The discussion over historical aspects of the sub-continent has been passionate and informative, but misleading on several aspects on both sides.
1. Like most geographical entities, the history is intertwined and shared between many cultures, people and political entities across hundreds, indeed thousands of years. Neither side can lay exclusive claim to the history to the exclusion of the other. That is only natural given that throughout history, people have travelled and interacted with adjacent and far-off cultures alike.
2. Claiming the Thar desert as some sort of uncrossable boundary is not correct. Intrepid travellers have found ways to cross much more imposing deserts like the Gobi, Takla Makan, Arabia and even the Sahara with large caravans. Thar itself is criss-crossed with many such paths too. Leave aside mere deserts, people have made trails across the Himalayas also, just like those across other great mountian ranges in the world like the Andes and the Rockies. The human desire to travel surmounts such natural barriers.
3. Geologically, the sub-continent is roughly the area from the Indus to the Irrawaddy, east to west, and bounded by the Himlayas to the north, with its own unique flora and fauna, and also human history. When people arrived from the arid terrain to the west of the subcontinent to the first might river, it would be natural to beleive they have reached thier goal, just like Columbus. However, further exploration would easily lead to the much bigger lands beyond, and we can see that throughout history spread across thousands of years. It is also relevant to note that the lands towards the Far East are a fusion of the cultures of its mighty neighbors, China to the north and India to the west, hence the name Indo-China.
4. Political entities come and go, but history remains. For example, the State of Israel came into being as a political entity only in 1948, but claims thousands of years of the history of the land and culture as Jewish history, not as Israeli history. Similarly, Pakistan, as a modern day Islamic State, can lay claim to not only the history of the Indus Valley civilization, going back thousands of years, but also the glorious Mughal Empire as part of its cultural heritage, but calling it Pakistani would be naive in the extreme. Similarly, modern day political India can claim the heritage going back thousands of years across great upheavals of human history, including before the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent, but it cannot pretend that it has been enriched and decimated in cycles of invasions and empires. This is what intertwined means, and it is only natural and logical to regard it as parts of the same whole.
5. Crucial as history is in giving a sense of roots and foundations to any country, it cannot be a substitute for its present or its future, because these are determined by what is happening now, not what happened hundreds or thousands of years ago. Yes, the ancient lands that constitute both Pakistan and India have a rich and varied history going back thousands, but so does every other modern politcal entity. What each country does with it is the key. Ethiopia may be the birthplace of coffee, but it is the likes of Starbucks that use it best in the present. It is things like this that will determine the future.
1. Like most geographical entities, the history is intertwined and shared between many cultures, people and political entities across hundreds, indeed thousands of years. Neither side can lay exclusive claim to the history to the exclusion of the other. That is only natural given that throughout history, people have travelled and interacted with adjacent and far-off cultures alike.
2. Claiming the Thar desert as some sort of uncrossable boundary is not correct. Intrepid travellers have found ways to cross much more imposing deserts like the Gobi, Takla Makan, Arabia and even the Sahara with large caravans. Thar itself is criss-crossed with many such paths too. Leave aside mere deserts, people have made trails across the Himalayas also, just like those across other great mountian ranges in the world like the Andes and the Rockies. The human desire to travel surmounts such natural barriers.
3. Geologically, the sub-continent is roughly the area from the Indus to the Irrawaddy, east to west, and bounded by the Himlayas to the north, with its own unique flora and fauna, and also human history. When people arrived from the arid terrain to the west of the subcontinent to the first might river, it would be natural to beleive they have reached thier goal, just like Columbus. However, further exploration would easily lead to the much bigger lands beyond, and we can see that throughout history spread across thousands of years. It is also relevant to note that the lands towards the Far East are a fusion of the cultures of its mighty neighbors, China to the north and India to the west, hence the name Indo-China.
4. Political entities come and go, but history remains. For example, the State of Israel came into being as a political entity only in 1948, but claims thousands of years of the history of the land and culture as Jewish history, not as Israeli history. Similarly, Pakistan, as a modern day Islamic State, can lay claim to not only the history of the Indus Valley civilization, going back thousands of years, but also the glorious Mughal Empire as part of its cultural heritage, but calling it Pakistani would be naive in the extreme. Similarly, modern day political India can claim the heritage going back thousands of years across great upheavals of human history, including before the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent, but it cannot pretend that it has been enriched and decimated in cycles of invasions and empires. This is what intertwined means, and it is only natural and logical to regard it as parts of the same whole.
5. Crucial as history is in giving a sense of roots and foundations to any country, it cannot be a substitute for its present or its future, because these are determined by what is happening now, not what happened hundreds or thousands of years ago. Yes, the ancient lands that constitute both Pakistan and India have a rich and varied history going back thousands, but so does every other modern politcal entity. What each country does with it is the key. Ethiopia may be the birthplace of coffee, but it is the likes of Starbucks that use it best in the present. It is things like this that will determine the future.
