The territory of Pakistan has been a cradle of ancient civilizations. We can find here century old manuscripts which are landmarks of the Indus valley civilization and Gandhara civilization. A major achievement of the Indus civilization was the invention of writing, which is one of its hallmarks from the beginning, 2500 BC, and which disappeared along with it, shortly after 2000 BC. It is one of the world’s four earliest scripts and so far it is not deciphered. After reading it we may be able to have further knowledge of that period. Inscriptions on stones have also been collected from Taxila and Mansehra district of Pakistan, which belong to the ancient civilization of Asoka’s period. During 399 AD the Chinese traveler Fahien visited India. He described that writing was then prevalent in India .Thereafter other Chinese traveler Heun Tse Sang visited India during 629-643 AD. He reported that Sanskrit was being used for writing. On his return he took away a good number of manuscripts of that time with him. The territory of Pakistan has been a cradle of ancient civilizations. We can find here century old manuscripts which are landmarks of the Indus valley civilization and Gandhara civilization. A major achievement of the Indus civilization was the invention of writing, which is one of its hallmarks from the beginning, 2500 BC, and which disappeared along with it, shortly after 2000 BC. It is one of the world’s four earliest scripts and so far it is not deciphered. After reading it we may be able to have further knowledge of that period. Inscriptions on stones have also been collected from Taxila and Mansehra district of Pakistan, which belong to the ancient civilization of Asoka’s period. During 399 AD the Chinese traveler Fahien visited India. He described that writing was then prevalent in India .Thereafter other Chinese traveler Heun Tse Sang visited India during 629-643 AD. He reported that Sanskrit was being used for writing. On his return he took away a good number of manuscripts of that time with him.
The oldest manuscripts were generally inscribed on stones etc. Thereafter palm leaves, parchment and handmade paper were used for manuscripts. Such manuscripts are in Sanskrit, Pali and Bengali languages which are rarely available in Pakistan. Paper making was started in Muslim world in 8th century. Paper manufacturing plants were established in Samarqand and Baghdad in 794 A.C. Thereafter it spread all over the Islamic world. In sub continent paper making locality was known as ‘Kaghzipura’. After invention of paper, manuscripts are being prepared on it.
The new era of development and dissemination of religious and other literature was started after advent of Islam in the subcontinent. As the press was not started till the 17th century therefore copies of manuscripts were prepared by hand. Due to the patronage of rulers and notables of society calligraphy became an art which scaled great heights during Muslim rule in India. Calligraphers were known as Khushnawees. It was a prestigious work to a point that several rulers did it themselves. These traditions resulted in the development of exquisitely prepared manuscripts which are written mostly in Persian and Arabic languages.
