Treasures of the Indus - Pakistan Unveiled

31 Aug 2015 on BBC Four

Episode 1 of 3

This is the story of the Indian subcontinent told through the treasures of three very different people, places and dynasties that have shaped the modern Indian world.

All too often, Pakistan is portrayed as a country of bombs, beards and burkhas. The view of it as a monolithic Muslim state is even embodied in the name of the country, 'the Islamic Republic of Pakistan'.

Yet, as Sona Datta shows, it used to be the meeting point for many different faiths from around the world and has an intriguing multicultural past - a past about which it is to some extent in denial. It also produced some extraordinary and little-known works of art which Sona, from her work as a curator at the British Museum, explores and explains.

Sona Datta shows how Pakistan used to be the meeting point for many different faiths from around the world and has produced some extraordinary works of art.
Episode 1 is all about Pakistan. Two things stand out. Firstly the people of Pakistan were building enormous cities 5,000 years ago when Europe was still in what gets called the Stone Age. Check out Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Secondly, Pakistan was a Buddhist country long before the invention of Islam, and indeed it exported Buddhism to the rest of the world.