Story Of Nation
It's All About Pakistan
Crafts of History
May 4th
(Prof. Dr. Shaukat Mahmood discusses the splendors of Mughal Architecture)
It was in April 2005 that I undertook a study – trip of third year students (of Department of Architecture, International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) to Fatepur Skri, India. I was accompanied by two teachers Dr Zuraini Denan, the head of department; and Dr Ali Raza Soomro.
The group was of some 50 students. They were divided into five groups. Each one had to prepare a measured drawing of one monument. The monuments chosen for the projects included Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-i-Aam, Daulat Khana, Mariam’s House and Sultana’s House. We the three teachers More >
Shrouded in Mystery
May 4th
(Dr. Shaukat Mahmood narrates the historic past of Multan)
History of Multan, its foundation and its founder is shrouded in mystery. No one with authoritative knowledge knows who was its founder and why it was founded and how old it is. It was the Chinese traveller Hieun-Tsiang who first of all mentioned this city in his Travels. He calls it Meulo-san-pu-lo which is transcribed into Mulasthanpura. Multan was visited by the Muslim armies during the reign of first of the Khulafa-e-Rashidin, Hadrat Abu Bakar(RA) in 44/664, when Muhallab, the Arab general, penetrated the ancient capital of Malli. No effort was made More >
A Himalayan Necklace
May 4th
At the time of collusion of the Indian subcontinent with the land mass of Asia, about one hundred million years ago, nature carefully disposed the Pir Panjal range in the Himalayas to be the necklace of the complex.
Strewn with jewels of peaks of varying heights ranging from 5,000ft to 16830ft, Pir Panjal encompasses the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the northern areas of Gilgit, Baltistan, Hunza and Nagar etc. The range has also been witness to numerous politico-cultural inroads, starting with the mighty Mughals, continuing with the unruly Sikhs as well as the colonial Anglo Saxons and the present, less More >
An insight into Lahore
May 4th
The old walled city is in the shape of a parallelogram, with the imposing Fort carved out in its north-western corner. In ancient times the river Ravi used to flow along the northern wall of the city and the fort. As the river, notorious for its changing course, rolled on towards further north away from the city, the fort was extended mainly for defence.
The Ravi floods, however, posed threat to the city and, at least for once, its encroachment caused so much alarm that in 1662 the Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir made an huge embankment of bricks and mortar along its More >
Harappa
May 4th
Harappa, the type-site of the Indus civilization, is today a large village in the Montgomery District of Punjab, 15 miles southwest of the district town. It overlies and adjoins the mounds of the ancient city, which appear to have had a circuit of not less than 3 miles, though the more emphatic mounds occupy a considerably smaller expanse.
The site at Harappa was first briefly excavated by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1872-73; two decades after brick robbers carried off the visible remains of the city. He found an Indus seal of unknown origin. The first extensive excavations at Harappa were started More >
Other Minerals
May 4th
Pakistan has considerable deposits of non-metallic minerals, including rock salt, gypsum, china clay, limestone and marble. Metallic minerals found in some quantity are chromite, antimony, and iron ore.
Iron OreIron ore deposits occur at many localities. The more important are as such:
Kalabagh: iron ore occurs near Kalabagh in the Surghar Range and near Sakesar in the Salt Range. They are the largest deposits in Pakistan, but the ore is of low grade (30-35 percent iron) and of irregular composition, broadly classified into two main types, Chichali and Kutch. Reserves are estimated about 300 million tons.
Dommel Nisar: Magnetite deposits in southern Chitral, about 20 More >
Natural Gas and Oil
May 4th
Oil
The search for oil in Pakistan started in 1868 when the first test hole was drilled at Kundal near Mianwali, and continues to the present day. In Pakistan, large areas are covered by sedimentary rocks which have petroliferous members. The search is for stratigraphic and structural traps where oil could accumulate. Such favorable structures are usually not found in areas of intense folding such as the northern mountains. The possibility of major discoveries, either in on-shore or off-shore areas, is considered quite bright. Parts of Pakistan adjacent to the oil and gas producing fields of Iran have a similar geologic More >
Coal
May 4th
Coal is one of the principal minerals produced in Pakistan, but total reserves, estimated at 400 million tones, are not large by world standards. Sizeable deposits exist in Baluchistan, the Salt Range (Cis-Indus and Trans-Indus), and Sind, with Baluchistan the major producer. The Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (P.I.D.C.) has assisted the development of mines in Baluchistan and elsewhere.
The coal is of low quality, lignite to sub-bituminous, and occurs in the Lower Tertiary sequence, ranging in age from 50 to 60 million years. The coal seams are generally lenticular, vary in thickness from a few inches to a few feet, have More >
Natural Vegetation
Apr 28th
Natural vegetation comprises forests, shrubs and grasses, and is determined by climatic conditions and soil types. The climate of Pakistan is too dry for forests, except in the northern hilly and sub-montane belts. Soil formation on the hill slopes is a prerequisite for forest growth, but human practices in these areas have contributed to erosion, rather than to soil formation. Ruthless wood-cutting, over-grazing, and the annual removal of grass cover from the slopes are all processes which handicap soil formation and the development of forests. As a result, there is a marked deficiency of tree-cover in Pakistan. (more…)
Climate and Weather
Apr 28th
Pakistan lies on the western margin of one of the major climatic regions of the earth, the monsoon region. The winds in winter are north-east to south-west, and the reverse, south-west to north-east, in summer. The causes of the reversal of the wind system, and of the pulsating character of the monsoons, are varied and complex. The summer monsoon brings maritime influences and rain, but there are annual fluctuations or pulsations in the strength of the monsoon current. Cyclones in the monsoons cause rainfall, but their frequency is variable. Similarly, the paths of the cyclones vary with the position and More >
