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Ancient
Civilization
Modern Pakistanis are a blend of their Harappan, Indo-Aryan, Indo-Iranian,
Saka, Parthian, Kushan, White Hun, Afghan, Arab, Turkic, and Mughal
heritage. Waves of invaders and migrants settled down in Pakistan
through out the centuries, influencing the locals and being absorbed
among them. Thus the region encompassed by modern-day Pakistan is
home to the oldest Asian civlization (and one of the oldest in the
world after Mesopotamia and Egypt), Indus Valley Civilization (2500
BC - 1500 BC).
The modern state of Pakistan was established on
14 August 1947, but the region it encompasses has an extensive history
that overlaps with the histories of Ancient India, Iran and Afghanistan.
The region was a crossroads of historic trade routes, including
the Silk Road, and was settled over thousands of years by many groups,
including Dravidians, Indo-Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Scythians,
Parthians Kushans, White Huns, Afghans, Arabs, Turks, and Mongols;
the region is often referred to as "a museum of races."
Historian and geographer de Blij Muller characterized
the historical embodiment of the land when he said, "If, as
is so often said, Egypt is the gift of the Nile, then Pakistan is
the gift of the Indus." The earliest evidence of humans are
pebble tools from the Soan Culture in the province of Punjab, dated
from 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. The Indus region was the site
of several ancient cultures including Mehrgarh, one of the world's
earliest known towns, and the Indus Valley Civilisation at Harrappa
and Mohenjo-Daro.
The Indus Valley Civilisation collapsed in the
middle of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Vedic
Civilisation, which extended over much of northern India and Pakistan.
Successive empires and kingdoms ruled the region from the Achaemenid
Persian empire around 543 BCE, to Alexander the Great in 326 BCE
and the Mauryan empire. The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius
of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab from 184 BCE, and reached
its greatest extent under Menander, establishing the Greco-Buddhist
period with advances in trade and culture. The city of Taxila (Takshashila)
became a major centre of learning in ancient times - the remains
of the city, located to the west of Islamabad, are one of the country's
major archaeological sites.
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