PhD Theses and Dissertations
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Item Life Pattern in the Karakoram Hindu Kush(Area Study Center (CENTRAL ASIA), University of Peshawar, 2000) Zahid Javed; Supervised by Prof. Javed Iqbal Syed; Co- Supervised by Dr. Muhammad Anwar KhanThe study presents life pattern in the valleys of Darel and Tangir as reflected in their social institutions. The main objective of the study was to document the traditional social institutions of the area. Besides recording and analysing the impact of development schemes since the construction of the Karakoram Highway (1978) on already established socio-economic practices prevailing the area. The valleys are located in the south of Gilgit, the administrative centre of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The area had remained a concern of colonial India during the Great Game. However, the British administration left the area to survive as a part of Yaghistan – The land of the wild and the independent people. The area was merged with Pakistan in 1951. The methodology involved collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data was gathered through the review of literature, case study of the social institutions and Participant Observation. The quantitative data was obtained through extensive fieldwork in the area during 1993-96 and a sample household survey. The social institutions of the area were found to reflect traits of an acephalous society. They are underdeveloped and undifferentiated. The wesh being mother of all institutions is a set of social institutions. It is basically a system of land ownership and periodic reallotment of land. Wesh manifest through heli, a social facet of wesh. SigasItem Ancient Peshawar (An Analysis of the History and Archaeology)(AREA STUDY CENTRE:RUSSIA, CHINA AND CENTRAL ASIA, UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR, 2004-09) Shah Nazar Khan; Supervised By Prof. Dr. Ihsan AliHere is the clean transcription of the provided abstract page:ABSTRACTPeshawar has various names in history, different from one account to another. There are fourteen different versions in addition to the one; the Chinese Pilgrims give in their diaries since antiquity. The city has played a vital role in various periods of its history in the development of the culture of the area. This research is based on literature review, archaeological excavations found from different areas of Peshawar like Bana Mari, Tahkal, Shah ji ki Dheri and Ali Masjid stupa, which are some of the main sites. However, the recent excavation at Gor Khuttree is the most important one from scientific point of view.Gor Khuttree, located right in the heart of the city, is also the highest point thus ensuring a long and continuous cultural profile. The excavations at Gor Khuttree have exposed a profile covering about 2600 years, from the Achaemenian dynasty of \(6^{\text{th}}\) century B.C. through the Kushanas, Hindu Shahis, Islamic, Sikhs and British periods to date. The antiquity discovered of the ancient past of Peshawar includes buildings, coins, inscriptions, pottery and terracottas etc.The Achaemenian rule in Peshawar was followed by the invasions of Alexander the Great and then Indo-Greeks. Though the Macedonian rule was short but the valley of Peshawar retained many Hellenistic traditions, which can be seen in the art and architecture of the region. This was followed by the Buddhist Civilization of Gandhara under the Kushanas, which lasted for about five hundred years; the Buddhists monasteries and stupas were destroyed in the white Huns invasion of Gandhara in the \(5^{\text{th}}\) Century A.D.Item Medieval Peshawar (1000-1526)(AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 2013-03) Syed Waqar Ali Shah; Supervised By Prof. Dr. Muhammad Anwar khanPeshawar is located at a geographical fault line of Asia; any sort of political or cultural jerks or tremors in Central Asia, subcontinent, Middle East or sometimes even Europe never fail to express itself over here. From the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th Century BC till the advent of the Ghaznavids tell us a recorded story of life that Peshawar shared with its different rulers. For some of them it was important enough to serve as the capital of their empires. Actually its location at the confluence of Central Asia and India gave it a unique politico-military position in the area. India being known for its riches and wealth did attract fortune seekers from far and near both as a halting or striking ground. For individuals as well as armies, both peace and plenty were always available here. All the fortune seekers passing through Khyber Pass had to trade through Peshawar that provided multiple facilitations to the travelers and their transportation beasts alike. For the invading armies it was essential to secure control of Peshawar in the first place as it was an excellent military base and a launching pad for the furtherance of their military and geographical designs. This central status of Peshawar was also proved right and acknowledged for the transportation of Buddhist and Islamic philosophies in their respective ages. It played reckonable role for the growth and promotion of Buddhism. After its birth in 520 BC Buddhism reached Peshawar (then Gandhara) somewhere around the 3rd century BC during Ashoka's reign. Second round of popularization of Buddhism at Peshawar came under the Kushan king Kanishka (128-151 AD) who not only patronized the religion but 8 the valley of Peshawar (then Gandhara) as well. Peshawar became the capital of a great and strong empire stretching from Bengal to Central Asia. Besides Buddhiusm, Peshawar also happened to be an important launching base for the promotion of Islam in India. Though Islam was introduced earlier in India but the Muslim rulers and generals who passed through Peshawar to India turned out to be more effective and lasting for the Islamic change in India. This role of Peshawar for Islam would be highlighted in the present study from different new directions. The political and military cover provided by the Ghaznavids and Ghorids further cemented the chances of success of the case of Islam forwarded through Peshawar. The Pukhtoons also played an undeniable role, who not only joined the ranks of Muslim generals but also by en-block conversion to Islam made it a case of their own. The situation was so that it carried promises of success for them in this material world along with the life after death. It was this win-win attraction that helped them migrate to Peshawar in big numbers. The coming of Mongols not only deprived Peshawar of its central, important and attractive status but also drew a dark curtain of anonymity and pain. No news of any law or prosperity at Peshawar till the coming of Babur is reported. In the power struggle between the Sultans of Delhi, the Mongols of Central Asia and some petty chieftains in the region, Peshawar and its inhabitants had to undergo some unimaginable hard times and miseries. Once the bride and darling of rulers, politicians and thinkers; was lying bruised, hungry and weak with no one to notice. However, history and time has proved it repeatedly that in regional as well as international politics Peshawar had remained and remains even today as one fulcrum with capacity to make things revolve around and attend to its dictates.Item Gender Consciousness Amongst Pukhtun, in Afghanistan and Pakistan Impact on the Status of Pukhtun Women(AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 2015) Samina; Supervised By Prof. Sarfraz KhanThe study attempts and finds direct and dialectical association between gender consciousness and status of women amongst Pukhtun, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rejecting widely held presupposition that an apriori, fixed, monolithic understanding of gender i.e., masculinity/femininity, exists amongst Pukhtun, this study demonstrates that varied patterns and levels of gender consciousness amongst Pukhtun exist which shape gender relations and impact status of Pukhtun women in paradoxical ways. Gender consciousness, reflected in notions, symbols, customs, institutions, laws and policies, multifariously develops dialectically within gender relations. However, the association between genderrelations and consciousness is not mechanical and one-sided. Gender relations interpret consciousness and consciousness shapes these relations. Chapter One defines and discusses key terms i.e., gender, gender relations, gender consciousness and status of women; and builds theoretical paradigm. It repudiates biological determinism and ensuing naturalization of gender based division of labour, masculine/feminine roles, relationships, privileges and discriminations. Chapter Two delineates views of selected philosophers regarding gender and status of women, identifying inherent gender biases, subsequently shaping gendered consciousness and relations. It argues that essentialism inculcates gendered consciousness while dialectical materialist socialist feminism rejects fixed, given, universal masculine/feminine essences and hierarchical gender relations and takes into account roles ofbodies, social, political and economic factors; thus paves way for gender consciousness. Chapter Three, Four and Five use selections from: selected genres of Pukhto folklore and prose; twentieth and twenty first centuries’ Pukhto poetry to delineate and assess varied manifestations of Pukhtun gendered and gender consciousness. It identifies varied androcentric, dichotomous, hierarchical and essentialist patterns of Pukhtun gendered consciousness that sanction absolute authority of men over women’s body, emotions and actions. These patterns legitimize patriarchal Puktun notions, customs, traditions and institutions, ineulcating male-stream Pukhtunwali that dehumanize woman and lowers her 5 status. Pukhtunpatriarchal gender relations and gendered consciousness are grounded in strict division of labour, on the basis of sex difference, both in production and reproduction. This division determines and affects social value assignedto sexed bodies, labour and productof labour, control over resources, their respective roles, status and privileges. Pukhtun gender consciousness exhibits progressively varied levels: beginning with discernement of extremely naked patriarchalpractices, it ascends to advocacy of right to life, education, healthcare, work and consent to marriage and bringing forward ‘subaltern Pukhtunwali’. There appear, occasionally, traces of higher transformatory eritical consciousness too that recognizes women’s agency and calls for collective political action to overthrow patriarchy. These varied patterns and levels of Pukhtun gender consciousness reflect dialectical interplay of a wide range of social, political and economic factors, most notably property relations, division of labour in production and reproduction, strict demarcation of private and public spheres. Conclusions discuss paradoxical development of gender consciousness and impact of varied patterns and levels of Pukhtun gender consciousness on the status of women.Item A Political Analysis of The Saur Revolution(AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 1986) Sher Zaman TaiziIn Afghanistan, a Muslim State with a majority of Hanafite Sunnis and a Major minority of Shias besides a few thousands of Hindus and Sikhs, the religion of Islam plays an important role in the life of the people. A few hundred Jews lived in Kabul and other cities but a majority of them mi - grated to Israel in 1970s. The official Telipion, declared or undeclared, was Sunni Hanafite Islam. All the Abdali rulers adhered to this doctrine .The Hanafite doctrine is, somewhat, flexible and lib - eral. But the main cause is the pride that Afghans take in the ancestry of Abu Hanifa al-Numan. His grand father, Yauti, was taken from Kabul to Kufa as a prisoner of war. He settled there permanent- 1y.! The Afghan State could maintain religious harmony and tolerance for more than 230 years. The Shariat courts established in urban centres usually left Sectarian problems to be solved by traditional means when services of the Sufi orders of involved parties were invoked with political favours. The State was almost closed to other ideas and doctrines. ‘Timur shah (1773-93) established an office in his court to combat the Wahhabi doctrine ,“founded by Mohammad bin Abdul Wahab (1703-91) as a reform movement aimed at purification of Islam. The Afghan Ulema considered it apostasy .? So much so that even Syed Jamal-ud-Din Afghani did not conceal his dislike for it. Referring to Syed Ahmad Brelvi, the celebrated Syed says; "He (Akhund Abdul Ghafoor alias Da Swat Akhun Sahib) called the people for Jihad. Thousands of people gathered around him. He was supported and aided by the Indian Wahhabis of the party of Syed Ahmad Wahabi, who had migrated due to fear of Indian Sunnis and settled in Swat and Bunir."amir Abdur Rahman (1880-1901) directed Ulema to combat Wah - habism which he considered dangerous to his ideological use of Islam.? The Amir banned the entry of people from Arabia, even, of those who claimed descent from the Holy Frophet, considering them beggars or European agents.® Likewise propagation of gadianism was also checked. Mian Abdur Rahman, a qgadiani, was executed by suffocationnis orders. Amir Habibullah ordered stoning of another gadiani Mohammad Abdul Latif of khost to death in 1903.7 Maulvi Niamatullah Panjsheri, professing the same belief, was stoned to death under the orders of Amanullah Khan.Item The Impact of Afghan Transit Trade on the Economy of NWFP (1990-2000)(AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 2004-04) Sayed Waqar Hussain; Supervised By Dr. JehanzebAfghan Transit Trade (ATT), initiated by Pakistan after 1965, and formally by other ECO countries and ECO Transit Trade Agreement was signed in 1997, transformed gradually into what in the contemporary literature has been assessed as the biggest smuggling racket of the world. The activities of this racket are case of 're-exportation' and a major source of black or underground economy, particularly in NWFP, over the period has assumed such intensive and extensive proportions as are sufficient to absorb the potential of legal trade. It not only prevented the legal currents of trade to take its natural course but stimulated the illegal currents to penetrate in the social and economic space of life in Pakistan, particularly in the province of NWFP. In the past twenty years, this ATT-guided smuggling appeared to have caused a chain-reaction and spread its tentacles to transport, finance, law enforcing agencies, Customs' authorities, guards of border check posts and industrialists not only in NWFP but to all the national economies. The horizontal and vertical proliferation is still on the rise.BUT the worst victim of this smuggling business has been the province of NWFP. Here the proximity of the tribal belt and the prevalent customs regime, greatly facilitated the 'stock and flow' of the goods-in-smuggling. Today the Afghans, tribals and traders from settled area of the province, have made such a nexus that any outside intervention proves ineffective to cut any door in the business and gradually found it more convenient to cooperate rather than to confront the nexus. As a natural consequence, people of the province have given up the idea of honorable living rather found smuggling as legitimate source of earning a livelihood. But still more distressing in the province has been the people's attitude to turn to counterfeiting and adulteration in the popular brands of consumer goodsItem The Peshawar under the Durranis 1747-1818(AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 1998) Razia Sultana; Supervised By Dr. Muhammad Anwar KhanHistory and geography are so closely inter-related that it is believed, those ignorant of their geography their history forget them completely. Keeping in view the significance of this point, the geographical location of the Valley of Peshawar has to be explained first. It extends from the river Indus to the Khyber mountains. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Karamar hills which separate it from the Valleys of Swat and Buner. To the north and north-west are rugged looking Mohmand and Malakand mountains. On the west stands the Khyber mountains overlooked by the Tartarra peak. To the south, a continuation of hilly boundary, Charat hills, which branches from Sofaid Koh and runs to the Indus. The lower portion of this branch separates the Valleys of Peshawar and Kohat. To the south-east, the only portion not bounded by hills is, the river Indus which divides it from the Chach Plain in Rawalpindi and Hazara region. Administratively, Peshawar was one of the fifteen Hukumat-e-Alas, smaller provinces of Durranis empire, other than that, the empire had eight Vilayats, bigger provinces also. The Valley of Peshawar was one of those many Valleys which were part of Peshawar province, for example, the Valleys of Swat and Kohat etc. The present province of NWFP and the Peshawar province of Durranis period was one and the same, territorially, except Derajat. Derajat, itself had a status of separate Hukumat-e-Ala within the Durranis administrative system.Item Muslim Freedom Fighters of India Based in Central Asia(Area Study Center(CENTRAL ASIA), University Of Peshawar, 1994) Zahid Shah; Supervised By Dr. Muhammad Anwar KhanCentral Asia and India have age old ties. Thy are not only close neighbours because of geographical contiguity, but are also bound together by ties of religion and culture. Because of geographical proximity and relgio-cultural affinity, the Indian Muslims have always looked for succour to their Central Asian brethren in hours of trial and tribulations. Central Asia, on its part, has always extended a helping hand as and when asked for by the former. This cooperation finds its roots in history. Whenthe British established their supremacy in India, they deprived the Muslims of their legitimate rights. Not only this, they made the Muslims the target of their cruelties as the British considered them as a potential threat to their tule in India. The Muslims were left with no choicebutto rise against their enemy - the British. The freedom struggle that ensued was fought by the IndianMuslims from different angles; some sought constitutional remedy for the problem, others opted for taking up arms. Thelatter course of action was adopted by the religious \ elite hailing mostly from the Deobandi School.