters of islam
we know it already

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

what to know about it ?
a corrupt nation with anti india sentiment running through its veins ,
deceives US and uses the money for fighters of islam
we know it already

I m glad I did not have anything in my mouth when I read this or I would have splashed it on my macbook pro screen!!!

 

[Spring Onion]

I always had curiosity to know abt diff. cultures especially abt south asian culture. being an indian i got to know abt diff. indian cultures. now being member of PDF i want to know few things abt pakistan. the list is as follows.

1) how different is the culture of mainland pak(punjab, sindh) from westren parts(baluchistan, FATA,khyber-pakhtunkhwa).

2) can a person from mainland pak understand or speak pashto or baluchi without having basic knowledge of these lang.

3) i get to know that punjabi is not spoken all over pakistani punjab, there are other lang. such as saraiki, hindko, potohari. how much these lang. are diff. from main punjabi.

4) whether peshawar area(not only city) is pashto speaking area or hindo speaking.

5) i have heard that there is good population of non-muslims in chitral area. is it true if yes then who are they?

6) why burqa or hizab is not common among pak women.

the list is long but for now only this. i hope to get appropriate answers.

so many things about North western Pakistan (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa/NWFP and its capital Peshawar) so i guess i can reply you better


1. There is no such thing called mainland all parts of Pakistan are mainland due to equally pressing reasons for example


A. Punjab is mainland as its agriculture aspect is backbone of our food and economy.

B. Sindh mainland as is backbone of Pakistan because Karachi is economic hub of Pakistan and it also provides us the Naval facilities.

C. Balochistan is mainland as it is backbone of our security and also strategic and economic prosperity as Gwadar is there and due to many other strategic points

D. Khyber Pukhtunkhwa is mainland because we have one of the most important tribal areas a gateway to central Asia and and a lifeline trade route for our neighbours too. we have the biggest dam of the country and in future many will be constructed here. we have silk route with China

E. Last but not the least Gilgit Baltistan is as important as other provinces of Pakistan it has the route to Kohistan and then linking up with Kashmir, also linkage with China.

Cultural difference
As far as culture is concerned there is not much difference other than language between Sindh, KP, Punjab and Balochistan but that too is overcoming now because

A. Pashto/Pukhto is spoken in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan both. Punjabi Pakistanis are having huge trade in KP therefore now they are also in pool who understand and can speak Pashto to good extend . Pukhto/Pashto is spoken in FATA with different dialects depends on different tribes there.


As Balochistan shares border with Sindh and both have many mix Sindhi-Balochis families hence few languages spoken in these provinces are understood by both.


Punjabi is easily understood throughout Pakistan and for your information we Pukhtuns understand it well and also can speak.

The most fantastic thing about Pakistan is its national language Urdu which is spoken and understood by all parts of Pakistan surely a binding factor.


2. Saraiki, Pothohari and Hindko resemble each other alot so we do understand these easily (atleast i do as i speak these well) these also are little bit similar with Punjabi.


The Hindko spoken in Hazara division of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan has alot of Sanskrit words as i have researched on it and i came to know about the fact.

The Hindko spoken in Peshawar is different and it is more near to Punjabi language.


Peshawar once had overwhelming population of Hindko speaking people and hence was majority Hindko speaking area but now since a large population has shifted to Peshawar from FATA and other areas so the balance is now almost equal.

In Chitral there is Kalash tribe which is considered the descendants of Alexander the great . They have unique culture but now they are adopting local culture

 

[amigo]

thanks everyone for all precious inf. & as far as the mainland term goes i just used it to differentiiate b/w plain areas & hilly areas bcoz here in india plains are mostly termed as mainland.