Cultural Heritage of Pakistan: Conservation Problems and Techniques for its Protection

Authors

  • T. Saeed Department of Archaeology & Museums, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the fortunate countries of the world which possesses earliest socio-political history that goes back to Paleolithic. Its continuation has been expected to the significant period of about 2 million old from today. The areas of this Paleolithic culture have been found in the Potohar (or Pothohar) plateau, the area in and around district Rawalpindi, Punjab province of Pakistan, predictable to have been the most primitive habitat of the human species. This region in fact had played an active role in the evolution of human history since remote antiquity. This is the land where a number of ancient civilizations, cultures, religions art and architecture developed from prehistoric period to the Muslim period including British colonial era. The historical period monuments are well known ranging from the caravan serais (Inn) and baolis (step well) along the ancient routes, to historical forts, religious and secular buildings of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh periods, rock shelters, pre and historic mounds, graveyards and sacred ponds in the region. During the British Colonial rule “Archaeological Survey of India” was formed in the year 1860 for archaeological researches. At the time of independence of Pakistan, new department with the name “Department of Archaeology & Museums” (DOAM) was created to perform same functions and obligations.  Since its inception the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan has been performing its activities until 2011 when in sequel of 18th constitutional Amendments, all sites and monuments along with technical and financial resources were transferred to respective provinces.

References

A.N. Khan “Archaeology in Pakistan, Administration, Legislation and Control”, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, pp. 2-6, 1990.

Ibid. p.8

A.H. Dani, “A Short History of Pakistan (Book-1) Pre-Muslim Period, General Editor, I.H. Qureshi, University of Karachi Publication Karachi, pp.1-29, 1967.

Bridget and Raymond Allchin, The Birth of Indian Civilization, India & Pakistan before 500 BC, Penguin Books Ltd. U.S.A, 1968.

G.F. Dales, The Phenomenon of the Indus Civilization in Forgotten Cities on the Indus, Edi. Michael Jansen, Germany, 1991.

F.A. Khan, 5000 Years of Art in Pakistan, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Karachi, 1962.

Henry Cousens, The Antiquities of Sind, Calcutta, 1929

Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of Indian Reports (1872-73) vol. V, Calcutta, 1875.

A. Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India, vol. II, Shimla: The Government Central Press, 1871.

J. Marshall, A Guide to Taxila, Calcutta: Government Printing, 1918.

D. Terra and T.T Peterson, “Studies in the Ice Age of India and Associated Human Cultures”, Washington D.C, Carnegie Institute of Washington, U.S.A., 1939.

De Graziosi, P. Prehistoric research in the North-West Punjab, Scientific Reports of the Italian Expeditions to the Karakorum, In T. Leiden, E.J Brill (Edi), 1964.

Muhammad Ashraf Khan et al., Archaeological Remains and Monuments of Islamabad Capital Territory and District Rawalpindi, Journal of Asian Civilizations, vol.33, no.2, 2010.

A. Bridget, and R.W Denial Pakistan Archaeology No. 24, Department of Archaeology, Karachi. 1989.

M.A Halim, “Excavations at Sarai Khola”, Pakistan Archaeology no. 7, Department of Archaeology, Karachi, 1970-71.

G.M. Khan, Hathial Excavations, Journal of Central Asia, vol.6, no. 2, Islamabad, 1983

G.M. Khan, New elements of chronology in Taxila valley, Pakistan Archaeology no. 23, Department of Archaeology, Karachi, 1987-88.

M. Salim, Paleolithic Survey in the Soan Valley of Northern Pakistan, A brief Report, Man and Environment, 2, 1978.

B. Khan, et al. Bhir Mound: The first city of Taxila (Excavation Reports 1998-2002) Department of Archaeology and Museums, Karachi, 2002.

S.R. Dar, Excavations at Manikyala 1968, In “Pakistan Archaeology” no. 7, pp.6-22, 1970-71.

A.N. Khan, Archaeology in Pakistan, Administration, Legislation and Control, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Karachi, 1990.

M.A. Khan et al. Archaeological Remains and Monuments of Islamabad Capital Territory and District Rawalpindi, Journal of Asian Civilizations, Vol.33, No.2, Islamabad, 2010.

M.R. Mughal, “Heritage Management and Conservation in Pakistan: The British Legacy and Current Perspective”, Pakistan Heritage, no.3, pp. 123, 2011.

The ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 (active till 1968). At federal level, the Antiquities Act, 1975, Act No. VII of 1976 (as amended in 1992), Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan is prevailing.

UNESCO Publication, “Introducing Young People to the Protection of Heritage sites and Historic Cities”, pp.110, 2006.

A. Rehman, “Conservation of Historic Monuments in Lahore: Lessons from successes and failures”, Pakistan Journal of Engineering & Applied sciences, no. 8, pp. 61-62, 2011.

M.R. Mughal, Heritage Preservation in Pakistan, In State Vandalism of History on Pakistan (edi) Mahmood Zaman, Vanguard Books, Pvt, Ltd. Lahore, pp.120, 2011

T. Saeed “Problems and needs for cultural heritage protection restoration activities”, ACCU, Nara, Japan, pp.171-188, 2006.

Downloads

Published

17-10-2022

How to Cite

[1]
T. Saeed, “Cultural Heritage of Pakistan: Conservation Problems and Techniques for its Protection”, The Nucleus, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 25–30, Oct. 2022.

Issue

Section

Articles