Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 437-1-30

Title

Endangered Rock Carvings and Inscriptions in the Upper Indus Valley

Date(s)

2021

Description Level

Series

Extent and medium (processed)

2 Digital container, 0.0 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Shah, Maryam

Administrative / Biographical history

Maryam Shah is a former student of Central European University (CEU). She is of Burusho ethnicity, an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to Hunza Valley in the North of Pakistan. Maryam was enrolled in the Cultural Studies Heritage Program run by the Department of Medieval Studies at CEU between 2020 and 2022.

Archival history

The Donor transferred the project files to Blinken OSA Archivum on November 8, 2022. Blinken OSA Archivum also archived the project webpage as a [.warc](https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000236.shtml) file on November 22, 2022. Clicking the "View" button will start playing back the .warc file. The Pageflow project webpage is no longer available online. However, the Internet Archive crawled the page several times in 2022 and thus [a very rudimentary version](https://web.archive.org/web/20221219001858/https://maryam.pageflow.io/rock-carvings-and-inscriptions-in-upper-indus-valley-pakistan#337947) still remains accessible on the internet.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Narrative)

Cutting through the barren and dusty Karakoram ranges, the Karakoram Highway is the main road connecting the northern mountainous region of Pakistan to the plains. The long journey, the broken road, frequent landslides, and road blockades make the journey on this highway a unique experience. Add to these the landscape, the Indus River, and, up north, ancient rock carvings seen occasionally along the highway. Carved into the rugged mountains are intricately drawn depictions of stupas and meditating Buddhas. Off-road ventures and careful exploration reveal these carvings and inscriptions to be thousands in number and on thousands of rocks, on both sides of the Indus River.

Many other parts of the country also host similar carvings and inscriptions. Most of this ancient art depicts the travelers who passed through and participated in the valley's cultural and social life. Most of the images and inscriptions are related to Buddhist religious impulses. They shed light on the region's political situation under the rule of various Buddhist rulers. These carvings and inscriptions indicate that a lively trade and migration occurred in the Western Himalayas during the last 4000 years, with probable cooperation from local populations who inhabited the region even earlier. High passes were crossed in several directions.

This [Pageflow](https://www.pageflow.io/en/) webpage project was part of [Maryam Shah’s MA thesis](https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/shah_maryam.pdf) titled *Expanding Heritage Consciousness: The Endangered Rock Carvings and Inscriptions in the Upper Indus Valley, Pakistan,* which presents arguments for community knowledge and agency in decision making and memory preservation. This is supported by the design of an audiovisual project that aims to act as both a bridge between scholarly and local understandings of the rock carvings and inscriptions in the Upper Indus River valley, as well as a memory preservation tool for local people. The virtual exhibit aims to equip local people with a basic, scholarly understanding of the history of their own locality so that they can consciously participate in, and initiate, projects connected to this material for community development. The project also emphasizes the importance of accessibility, comprehension, and engagement for any community-targeted projects.

The recordings were made and edited by Maryam Shah during her fieldwork in the Summer of 2021.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

​

Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Languages

English, Urdu

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Mark László-Herbert, May 10, 2024.