Some of the earliest relics of Stone Age man were found in the Soan valley near Rawalpindi, dating back to atleast 50,000 years. Predomi...
Some
of the earliest relics of Stone Age man were found in the Soan valley near
Rawalpindi, dating back to atleast 50,000 years. Predominantly an agricultural
region, its ancestors learned to tame and husband animals and to cultivate
crops some 9,000 years ago. Farming villages dating from 6,000 BC have been
excavated in Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier Province and Punjab.
The
Indus Valley Civilization is considered to have evolved around 2600 BC. Built
on the ruins of fortified towns near Kot Diji, it is now believed to have
emerged from farming communities of the area. The Civilization boasted immense
cities like Moenjodaro and Harappa. These towns were well planned, with paved
main roads, multistoried houses, watchtowers, food warehouses, and assembly
halls. Their people developed an advanced script which still remains
undeciphered. The Indus Civilization’s decline around 1700 BC is attributed to
foreign invaders, who at some sites, violently destroyed the cities Mural
depicting the glorious ancient city of Moenjodaro.
Aryans,
who were rough cattle breeders, came from Central Asia around 1700 BC, seeking
grazing land for their herds. Their religion was well developed, with gods
identified from elements of nature. They followed a strict caste system, which
later became Hinduism. They wrote the first book of Hindu scripture, the Rig
Veda, which was a collection of hymns remembered through several generations.
In the sixth century BC, the people of the
region were getting increasingly dissatisfied with the Hindu explanation of the
caste system. When Buddha, son of a kshatriya king preached equality in men,
his teachings were quickly accepted throughout the northern part of the
Sub-continent. Around the same time, Gandhara being the easternmost province of
the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, became a major power in the region. Its two
cities - Pushkalavati, or present day Charsadda near Peshawar, and the capital
Taxila, were the center of civilization and culture. 
Alexander the Great invaded the Sub-continent
in 327 BC. Conquering the Kalash valley, he crossed the mighty Indus at Ohind,
sixteen miles north of Attock. He then defeated the mighty elephant army of
Porus at Jhelum, and began his march towards the long Ganges plain. However, he
was forced to plan for homeward sailing when his war-wary troops refused to
advance further. On his way back, a serious wound, received while battling the
Malloi people at Multan, finally took its toll, and Alexander died in 323 BC,
leaving his conquests for grab among his own officers. 
Chandragupta Maurya was an exiled member of the
royal family of Magadha, a kingdom flourishing since 700 BC on the bank of
river Ganges. After Alexander’s death, Chandragupta captured Punjab with his
allies, and later overthrew the king of Magadha in 321 BC, to form the Mauryan
Empire.After twenty four years of kingship, Chandragupta was succeeded by his
son, Bindusara, who added Deccan to the Mauryan rule.
Ashoka, son of Bindusara, was one of the
greatest rulers the world has ever known. Not only did he rule a vast empire,
he also tried to rule it compassionately. After initially causing thousands of
lives during his conquest of Kalinga, he decided to rule by the law of piety.
He was instrumental in spreading Buddhism within and outside the Sub-continent
by building Buddhist monasteries and stupas, and sending out missionaries to
foreign lands.
The Greek king of Bactria, Demetrius, conquered
the Kabul River Valley around 195 BC. The Greeks re-built Taxila and
Pushkalavati as their twin capital cities in Gandhara. They were followed in 75
BC by the Scythians, Iranian nomads from Central Asia, and in about 50 BC by
the powerful Parthians, from east of the Caspian Sea.
After defeating the Greeks in 53 BC, the
Parthians ruled the northern Pakistan area. During their era of trade and
economic prosperity, the Parthians promoted art and religion. The Gandhara
school of art developed, which reflected the glory of Greek, Syrian, Persian
and Indian art traditions.
The Kushana king, Kujula, ruler of nomad tribes
from Central Asia, overthrew the Parthians in 64 AD and took over Gandhara. The
Kushans further extended their rule into northwest India and Bay of Bengal,
south into Bahawalpur and short of Gujrat, and north till Kashghar and Yarkand,
into the Chinese frontier. They made their winter capital at Purushapura, the
City of Flowers, now called Peshawar, and their summer capital north of Kabul.
Kanishka, the greatest of Kushans, ruled from
128 to 151 AD. Trade flourished during his rule, with the Romans trading in
gold for jewelry, perfumes, dyes, spices and textiles. Progress was made in
medicine and literature. Thousands of Buddhist monasteries and stupas were built
and the best pieces of sculpture in the Gandhara school of art were produced.
He was killed in his sleep when his unending expansionist pursuits were
resisted by his own people.
The Kushans empire was usurped both from the
North, where the Sassanian Empire of Persia eroded their rule, and the South
where the Gupta Empire took hold. In the fourth century, due to decline in
prosperity and trade, the Kushans empire was reduced to a new dynasty of Kidar
(Little) Kushans, with the capital now at Peshawar.
Coming from Central Asia, the White Huns,
originally the horse-riding nomads from China, invaded Gandhara during the
fifth century. With declining prosperity, and the sun and fire-worshipping Huns
ruling the land, Buddhism gradually disappeared from northern Pakistan, taking
the glory of the Gandhara school of art with it.
After the defeat of Huns by Sassanians and
Turks in 565 AD, the area was mostly left to be ruled by small Hindu kingdoms,
with the Turki Shahi rulers controlling the area till Gandhara from
Afghanistan, and the raja of Kashmir ruling northern Punjab, and the areas east
of the Indus. Buddhism’s decline continued as more people were converted to
Brahman Hindus.
Overthrowing the Turki Shahis, the Central
Asian Hindu Shahis ruled from 870 AD till the year 1008 AD. With their capital
established at Hund on the Indus, their rule extended from Jalalabad in
Afghanistan to Multan, and covered as far north as Kashmir.
