Is Pakistan a Medieval State? Demystifying Muslim Political Culture in South Asia

» Explore the historical roots of Muslim political culture, spanning from the end of the Gupta Empire to the rise of the Mughal Empire, and find how these medieval dynamics intersect with modern-day politics, identity, and state-building in Pakistan. Join us for a discussion that bridges the past with the present, offering fresh perspectives on history’s impact on Pakistan’s state and society.
● About the Speaker:
» Dr. Fouzia Farooq Ahmed is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. With a distinguished academic career, she is currently serving as the TORCH Global Visiting Professor (2024-25) at the University of Oxford. Dr. Ahmed’s expertise lies in South Asian history, particularly the intersections of politics, identity, and culture. Her work bridges historical scholarship with contemporary insights, making her a leading voice in understanding the region’s rich and complex past.
● About the Moderator:
» Having previously worked at NUST, Dilawar Hussain is presently serving as visiting faculty at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, where he teaches courses on constitutional and parliamentary history of Pakistan. He has worked as a research fellow at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His areas of specialization include parliamentary, political, constitutional and electoral history of Pakistan.

[@arungupta3509]

Explain Mahmud of Ghazni's sack of Mathura. The central temple of which he wrote "“If any one wished to construct a building equal to it he would not be able to do so without expending 100 million dinars and the work would occupy 200 years even though the most able and experienced workmen were employed.” (quoting historian Mohammad Habib of Aligarh University). If Mahmud was just after loot, he would have let the temple be to accumulate more offerings that he could loot again in a couple of years.

[@personalpr3723]

I am 42 years old, me and all people of India condemn separation for 70 plus years But Now we are sadly happy that we are not with you guys, We are happy when our kids are accepted globally and the way we are treated globally.. We are still sad and crying for those innocent human and animan who died during separation, just because of Jinnah a.Muslim mind We are also sad the way Bangladesh women got rapped by pak army

[@Balochistan_Baloch_007]

Balochistan is not Pakistan, we Balochistani Nation don't care how Pakistan is. Just Freedom and Independence for Balochistan ✌️

[@Ankit__Shah]

Pakistan is barely 8 decade's old anyways.

[@FkuIlu]

Bogus 😊 Hinduism is older than Budd-hist, Even Buddhist think that Brahma made the world clueless she is

[@onlytruthissupreme7541]

Lahore was not natural winter capital. Lahore was made winter capital after capturing the territory. Shimla used to be the summer capital of British Govt. Does it make any difference to identify who were aggressers and looters. People generally blams Zia for radicalisatin of ordinary people but intellectual dishonesty of the the historians of Pakistan is more responsible.

[@Akhand_single1]

Lekin temple destroy karne ki suruat to Makka Madeena se hui thi

[@krishanukrori2452]

Romila Thapar is a fake historian

[@sant.76]

Romila Thapar and Irfan Habeeb are biggest propagandist... 😂😂😂

[@Agnostic-1]

India main kuch historians hai jo Sanskrit, Farsi, Pali nehi jante or study nehi kia hai but historian ban gaya 😂

[@santusanturohit4832]

Kunjbehari Thapar and Motilal Nehru were in laws/Samdhi.Rumila is bhanji of Chicha Lehru..Irafan Habbeb's dad was Home tutor at Nehru's house..

[@mayankindian3750]

History wrong likhi hai unhone kaafi had tak 😊

[@guitarist6959]

100% True ! We should expose these crooks at every platform. 👌👍🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@MrIndia-ly8mh]

Dambis number one

[@DaRationalVoice]

Going by that gentleman’s argument, the next missiles will be named “Churchill” and “Mountbatten”, and Iraq should name their missiles “Bush” and “Obama”. 😂😂. No wonder your country is in the shitter.

[@BikeAndBeyondChannel]

It’s important to note that the ancestors of most Pakistanis were not originally Muslims; their forefathers were once Hindus before converting over time. Recognizing this historical reality can provide a deeper understanding of cultural and ancestral roots.

[@Kanishka-d6w]

*Nadir shah after looting india including delhi did capture tons of gold including the huge and most famous takhte taus which he took to iran along with beautiful girls as Mal-e-ganimat with him*

[@abhishekshukla6760]

Aurangzeb in 1706 order to destroy Somnath temple in age of 85, it was small temple then, if it was not significant for Hindus why it was there in memory of Aurangzef after 500 year. Hindus destroyed temple of other hindus but not the deity of temple. They brought the deity and built bigger temple in there kingdom. For Marxist historian every thing was done for monetary benifits.

[@rishinaradamangalamprasad7342]

Romila and her leftists ilk asserted that there was no temple in Ayodhya. But the archeologist Muhammad Ji clearly reported to the court that there was a Hindu temple.

[@Ajay_GangadharSingh]

She can't read or write sanskrit and persian... That's her credibility as a historian

[@parveenswami3693]

Pakistani r like Romila just repeating same lies without knowing Sanskrit and farsi primary text.

[@rajValath]

Everyone who is NOT a crook - including the court - knows that there was no temple. Many khakki chaddis say in their closed doors the same thing. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZ_ZfIewisyLZ6s ***************************** Problematic ASI report To bolster their claim, Hindutva supporters often cite a 2003 report released by the Union government’s Archaeological Survey of India. The report claimed that there was evidence of a temple under the (now-demolished) Babri Masjid. When it was release, the report was controversial. Two archaeologists, Supriya Varma and Jaya Menon, claimed that the report actually contained no evidence of a temple at all. Though an abrupt claim is made in the conclusion that “there was a temple underneath the Babri Masjid”, Varma and Menon explained this by arguing that “the ASI was working with a preconceived notion”. In an interview to the Huffington Post, Varma claimed, “underneath the Babri Masjid, there are actually older mosques”. The Supreme Court judgment on Saturday did not take Varma and Menon’s criticism of the ASI report into account. Still, the court rejects the contention that the Babri Masjid was after a temple had been demolished. No evidence of temple demolition The judgment notes that the temple identified by the ASI dates back to the 12th century - about four centuries before the first Mughal emperor Babur came to India from Central Asia. “No evidence is available to explain what transpired in the course of the intervening period of nearly four centuries,” writes the Supreme Court. (Muhammed JI's report it seems was a piece of crxp for the court)

[@FkuIlu]

Not mus+lims vs hindus rulers in reality native vs Inv+aders 😊 Hindusnism is civilization thing not a religion

[@Jeet-2023]

Rajtaringini and kashmir - That ruler turned Buddhist and later atheist, and therefore, he destroyed temples. He may have born hindu but he wasn't hindu.

[@Damakaentertainment]

Without a doubt apart from military Pakistan is Medieval ideology based country.

[@braveheart8318]

Is Hindutva a modern ideology?

[@ashokbraroo8845]

The problem of converted Muslims in Indian subcontinent is unfortunately same.They glorify the past which doesn't belong to them. Recently Afghan politicians laughed at Pakistani missiles named after Afghan heroes and Turks. So they have to review their past ❤

[@asimghosal6763]

Pakistan ne Laguage Urdu bhi churaya ,Delhi / Lucknow/ Agra se ...😅

[@robin4singh]

Urdu got evolved to suitings of defeated and collapsing/retreating Indo-(pseudo)Islamist Empire

[@atokimruk937]

Scientifically, Urdu is 60 % Hibdi ( which by itself is derived from Sanskrit, the mother of Indo-european languages with 10% Arabic, 10% Persian and the rest dravidian languages and pali. Script is Persian.

[@braveheart8318]

Muslims developed Urdu. Hum apne chez kese chura sakte hen bhan gi.

[@ThScptc]

I cannot get over the huge number of people attending this event!

[@rishinaradamangalamprasad7342]

Romila is a left historian and her history version is very much distorted. You can now also witness the plunders of gazni

[@Unwanted236]

Don't you think you are justifying your own ideals,rather than being broad , Thing aren't so simple.Also ,we have to be more focused on Economics.Food satisfy your needs not the cultural practices.

[@mayankindian3750]

True brother 😊

[@takdirkumar7375]

Romila Thapar , Irfan habib dono fake historean h

[@MrOppareek]

Both are great historians. You may call them fake historians because it suits your view of history

[@guitarist6959]

We have not lost only gold and money to Mughals, real loss was our own people who lost their identity, culture and religion. Even after many centuries look at these people they don't accept their roots and consider us their enemy no 1 😖😖😖😯🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@jagan.g]

Not only the common people but also Elite and Intellectuals also in Pakistan have mediaeval mindset and they nurture it.

[@sendakan666]

The Indian system of rulership was based on the notion of Deva Raja or the Divine King. This is a monarchical system headed by a King who is expected to conducted state affairs according to a legal code and the principles of Dharma. Unlike Turko-Mongolic invaders, it was not based on family networks and warlords.

[@kumaranandgautam]

Taking my Sunday walk through the Qutub Minar City Forest, surrounded by the ruins of the medieval Delhi Sultanate, while listening to this discussion-it’s giving me a truly surreal feeling!

[@virendertomarji]

Shakeel chaudhary ji har meeting mai hajir rahte hai . 🙏

[@upadhyayrathiraj1518]

Attendance is less, others taken away for "software update"? 😂😂😂

[@proximus-wh3rv]

🤣

[@FkuIlu]

Question to her ag-ar hindu-stan me Hind-utva nahi hoga tho kya isl-amic nationo me hoga?

[@kathanak2290]

Not only Pakistan, almost every muslim country is imprisoned in a time warp.

[@theskytouch8915]

Tum log agar arbi ho turk ho to give our land back I do not consider of reddclif line

[@moderndemocracychannel4699]

Ruling elites always fear from true history. From Delhi.

[@upadhyayrathiraj1518]

Last Mughal emperor was Shah Alam-II in 1788, who was blinded by the Ghulam Qadir, the Rohilla ruffian. Mughal Emperor's wives and daughters were raped and palace looted. He was rescued by the Marathas under Mahadji Scindia, Ghulam Qadir escaped. Mughal scion was made sattrap of Maratha Empire. The Mughals ended by late 1790s.

[@gorakhthakur2890]

@@upadhyayrathiraj1518 It is said that Bahadur ash zafar was the last mugal emperor. Please correct me.

[@whitewhite4462]

Step number 1: get out of identify crisis..

[@Raju-gi3gr]

The problem is, many Mus1ims in current time look upto temple destroyers like Aurangzeb, Ghaznavi, Abdali. So, solve that issue instead of blaming people who are angry about these destructions.

[@Pork393]

Pakistan, a misnomer, created in 1947 based on religion, lives in medievial age!

[@gorakhthakur2890]

At least it is being accepted that temples were destroyed; it is attempted to generalize such barbaric actions.

[@braveheart8318]

Do you think destroying babri masjid was also barbaric?

[@CreditCounseller]

From this discussion..it is confirmed its in medieval state .

[@OnkarSingh-qu9ns]

Aa ja ke India,BJP no discussion is not complete without india

[@nishanttyagi29]

Romila thapar se inspires Haa bhai kro tum white wash history ko kro 😅😅😅

[@dr.sagarguru9356]

1.20.00 onwards , jo gentleman sawal puch reh he ki, unko koi esi book bataya jae, jis se identity crisis dur ho Shakti he.... sorry bro, lekin history book padhne se aap ki identity crisis dur Nehi ho shakti he.... reality ko accept karne se hoti he....aur reality bharat ke sath aur sanatan ke sath juda hua he👍🚩🪔🇮🇳

[@sociologymission]

The irony is that most of the viewrs are indians

[@BikeAndBeyondChannel]

@@sociologymission Because there are hardly any Pakistan viewers, they are busy in Jihad with their polluted mindset and radicalised thinking.

[@vinayaksharma8101]

Arey Bhai,you can still make Lahore the Afghan winter capital.

[@1212.3]

Level of pakistani education 😂😂

[@gauravdey4163]

Romila thapar pe bhi sawal hai

[@Padosidesi2828]

Enjoyed the discussion, thank you!

[@nick-l4o2z]

the irony is for romila demolishing of somnath temple was sole predicated on plundering of wealth, whearse for Pakistani Muslims the demolishing of somnath temple by ghsznvi was allahs message😢

[@syedfasih74]

Very nice and very informative discussion. Thank you!

[@AkshayaS.Baliyan]

Shakir choudhary sir ko namaste...

[@rubymehtab8716]

More of this kind pls.. excellent, and no need for anyone to get offended, let’s have a sober convo on weather she’s right or wrong…thank you

[@kpdwivedi1672]

A broadcast coming from Pakistan appears very sensible but not withouy inaccuracies. Let me highlight: 1. First of all Romila Thapars who is often quoted in pakistan is uttetly discredted histotian. No on rd takes her seriously. 2. As per her Muslim invaders destroyed hinfu temples mainly for money. Take Somnath temple. It was destroyed several times as per records. Hindu temples had huge wealth but after it was destroyed once and it rebuilt on smaller scale. What was the need of destroying it 2nd, 3rd, 4th time....... Etc when no money was left in them. 3. Reecently, Buddhist Bamiyan temples in Afganistsn were destroyed using Tops. These were old unisco sites and had no money eith them. 4. Why not simply accept fanatism. Is built in doctrine of Islam. Still hindutwa is big issue in Pakistan when Pakistan practices all kind of fanatism like forced converdions of girls, out right discrimination against minotities. I have never seen any thing like this in India. 5. Hindu holy books are nor allowed in any middle east countty and they are confiscated at airport or a hindu cannot visit macca. There very serious issues with islamic mind set before you talk og hindutws

[@binodapatra7001]

Madam is confusing & Pakistan date of birth is confusing also Pakistani are confusing .

[@Henry-o5q3c]

Thanks very informative and helpful information

[@krishanpalsinghmalik9812]

Very Positive and appreciable academic discussion.

[@Kanishka-d6w]

*India considers badshah khan as frontier gandhi*

[@sjcwin79]

Tab pakistan nehi tha sab Hindustan tha, please correct

[@ahmadkakar4353]

If there is an opportunity for a philosopher, I would be delighted to recommend a brilliant philosopher from Quetta, a retired professor from a government college, and a visiting teacher from Balochistan University.

[@virendertomarji]

Humanity first

[@personalpr3723]

Which you can't expect from Islam and Muslims

[@moderndemocracychannel4699]

Prof. ROMILA THAPER DID HER PHD UNDER NOTED HISTORIAN A . L. BASOM CAMBRIDGE. From Delhi.

[@moderndemocracychannel4699]

Ruling elites always fear from true history.

[@jaikumar-gw1cc]

What is the problem with 'Us' that we Pakistani historians are most mean people on earth. It's not because we are unintelligent but we don't want to accept the reality and facts we get by using our intelligence. Because these facts are somehow a slap on a cosmetic identity which our people perceive and glorify. What this nation is in dire need is a subject from KG to PhD called ' Logical Reasoning ' .

[@jarnailchahal8891]

Audience se pta chal jata hai k Pakistanio ka Pakistan ki asliat jan ne me koi dilchaspi nhi hai.

[@mahabaleshwarpandit2378]

It is medieval in the sense some are and some are not. Most Muslim countries become or have the potential to become medieval if they take religion and book seriously.

[@VirinchipuramSrikanth]

It’s a broken Caliphate.

[@TheUndergroundRockstar]

Wonderful discussion.

[@komal29275]

Pakistani truth ki search me... Dekh kr accha laga ❤

[@syedasifjamil9973]

Pathetic! Look how many chairs are empty. This is how much our students are interested in intellectual discussions.

[@mohanp1516]

This Madam dont know that first there was Hindus and then Buddhist came in hindus only converted to Buddhists. There is more possibility that Buddhist have distriyed hindu sights to build there stupas. Even Raja dahir lost war only because of Buddhists. Just soon after Ahsoka adopted Buddhism Mouryan empire died.

[@arijitdakshi820]

It's noteworthy that the nation states of South Asia 🌏 are hurtling towards neo-medievalism.

[@upadhyayabr5131]

Conclusion by moderator is heartening

[@MirAli-o4s]

Very informative debate which was substianted by the eloquent speaker Dr.Fauzia's analysis and historical facts.Well done all the team of the Black Hole.

[@KnowledgeConcerningEverything]

Nice discussion.

[@manjeetkocchar2662]

Over all the discourse was very educative

[@YOUTUBE_AMERICA]

There is common understanding among RSS workers is that by 2047 india will take all hindus from Pakistan After this Pakistan will become 100% muslim majority country

[@krishanukrori2452]

Buddhist religion pahle aya ya hindu..???

[@sjcwin79]

Agar muslim bhai muslim bhai ko mar rahe the muslim emperor mein to kon jeet raha tha? islam jeet raha tha ya insaniyat har raha tha, abhi bhi chal raha hai

[@BikeAndBeyondChannel]

The sooner Pakistanis acknowledge these historical facts, the better it will be for their understanding of their true cultural and ancestral identity. Embracing their roots can lead to a more grounded and cohesive national identity.

[@shuaibnaqvi5168]

Dr fouzia very clear & truthful

[@pamnetwork7787]

Nice information, interview

[@pathfinder1540]

Aap ne Romila Thapar ko quote kiya, RC Mazumdaar ko kyon nahi kiya, vo to Romila Thapar se bade historian the

[@UncleDannysIntuitiveInnovative]

90% Pakistanis have hindu roots, hindu past and hindu ancestry.

[@iqbalkhattak948]

War of independence was 1857! However, crown rule started in 1858!

[@rajeshwarpandey3926]

For the first time,I liked this debate from Pakistan.I am happy that sense of realism is dawning in Pakistan.

[@mohammedbawa4892]

When Nadir Shah invaded Delhi and defeated Mohammed Shah Rangila, he demanded Rangilas daugher for marriage. Rangila asked Nadir Shahs lineage. Nadir Shah was not from royal lineage. Nadir Shah answered "Nadir Shan Ibn-e-Talwar ..Ibn-e-Talwar" 7 times and took away Rangilas daughter. There is a grand museum in the name of Nadir Shah in Iran. He is hero of Iranians who conquered Hind. Rangila had 850 wives. Nadir Sha suggested Rangila him to marry 150 more so that he could be given mansab-dar of 1000 laundi title.

[@Sam-sb8kg]

After Romila Thapar's book which book is new and well researched based?

[@ShoukatAli-y7k8c]

Thanks TBH.

[@My2paisa]

@the development worker/doctor (around 1:11:00): interesting and valid point although one has to stretch a bit to connect to the core of today's subject/discussion. In that context, she might be interested in reading cultural anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon's interesting thesis tying evolution and human behavior (specfically, violence and domination over other fellow beings; an example being the Yanomami attacking other tribes to steal their women and to inseminate them to propagate their own tribe). Although Chagnon and his theories were unpopular and criticized (particularly by the left-oriented social scientists), he has left an influential legacy in social sciences and is worth studying. (He died in 2021).

[@AkshayaS.Baliyan]

So an enlightenment session, thanks to the black hole and ma'am. Bs last wala question jis shab me kiya i think he didn't read history ' before thousand years ago hindu Kings ruled here. Ashoka is the perfect example. Then how can you say hindu didn't have leadership qualities?

[@Sam-sb8kg]

Achcha javab, confusion aagay lay kar jata hay agar aagay Jana hay, bohat achcha javab hay

[@surajithz]

Really enjoyed listening to Professor Fouzia Ahamad who was so eloquent and knowledgeable..

[@tripody1]

Your sources are Liberandoo historian. We can assume you will whitewash on the name of Neutral Prospective.

[@criticalthinker5764]

Please don’t use difficult Urdu words . I am in USA for 54 years . I like to watch black hole but cannot understand a lot . Please consider

[@sachoubey]

Lady is really brilliant, please watch her reply from 1:19:38

[@skippper2345]

Watching from India..I m secular person...

[@anuragrt]

1) last commentorl thinks 'panchayat' - which is a Sanskrit word was a central asian invention.wow! 2) Forget what happened 1000 year back. Apologies and refrain from terrorism inflicted in last 70y. That can open a possibility of normalisation.

[@PakLand7860]

I feel sorry to see only a few people attending such a meeting. Has it not been advertised before to attract more audiences. Or we are not interested in our history?

[@Eklavya.10]

so called Delhi sultanet who destroyed by maratha empire, hail to maratha empire

[@theskytouch8915]

Anchor is very honest

[@sunala1265]

*Reality Check on Identity Crisis of Pakistani (1947-2025)* *Neither we are like"Cheema", "Chaudhary","Chauhan","Butt", Bhatti,"Gill","Gull","Shah",Sethi", "Rana""Rajput"or any "Bajawa" who easily surrendered to Islam without fight.* *But We are strong Community who are still fighting against this Cancer from last 1400+ years and will fight till our last breath* *PROUD HINDU MARATHA PRITHVIRAJ CHAUHAN* 🇮🇳🕉️🙏

[@jaihooji]

Can you talk to u person who can conter u? Pls repy, if possible we can make a show

[@tariqrasheed965]

Wao such a great scholar she is...huge love and respect from south Punjab

[@softshells]

Excellent speaker. Learned a lot. I enjoy history as it is. It’s always going to be a perspective. That’s why we read many perspectives. People shouldn’t get upset about history. Everyone broke everyone’s Temple. People from same faith destroyed each other’s mosques & temples. Why get so upset about it😅?