As one researches our past, the question invariably arises just who are we? As one walks through the old walled city, we come across a variety of humans, the majority being from every corner of the wider region.

The question is just where is the ‘beginning’? The exact beginning will, probably, never be determined, so let us plunge into an area scholars understand to some degree, and that is when the continents started splitting almost 200 million years ago, a result of the irresistible power of the Earth’s rotation.

The time periods involved are surely best studied in the science of Palaeography, more specifically that of plate tectonics, which tell us that the Indian sub-continent broke away from Africa reaching the ‘original’ Asian continent 40 million years ago. So, Lahore’s journey starts approximately once the sub-continent touched the Asian land mass.

The question in the mind of the reader, naturally, would be ‘just how is Africa 200 million years ago connected to Lahore of today?’ The answer is that our land was once part of the remaining land and sea mass of Earth, and the irrefutable fact is that even today the flora and fauna of the mountains to the west of the Punjab and that of eastern portions of Africa and Madagascar are amazingly similar.

In earlier pieces, I have dwelt on this. Numerous plant DNA studies confirm that the ‘pipal’ tree in most Lahore gardens have their origins in those to be seen in Madagascar. So, this is the very beginning of the beginning of all the stories that this column carries. I appreciate that your interest lies way ahead in time. Historians call it ‘pre-history.’

The hydrography of this land mass is governed by, firstly, the ice and snows from the mountains to the north that feed the Indus and Ganges basins, and, secondly, by the moisture-laden winds of the summer monsoons from the sea, and the cooler winds from the mountains to the north. Without getting bogged down by pre-history, let us jettison to the ‘relative future’ and see humans, more specifically the homo-erectus and then homo-sapiens, walk from Africa towards our lands, and more specifically, much later, towards Lahore. It is a long shot, but worth exploring for the sake of understanding ourselves better.

We are, after all, exploring just who we are. As the species homo-sapiens travelled and settled in different parts of the world. The very first humans to leave Africa is dated at 1.6 million years ago, all hunter-gatherers. The species homo-sapiens moved out approximately 260,000 years ago. The very first known settlements were before 50,000 years. It was in this period that the first known humans settled along the Makran Coast of Pakistan and created a planned city today called Mehrgarh. There they evolved with each area having their own special species given chance in the procreation process, specific long-term environmental effects and specific events that compelled migrations. The very first humans were heading towards the Punjab, and by extension Lahore, staying next to river banks. Just who were these humans of Lahore.

Science tells us that we were originally Dravidians and looked very African like the inhabitants of the Makran coast of today. Their survival mode was nomadic, and around this mode developed the nomadic family. As agriculture had not entered the human mode of production, they depended on animals and hunting, not to forget fruit, leaves and bark from wild trees. The sheep and oxen the nomad found easy to tame, and hence they moved along with the nomad and his tribe. Soon as the nomadic tribe grew they acquired a quasi-military structure, from which escape was virtually impossible. Kinship was determined through males only and hence ancestors descended from the same male head. In a way that is still how families are structured. Then a massive change came about as the very first Aryans, which in old Persian means ‘the noble’, moved eastwards. These whiter nomads from Central Asia moved in search of moist grassy regions, they crossed over near the edge of the forests and the river-fed plains. This was the beginning of primitive agriculture. Over the ages agriculture developed and two major crops took precedence, they are rice and wheat.

For rice to provide greater production there was a need for greater water control, as well as greater labour availability. The large nomadic tribes found this of greater value in terms of exchange. The wheat areas also needed water but in a flat predictable area. We see from research and experience that people in the wheat areas were more militaristic in their behaviour unlike those in the rice-producing areas. This still holds true. These production modes gave rise to the village where a collection of skills lived together. Barter trade arose. These primitive agricultural nomads settled in walled communities, developing a sort of unity. It was only a matter of time that a leader arose among the nomads for them to organise and invade the settled areas. So, it has been for the sub-continent. As the Central Asian nomads grew they eventually discovered the opening of natural passes through the north-western mountains, especially the Khyber Pass. This led to an unremitting series of invasions over time. In a way that continues. So, our ancestors were original African in looks. Over thousands of years those living in the north, because of sunlight, diet, environment and other factors started to change. The first traces of a settlement depended on agriculture, and this manner of ‘settled living’ led to clashes with those still nomadic.

The Punjab region was the site of the Harappa civilisation which flourished approximately 3,000 B.C. and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the Aryan invasions – migrations would be more accurate - between 1,500 and 500 B.C. The migrating Aryan tribes continued till 500 BC. During this era, the‘Rigveda’ was composed in the area west of Lahore, which lay the foundation of Hinduism. But then who was the oldest known ruler of Lahore?

In the 6th century BC, we know that Pushkara Sarin, the ruler of Gandhara, and the most ancient known ruler of Lahore and its surrounding areas, assumed a role in halting the expansionary ambitions of the Iranian ruler Darius. Just over a 100 years later, the Jana Padas of Punjab encountered the Greek invader Alexander. The Greeks were also resisted by Malians of south Punjab, and the Puru – known as Porus - of central Punjab. Following the demise of Alexander, the armies of Chandragupta Maurya, who was educated at Taxila University and belonged to the ‘Maur’ region just north of today’s Islamabad, set up his Mauryan Empire.

From these undeniable facts of ancient history, let us try to discover just who we are. The inhabitants of ancient Lahore on the seven mounds were dark Dravidians from the Harappan civilisation. With the coming of the Aryans from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Central Asian, a fairer people emerged. The dark original inhabitants were declared inferior, and from this racist way of judging humans Hinduism emerged. So, today the old walled city has the recent wave of Afghans as the majority. This has happened many times in the past. The original inhabitants are not very fair. Such is the sweep of thousands of years. We are all different in origin. Over the next century provided yet another wave does not sweep in, we will be reasonably similar.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024