 | |
| Author | Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi General Editor |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | History of Pakistan series |
| Subject | History of Pakistan |
| Publisher | University of Karachi Press |
Publication date | 1967, 1984, 1992 |
| Publication place | Pakistan |
| Pages | 934 |
| ISBN | 969-404-008-6 |
| OCLC | 19353565 |
| 020/.92/4 B 19 | |
| LC Class | Z720.K54 M35 1987 |
A Short History of Pakistan is an edited book published byUniversity of Karachi Press and comprises four volumes. The book is edited byProf Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi and provides a comprehensive account of the history of thePakistan region and its people from theprehistory leading to the creation ofPakistan andEast Pakistan which then becameBangladesh. Complete set of four volumes are sequentially titled as,Book One: Pre-Muslim Period byAhmad Hasan Dani;Book Two: Muslim Rule under the Sultans by M. Kabir;Book Three: The Mughul Empire by Sh. A. Rashid; and,Book Four: Alien Rule and the Rise of Muslim Nationalism by M. A. Rahim et al.
This book is significant as probably the first serious attempt to paint an overall picture of the early history of Pakistan region. Given that the book deals with periods of history prior to the creation of Pakistan, it has been described as, point of fact, a history of the northern part of the entireIndian subcontinent with special emphasis on the region that presently is Pakistan.[1]Some of the essays have been criticised by peer reviewers as being insufficiently objective about relations betweenIndian Muslims,Hindus and the British political classes.
At the preface, I H Qureshi addresses the common question as to whether it is possible to disentangle the history of Pakistan from the history of India. He maintains that although for certain periods Pakistan shares common history withmodern day India, there are periods of regional history with local significance that were actually dominated by the events outside the South Asia, especially in Central Asia andIranian plateau. There have also been times when theregion actually became arbiter of the South Asia's historical destiny.
Critique byArthur Llewellyn Basham: Author of the first volume, Prof A. H. Dani is not only an expertarchaeologist andprehistorian, but also an able Sanskrit scholar with a very important study of Indianpalaeography to his credit. Its interest for the non-Pakistani reader lies chiefly in the attempt to find common factors in the ancientculture of what is now Pakistan. Although a great treasure of ancientBuddhistartefacts is discovered, no significant specimen ofMauryan Empire and Mauryan art is to be found in Pakistan.Gupta Empire also had little influence here. The book has been praised by Basham as "a work which no sensible Pakistani or Indian could object to or accuse of undue prejudice"[1]
Critique by Philip B. Calkins: This volume gives a survey of the history of the Sultanate period. After an introductory chapter which describes some of the sources for the history of the period, nine chapters are devoted to an account of the Sultanate, its Muslim antecedents inSindh andAfghanistan, and the independent Muslim kingdoms which developed out of it. The final chapter deals with administration, society and culture. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this volume is historiographical rather than historical, since it is part of a series of Pakistan and Muslims since their arrival in the sub-continent.[2] Calkins, calls for a more deeper analysis of the history than presented in this volume. Despite the apparent image of "the official Pakistani point of view" intended to be used as textbook for undergraduate students, the volume should have been able to offer more for those who desire more rudimentary knowledge of sultanate period. He praises the particular aspect of the book as "historigraphical rather than historical".[2]
Critique by Fritz Lehman: Given that this book is intended as a textbook for Pakistani undergraduates,Shaikh Ahmed Sarhindi predictably appears as the chief preserver of separate Islamic identity in India, yet only a very general and most inadequate description of his ideas and his influence is given. Chapters on Akbar and Aurangzib are the longest and the most revealing. The tone of the book in general is more reasonable and moderate than such earlier publications. Assessment of the Marathas, for example, while unsympathetic is fair to the facts.[3]
Lehman criticises the volume's implications that Muslims living under "Hindu rule" was "the worst disaster in the history of Islam in South Asia", a view he describes as 'consistent with theTwo-Nation Theory', but one that he finds "disquieting".[3]
Critique by Aziz Ahmed: Determination of national identity quite understandably tends to be re-evaluation of history. The educator's job is to make such re-evaluation available to the university student. It needs further analysis whether the Hindu officials of the Bengal Nawwabs conspired with theEast India Company because they were Hindus or because, like Muslim officials, they were simply greedy.[4]
Ahmad criticises this volume as a "warped subjectivity", and the portrayal of British rule in the region as "merely the lesser weakness of Rahim's historical presentation. His greater weakness is a complete lack of objectivity". According to the reviewer, the book portrays Hindus and the British as "villains" and Muslims as "victims".[4] He further writes that the narrative is "dangerous" for it will not guide younger historians inPakistan towards proper national self-criticism.[4]
This land and these people have a history which sometimes flows by itself and sometimes it commingles its water with other streams. – Prof I.H. Qureshi
