Culture of Pakistan

Truck art is a distinctive feature of Pakistani culture.

The culture of Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستانی ثقافت Pākistāni S̱aqāfat) is based in the Indo-Persian cultural matrix that constitutes a foundation plank of South Asian Muslim identity.^[1] The region has formed a distinct cultural unit within the main cultural complex of South Asia, Middle East and Central Asia.^[2]^[3] 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.

The existence of Pakistan as an Islamic state since 1956 has led to the large-scale injection of Islam into most aspects of Pakistani culture and everyday life, which has accordingly affected the historical values and traditions of the Muslim-majority population. Marriages and other major events are significantly affected by regional differences in culture, but generally follow Islamic jurisprudence where required. ^{[citation needed]}

Civil society in Pakistan is largely hierarchical, emphasising local cultural etiquette and traditional Islamic values that govern personal and political life. The basic family unit is the extended family,^[4] although for socio-economic reasons there has been a growing trend towards nuclear families.^[5] The traditional dress for both men and women is the shalwar kameez; trousers, jeans, and shirts are also popular among men.^[6] In recent decades, the middle class has increased to around 35 million and the upper and upper-middle classes to around 17 million, and power is shifting from rural landowners to the urbanised elites.^[7] Pakistani festivals, including Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Ramazan, Christmas, Easter, Holi, and Diwali, are mostly religious in origin.^[4] Increasing globalisation has resulted in Pakistan ranking 56th on the A.T. Kearney/FP Globalization Index.^[8]

^ P. M. Kamath (2005). "India-Pakistan Relations". Promilla & Company, Publishers. p. 196.
^ Neelis, Jason (2007), "Passages to India: Śaka and Kuṣāṇa migrations in historical contexts", in Srinivasan, Doris (ed.), On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World, Routledge, pp. 55–94, ISBN 978-90-04-15451-3 Quote: "Numerous passageways through the northwestern frontiers of the Indian subcontinent in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan served as migration routes to South Asia from the Iranian plateau and the Central Asian steppes. Prehistoric and protohistoric exchanges across the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya ranges demonstrate earlier precedents for routes through the high mountain passes and river valleys in later historical periods. Typological similarities between Northern Neolithic sites in Kashmir and Swat and sites in the Tibetan plateau and northern China show that 'Mountain chains have often integrated rather than isolated peoples.' Ties between the trading post of Shortughai in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan) and the lower Indus valley provide evidence for long-distance commercial networks and 'polymorphous relations' across the Hindu Kush until c. 1800 B.C.' The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) may have functioned as a 'filter' for the introduction of Indo-Iranian languages to the northwesternfs Indian subcontinent, although routes and chronologies remain hypothetical. (page 55)"
^ Marshall, John (2013) [1960], A Guide to Taxila, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–, ISBN 978-1-107-61544-1 Quote: "Here also, in ancient days, was the meeting-place of three great trade-routes , one, from Hindustan and Eastern India, which was to become the `royal highway' described by Megasthenes as running from Pataliputra to the north-west of the Maurya empire; the second from Western Asia through Bactria, Kapisi and Pushkalavati and so across the Indus at Ohind to Taxila; and the third from Kashmir and Central Asia by way of the Srinagar valley and Baramula to Mansehra and so down the Haripur valley. These three trade-routes, which carried the bulk of the traffic passing by land between India and Central and Western Asia, played an all-important part in the history of Taxila. (page 1)"
^ ^a ^b "Pakistan- Language, Religion, Culture, Customs and Etiquette". Kwint Essential. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
^ Anwar Alam (2008). "Factors and Consequences of Nuclearization of Family at Hayatabad Phase-II, Peshawar" (PDF). Sarhad J. Agric. 24 (3). Retrieved 21 April 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference taxila was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Husain, Irfan (17 April 2010). "The rise of Mehran man". Dawn. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
^ "A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index 2006" (PDF). A.T. Kearney. November–December 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 1 January 2012. ^{[dead link]}

[plank1-1] P. M. Kamath (2005). "India-Pakistan Relations". Promilla & Company, Publishers. p. 196.

[Srinivasan2007-2] Neelis, Jason (2007), "Passages to India: Śaka and Kuṣāṇa migrations in historical contexts", in Srinivasan, Doris (ed.), On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World, Routledge, pp. 55–94, ISBN 978-90-04-15451-3 Quote: "Numerous passageways through the northwestern frontiers of the Indian subcontinent in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan served as migration routes to South Asia from the Iranian plateau and the Central Asian steppes. Prehistoric and protohistoric exchanges across the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya ranges demonstrate earlier precedents for routes through the high mountain passes and river valleys in later historical periods. Typological similarities between Northern Neolithic sites in Kashmir and Swat and sites in the Tibetan plateau and northern China show that 'Mountain chains have often integrated rather than isolated peoples.' Ties between the trading post of Shortughai in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan) and the lower Indus valley provide evidence for long-distance commercial networks and 'polymorphous relations' across the Hindu Kush until c. 1800 B.C.' The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) may have functioned as a 'filter' for the introduction of Indo-Iranian languages to the northwesternfs Indian subcontinent, although routes and chronologies remain hypothetical. (page 55)"

[Marshall2013-3] Marshall, John (2013) [1960], A Guide to Taxila, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–, ISBN 978-1-107-61544-1 Quote: "Here also, in ancient days, was the meeting-place of three great trade-routes , one, from Hindustan and Eastern India, which was to become the `royal highway' described by Megasthenes as running from Pataliputra to the north-west of the Maurya empire; the second from Western Asia through Bactria, Kapisi and Pushkalavati and so across the Indus at Ohind to Taxila; and the third from Kashmir and Central Asia by way of the Srinagar valley and Baramula to Mansehra and so down the Haripur valley. These three trade-routes, which carried the bulk of the traffic passing by land between India and Central and Western Asia, played an all-important part in the history of Taxila. (page 1)"

[nuclear2-4] "Pakistan- Language, Religion, Culture, Customs and Etiquette". Kwint Essential. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.

[5] Anwar Alam (2008). "Factors and Consequences of Nuclearization of Family at Hayatabad Phase-II, Peshawar" (PDF). Sarhad J. Agric. 24 (3). Retrieved 21 April 2012.

[taxila-6] Cite error: The named reference taxila was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Husain, Irfan (17 April 2010). "The rise of Mehran man". Dawn. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.

[8] "A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index 2006" (PDF). A.T. Kearney. November–December 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 1 January 2012. ^{[dead link]}

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