Pakistan home to world’s oldest civilization – Scholar

Digging deep into the history of pre-Indus Valley civilization and its people along cultural and linguistic lines, a scholar has concluded that Pakistani land is heir to the most ancient civilization known to humankind.

Naeem Tahir, a known artist and author, spent ten years, unearthing evidence that, according to him, suggests that predecessors of the Indus Valley civilization, called Melluhas developed some fundamental structures toward blossoming of a new civilization in the Indus River basins.

The Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization of the Old World is traced as far back as 3300 BC but Tahir’s research tells us about Melluhas , the people who lived prior to that period around 8000 BC .

Tahir’s painstaking research over a full decade led to the publication of an illustrated book titled “Melluhas of the Indus Valley.”

The inspiration for the mammoth work came from legendary Pakistani historian, linguist and archeologist Dr Ahmed Hasan Dani, who encouraged Tahir to voyage back in time to unchartered and largely undiscovered territory – the pre-history of Indus Valley civilization.

Photo Credit : Views and News April 2016

“Indus valley is 90 percent Pakistan,” Tahir said proudly in an interview with Views and News during his recent visit to the United States.

Tahir and his wife Yasmeen Tahir timed their visit to the US with their son Faran Tahir’s appearance as protagonist in William Shakespeare’s play Othello at Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company

“(The research is about) the people who built that huge civilization, humanity’s first civilization. Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, all came after. It dates back to 8000 BC, which means it (the Melluhas’ civilization) is 10,000 years old.”

“A civilization emerges, they made scientific discoveries. They discovered town planning, coastal shipping, astrology, music and dance, and today that comes down,” he said, explaining his research for roots of the Indus and modern civilization.

“Today, you have Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa. Nobody knows that there is a meaning. They think it is the identification of tones. But, actually, these were language words in the Brahvi language.

“The dances, like Odissi, Kathak, Bharatnatyam – these are all origins from the Indus Valley civilization,” he added.

Tahir was referring to development of highly sophisticated classical music and dance forms that evolved over thousands of years in the South Asian region, particularly in parts of India and Pakistan – the two largest South Asian nations.

So, how was he able to persist with the challenging research, while also performing and writing about contemporary Pakistan arts?

Perhaps that unique combination and experience with modern genres of creativity helped Tahir make his research relevant to the present.

“Two of my friends Zafar Samdani, ex-vice chancellor of Punjab University, and Prof. Dani, they encouraged me and kept me going — and that way I was able to do it.”

Mohenjodaro Sindh, Pakistan Photo Credit : Original uploader M.Imran http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sa/1.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Tahir, who has to his credit the completion of Pakistan National Council of the Arts, and Alhamra Arts Center in Lahore and National Arts Gallery in Islamabad, faulted the government for a lack of focus on advancing arts, toward their preservation and promotion as well as introduction of Pakistani nation’s achievements to the world.

However, the scholar said he has been greatly pleased with the upsurge of creative works and performing arts in Pakistan including film, drama and music, even as the society tackles the challenge of militancy.

“It is coming back. It needs to be encouraged. The government needs to have a system by which artists, who do not have the means, can access resources. The media in the private sector, particularly TV channels, also have an important role.”

Naeem Tahir also wants Pakistani-Americans to pursue arts. By doing so, he says, Pakistani-Americans will learn new things and enrich the United States’ multicultural and vibrant landscape with the infusion of their heritage and American contemporary trends.

He also asked Pakistani expatriates and immigrants to be loyal to their adopted country.

 “Generally, when you make a conscious decision of adopting the nationality of another country, then one should be loyal to that commitment, not just use it as a source of earning and mentally live in your old country, and physically live here. That creates a split personality, and a split family, and a split understanding between the children. You need to reconcile it.” 

“If you are earning here, then you need to understand the society, and respect it too. Let your children learn, let them be aware. Not forget their tradition. If they remember their heritage, it will enrich their personalities. Don’t let it be a conflict. Integrate it, and it is possible. Migration means you integrate both.”