It appears Pakistan's ancestors were Buddhists.
Read this excerpt from Wikipedia:
The
Kushan empire (30–375 CE) was formed by the invading
Yuezhi nomads in the 1st century BCE. It eventually encompassed much of northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria and the Indo-Greeks.
[68] During Kushan rule,
Gandharan Buddhism was at the height of its influence and a significant number of Buddhist centers were built or renovated.
[69] The Buddhist art of Kushan
Gandhara was a synthesis of Greco-Roman, Iranian and Indian elements.
[70] The
Gandhāran Buddhist texts also date from this period. Written in
Gāndhārī Prakrit, they are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered (circa 1st century CE).
[71] According to Richard Salomon, most of them belong to the
Dharmaguptaka school.
[72]
Gold coin of
Kanishka I with a representation of the
Buddha (c.120 AD).
Emperor
Kanishka (128–151 CE) is particularly known for his support of Buddhism. During his reign, stupas and monasteries were built in the Gandhāran city of
Peshawar (Skt.
Purusapura), which he used as a capital.
[73] Kushan royal support and the opening of trade routes allowed Gandharan Buddhism to spread along the
Silk Road to
Central Asia, the
Tarim Basin and thus to China.
[74]
Kanishka is also said to have convened a major Buddhist council for the
Sarvastivada tradition, either in
Gandhara or
Kashmir.
[75] Kanishka gathered 500 learned monks partly to compile extensive commentaries on the
Abhidharma, although it is possible that some editorial work was carried out upon the existing
Sarvastivada canon itself. Allegedly during the council there were altogether three hundred thousand verses and over nine million statements compiled, and it took twelve years to complete. The main fruit of this council was the compilation of the vast commentary known as the
Mahā-Vibhāshā ("Great Exegesis"), an extensive compendium and reference work on a portion of the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma.
[76] Modern scholars such as
Etienne Lamotte and
David Snellgrove have questioned the veracity of this traditional account.
[77][78]
Scholars believe that it was also around this time that a significant change was made in the language of the Sarvāstivādin canon, by converting an earlier
Prakrit version into
Sanskrit. Although this change was probably effected without significant loss of integrity to the canon, this event was of particular significance since Sanskrit was the sacred language of
Brahmanism in India, and was also being used by other thinkers, regardless of their specific religious or philosophical allegiance, thus enabling a far wider audience to gain access to Buddhist ideas and practices.
After the fall of the Kushans, small kingdoms ruled the Gandharan region, and later the
Hephthalite White Huns conquered the area (circa 440s–670). Under the Hephthalites, Gandharan Buddhism continued to thrive in cities like
Balkh (
Bactria), as remarked by
Xuanzang who visited the region in the 7th century.
[79] Xuanzang notes that there were over a hundred Buddhist monasteries in the city, including the
Nava Vihara as well many stupas and monks.
[80] After the end of the Hephthalite empire, Gandharan Buddhism declined in Gandhara proper (in the Peshawar basin).
[81] However it continued to thrive in adjacent areas like the
Swat Valley of Pakistan,
Gilgit, Kashmir and in Afghanistan (in sites such as
Bamiyan).
[82]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Buddhism
I get annoyed when people from an international audience or people from the West constantly think we Pakistanis are converts to Islam from Hinduism.
Only the Muhajirs from India to Pakistan may have Hindus as their ancestors before converting to Islam.
