FOUNDER OF PAKISTAN

Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Urdu: محمد علی جناح, Sindhi: محمد علي جيڻا, Gujarati: મુહમ્મદ અલી જિન્ના, Audio (help·info)); December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) was a 20th century lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam (Urdu: قائد اعظم — "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum (باباۓ قوم) ("Father of the Nation").

Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on August 14, 1947 and Pakistan's first Governor-General from August 15, 1947 until his death on September 11, 1948. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress initially expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress; he also became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India.

Jinnah later advocated the Two-Nation Theory embracing the goal of creating a separate Muslim state as per the Lahore Resolution.^[7] The League won most reserved Muslim seats in the elections of 1946. After the British and Congress backed out of the Cabinet Mission Plan Jinnah called for a Direct Action Day to achieve the formation of Pakistan. The direct action^[8][9] by the Muslim League and its Volunteer Corps, resulted in massive rioting in Calcutta^[9][10] between Muslims and Hindus.^[10][11] As the Indian National Congress and Muslim League failed to reach a power sharing formula for united India, it prompted both the parties and the British to agree to independence of Pakistan and India. As the first Governor-General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to lay the foundations of the new state of Pakistan, frame national policies and rehabilitate millions of Muslim refugees who had migrated from India.

He died in September 1948, just over a year after Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire.

Early life

Sindh Madrasatul Islam, in present day Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Jinnah was born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai (Gujarati: મુહમ્મદ અલી જિન્નાભાઈ)^[12] in Wazir Mansion,^[13][14][15] Karachi District, of lower Sindh. Sindh had earlier been conquered by the British and was subsequently grouped with other conquered territories for administrative reasons to form the Bombay Presidency of British India. Although his earliest school records state that he was born on October 20, 1875, Sarojini Naidu, the author of Jinnah's first biography, gives the date as ”December 25, 1876”.
Jinnah was the first child born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father, Jinnahbhai (1857–1901), was a prosperous Gujarati merchant who had moved to Sindh from Kathiawar, Gujarat before Jinnah's birth.^[13][16] His grandfather, Poonja Gokuldas Meghji,^[17] was a Hindu Bhatia Rajput from Paneli village in Gondal state in Kathiawar. Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu Rajputs who had converted to Islam.^[16] Jinnah's family belonged to the Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam,^[1] though Jinnah later converted to Twelver Khoja Shia Islam.^[2][5][6]
The first-born Jinnah was soon joined by six siblings, brothers Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, and Rahmat Ali, and sisters Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Their mother language was Gujarati; in time they also came to speak Kutchi, Sindhi and English.^[18] The proper Muslim names of Mr. Jinnah and his siblings, unlike those of his father and grandfather, are the consequence of the family's immigration to the Muslim state of Sindh.
Jinnah was a restless student, he studied at several schools: at the Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi; briefly at the Gokal Das Tej Primary School in Bombay; and finally at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi,^[12] where, at age sixteen, he passed the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay.^[19]

Years in England

Jinnah in his youth, in traditional dress.

In 1892, Jinnah was offered an apprenticeship at the London office of Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, a business that had extensive dealings with Jinnahbhai Poonja's firm in Karachi.^[12] Before he left for England, at his mother's urging, he married his distant cousin – Emibai Jinnah, who was two years his junior;^[12] she died a few months later. During his sojourn in England, his mother too would pass away.^[16] In London, Jinnah soon left the apprenticeship to study law instead, by joining Lincoln's Inn. It is said that the sole reason of Jinnah's joining Lincoln's Inn is that the welcome board of the Lincoln's Inn had the names of the world's all-time top-ten magistrates, and that this list was led by the name of Muhammad. No such board exists, although there is a mural which includes a picture of Muhammad.^[16] In three years, at age 19, he became the youngest Indian to be called to the bar in England.^[16]
During his student years in England, Jinnah came under the spell of 19th-century British liberalism, like many other future Indian independence leaders. This education included exposure to the idea of the democratic nation and progressive politics. He admired William Gladstone and John Morley, British Liberal statesmen. An admirer of the Indian political leaders Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta,^[20] he worked with other Indian students on the former's successful campaign to become the first Indian to hold a seat in the British Parliament.
By now, Jinnah had developed largely constitutionalist views on Indian self-government, and he condemned both the arrogance of British officials in India and the discrimination practiced by them against Indians. This idea of a nation legitimized by democratic principles and cultural commonalities was antithetical to the genuine diversity that had generally characterized the subcontinent. As an Indian intellectual and political authority, Jinnah would find his commitment to the Western ideal of the nation-state developed during his English education– and the reality of heterogeneous Indian society to be difficult to reconcile during his later political career.

Western influences on personal life

The Western world not only inspired Jinnah in his political life. England had greatly influenced his personal preferences, particularly when it came to dress. Jinnah donned Western style clothing and he pursued the fashion with fervor. It is said he owned over 200 hand-tailored suits which he wore with heavily starched shirts with detachable collars. It is also alleged that he never wore the same silk tie twice.^[21]

Return to India

Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a young lawyer

During the final period of his stay in England, Jinnah came under considerable pressure to return home when his father's business was ruined. In 1896 he returned to India and settled in Bombay. Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. He became a successful lawyer, gaining particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case".^[20] His reputation as a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire him as defence counsel for his sedition trial in 1908. Jinnah argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous term of imprisonment.^[20]
When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and progressive politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian National Congress stalwarts Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Surendranath Banerjee. These people had an influence in his early life in England and they would influence his later involvement in Indian politics.^[22]

Early political career

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as a young lawyer.

In 1896, Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress, which was the largest Indian political organization. Like most of the Congress at the time, Jinnah did not favour outright independence, considering British influences on education, law, culture and industry as beneficial to India. Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member Imperial Legislative Council. The council had no real power or authority, and included a large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists and Europeans. Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of the Child Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim waqf (religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, which helped establish the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun.^[13][23] During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be rewarded with political freedoms.
Jinnah had initially avoided joining the All India Muslim League, founded in 1906, regarding it as too Muslim oriented. However he decided to provide leadership to the Muslim minority. Eventually, he joined the league in 1913 and became the president at the 1916 session in Lucknow. Jinnah was the architect of the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the League, bringing them together on most issues regarding self-government and presenting a united front to the British. Jinnah also played an important role in the founding of the All India Home Rule League in 1916. Along with political leaders Annie Besant and Tilak, Jinnah demanded "home rule" for India—the status of a self-governing dominion in the Empire similar to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. He headed the League's Bombay Presidency chapter.
In 1918, Jinnah married his second wife Rattanbai Petit ("Ruttie"), twenty-four years his junior. She was the fashionable young daughter of his personal friend Sir Dinshaw Petit, of an elite Parsi family of Bombay. Unexpectedly there was great opposition to the marriage from Rattanbai's family and Parsi society, as well as orthodox Muslim leaders. Rattanbai defied her family and nominally converted to Islam, adopting (though never using) the name Maryam Jinnah, resulting in a permanent estrangement from her family and Parsi society. The couple resided in Bombay, and frequently travelled across India and Europe. In 1919 she bore Jinnah his only child, daughter Dina Jinnah.
In 1924 Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been president since 1919, and devoted the next seven years attempting to bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop a rational formula to effect a Hindu Muslim settlement, which he considered the pre condition for Indian freedom. He attended several unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals in 1927, pleaded for the incorporation of the basic Muslim demands in the Nehru report, and formulated the “Fourteen Points”^[24]

 

Founding of Pakistan

Jinnah with Cabinet Mission

A letter by Jinnah to Winston Churchill

In the 1946 elections for the Constituent Assembly of India, the Congress won most of the elected seats, while the League won a large majority of Muslim electorate seats. The 1946 British Cabinet Mission to India released a plan on May 16, calling for a united Indian state comprising considerably autonomous provinces, and called for "groups" of provinces formed on the basis of religion. A second plan released on June 16, called for the separation of India along religious lines, with princely states to choose between accession to the dominion of their choice or independence. The Congress, fearing India's fragmentation, criticised the May 16 proposal and rejected the June 16 plan. Jinnah gave the League's assent to both plans, knowing that power would go only to the party that had supported a plan. After much debate and against Gandhi's advice that both plans were divisive, the Congress accepted the May 16 plan while condemning the grouping principle.^{[citation needed]} Jinnah decried this acceptance as "dishonesty", accused the British negotiators of "treachery",^[39] and withdrew the League's approval of both plans. The League boycotted the assembly, leaving the Congress in charge of the government but denying it legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims.
Jinnah gave a precise definition of the term 'Pakistan' in 1941 at Lahore in which he stated:

Some confusion prevails in the minds of some individuals in regard to the use of the word 'Pakistan'. This word has become synonymous with the Lahore resolution owing to the fact that it is a convenient and compendious method of describing [it].... For this reason the British and Indian newspapers generally have adopted the word 'Pakistan' to describe the Moslem demand as embodied in the Lahore resolution.^[40]

Jinnah issued a call for all Muslims to launch "Direct Action" on August 16 to "achieve Pakistan".^[41] Strikes and protests were planned, but violence broke out all over India, especially in Calcutta and the district of Noakhali in Bengal, and more than 7,000 people were killed in Bihar. Although viceroy Lord Wavell asserted that there was "no satisfactory evidence to that effect",^[42] League politicians were blamed by the Congress and the media for orchestrating the violence.^[43] Interim Government portfolios were announced on October 25, 1946.^[44] Muslim Leaguers were sworn in on October 26, 1946.^[45] The League entered the interim government, but Jinnah refrained from accepting office for himself. This was credited as a major victory for Jinnah, as the League entered government having rejected both plans, and was allowed to appoint an equal number of ministers despite being the minority party. The coalition was unable to work, resulting in a rising feeling within the Congress that independence of Pakistan was the only way of avoiding political chaos and possible civil war. The Congress agreed to the division of Punjab and Bengal along religious lines in late 1946. The new viceroy Lord Mountbatten of Burma and Indian civil servant V. P. Menon proposed a plan that would create a Muslim dominion in West Punjab, East Bengal, Baluchistan and Sindh. After heated and emotional debate, the Congress approved the plan.^[46] The North-West Frontier Province voted to join Pakistan in a referendum in July 1947. Jinnah asserted in a speech in Lahore on October 30, 1947 that the League had accepted independence of Pakistan because "the consequences of any other alternative would have been too disastrous to imagine."^[47]
The independent state of Pakistan, created on August 14, 1947, represented the outcome of a campaign on the part of the Indian Muslim community for a Muslim homeland which had been triggered by the British decision to consider transferring power to the people of India.^[48]

NATIONAL POET OF PAKISTAN

Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (علامہ محمد اقبال / Allama Muḥammad Iqbāl; November 9, 1877 - April 21, 1938), commonly referred to as Allama Iqbāl (علامہ اقبال‎, ʿAllāma meaning "The Learned One"), was a Lahori Muslim poet, philosopher and politician in British India.^[1] He wrote his works in Persian and Urdu.

After studying in Cambridge, Munich and Heidelberg, Iqbal established a law practice, but concentrated primarily on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-e-Khudi—for which he was knighted— Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara, with its enduring patriotic song Tarana-e-Hind. In India, he is widely regarded for the patriotic song, Saare Jahan Se Achcha. In Afghanistan and Iran, where he is known as Eghbāl-e-Lāhoorī (اقبال لاہوری‎ Iqbal of Lahore), he is highly regarded for his Persian works. Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in South Asia; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address.^[2] Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan"), Shair-e-Mashriq ("The Poet of the East"), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat ("The Sage of Ummah"). He is officially recognized as the national poet of Pakistan.^[3][4][5] The anniversary of his birth (یوم ولادت محمد اقبال‎ - Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl) is on November 9, and is a national holiday in Pakistan.

Literary career

Upon his return to India in 1908, Iqbal took up assistant professorship at the Government College in Lahore, but for financial reasons he relinquished it within a year to practice law. During this period, Iqbal's personal life was in turmoil. He divorced Karim Bibi in 1916, but provided financial support to her and their children for the rest of his life.

While maintaining his legal practice, Iqbal began concentrating on spiritual and religious subjects, and publishing poetry and literary works. He became active in the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, a congress of Muslim intellectuals, writers and poets as well as politicians, and in 1919 became the general secretary of the organisation. Iqbal's thoughts in his work primarily focused on the spiritual direction and development of human society, centred around experiences from his travel and stay in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was profoundly influenced by Western philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and Goethe, and soon became a strong critic of Western society's separation of religion from state and what he perceived as its obsession with materialist pursuits.

The poetry and philosophy of Mawlana Rumi bore the deepest influence on Iqbal's mind. Deeply grounded in religion since childhood, Iqbal would begin intensely concentrating on the study of Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its political future, and embrace Rumi as "his guide." Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of a guide in many of his poems, and his works focused on reminding his readers of the past glories of Islamic civilization, and delivering a message of a pure, spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-political liberation and greatness. Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations, and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim community, or the Ummah.^[4]

Works in Persian

Iqbal's poetic works are written mostly in Persian rather than Urdu. Among his 12,000 verses of poem, about 7,000 verses are in Persian. In 1915, he published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-e-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest poetic work ^[6] In Asrar-e-Khudi, Iqbal has explained his philosophy of "Khudi," or "Self." Iqbal' s use of term "Khudi" is synonymous with the word of "Rooh" as mentioned in the Quran. "Rooh" is that divine spark which is present in every human being and was present in Adam for which God ordered all of the angels to prostrate in front of Adam. But one has to make a great journey of transformation to realize that divine spark which Iqbal calls "Khudi". A similitude of this journey could be understood by the relationship of fragrance and seed. Every seed has the potential for fragrance with in it. But to reach its fragrance the seed must go through all the different changes and stages. First breaking out of its shell. Then breaking the ground to come into the light developing roots at the same time. Then fighting against the elements to develop leaves and flowers. Finally reaching its pinnacle by attaining the fragrance that was hidden with in it. Same way to reach one's khudi or rooh one needs to go through multiple stages which Iqbal himself went through and encourages other to travel this spiritual path. Like not all seeds reach the level of fragrance, many die along the way incomplete. Same way only few people could climb this mount Everest of spirituality, most get consumed along the way by materialism. The same concept was used by Farid ud Din Attar in his "Mantaq-ul-Tair". He proves by various means that the whole universe obeys the will of the "Self." Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him the aim of life is self-realization and self-knowledge. He charts the stages through which the "Self" has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the "Self" to become the viceregent of God.^[4]

In his Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove that Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact but once this is achieved he should sacrifice his personal ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realise the "Self" out of society. Also in Persian and published in 1917, this group of poems has as its main themes the ideal community, Islamic ethical and social principles and the relationship between the individual and society. Although he is true throughout to Islam, Iqbal recognises also the positive analogous aspects of other religions. The Rumuz-e-Bekhudi complements the emphasis on the self in the Asrar-e-Khudi and the two collections are often put in the same volume under the title Asrar-e-Rumuz (Hinting Secrets), and it is addressed to the world's Muslims. Iqbal sees the individual and his community as reflections of each other. The individual needs to be strengthened before he can be integrated into the community, whose development in turn depends on the preservation of the communal ego. It is through contact with others that an ego learns to accept the limitations of its own freedom and the meaning of love. Muslim communities must ensure order in life and must therefore preserve their communal tradition. It is in this context that Iqbal sees the vital role of women, who as mothers are directly responsible for inculcating values in their children.

Iqbal's 1924 publication, the Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message of the East) is closely connected to the West-östlicher Diwan by the famous German poet Goethe. Goethe bemoaned that the West had become too materialistic in outlook and expected that the East would provide a message of hope that would resuscitate spiritual values. Iqbal styles his work as a reminder to the West of the importance of morality, religion and civilization by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explains that an individual could never aspire for higher dimensions unless he learns of the nature of spirituality.^[4] In his first visit to Afghanistan, he presented his book "Payam-e Mashreq" to King Amanullah Khan in which he admired the liberal movements of Afghanistan against the British Empire. In 1933, he was officially invited to Afghanistan to join the meetings regarding the establishment of Kabul University.

 

Iqbal in 1929, with his son Javid Iqbal.

The Zabur-e-Ajam (Persian Psalms), published in 1927, includes the poems Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed (Garden of New Secrets) and Bandagi Nama (Book of Slavery). In Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed, Iqbal first poses questions, then answers them with the help of ancient and modern insight and shows how it effects and concerns the world of action. Bandagi Nama denounces slavery by attempting to explain the spirit behind the fine arts of enslaved societies. Here as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future, emphasising love, enthusiasm and energy to fill the ideal life.^[4] Iqbal's 1932 work, the Javed Nama (Book of Javed) is named after and in a manner addressed to his son, who is featured in the poems, and follows the examples of the works of Ibn Arabi and Dante's The Divine Comedy, through mystical and exaggerated depiction across time. Iqbal depicts himself as Zinda Rud ("A stream full of life") guided by Rumi, "the master," through various heavens and spheres, and has the honour of approaching divinity and coming in contact with divine illuminations. In a passage re-living a historical period, Iqbal condemns the Muslim traitors who were instrumental in the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal and Tipu Sultan of Mysore respectively by betraying them for the benefit of the British colonists, and thus delivering their country to the shackles of slavery. At the end, by addressing his son Javid, he speaks to the young people at large, and provides guidance to the "new generation."^[4]

His love to Persian language is evident in his works and poetry. He says in one of his poems:^[7]

گرچہ اردو در عذوبت شکر است

garche Urdū dar uzūbat shekkar ast

طرز گفتار دري شيرين تر است

tarz-e goftar-e Dari shirintar ast

Translation:

Even though in sweetness Urdu* is sugar - (but) speech method in Dari (Persian) is sweeter *

Works in Urdu

Iqbal in Spain, 1933.

Iqbal's first work published in Urdu, the Bang-e-Dara (The Call of the Marching Bell) of 1924, was a collection of poetry written by him in three distinct phases of his life.^[4] The poems he wrote up to 1905, the year Iqbal left for England imbibe patriotism and imagery of landscape, and includes the Tarana-e-Hind (The Song of India), popularly known as Saare Jahan Se Achcha and another poem Tarana-e-Milli (Anthem of the (Muslim) Community), which was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as Saare Jahan Se Achcha. The second set of poems date from between 1905 and 1908 when Iqbal studied in Europe and dwell upon the nature of European society, which he emphasized had lost spiritual and religious values. This inspired Iqbal to write poems on the historical and cultural heritage of Islamic culture and Muslim people, not from an Indian but a global perspective. Iqbal urges the global community of Muslims, addressed as the Ummah to define personal, social and political existence by the values and teachings of Islam. Poems such as Tulu'i Islam (Dawn of Islam) and Khizr-e-Rah (Guide of the Path) are especially acclaimed.

Iqbal preferred to work mainly in Persian for a predominant period of his career, but after 1930, his works were mainly in Urdu. The works of this period were often specifically directed at the Muslim masses of India, with an even stronger emphasis on Islam, and Muslim spiritual and political reawakening. Published in 1935, the Bal-e-Jibril (Wings of Gabriel) is considered by many critics as the finest of Iqbal's Urdu poetry, and was inspired by his visit to Spain, where he visited the monuments and legacy of the kingdom of the Moors. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams and carries a strong sense religious passion.^[4]

The Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (What are we to do, O Nations of the East?) includes the poem Musafir (Traveller). Again, Iqbal depicts Rumi as a character and an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufi perceptions is given. Iqbal laments the dissension and disunity among the Indian Muslims as well as Muslim nations. Musafir is an account of one of Iqbal's journeys to Afghanistan, in which the Pashtun people are counseled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to "build up the self" within themselves.^[4] Iqbal's final work was the Armughan-e-Hijaz (The Gift of Hijaz), published posthumously in 1938. The first part contains quatrains in Persian, and the second part contains some poems and epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the impression as though the poet is travelling through the Hijaz in his imagination. Profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these short poems. The Urdu portion of the book contains some categorical criticism of the intellectual movements and social and political revolutions of the modern age.b

NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN

National language: Urdu (A)

Urdu is the only official language of Pakistan. Although English is generally used instead of Urdu in this regard. English is the lingua franca of the Pakistani elite and most of the government ministries.

Urdu is closely related to Hindi but is written in an extended Arabic alphabet rather than in Devanagari. Urdu also has more loans from Arabic and Persian than Hindi has.

Many other languages are spoken in Pakistan, including Punjabi, Siraiki, Sindhi, Pashtu, Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, Burushaski, Balti, Khawar, Gujrati and other languages with smaller numbers of speakers.

Arabic and Persian are still taught as classical languages albeit to a small number of students. Although this number is dwindling. 

National language: Urdu (B)

Urdu (اردو) is Pakistan's national language (قومی زبان) and the lingua franca of Pakistan. Only about 8% of the population of Pakistan has Urdu as its mother tongue. It is written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet. The first recorded poetry in Urdu was by the Persian poet Amir Khusro (1253) (امیر خسرو–1325); the first published Urdu book, Dah Majlis, was written in 1728. The first time the word "Urdu" was used was in 1751, by Sirajuddin Arzoo (سراج الدین آرزو).
Urdu has historical significance as the language developed during the Islamic conquests in the subcontinent during the Mughal Empire. It was chosen as the neutral language to unite various groups of Pakistan although only 8% of people in Pakistan speak Urdu as a first language. However, Urdu is, increasingly, being adopted and spoken as a first language by a new generation of urbanized Pakistanis.

 

Numbers of speakers of larger languages

Language			2008 estimate			1998 census			Areas of Predominance
1	Punjabi		76,367,360	44.17%		58,433,431	44.15%		Punjab
2	Pashto		26,692,890	15.44%		20,408,621	15.42%		Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
3	Sindhi		24,410,910	14.12%		18,661,571	14.10%		Sindh
4	Seraiki		18,019,610	10.42%		13,936,594	10.53%		South Punjab
5	Urdu		13,120,540	7.59%		10,019,576	7.57%		Karachi
6	Balochi		6,204,540	3.59%		4,724,871	3.57%		Balochistan
7	Others		8,089,150	4.68%		6,167,515	4.66%
Total			172,900,000	100%		132,352,279	100%		Pakistan

Provincial languages Punjabi Punjabi (پنجابی) is spoken as a first language by 45% of Pakistanis. It is an important language as about 70% of Pakistanis can speak or understand it. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. Punjabi dialects include: Majhi, "the standard Punjabi language", spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The main districts are Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and to some extent in Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab and Gurdaspur and Amritsar in Indian Punjab. Malwi, spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main districts are Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, etc. Jhangvi or Jhangochi or Rachnavi, spoken in the central Pakistani Punjab, stretches from districts Khanewal to Jhang and includes Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Chiniot. In Sahiwal and Okara, it is called Lookal لوکل سرائیکی.Shahpuri, spoken in Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab and Mandi Bahauddin districts. Doabi (regional language), spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej, in the districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. Hindko, spoken in districts of Peshawar, Attock, Nowshehra, Mansehra, Balakot, Abbottabad and Murree and the lower half of Neelum District and Muzafarabad. Potohari Pashto Pashto (پشتو) is spoken as a first language by 40% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in northern part of Balochistan Province. Pashto has no written literary traditions although it has a rich oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the northern (Peshawar) variety, and the Pashto spoken in southern areas around Quetta. Khushal Khan Khatak (1613–1689) and Rehman Baba (1633–1708) were two important poets in the Pashto language. Sindhi Sindhi (سنڌي) is spoken as a first language by about 14% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Province of Sindh and the southeastern parts of the Province of Balochistan. Sindhi is known for its very rich literature and is taught in schools in the province of Sindh. The Sindhi language is rich in vocabulary and is considered one of the oldest languages in the Indus valley, presently the Sindhi Abjads contain a grand total of 53 alphabets. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is considered the most influential and famous poet of the Sindhi Language. The largest Sindhi-speaking city is Hyderabad, Pakistan, the Sindhi language however is spoken throughout the province. Balochi Balochi (بلوچی) is spoken as a first language by about 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Province of Balochistan. The name Balochi is not found before the tenth century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from Northern Iran, near the Caspian Shores. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub-dialect of Rakshani. Other sub-dialects are Qalati, Chagai-kharani, Panjguri. Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi is very different from the rest.

AN INTRODUCTION TO PAKISTAN

Pakistan extends along either side of the historic Indus River, following its course from the mountain valleys of the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea. Bordering on India, China, Afghanistan and Iran, it is strategically located astride the ancient trade routes between Asia and Europe. Pakistan's 796,095 square kilometers of territory include a wide variety of landscapes, from arid deserts to lush, green valleys to stark mountain peaks.

Geographically, Pakistan can be divided into three regions: the lowlands along the Indus in the south and east, the arid plateau of Baluchistan in the southwest, and the mountains of the north. The provinces of Punjab and Sindh, in the east and south, are well irrigated by the Indus and its tributaries. The land is fertile and produces most of Pakistan's food. This area, which includes the cities of Karachi, Islamabad (the capital), Lahore and Rawalpindi, is the most densely-populated in the country.

The southwestern province of Baluchistan covers almost half Pakistan's territory. The land consists of a stony plateau, sparsely populated and very dry. Outside of the provincial capital of Quetta, travel in Baluchistan is extremely restricted. 

 Pakistan's mountainous north contains the second tallest peak on Earth, K2 (28,250 ft., 8611 m), and over 300 glaciers. Three great mountain ranges stretch across this part of the country: the Himalayas, the Karakorams and the Hindu Kush. The region's topography is constantly changing, as frequent earthquakes help the mountains grow at the remarkable rate of 7 mm (1/4 inch) a year.

Pakistan's climate varies according to elevation. April through September are the most pleasant months in the mountains, although they bring oppressive heat to the low-lying plains of the Indus Valley, where midday temperatures can exceed 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees F). December through February are the coolest months, as lowland temperatures drop to between 10-25 degrees C (50-77 degrees F) and the air in the mountains falls below freezing. Monsoons reach the southern areas of the country in late summer, although precipitation is minimal in Baluchistan and in the north and limited in most of the interior.

 The first of these incursions was that of the Aryans, who arrived from Central Asia around 1,700 BC, displacing the Indus Civilization and bringing Hinduism to the region. Twelve hundred years later, the Aryans yielded in turn to the armies of Cyrus the Great, and the Indus region became a part of his Achaemenid Persian empire. The next conqueror to arrive was Alexander the Great, who passed through the Khyber Pass in 326 BC, built a fleet of ships, and sailed down the Indus to conquer what is now the Punjab state. It was in the Punjab that Alexander's soldiers refused to go any further east, prompting an enormously difficult march homeward through the harsh desert regions of Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Alexander's successors, the Seleucids, survived for about a century, until they capitulated to Ashoka, emperor of the great Mauryan empire of India. It was Ashoka who, in an act of remorse for the suffering caused by his many conquests, brought Buddhism to Pakistan (and to much of Asia). The Mauryans were then succeeded by the Bactrians, the Saka (Scythian nomads), the Parthians, and, in the 2nd century AD, by the Kushans. Kanishka, the greatest of the Kushan kings, ruled from Peshawar over an empire that stretched across much of India. As the Kushan empire declined, various Hindu kingdoms based in India asserted their power, dividing up the territory between them. Islam was introduced in the 8th century and quickly spread throughout the region. The Turkish rulers of Afghanistan invaded Pakistan as they began their conquest of India. Pakistan then passed under the control of the Muslim sultans of Delhi.

Early in the 16th century, Pakistan became part of the Mughal Empire. Under the emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, art and architecture flourished. By the early 19th century, the Sikhs had consolidated their power and declared Lahore their capital. Within a few decades, however, the Sikhs were defeated in battle by the English, and Pakistan became part of the British Raj. When India prepared for independence from the British in the 1940s, Muslim Indians pushed for their own independent state, and the republic of Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947 as a Muslim homeland. Unfortunately, the birth of both Pakistan and India was marked by massive bloodshed, when violence broke out between Muslims and Hindus migrating from one country to the other. About 500,000 people are believed to have died.

Pakistan's population of 128 million is one of the fastest-growing in Asia. The two largest ethnic groups are the Punjabis, an Indo-Aryan people who dominate political and business life, and the Pashtuns, who work mainly as herders and farmers. The northern areas are home to many distinct ethnic groups, whose eclectic heritage is the result of intermarriage between local peoples and invaders from elsewhere in Europe and Asia. The official language is Urdu, and English is used extensively in business.