Pakistan and Bangladesh

New Counties, Ancient Lands Indus Valley Civilization arose in what is know Pakistan around 2500 BC Aryans invaded in 1500 BC, then came the Mauryan, Gupta, and Mughal Empires Finally, the British took control until 1947 when the partition took place. Two countries were created: India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)

War and Military Rule Pakistan was further divided into E. and W. Pakistan. Partition brought immediate violence b/w Hindu’s and Muslims resulting in a million deaths and 10 million refugee E. and W. Pakistan shared a religion but not a culture and the 1,100 mile separation didn’t help— civil war broke out in E. Pakistan won independence as Bangladesh

Struggling Economies Rapidly, growing populations coupled with dependence on agriculture = poverty Most subsistence farming so severely affected by seasonal monsoons and cyclones. Trying to increase industry esp. textile to provide revenue and employment. Microcredit has been important in making small loans available to poor entrepreneurs

One Religion, Many Peoples Differ in Islamic practices, Pakistan is stricter in imposing Islamic law. I.e. they follow the custom of purdah or seclusion of women. Pakistan is more diverse than Bangladesh. They have 5 major ethnic groups Punjabis, Sindhis, Pathans, Muhajirs, and Balochs and each have their own language. Therefore, the gov’t chose Urdu as the nat’l language. Most in Bangladesh are Bengalis and speak a language based on Sanskrit.

Modern Life and Culture Life revolves around family and arranged marriages are common. They tend to live in small villages in simple homes of mud, bamboo, or wood. While the large cities are busy and crowded. Poetry is popular and oral tradition is strong. Poetry readings called mushairas Greatest literary figure is Rabindranath Tagore, who won a Nobel prize and wrote “My Golden Bengal”