Cultural Presentation of the ‘Turk’ in the history of Pakistan: From Monarchy to Modern State

Abstract

History represents itself in language and historiographical performance reflects cultural patterns. Both history and historiography not only pass through cultural windows but also create certain cultural impressions of understanding that become the dominant agent in the extension of historical meanings and identity. The importance of history is developed both with the reflection of cultural codes and creation of its own system of understanding. This relationship between the history and culture is important and diverse in case of Pak-Turk relations. Politically, Pak-Turk relations started in 1947 after the creation of Pakistan. On the other hand, this relationship dates back to the dates that encompass the history and historiography of Pakistan, the advent of Arabs in Sind for example. Following the historiographical patterns of historiography of Pakistan, this paper takes the advantage of time and analyzes the cultural representation of the ‘Turk’ from the early medieval period till now to have a cultural outlook of political, social and religious formations that represented the ‘Turk’. It focuses on the historical dialogue between different shades of political relations, Social formations and religious proximities. Paper argues that although ‘Turk’ is an integral part of ‘History of Pakistan’ yet its cultural representation through history and historiography is different on the basis of time. Its presence is essential as compared to its mode of presence. It has passed through different formations of time and its current locale is modern. Continuity of Pak-Turk relations requires more modern symbols for the representation of meaning of their recent historical ties. It also stresses on the question of existential irrelevance of traditional cultural understandings of relationship and focuses on the establishment of future contingent means for strong relations