LAHORE: Punjabi poet and scholar Mushtaq Soofi says the word, Bharat, was coined in Punjab.

“There was a Bharat tribe in ancient Punjab and a Raja also named Bharat. The tribe crossed rivers of Sutlej and Beas and reached the plains of Ganga-Jamuna which then consisted of only jungles due to more rainfall. After this migration in the Vedic period, a new period starts,” he said while speaking at the sole Punjabi session, Panj Darya, at the Afkar-e-Taza ThinkFest here on Sunday. The session was moderated by former MPA Jugnu Mohsin.

Hinduism that we now see having various sects was formed in Ganga-Jamuna civilization where caste system had started. After it Punjab became the land of Nasht Dharam.

Mahabharata was also written in Punjab and its first recitation was done in court of the ruler of Taxila, he said and added that Prof Malati in his book, Civilised Demons: the Harappans of Rigveda, explained that Punjab was called the land of Nasht Dharam because caste rules were not followed here.

Mushtaq Soofi asks why other ethnicities in Pakistan did not stop invaders

“Indian civilisation or sub-continental civilisation had started from Punjab and Harappa and with decline of this civilization, Aryans started coming to this region and their interaction gave birth to Vedic civilisation. When the population increased, there was a push towards Ganga-Jamuna when people crossed river Beas.”

Soofi lamented that Harappa site was not in Unesco’s list of the world heritage though Mohenjo-Daro and even Shalamar Gardens were included in it, which was a point to ponder for the Punjabis.

He said one thing common in all ancient civilisations of the world was that in the centre of the cities there wer worship places and cities were built around them. Secondly, he continued, arms were found in every city but in cities of Harappan civilisation both these elements were missing, which meant it was a secular and peaceful civilisation.

Jugnu Mohsin said recorded history of Indian subcontinent started from Punjab whose traces were traced back to 800,000 years in Soan Valley where archeologists had discovered traces of fire, arms and other signs of civilisation. After that, there was a gap of many millennia until the start of Harappan civilisation, which was also one of the oldest civilisations of the world.

Mushtaq Soofi said there was scope of social mobility in ancient Punjab and the people were allowed to change their professions as there were no strict limitations of changing professions on them.

Jugnu spoke about the arrival of Alexander in Punjab, his battle with Raja Porus on the banks of river Jhelum and the famous incident after the latter’s defeat.

Soofi said the Greek historians had compared Persian king Dara with Raja Porus and lauded the latter’s bravery.

He said the Punjabis were often taunted in the current Pakistan that they did not resist Muslim invaders coming from the north, asking whether ‘Pathans’ had stopped any invaders, including the Greeks, Huns, Iranians, Arabs and Turks because if the ‘Pathans’ had stopped the invaders, they would not have even reached Punjab.

“The Sindhis flaunt their nationalism but they also did not stop Muhammad bin Qasim who would not have reached Multan, if stopped in Sindh.” Continuing his tirade, Soofi said the Urdu speaking people boasted of the civilisation of UP (Uttar Pradesh) but they themselves came here as stooges of the British as a part of the British army in the Anglo-Sikh war. There were the Bengalis, Biharis, UP people and Gorkhas fighting against Punjab in that war.

Soofi argued that Punjab was a landlocked region and no invader could reach here from any direction without ‘cooperation’ of other ethnicities.

At this, Jugnu quipped that we should not forget that there were many opportunists among the Punjabis too as in 1857 war of independence, Gakhars of Punjab joined the British to go to Dehli to fight the freedom fighters.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2025