A documentary by an award-winning Pakistani filmmaker shows the lives of traditional musicians, musical instrument makers and the challenges they face by Omair Ahmad Indus Blues is an aural and visual delight, and it is no wonder it is winning, and being nominated for, a slew of awards. A 75 minute documentary on the folk musicians of Pakistan by the young filmmaker …

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the heritage and folklore of the people of Punial in Gilgit-Baltistan by Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro   Punial valley of Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan is known for its oral history, folklore, visual culture, looming Hindu Kush mountains, verdant and sprawling villages, nullahs (side valleys) full of pastures, gushing Gilgit River coursing through Punial valley and, of course, the …

Little is known of the lives of Sogdians in China, even though the Chinese connections of Sogdian elites played an important political, economic, and cultural role in the lives of people in the region at the time, writes Jin Xu. by Jin Xu Before the Arab invasion, Sogdians were known traders who benefitted from bringing Chinese luxury goods to Iran, …

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the ornate and unique graves that tell a story of timber, power and upheaval   by Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro   here are many carved wooden grave railings in Tangir and Darel in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan. Such monuments are also located in many areas of Indus-Kohistan, Dir-Kohistan and Swat-Kohistan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where I am doing research for …

Dinmukhamed Kunaev was a leader of Soviet Kazakhstan. As the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan he was in office from 7 December 1964, to 16 December 1986. The house opened as a museum on January 12, 2012, Kunaev’s birthday, and displays almost the entire heritage of its owner, creating an authentic atmosphere of the recent, but at the same …

When we talk about the carpets of Central Asia, we typically mean those produced by Turkmens. However, the production of this homemade handicraft was historically widespread among other peoples of the region: Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Arabs, Tajiks, and Uzbeks, Emira Gyul. She focuses specifically on the Uzbek tradition of carpet weaving. by Elmira Gyul Carpet-weaving is an amazing art with which mankind …

    Pakistan has been facing a vulnerability of losing its rare artifacts since long as the government has no record of antiquities stolen or smuggled out of the country, experts and officials have warned. The country is situated in a region that had been home to the centuries-old civilisations like Mehrgarh, Indus Valley, and Gandhara. Pakistan hosts scores of …

GILGIT: Thousands of Buddhists from Japan, South Korea and other parts of the world visiting Gilgit city every year crave to see the 7th-century Kargah Buddha figure carved into solid rock at a high altitude, but face difficulties due to the dilapidated condition of the road leading to the site. Kargah Buddha, Yashani in the local language, is a unique …

 Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the distinctive aesthetic to be found in Gojal valley, upper Hunza of Gilgit-Baltistan By Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro The Wakhi are known for their distinctive way of life, music, traditional food and festivals. Tracing their origin to the Wakhan region, in the north-east of Afghanistan, this ethnic group now live in many remote valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan. In recent …

Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir reflects on Chitral’s place in what was once a largely Buddhist region Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was once Gandhara, one of the earliest centres of Buddhism. The Peshawar Valley, in particular, has several archaeological sites dating to the Buddhist era with Takht Bhai in Mardan and Ranigat in Swabi being among the most well known. …