History of philosophy in Pakistan

Ancient Era

The region that makes up Pakistan lies on the core of the Indus Basin, and has been inhabited in continuity for millennia, the earliest works of Philosophy done in Ancient India involved the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Rigveda, the first of the four Vedas, was composed around the Punjab region present in Modern Pakistan and Northwestern India, where early Vedic schools also existed. During the Vedic era, metaphysical concepts such as the ones on existence in the Nasadiya Sukta and on creation in the Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta were prominent. The Vedic concept of cosmic order developed firstly among priest-philosophers dwelling along the Indus Basin, which provided the metaphysical foundation for later developments in the Dharmic traditions.

The renowned Institute of Ancient Taxila was established around the 6th century BC in the city of Taxila in Northern Punjab as seat of Jain philosophy, which evolved into a center of Buddhist and Vedic teachings as well as a hub of education in religious and secular topics in South Asia and beyond for centuries to come.^[7]^[8] Gandhara in Northern Pakistan itself would continue to serve as a prominent center of philosophy in the Asian continent for many centuries.

Quick facts Pāṇini ...

Pāṇini, an ancient Sanskrit Grammarian was born in the region of Modern Pakistan roughly around the 7th, 6th or the 4th century BC.^[9] Considered the greatest linguist of antiquity, his primary work, the Aṣṭādhyāyī, brought forth an algorithmic approach to grammar and a formal model of language.^[10] Since the exposure of European scholars to his works in the 19th century, Pāṇini has largely been considered the "first descriptive linguist" in history, and even labelled as "the father of linguistics".^[11]^[12] His approach to grammar influenced such foundational linguists as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield.^[13] The rigorous formal system developed by Pāṇini far predates the 19th century innovations of Gottlob Frege and the subsequent development of mathematical logic. Pingala, an ancient Indian mathematician is often considered by some to be his brother.^[14]

During Alexander the Great's invasion of the Indus Valley, he encountered the Gymnosophists on the banks of the Indus River in Modern Pakistan.^[15] Mentioned several times in Ancient Greek records, they were known for their extreme ascetic philosophy.^[16] It was believed by Diogenes Laërtius (fl. 3rd century AD) that Pyrrho of Ellis, the founder of Pyrrhonism was deeply influenced by the gymnosophists while in India with Alexander the Great, and on his return to Ellis, developed his philosophy based on these gymnosophists.^[17]

In the field of Mathematical philosophy, the invention of Zero holds major significance. The earliest known use of the numeral for Zero occurred in the Bakhshali manuscript, discovered in the Mardan district in Pakistan.^[18] It is often considered "the oldest extant manuscript in Indian mathematics.^[19]

Chankya, the purported author of the political treatise, the Arthashastra, and one of the earliest thinkers of Political Philosophy was believed to have been born in Gandhara.^[20] Acting as the Prime Minister to Chandragupta, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, his text is considered among the oldest works on statecraft, economic policy, and law, acting as a guide to administering a kingdom.^[21]

Greater Gandharan Philosophy

With the rise of Buddhism and the subsequent synthesis of Hellenistic culture in Pakistan, a new type of philosophy emerged in what is now Pakistan, Afghanistan and Northwestern India, called the Greco-Buddhist or the Gandharan Buddhist philosophy.^[22]^[23] As philosophy flourished, it was spread to various corners of Asia via the Silk Road connection. Taxila became an attractive seat of learning for people from various different nations.

The Milindapañha, composed in Sialkot (then known as Sagala) was a widely prominent philosophical text detailing a debate between the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda) and a Buddhist sage Nagasena. Thomas Rhys Davids considered it the greatest work of classical Indian prose, he says:

"[T]he 'Questions of Milinda' is undoubtedly the masterpiece of Indian prose, and indeed is the best book of its class, from a literary point of view, that had then been produced in any country."^[24]^: xlvi

The background depiction given by the records of the text show that the region of Gandhara and Punjab were at that time, prominent centers of learning for all forms of philosophy, with Buddhist philosophy being the dominant form among them.

Vasubandhu and Asanga, two half-brothers likely born around Peshawar, remain some of the most influential Buddhist philosophers to date.^[25]^[26] Vasubandhu's works set forth the standard for the Yogacara metaphysics of "appearance only" (vijñapti-mātra), which has been described as a form of "epistemological idealism", phenomenology^[27] and close to Immanuel Kant's transcendental idealism.^[28] In Jōdo Shinshū (the largest branch of Japanese Buddhism), he is considered the Second Patriarch; in Chan Buddhism (the originating tradition of Zen), he is the 21st Patriarch.^[29] Similarly, Asanga's works were also influential in the Abhidharma tradition, and his Maitreya Corpus in turned influenced Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan.^[30]^[31] Together, these half-brothers were considered as some of the foremost figures in Mahayana philosophy.^[32]

Philosophies like hetuvidyā (logic and epistemology), vyākaraṇa (linguistics), śīla (ethics), and tattvavidyā (metaphysics) remained influential during the Gandharan period.^[33]^[34]

Muslim Era

Via the Sufi missionaries from Persia and Central Asia, Islam was spread into the lands of the Indus Basin during the early medieval period, converting a majority of the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam.^[35] Ali al-Hujwiri, a migrant from Persia to Punjab, became some of the earliest Muslim mystic philosophers in the region.^[36] A Punjabi Muslim mystic named Farīduddīn Masūd Ganjshakar (known commonly as Baba Farid) was among the earliest figures of Muslim philosophy in the present region of Punjab.^[37] Venerated by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs alike,^[38] he remains one of the most revered Muslim mystics from South Asia during the Islamic Golden Age.^[39]

As the Islamic Golden Age began, the region of Modern Pakistan played an important role in its promulgation. Abu Ali al-Sindhi, the tutor of Bayazid Bastami, is thought to have brought the concept of Fana to his student. Whereas, Kankah of Sindh, a prominent Astronomer of the time was among the earliest translators of Indic philosophical and scientific texts into Arabic for the Caliphate. Meanwhile, mathematics and logic were further promoted by people belonging to the Indus Basin. ^[40]

During the Middle ages, philosophy in the region of Modern Pakistan focused primarily on Islamic Mysticism. However, a trend of Humanism can be seen during the Middle Ages. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai from Sindh was known for his metaphysical romanticism and symbolic philosophy.^[41]^[42] Similarly, Bulleh Shah from Punjab, considered the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment', opposed religious orthodoxy and remains one of the most influential humanistic philosophers from South Asia.^[43]^[44]

During the late middle era Sachal Sarmast engaged in a Persian-Sindhi metaphysical synthesis and defended Ibn Arabi’s ideas, popularizing these concepts in Sindh.^[45]

Colonial Era

Philosophy in Pakistan declined during the Colonial era with the destruction of old institutions.^[46] As the British colonized South Asia, new thoughts began to emerge. The most prominent figure during this was Sir Muhammad Iqbal. Widely considered one of the most important and influential Muslim thinkers and Islamic religious philosophers of the 20th century, his vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British India is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for the Pakistan Movement.^[47] Inspired by the Aligarh Movement, Philosophy among the Muslims of India in general was mostly political and reactionary during this era, aimed at safeguarding the future of the Indo-Islamic heritage.^[48] Pakistan Movement itself was a product of young Nationalist thinkers such as Chaudhry Rehmat Ali.

Post-Independence

When Pakistan gained independence there was only one philosophy department in the country, at Government College Lahore.^[49] Academically, philosophical activities began in the universities, and with the thought organization founded by philosopher M.M. Sharif, a pupil of G. E. Moore, in 1954.^[1] M.M. Sharif himself was an Analytic philosopher who delved into Post-Modern thought. An active figure in the Pakistan Movement, he was deeply interested in realism and attempted to synthesize Modern Muslim thought with Western Philosophy.^[50]

C.A. Qadir, born in Sialkot, was another Pakistani Analytic philosopher and psychologist. A critical student of Islamic philosophy, he wrote over thirty books on philosophy, ethics, and psychology.^[51]

Between the 1960s and the 1980s, Socialist philosophy, although repressed, began to gain popularity in Pakistan. Figures like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib and Rusool Bux Palijo were among the prominent Socialist thinkers in Pakistan.

Malik Meraj Khalid, the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan from November 1996 to February 1997, and the fifth Chief Minister of Punjab from 1972 to 1973, was a Marxist Philosopher and one of the founding figures of the Pakistan People's Party.^[52] Around the early 1990s, he left politics and entered a period of solitude, becoming the Rector of International Islamic University in Islamabad in 1997.^[53]

Today, philosophy is taught as a subject in most universities in Pakistan, and as an optional subject in Pakistani high schools in 11th and 12th grade.^[54]

History of philosophy in Pakistan

History

Ancient Era

Greater Gandharan Philosophy

Muslim Era

Colonial Era

Post-Independence

Notable figures

References

Further reading

External links

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