The Differences Between Pakistanis and Indians (http://wp.me/pOeMY-L3)

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Abstract: Generally speaking, Pakistanis and Indians, Pakistan and India are different in: genetics, overall genetic composition, religion, culture, rituals, linguistics, diet, ethnicity, governance, pre-history, civilization, race, complexion, geography, topography, philosophy, script, cuisine, music, entertainment, perception, soico-politics and economies.


CIVILIZATION
Since rivers can sustain clusters of large populations, early man formed the first civilizations around rivers.  Examples include: Huang He (Yangtze River), Mesapotamia (Euphrates/Tigris) , Egypt (River Nile) and IVC (Indus River).  Modern Pakistanis take immense pride in the fact they are descendants of the civilization that formed around the River Indus.  The Indus river flows entirely through modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir and Tibet.  The Indus Valley Civilization was located primarily (90%) in modern day Pakistan.

PEOPLE OF THE INDUS RIVER - PAKISTAN (Baluchistan, Punjab, KP, Kashmir, Sindh). The Indus basically mimics the shape of modern day Pakistan.

Indus City of Moenjo-Daro proudly displayed on Pakistani Currency.

Ruins of IVC in modern day Pakistan

On the other hand, the Gangetic civilization of India is formed around the Ganges river which flows away from the Indus and terminates in the Bengal delta.  It is entirely in India and Bengal.  Note the divergent paths below of the two rivers:

Indus - A river in Pakistan

Gangetic Civilization in Modern "India"

PRE-HISTORY

India and Pakistan have been under ‘unified’ rule for only 500 out of 10,000 years and that too under mostly Islamic or Buddhist rule.  Whether as Muslim, Vedic, Buddhist or Hindu, Pakistan or the people of Indus were rarely part of “Indian” civilization.Mehrgarh one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BCE to c. 2500 BCE) sites in archaeology, lies on the “Kachi plain” of Balochistan, Pakistan.  Baluchistan has hardly been part of “India”.  This civilization is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia.

RACE

While the racial features of each ethnic group are not uniform, Pashtuns are the most Caucasoid, followed by Kashmiris, Baluchis, north Punjabis, and then Sindhis, Seraikis, Urdu-speakers.  The Australoid-Negroid and Mongoloid racial elements are quite infused within the dominant Caucasoid genes among Pakistanis, however there are some that have retained their distinct racial characteristics.  The Australoid-Dravidoid racial element dominates among the lower caste Indians, South Indians, Eastern and Central Indians.  The Caucasoid racial element dominates in Northwest Indians and higher caste Indians. The Mongoloid racial element dominates in Northeast Indians and border regions with China.

Indian are majority Proto-Australoids, Australoid-Negroid, Dravidians

35 Million Pakistanis are Pushtun - Biggest Pushtun Population in the World. They are an integral part of the Pakistani establishment. As you can see this ordinary man in Karachi streets looks nothing like the Indians above.

India hosts the world’s largest population of Proto-Australoids.  They are people with wavy hair lavishly distributed all over their brown bodies, long headed with low foreheads and prominent eye ridges, noses with low and broad roots, thick jaws, large palates and teeth and small chins. The Austrics of India represent a race of medium height, dark complexion with long heads and rather flat noses but otherwise of regular features. Miscegenation with the earlier Negroids may be the reason for the dark or black pigmentation of the skin and flat noses.  The Austrics laid the foundation of Indian civilization. They cultivated rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. Now these people are found mostly in India, Papua New Guinea and Australia.  Their languages have survived in the Central and Eastern India.

ETHNICITY
A significant portion of Pakistani population is Afghan/Pashtun and Irani/Baluchistanis.  The Pashtun are an integral part of Pakistan’s establishment. It can be said there are two Pashtun countries in the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This ethnic group has contributed many of Pakistan’s presidents & prime ministers (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zafarullah Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, Feroz Khan). There are more Pashtuns in Pakistan than Afghanistan and more in Karachi than Kabul.  This group has also inflicted defeat after defeat on what is now republic of India and can never be considered “Indian”.  People of Iranian ancestry have that have taken leadership positions include Benazir Bhutto and the current prime minister Gilani who visited his ancestral homes on a trip to Iran.  Arabs settled along the Indus and Omanis settled in the enclave of Gwadar.  Still other Pakistanis are descendants of Mongols, Mughals and Turks in addition to Persians, Sakas, Parthians, Hephthalites and Greeks.

Pakistani Ethnicities; Another pull towards the Oxus and Central Asia

LINGUISTICS

Pakistanis speaks exclusively Indo-Iranian or Indo-Aryan languages whereas much of India speaks Proto-Australoid languages.  Balgir (2004) designates the following Indian tribes as Proto-Australoid racial group: Bhumiz, Gadaba, Juang, Kharia, Koda, Kolha, Mahali, Mirdha, Munda, Santal, Saora tribes.  Australoid racial stock is represented by: Gond, Kondh, Kissan, Oraon, Paraja, Pentia, Halva.  These Australoid tribes don’t exist in Pakistan proper.  Urdu uses the persian-based script. Hindi uses Devangari script.

Kashyap (2006) designates 23 out of 54 Indian populations studied as Australoid, of which 1 speaks an Indo-European language (Dhangar of Maharashtra), 4 speak Austro-Asiatic languages (Kurmi of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Kurmi of Bihar, and Juangand Saora of Orissa), 18 speak Dravidian languages.  7 populations were designated as Mongoloid, and the remaining 24 as Caucasoid.

About 99% of languages spoken in Pakistan are either Indo-Aryan or Indo-Iranian (sub-branches 75% Indo-Aryan 24% Iranian).  All languages of Pakistan are written in the Persio-Arabic script, with significant vocabulary derived from Punjabi, Seraiki, Sindhi, Pashto, Urdu, Balochi, Kashmiri which are the languages of Pakistan.

Indian languages, 69% of languages spoken in India are Indo-Aryan, 26% are Dravidian, and 5% are Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic, All unrelated/distinct family of languages.  Most languages in India are written in Brahmi- derived scripts such as Devangari, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese, Punjabi, Naga, and many others are the mother-tongue languages spoken in each of India’s states.

Pakistanis mainly speak Indo-Iranic languages. Indo-Iranic languages include Balochi, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Undri (Urdu) and Pashto are Indo-Iranic languages as are all the other languages of Pakistan which descend from a common proto-Indo-Iranic language around the second millennia BC. Only Brahui (Dravidian), Baltistani (Sino-Tibetian), and Burusho (language isolate) are non-Indo-Iranic,  however it’s speakers are not that geneticly distinct form the rest of Pakistanis.  Punjabi is the majority language of Pakistan.  Punjabi is 2% of India.  In the case of Urdu/Hindi, while Hindi is the mother- tongue of a majority in India, Urdu is the mother-tongue of a minority 8% Pakistanis.

Hindi - (Indian)

Urdu (Pakistan)

We are often told that Urdu is the same as Hindi or something called “Hindustani”.  This is an alarming statement as it belittles our language to have no uniqueness, beauty, history and culture of its own!  More on the difference between Urdu and Hindi:  http://reformistani.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/do-you-speak-real-urdu-or-hindi/

A sample of Persian words in Urdu/Pakistani Language:

biriyani, kabob, khaki, kurta, lashkar, Naan (nayan – baluchi), pyjama, gulab, somosa, baksheesh, taj, mahal, stan, taftan, tandoori, baaluchi, baalcony, bas, bazaar, bazigar, begaar, beige, bronze, bulbul, bukshi, bund, bundobust, burka, kharbuz — pronounced “kurbooja” in Hindi, karawan, chador, chakdar, charpayee, shachtrunj, chanaar, khush, daftar, darzi, darvesh, dastur, ashturee, doab, durbar, durwan, dustak, inam, farsi, fauj, fauji, feringhee, fida, gul, khana, halal, hawala, jagir, jama, asmin, jamaat, jujube, khidmat, khoja, mazdur, mehman, mehmandar, mirza, mughul, mussulman, namaz, naran (orange), pasha, pakistan, paak, parah, pasha, pashm, pashmina, pashto, purri (fairy), pilaf, pista,  parwannah, rung, rukh, roshun, sabzi, samosa  (sambusa), sandal, sard, sarwan, scimitar, seer (unit of weight), sheer, sarray, bandar (port), shah, shahi, shaheen, shahzada, shamiayana, shawl, shiraz, shikaar (pronounced sikar in hindi) ,shikaari, shikast, shikasta, sipahi, sirkaar, sekonji, subah, shukkar, surma, thana, dulband, band, toafaan, wazir, zameen, zenana

*Pakistani national anthem was written in Farsi by a Pakistani Hindu.

Turkish

acab / ajab, adaalat, aadam, ahısta ahısta, akl / akal,  aks, ananas, asli / asal, aşik / aashik, avara, aavaz, aurat, aaina, aazad, badem, barood, canam / janaam, javab, çaku / chaku, çat / chatt, çay / chai, dard, dost, diwar, dukan, duniya, durbin, duşman / dushman, acnabi / ajanabi, adab, agar, albatta, fakir, , gumgurur, gunah, hava, hafta, hazier, halwa, hesap, ancir / anjeer, insan, harbuz / kharboze, kalam, kaatil, ki, kitab, khima, kofta, manzara, masum, musafir, maidan, mohabbat, mum, musibat, anar, nafrat, bazu, pehelvan, paynir, pulaw, roh / rooh, sabun, , sade, , saaf, sahil, , sabzi, sırf, şarab / sharab, şakar / shakkar, şaytan / shaytaan, şikayet / shikayet, şiş kebap, şişa / shisha, tava, taze / taaza, top, urdu, vatan, yani, yar, zalim, zancir / zanjeer

GENETICS

The Pakistani population consists of mostly Indo-Aryans.  70% of Pakistanis are Caucasoid by race, 20% Australoid- Negroid, and 10% Mongoloid in their overall genetic composition. 50% of Indians are Australoid-Negroid by race, 35% Caucasoid, and 15% Mongoloid in their overall genetic composition.

Pakistanis carry common R1A genetic markers clearly indicating obvious common ancestry. Mostly the north western Iranic speakers and the Dardic speakers are said to be closely related with a higher frequency of R1A genetic markers as opposed to the Indo-Aryan speaking population with slightly lower R1A frequencies (mainly Punjabis and Sindhis), however they are still all connected.   Even the non-Indo-European speaking populations – mainly the Brahuis, Hunzas (also called Burushos) and Baltistanis- do not stand much out genetically.  See genetic difference below between Indians (Hindi, Marwari, Gujrati, Marathi, Kannada, Konkani) and Pakistanis (Balochi, Brahui,Makrani, Sindhi, Pathan, Kashmiri, Punjabi).  Genetically, Pakistanis are closer to Bedouin than they are to Marathis.  Click on the images below to see difference in genetics between Pakistanis and Indians:

Genetic Disposition of Central and South Asians. India in Green, Pakistani in Blue and Iran and Central Asia in Orange.

J variance in Iran, Pakistan, India, Turkey, and the Balkans Quintana-Murci et al. reported that the STR variance in haplogroup J is .57 in Iran, .47 in Pakistan, .36 in India. For this particular variance, Pakistan is closer to Iran than India or rather in the middle.  On the same loci, the STR variance derived from the Balkan data of Bosch et al. is 0.55.

The Genetic Difference

At K=7, a Southwest Asian component emerges which is highest in Arabia and East Africa.  Another interesting aspect of its distribution is its presence in Pakistan but not India. Perhaps, in this case, it reflects historical contacts between the Islamic Near East and parts of South Asia.  Indians have a 1.8 NE/NW ratio. In Pakistan this is 6.5, in Uzbeks it is 2.9, and in the North Eurasian_Ra it is 14.2.

Australoid/Negroids in India, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Genetic Map. Note Pakistani Category versus Indian Quadrant - Gujratis, Sri Lankans, Brahmins. Pakistan is close to Central Asia at grid point 0,0.

Notice Pakistani ethnic groups versus Indian ethnic groups

RELIGION

It is important to note that Sub-continent Muslims and Sub-Continent Hindus are two distinct civilizations.  Islam reached Pakistan, Bengal & India within decades of its inception in the 7th century through arab traders. In 1937 at the 19th session of the Hindu Mahasabha held at Ahmedabad, Veer Savarkar in his presidential address asserted: “India cannot be assumed today to be Unitarian and homogeneous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main — the Hindus and the Muslims.” Another Hindu, Bhai Parmanand points out in his pamphlet called “The Hindu National Movement”:—“In history the Hindus revere the memory of Prithvi Raj, Partap, Shivaji and, Beragi Bir, who fought for the honour and freedom of this land (against the Muslims), while the Mahomedans look upon the invaders of India, like Muhammad Bin Qasim and rulers like Aurangzeb as their national heroes”

In the religious field, the Hindus draw their inspiration from the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, and the Geeta. The Musalmans, on the other hand, derive their inspiration from the Quran and the Hadith. Thus, the things that divide are far more vital than the things which unite.  In depending upon certain common features of Hindu and Mahomedan social life, in relying upon common language, common race and common country, the Indian is mistaking what is accidental and superficial for what is essential and fundamental Muslims and Hindus have different diet.   Hindus revere the cow, Muslims butcher them for their meat and hide.  In Hinduism, society is highly stratified.  In Islam, “untouchables” converts are welcomed as equal brothers.  In much of India, Muslims live in what are called “Muslim areas” a euphemism for ghettos.   As noted by Bhai Parmanand, Heroes of Muslims are scoundrels s to Hindus (Augranzeb, Babur, Afzal Khan, Ghazni, Ghauri).  Heroes of Hindus are scoundrels to Muslims (Shivaji, Sambajhi).  The two differ in perceptions.  Hindus see Muslims as disloyal progeny of half-breeds, forced-converts, former untouchables or foreign invaders.  Muslims see themselves as Central Asians or Inspired Converts and former masters of western, central & southern asia.  Although Pakistanis are proud of ancient civilizations such as the Indus and their South Asian heritage, Pakistanis the people consider Pakistan the state as a natural extension of the Southwest Asian Muslim experience of the last 1000 years.  Muslims in South Asia have many cultural similarities and by extension dissimilarities from Hindus.  Many Indian Muslims though certainly not all may have appearances of Central Asians & Arabs especially in urban locations.

97% of PAKISTAN is ISLAMIC.

81% of INDIA or 972 million are HINDU.

GEOGRAPHY

The republic of India is in its entirety located in South Asia.  Pakistani is situated at a pivotal geo-strategic, cross-civilizational location. It sits at the intersection of multiple civilizations. Pakistan is considered to be part of the Central Asia by UN. The country is considered to be part of the greater middle east. It is also part of South Asia.   Pakistan is considered to be part of Central Asia both geographically and culturally. India is not.  Central Asia consists of the following nations: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the following “territories”: Afghanistan, China, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia.  Pakistan has several central asian “cultural capitals” like Peshawar. India does not.  Pakistan is similar to Turkey in Eurasia.  It is part of multiple strategic locations to the Central Asian STAN countries. India is not.  Wakhan Corridor: In Afghanistan, with Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan to the south and China to the east, Khyber Pass: Between Afghanistan and the Pakistan Khunjerab Pass: Between Pakistan and China.

United Nations Designation of Middle & Greater Middle East

Pakistan is part of the “Greater Middle East”. India is not.  In the UN map, Dark green in this map is “Middle East”.  The G8 considers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Algeria, Morrocco, Tunisia to be part of the “Greater Middle East”.  Armenia, Azerbaijan and the former soviet republics are considered “the greater middle east” sometimes.

TOPOGRAPHY
Topography of the Indus and the Indian region separate the two countries.  Pakistan occupies the western region of the subcontinent and is based around the Indus Valley. It is separated from India proper by a historically impassable desert and by swamps in the south, leaving only northern Punjab, in the central part of the country, as a point of contact.  A small portion of Punjab was partitioned to India.  Pakistan is the major modern-day remnant of Muslim rule over medieval India.  On the other hand, Historic Pakistan has been easily accessible to Afghanistan & Iran.  Everyday thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans cross the border to visit their relatives.

Inhospitable Terrain between Historic Regions. Mangroves in the south, Desert in the middle, Karokaram in the north. Only Northern Punjab is easily accessible with the rest of partitioned Punjab. The northwestern provinces of british india have in common the Indus River.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
As indenpendent nations, Pakistan and India have gone separately in their foreign relations.

In the Near, India attacked and invaded the Portugese Colony of Goa.  Conversely, Pakistan negotiated and purchased the Omani Colony of Gwadar.  Pakistan negotiated an agreement with China on border territories, Conversely, India attempted the provocative forward policy.  Pakistan is has an exemplary friendship with China and considers its friendship “higher than mountains deeper than oceans”.  Conversely, India has had a war with China and considers it to be her #1 enemy.  Pakistan supported and fought alongside of the Afghans against the Soviets.  India was a staunch ally of the Soviets.  Pakistan has not been war with any neighbor except India.  India has been at war or conflict with Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and has poor relations with Nepal, Bangladesh.

In the near-far, Pakistan has brotherly relations with a majority of the Islamic World and is a founding member of OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries).  India does not enjoy the support of Muslim countries on the critical issue of Kashmir and is not allowed in the OIC even as a guest.

In the far, Pakistan has a history of friendship with USA.  India has always been in the Soviet/Russian camp.  Pakistan does not recognize Israel.  Israel is an important strategic partner of India.

CULTURE

This map shows the long-standing cultural centers and frontiers of South Asia. Pakistani territory is distinct from Indian territory and India has many cultural centers or nations within.a

The region has formed a distinct cultural unit within the main cultural complex of South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia from the earliest times, and is analogous to Turkey’s position in Eurasia.[1] There are differences in culture among the different ethnic groups in matters such as dress, food, and religion, especially where pre-Islamic customs differ from Islamic practices. Their cultural origins also reveal influences from far afield, including Tibet, Nepal, India and eastern Afghanistan. All groups show varying degrees of influence from Persia, Turkestan and Hellenistic Greece. Pakistan was the first region of South Asia to receive the full impact of Islam and has developed a distinct Islamic identity, historically different from areas further west.

CUISINE

Pakistani Food – heavy on meat – especially beef with NO hinge
Indian Food in a traditional thali – heavy on veggies and hinge, presented in a unique, compartmentalized fashion

PHYSICAL FEATURES
A common international perception based on observance of physical features is that most Pakistanis are lighter skinned than most Indians.  Most Pakistanis resemble the looks of peoples inhabiting on Pakistan’s western borders and beyond i.e. Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Turkmenistan.  Many Pakistanis also resemble many Northwest Indians or higher caste Indians.  However, those are a minority in India.   Similarly, some Pakistanis resemble peoples of South India, lower caste Indians, Northeast India, etc. but they are a minority in Pakistan.  Majority of Pakistanis have fair skin complexion and majority of Indian have dark complexion.  Pakistanis have a Caucasoid skull type.

Map of World by member size

The differences between Pakistanis and Indians are not as prominent as say the Chinese and Nigerians.  Nor are the two people as similar as Americans and Canadians.   There are cases where a Punjabi from Pakistan may look like a small portion of Punjab partitioned to India just as NWFP and Baluchistan have similarity to Afghanistan and Iran respectively.  But a simple comparison of ordinary people in ordinary circumstances makes it blatantly obvious, that these are two different people.  The purpose of highlighting these differences is not to suggest that one is better than the other.  Rather, the purpose is only to respect our differences.  Pakistanis only want to lay claim to their heritage.

Click on thumbnails of ordinary people of Pakistan and India

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SCHOOL CHILDREN

Indian

Pakistani - The difference in complexion and shades of hair is quite obvious.

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FEMALE TROOPS

Indian Female Troops

Pakistani Female Pilots - Once again, complexion and features are visibly different.

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NATIONAL FEMALE SKIERS

Indian

Pakistani - The difference could not be more pronounced in both complexion and feature and similarities to central Asians.

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FEMALE FANS

Indian - Attractive ladies at a cricket match

Pakistani - Once again the female fans above have a classic South Indian, South Asian look whereas the Pakistani girls have features found all over in Pakistan.

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NURSES

Indian

Pakistani nurses. Indian girls above look very much like each other, their counterparts in Pakistan look different.

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WOMEN’S CRICKET TEAMS

Indian

Pakistani - Complexion and hair very much different

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FANS ABROAD

Indian - Even abroad, the difference is quite clear and no jersey or flags are needed to identify the two peoples from each other.

Pakistani

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FEMALE ATHLETES

Indian

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U-19 TEAMS

Indian

Pakistanis - Very obvious difference

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RETIRED CAPTAINS

Indian

Pakistani - the two gentlemen are highly accomplished but look like they are from two different parts of the world (in this case).

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FANS

Indian Fans

Pakistani Fans

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CAPTAINS

Indian Cricket Captain - A very typical Indian face. Compare features of Indian Astronaut below.

Pakistani Captain

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UNIVERSITY GRADUATES 

Indian University Students

Pakistani University Students - These girls look very different from the graduates in India.

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ASTRONAUTS

Indian Astronaut

Pakistani Astronaut

CERN SCIENTIST

Indian CERN Scientist

Pakistani CERN Scientist

Indian Women often have "frizzy" hair. This trait is rare in Pakistani women.

Ordinary punjabi girls with straight hair

Indian Prime Minister

Pakistani Prime Minister - Was on the People's magazine of Most Beautiful People in the World.

Indian Students

Pakistani-American Students - A striking difference from Indian-Australian Students above. 1 may look similar to the Indian crowd above and 1 from Indian crowd may look like the majority in this picture. Overall the difference is quite obvious.

“India” – a superstate

The British conquered the various kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent one by one. Then, for ease of administering (ruling) the conquered territories, the British set up an administrative unit called India. A country or administrative unit called India (or by any other name), comprising of the current territories of India, never existed in all known history, before the British conquest and consolidation.  During the British colonial rule, people of the Indian subcontinent (including those areas now in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Sri Lanka) had a common purpose and agenda, namely, freedom from British colonial rule. Such a one-ness of purpose never before existed among the various peoples of the Indian subcontinent. It brought them together. Finally, in the middle of the 20th century (in the middle 1940s), the weakened-by-WWII British to end their rule over their empire. The oneness of purpose that evolved during the freedom struggle against the British held, with the one exception that most of the Muslim-majority regions in the north became a separate nation called Pakistan at the insistence of the Muslims. Much of the rest of the subcontinent hodgepodge became a country called “India”.  ”India is an ancient country! We are Indians!” The fact is, as we explained earlier, India was never a country before the British consolidated their conquests in the subcontinent into a single administrative unit called India.

Another point of confusion is the fact that what we know as the modern republic of “India” is really territory conquered by central Asians and consolidated by the British empire.  560 principalities, states, nations or cultures were consolidated.  The same can be said of Pakistan but it is united by religion (Islam), languages (Indo-Iranic), script (farsi), philosophy (TNT), civilization (Indus), cuisine (Mughalai).  Each of Pakistan’s ethnic groups meet each other on the banks of the Indus.   India is much more diverse amalgamation of states.  India, at a minimum, is a country made of the following countries:

Tamil Nadu - ”Untouchables” or Dalits of India reside here.  They are discriminated for their “lower caste”.

Assam – the Mongloid people of the “Indian” northeast frontier. 

Bengal.

Kashmir.

Oudh.

Sikkim.

Hyderabad.

GEO-POLITICAL HISTORY

These are the facts:

  • “India” was never one country, culture, nation
  • Pakistani territory (Indus) has rarely been part of Peninsular India  

  • 1000 AD
  • Pakistan territory is part of the Central Asian Ghaznavid Empire & Sindh separate from “India”
  • India territory is made up of many nations

  • 1100
  • AfPak is part of Ghaznavid empire & Sindh
  • Indian territory made up of many nations

  • 1200
  • AfPak Ghaznavid empire with an army of Pushtun Soldiers invade norther India Gahadvala Empire
  • Most of Pakistani Territory is part of Central Asian Ghurid Empire which by this time has conquered Northern India & Sindh
  • Indian Territory is a series of countries Bengal, Malwa, Chola and Hoysala.

Historical Baggage

Pakistanis consider themselves to be the descendants of the Ghauris, Mughals, Durranis, Suris, Lodhis, Ghazni  who ruled the modern Indus nation of Pakistan for close to a thousand years.  The Pakistani population consists of mostly Indo-Aryans.  A significant chunk of the population is Afghan/Pashtun and Irani/Baluchistanis.   The Pashtun are an integral part of Pakistan’s establishment.  It can be said there are two Pashtun countries in the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  This ethnic group has contributed many of Pakistan’s presidents & prime ministers (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zafarullah Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, Feroz Khan).  Their are more Pashtuns in Karachi than Kabul.  Hamid Karzai refers to Pakistan and Afghanistan as conjoined twins.  The Afghan king once considered a federation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  People of Iranian ancestry have that have taken leadership positions include Benazir Bhutto and the current prime minister Gilani who visited his ancestral homes on a trip to Iran.  Arabs settled along the Indus and Omanis settled in the enclave of Gwadar.  Still other Pakistanis are descendants of Mongols, Mughals and Turks in addition to Persians, Sakas, Parthians, Hephthalites and Greeks. The great Mughal emperor Akbar was born in Sind.  Sher Shah Suri was born in Multan.  Ayub Khan emir of Afghanistan and destroyer of Anglo/Indian army is buried in Peshawar a hero to both countries.  His grandson fought for Pakistan leading a division in 1965.

These ethnic groups that make up the Indus nation of Pakistan inflicted defeat after defeat on what is northern and peninsular india.  Although Pakistanis are proud of ancient civilizations such as the Indus and their South Asian heritage, Pakistanis the people consider Pakistan the state as a natural extension of the Southwest Asian Muslim experience of the last 1000 years.

Indus History distinct from developments in Peninsular Sub-Continent

* 1700 BC – 0600 BC: Start of the Aryan civilization in Sapta Sindhu, Punjab and of Indus culture
* 500 BC: Gandhara Buddhist civilization (500 BC to 500 AD)
* 516 BC: North Pakistan becomes easternmost province of Achaemenid Empire of Persia. Gandharais semi-independent kingdom
* 600 BC: Beginning of historic period under Achaemenians; Sindh & Punjab as provinces of the empire of Darius I of Persia
* 327 BC – 325 BC: Alexander of Macedonia invades Pakistan and captures Taxila
* 300 BC: Mauryan empire, Ashoka promotes Buddhism
* 185 BC: Bactrian Greeks conquer North-West Pakistan
* 75 BC: Arrival of Scythians (Sakas) from central Asia
* 20: Parthians conquer Northern Pakistan
* 60: Kushans from central Asia overthrow Parthians
* 3rd Century: Kushans decline and are dominated by Sassanian empire of Persia
* 4th Century: Kidar (little) Kushans come to power
* 450: White Huns (Hephthalites) attacked Gandhara, sacked its cities and burnt down its many monasteries and centres of learning
* 565: Sassanians and Turks overthrow Huns
* Late 6th –7th Century: Turki Shahi control area West of Indus, including Gandhara
* 711 – 712: Muhammad bin Qasim conquers Sindh and Southern Punjab
Coastal trade and the presence of a colony in Sindh permitted significant cultural exchange and the introduction of Muslim teachers into the subcontinent. Considerable conversions took place, especially amongst the Buddhist majority.

* 870 – 1026: Hindu Shahi ruled from Multan to Kabul
* 1001: Mahmud Ghazni defeats the Hindu Shahi king Jayapala (A Janjua Rajput) near Peshawar
* 1021: Mahmud Ghazni defeats Tarnochalpal and annexes Punjab
* 1058: Sumra Dynasty (1058–1351) ends the Arab domination and establishes its own rule over Sindh.
* 1148 – 1206: Ghaurids Period
* 1221: Mongol Genghis Khan invades Punjab
* 1351: Samma Dynasty assumed rule over Sindh
* 1398: Tamerlane plunders Lahore
* 1472: Sher Shah Suri (original name Farid Khan] born in Multan
* 1526 – 1857: Mughal ascendancy (1526–1707), nominal rule by Mughals (1707–1857)
* 1541 – 1543: Sher Shah Suri built the Rohtas Fort
* 1586: Yusufzais defeat Akbar in the Karakar pass
* 1701: Kalhoro Dynasty establishes its rule over Sindh
* 1739: Nadir Shah of Persia invades subcontinent
* 1751-52: Ahmed Shah Abdali annexes Punjab to his kingdom
* 1782: The Baloch tribe of Talpur defeats the last Kalhora ruler Mian Abdul Nabi in the battle of Halani

These diverse ancestral groups of races & religions above are proudly represented by their descendants in modern day Pakistan.


24 Comments to “The Differences Between Pakistanis and Indians (http://wp.me/pOeMY-L3)”

  1. It is very simple… Bulk of Pakistanis are Punjabi’s… similar to people from the Indian state of Punjab in looks. The Sindhi Muslims are similar to the Hindu Sindhi’s who migrated to India. Kashmirs are similar on both sides. Pastus and Balochs are different (more like Afghans). Just like Bangladeshi’s being similar to the people from the Indian state of West Bengal.. So you can’t really compare the bulk of Central and South Indians to Pakistanis as they are defenetly different and get proportionality darker as you progress southwards. Just as you find differences within India.The people from the southern most state of Tamil Nadu are the darkest and the people from Srilanka are darker then people from Tamil Nadu due to being closer to the equator. Culture and food wise the Pakistani culture is more or less similar to the Urdu speaking Indian Muslim culture with a difference of the Pakistani regional variant e.g the infusion of Punjabi culture and Islam culture for a Pakistani Punjabi.

  2. It is very simple… Bulk of Pakistanis are Punjabi’s… similar to people from the Indian state of Punjab in looks.

    >> Punjabis (44% of Pakistan) are similar to Indian Punjabis (2% of India). Punjab is indeed an Indus province.

    The Sindhi Muslims are similar to the Hindu Sindhi’s who migrated to India.

    >> They are not just similar, they are the same. Sindhi Hindus are no less sons of the Indus.

    Kashmirs are similar on both sides.

    >> Exactly, Kashmir is an Indus province.

    Pastus and Balochs are different (more like Afghans).

    >> Yes, 25% of Pakistan are completely different than India.

    So you can’t really compare the bulk of Central and South Indians to Pakistanis as they are defenetly different and get proportionality darker as you progress southwards.

    >> It seems appropriate to compare the majority of Pakistanis to majority of Indians.

    Just as you find differences within India.The people from the southern most state of Tamil Nadu are the darkest and the people from Srilanka are darker then people from Tamil Nadu due to being closer to the equator.

    >> I think you are postulating that South Indians simply have a nice sun tan and if they were born in Sweden, they would look like Aryans. This is a fallacy.

    Culture and food wise the Pakistani culture is more or less similar to the Urdu speaking Indian Muslim culture with a difference of the Pakistani regional variant e.g the infusion of Punjabi culture and Islam culture for a Pakistani Punjabi.

    >> Very true, do note that Indian Muslim cuisine & culture is highly influenced by Central Asians and a fusion of South Asian cuisine and culture.

  3. Pakistanis & Indians are very very different. India belongs to Dravidians, Mongoloids, Indo-Aryans, & Anglo-Indians. Pakistan is very diverse i’m not saying this just cuz i’m Pakistani but Pakistan has Paleo Mediterreneans(White), Hazaras(Mongoloid),Sheedis(Black),Indo-Aryans(Muhajir), & Mediterreneans(Middle Eastern). The Sindhis living in India are Pakistanis just like how other Sindhis live in Spain or Canada. Pakistan has a large influence of Arabs,Turks,Huns,Moghuls,Nawabs,Persians,Afghans,Africans,Mongoloids,Indians,& Greeks. The blacks(Sheedis) living in India are Iranians , and Middle Easterns. Most of them practice Islam, some Christianity, & barely hinduism. I’m glad to be a Pakistani…….Pakistan Zindabad!!!!!!

  4. Usman a.k.a Reformistani a.k.a Pak Solidarity :-)

    No one is disputing that you are not different… the thing is that you are not VERY different. For example the difference between India and Pakistan is a lot lesser than the difference between Mainland India and North eastern states of India. I never ment south Indians have a are dark due to Sun Tan.. Why are you assuming things? Iam a South Indian Muslim btw and proud of my Religion, Country and Color…

    If you have more of Arab influence than Indian you should be enjoying Arab movies more than Indian… y watch more of bollywood movies… because though your brain says u r middle eastern… your heart says you are south Asian :-)

    I would have appreciated if you had written an article on the similarities of the 2 countries rather than the differences… esp when people talk of enmity a article that bridges the gap is in good taste and an article that divides the gap is in bad taste and is not expected of reputed writers (if you are one) … Because all the famous socialists in Pakistan I know of mainly talk of the commonalities and cultural similarities and it is only lower level bloggers (on both sides) who talk of differences and you are proving to be one…y not talk of similarities?

    To Mohammed Khan (the poster above) :

    > Most of them practice Islam, some Christianity, & barely hinduism

    We know how there are barely any Hindus, (from around 25 % Hindus during partition)… we know how you pressure people to convert, destroy temples, violate Human rights of Minorities etc which explains the decline of Minorities from nearly 30 % during partition to around 1 % today…

    And Usman … I have been a follower of your blogs and I feel more than your pre-occupation with India you should concentrate on matters that are more important to Pakistan like how to prevent terrorists with killing more of your innocent people and how to keep ISI and army within the powers that is mandated for a countries Intelligence and Army and worry more about what route you have to take in your American war against terrorism and your relationship with Taliban among others which are more important than your preoccupation with more or less a silent spectator like India…’

    Khuda hafiz!!!

    • Usman a.k.a Reformistani a.k.a Pak Solidarity :-)

      No one is disputing that you are not different… the thing is that you are not VERY different.

      >> Okay.

      For example the difference between India and Pakistan is a lot lesser than the difference between Mainland India and North eastern states of India.

      >> Further proving that India is MULTIPLE countries.

      I never ment south Indians have a are dark due to Sun Tan.. Why are you assuming things? Iam a South Indian Muslim btw and proud of my Religion, Country and Color…

      >> As you should be, you have a great history and civlization… south indian muslims like Tipu Sultan are well respected and commemorated in Pakistan. Wheter Indian muslims such as your self accept us or not, the pakistani people will always have love for the muslims of india.

      If you have more of Arab influence than Indian you should be enjoying Arab movies more than Indian…

      >> Meri jaan, nowhere in my narrative do I say we are Arabs! This is what your fellow Indians tell you.

      y watch more of bollywood movies…

      >> why do Indians watch pakistani dramas, singers? Why do Indians plagiarize our pakistani music? btw, we have been watching Omani TV since the 70s. People would get antennas in 80s just for Omani tv. My grandmother and many other educated pakistani elders speak, read, write farsi.

      because though your brain says u r middle eastern… your heart says you are south Asian :-)

      >> okay.

      I would have appreciated if you had written an article on the similarities of the 2 countries rather than the differences… esp when people talk of enmity a article that bridges the gap is in good taste and an article that divides the gap is in bad taste and is not expected of reputed writers (if you are one) …

      >> we must learn to respect our differences and appreciated our similiarities. Too often, Indians use the similarities as a precursor to south asian hegemony.

      Because all the famous socialists in Pakistan I know of mainly talk of the commonalities and cultural similarities and it is only lower level bloggers (on both sides) who talk of differences and you are proving to be one…y not talk of similarities?

      >> That is not a bad suggestion, I will do so at some point.

      To Mohammed Khan (the poster above) :

      > Most of them practice Islam, some Christianity, & barely hinduism

      We know how there are barely any Hindus, (from around 25 % Hindus during partition)… we know how you pressure people to convert, destroy temples, violate Human rights of Minorities etc which explains the decline of Minorities from nearly 30 % during partition to around 1 % today…

      >> This is more Indian Meme, Hindus were 20% in all of Pakistan. Before India dismemberd Paksitan, most of these populatino was in East Pakistan. The rate of Hindus has more or less remained the same in West Pakistan. We must be better with our minorities, there is no doubt about that.

      And Usman … I have been a follower of your blogs and I feel more than your pre-occupation with India you should concentrate on matters that are more important to Pakistan like how to prevent terrorists with killing more of your innocent people and how to keep ISI and army within the powers that is mandated for a countries Intelligence and Army

      >> I talk about that as well, do a search or click on a category on the right. This blog’s positioning is to counter Indian propaganda.

      and worry more about what route you have to take in your American war against terrorism and your relationship with Taliban among others which are more important than your preoccupation with more or less a silent spectator like India…’

      >> India has never been a silent spectator in the entire history of Pakistan. I don’t think there is a nation in the world that is as self-righteous as Indians Unionists. Read Indian Aggression tab above to get the truth.

      Khuda hafiz!!!

      >> No friend only ALLAH hafiz.

  5. One more thing Mr. Usman is that the work India and Hindu is derived from Indus that mainly flows in Pakistan and it was the middle eastern Muslims who gave the name Hindus to the people of Undivided India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh)

    **** Faizal (a fan of A P J Abdul Kalam)

    • Undivided India or British India included Afghanistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma — why exclude them? Jai Hind! :)

  6. One more thing Mr. Usman is that the word India and Hindu is derived from Indus that mainly flows in Pakistan and it was the middle eastern Muslims who gave the name Hindus to the people of Undivided India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh)
    **** Faizal (a fan of A P J Abdul Kalam)

  7. However One thing I agree is that on the whole Pakistani women are better than Indian women (talking of looks only)..

    • I did not make that assertion. That is your opinion. Beauty is everywhere.

  8. You sir are fucking paki moron. Thinking your shithole of a country can actually be better or even compare with India in anything. Sit in your sandhouse and plot new ways to terrorize the world you paki sandnigger. I hope US or India nukes the shit out of your flea infested shithole country. paki fuck.

    • The article does not state “Pakistan is better than India”.

      A special post just for you: http://wp.me/pOeMY-zc

      and another: http://wp.me/pOeMY-mD

      Enjoy. Hope you come back with some great facts.

  9. Stupid Paki fuck thinks his terrorist shithole country is better than India, funny.

    • Same person with different anglicized names,

      The article does not state “Pakistan is better than India”

  10. Usman, dont show your inferior understanding… remove the sentence you have added on Tamil Nadu’s dalit’s people being discriminated due to their dark skin… The discrimination is due to illiteracy, backwardness and a so called caste and not due to the dark skin. However it is now becoming less and less and is found only in rare pockets. The skin color is irrelevant.

    • Fixed.

  11. Also there are other error like 99% of Pakistani people speak Indo-Iranian language. FYI Punjabi your majority language is Indo-aryan. However I dont care about this mistake. What I care of is the mistake earlier indicated…

    • Typos. Will fix.

  12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indoarische_Sprachen_Gruppen.png

  13. Pathan-on ka mazaak uthaathe ho.Saara kusoor un par daal the ho.Jab waqt aaya photo daal ne ki tho,kahaan kahaan se unlogon ki foto laathe ho.besharam

    This guy s really offended by something..haha

    We r different ppl,agreed. But when u put up fotos for comparisons ,atleast have d balls to put the fotos of north indians and paksitanis from eastern side.Not like Telugus,Tamils compare with Pathans .Pakhtuns are migrants from western region ,even before Islam arrived in the subcontinent. see Yajurveda .Whereas Tamils and Telugus are mixed race(the upper caste being aryan mixed with locals,mid-aste dravidian and dalits (austroloids)…whatever they re ,we love them .The Tamils n Telugus go to US or Australia for higher studies and become scientists while u guys ahem ahem…

    • Tina,

      I don’t have to search for “pathans”. I myself am of Afghan extraction. There are more Pushtuns in Pakistan than any other country in the world. 35 Million. Pakistan’s presidents & prime ministers (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zafarullah Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, Feroz Khan). Pakistanis that border Iran are similar to Iranians, Afghans and indeed Punjab located in India. Nobody is contesting that. The majority is being compared to the majority.

      Also the pictures are not “pathans” but Punjabis, Sindhis as well. That is why pictures of cricket teams and students abroad are compared. Also, nobody is saying one is better than the other, simply that we are different in appearance. It looks like you have an issue with complexion etc.. That’s your personal problem.

      Is every Indian cricketer Tamil? is every Indian foreign student tamil?
      Is every Pakistani cricketer pathan? Is every Pakistani foreign student pathan?

      Please.

      Finally, it is india that puts up “pathans” on display like India. Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan all have Pakistan heritage. India has .0001% pushtun citizens yet it puts up the dancing Khans as the typical “indian”.

  14. i love pakistan!! im from Malaysia.but my grear grandfather is from pakistan..i wish all my family there all safe n happy….n i wish i know them!!!

    • Alya,

      Come visit Pakistan. I guarantee you your family will treat you like they’ve known you all your life. Btw, You definitely have Pakistani features!

  15. What a wonderful research compilation. Congratulations from my side. I see from the responses it is kind of difficult for the world and specially Indians to grasp the true spirit of this article, which is to celebrate differences. I have great love for the people of the whole world, which does not mean I shouldn’t be given my right to realise and practice my identity. By the way if Indians believe Pakistan was part of India once, that is a debatable fact also, as just another way of looking at it – in my perspective India was part of Pakistan instead. It was conquered and ruled for over 1000 years by the ancestors of Pakistanis. So just for an argument, instead they should let us rule them again?

    Keep up the good work.

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