This is by no means an official website, affiliated with an academic institution or organisation. That would mean there would be (likely) numerous highly qualified people involved and, I am sure, more rigorous oversight. Rather this is a kind of academic exercise. An experiment by a person with some academic qualifications, some commercial archaeology experience and far too much time spent alone with their thoughts. That means that it will be sporadically written and covering a diverse array of topics when it suits me. The only certain thing is that all the topics will be about or associated with the archaeology and heritage of Pakistan. And although I will endeavour to research things rigorously, it is possible for mistakes to be made. You might even prefix all the articles with ‘don’t quote me on this...’.The discourse and discussion will probably change as time goes on so this site is hopefully a place for research to evolve and develop.

And for the non Urdu speakers who may happen to read this, you may be wondering what 'Gorak Dhanda' means?  It is an Urdu phrase used to describe a puzzle or complicated matter. I chose this as the site for the site because it seemed to perfectly decribe the process of researching this region. Of going down a rabbit hole to find a more complicated rabbit warren which you then have to slowly have to figure out. The phrase was popularised by Pakistani lyricist Naz Khialvi in his poem, Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho (you are a puzzle). Which was then turned into a Qawwali song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. To see and hear this classic by the master himself follow the link below.

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As for the story behind the logo, it is based on a significant Indus Valley statuette. You can find out more about that on the Objects: Past and Present page. And for a summary of Pakistan as the country it is today go to Pakistan: A Brief, Brief Summary