History, Language & Culture Pakistan

The ensuing millennia saw the region of present-day Pakistan absorb many influences—represented among others the Hindu pilgrimage site of Multan, the ancient Buddhist sites of Taxila and Takht-i-Bahi, the 14th-century Islamic-Sindhi monuments of Thatta, and the 17th-century Mughal monuments of Lahore. In the first half of the 19th century, the region was appropriated by the East India Company, followed, after 1857, by 90 years of direct British rule, and ending with the creation of Pakistan in 1947, through the efforts, among others, of its future national poet Allama Iqbal and its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Since then, the country has experienced both civilian-democratic and military rule, resulting in periods of significant economic and military growth as well those of instability; significant during the latter, was the Bangladesh Liberation War, in 1971, of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh.

Pakistan's national language is Urdu. It is also proposed to be the co-official languages along with English.

Culture of Pakistan is intertwined with the culture of South Asia and Central Asia. The culture of these Pakistani ethnic groups have been greatly influenced by many of its neighbours, such as the other South Asian, Iranic, Turkic as well as the peoples of Central Asia and West Asia.

The region are differences among the ethnic groups in cultural aspects such as dress, food, and religion, especially where pre-Islamic customs differ from Islamic practices. Their cultural origins also reveal influences from far afield and indigenous, including Ancient India and Central Asia. Pakistan was the first region of the Indian subcontinent to be fully impacted by Islam and has thus developed a distinct Islamic identity, historically different from areas further east.