FOLK TALES OF THE INDUS VALLEY ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The question behind this dissertation is to find historical and archaeological evidences of the Indus Valley Civilization with reference to the theory of the unity in diversity and diversity in unity. This is a deliberation whether the idea of oneness and unity existed on social, cultural and political basis in the provinces of the present Pakistan or not? The rich culture of the Sub-continent in South Asia, generally referred to as Indus Valley Civilization, has very deep roots and traditions. It has been coming up from the organized cultures of Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and passing through a process of continuous interaction and assimilation, resulting in the development of a very fine and unique cultural pattern. This cultural set up has also met and seen various political alterations and transformations along with the introduction of new religious and social values. These religious and social values structures confronted each other but at the same time could not resist the process of synthesis. One of the sources to know about the rich cultural configurations of a civilization is through the literature, poetry, and forms of imaginative and creative art. The Indus Valley Civilization, although part of an urban culture, had never formed an inquisitive trend of writing and preserving the history. Whatever sources have been written and preserved of the civilization existing in the times of B.C. have not yet been deciphered. The late period of Aryans is the era of the dominance of Hindu mythology and religious scriptures have been the only source of information about that period. In the circumstance very fine tuned tradition of oral folk stories developed in the Subcontinent. This tradition has covered almost all aspects of the human life that were prevalent in this part of the world. The stories of the RamayaD a are the famous epics that ix have been the part of mythology but transfer valuable information about the thinking pattern, the mental development and the subsequent process of progress within the society. It also gives an insight about the role of religion over the lives of people. Similarly there have been the stories about the warfare of the tribes or clans. The feats of bravery of ones own clan must have been the themes of these oral traditions. This thesis has made a thorough study into the themes of resistance. These resistance movements have been an effort to fight the foreign invaders by the local population These folk stories depict a strong trend prevailing in the sub continent of ascetic practices and their importance. There are many stoires about sadhus, priests and ascetics who have been treated as heroes and delivers for the poor masses. There are many stories regarding the moral conduct and good values attributed to the gods. Finally, the emotional life of this unique culture has been covered up by the romantic tales born and grown up on this land. The stories of Hir Rafijha in the Punjab, Sassi PunhU and Mirza Sahiban are the examples of beautiful narration on the part of story tellers. Folk romance focuses the individual experience which throws light on the imagination of generations. The research work has covered all the above mentioned themes prevalent in the folk tales of the Indus Valley. These themes have certainly provided a better understanding of the social, cultural, religious and political structure of this area. Moreover, it has largely been a work of deciphering the social, religious and emotional life of the masses that laid a pertinent effect on the overall cultural setup. More importantly it is a study to explore the structures of unity and diversity patterns in the regions of Pakistan. The research study in hand also supports the theory of the unity in diversity and diversity in unity. It also exhibits the idea of oneness and unity on social,