Mohammed Rafique Mughal

Last updated

Mohammed Rafique Mughal
Born1936 (age 8283)
ResidenceUnited States
Nationality Pakistani
Scientific career
Fields Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology

Muhammad Rafiq Mugal is a Pakistani archaeologist, engaged in investigating of ethnoarchaeological research in Chitral, northern Pakistan. He has been responsible for the direction, technical support and supervision for restoration and conservation of more than thirty monuments and excavated remains of the Islamic, Buddhist and Proto-historic periods, in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. He is currently a Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Management and the Director of Undergraduate Studies at Boston University. [2] [3]

Ethnoarchaeology is the ethnographic study of peoples for archaeological reasons, usually through the study of the material remains of a society. Ethnoarchaeology aids archaeologists in reconstructing ancient lifeways by studying the material and non-material traditions of modern societies. Ethnoarchaeology also aids in the understanding of the way an object was made and the purpose of what it is being used for. Archaeologists can then infer that ancient societies used the same techniques as their modern counterparts given a similar set of environmental circumstances.

Chitral Town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Chitral is the capital of the Chitral District, situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Chitral also served as the capital of the princely state of Chitral until 1947.

Technical support service of resolving technical problems for end users of an organizations products or services, often remotely

Technical support refers to services that entities provide to users of technology products or services. In general, technical support provide help regarding specific problems with a product or service, rather than providing training, provision or customization of product, or other support services. Most companies offer technical support for the services or products they sell, either included in the cost or for an additional fee. Technical support may be delivered over by phone, e-mail, live support software on a website, or other tool where users can log an incident. Larger organizations frequently have internal technical support available to their staff for computer-related problems. The Internet can also be a good source for freely available tech support, where experienced users help users find solutions to their problems. In addition, some fee-based service companies charge for premium technical support services.

Contents

Contributions in restoration and conservation

Mughal supervised the preparation a number of conservation and restoration projects of archaeological and architectural heritage of Pakistan. He also planned, organised and directed archaeological fieldworks and research projects of extensive surveys involving documentation of sites, monuments, and excavations across the world on locations of diverse cultural contents ranging in date from the Prehistoric to Islamic periods. He also conducted extensive surveys in co-ordination of various international archaeologists for explorations in Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Areas of Pakistan that led to the discovery of various settlements of the Indus Civilization and of other cultural contents.

Architecture The product and the process of planning, designing and constructing buildings and other structures.

Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

Cultural heritage physical artifact or intangible attribute of a society inherited from past generations

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all legacies of past generations are "heritage", rather heritage is a product of selection by society.

Human prehistory is the period between the use of the first stone tools c. 3.3 million years ago by hominins and the invention of writing systems. The earliest writing systems appeared c. 5,300 years ago, but it took thousands of years for writing to be widely adopted, and it was not used in some human cultures until the 19th century or even until the present. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different dates in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently.

Museum development

Mughal has contributed to the development of several museums in Pakistan. This includes contributing to the establishment of Islamabad Museum in 1994. He also helped to reorganise Swat Museum, Saidu Sharif in collaboration with Japanese museologists. He was also leading figure in proposing the establishment of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Gilgit in 1993, the Museum at Rohtas Fort (1994), the Ethnological and Archaeological Museum at Multan (1995) and for the expansion of Taxila Museum (1994).

Islamabad Capital of Pakistan

Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan, and is federally administered as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Built as a planned city in the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan's capital, Islamabad is noted for its high standards of living, safety, and abundant greenery.

Saidu Sharif City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Saidū Sharīf is the Capital City of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city also serves as the capital city of Malakand division. Named after Saidu Baba, a prominent leader of the former Yusufzai State of Swat.

Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America archaeology is a sub-field of anthropology, while in Europe it is often viewed as either a discipline in its own right or a sub-field of other disciplines.

Heritage conservation and management

Mughal has been involved in conservation for the following sites and monuments:

Buddhism World religion, founded by the Buddha

Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. It originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravada and Mahayana.

Monastery complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monks or nuns

A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.

Stupa mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the ashes of Buddhist monks, used by Buddhists as a place of meditation

A stūpa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics that is used as a place of meditation. A related architectural term is a chaitya, which is a prayer hall or temple containing a stupa.

Major international collaborations

Bahrain Sovereign island state in the Persian Gulf

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in the Persian Gulf. The sovereign state comprises a small archipelago centered around Bahrain Island, situated between the Qatar peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the 25-kilometre (16 mi) King Fahd Causeway. Bahrain's population is 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals. It is 765.3 square kilometres (295.5 sq mi) in size, making it the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore.

Malir River is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Malir River is seasonal passes through the city of Karachi from North East to the Centre and drains into the Arabian Sea. Malir river is one of the two rivers passing through Karachi and the other is Lyari River. It has two main tributaries, the Thadho and the Sukhan.

George Franklin Dales Jr., was an archaeology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and later the University of California, Berkeley, where he chaired the South and Southeast Asian Studies department. He was considered a leading expert on Indus valley peoples and their languages.

Archaeological excavations

Indus Civilization and Bronze Age sites

Excavation (archaeology) Exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains

In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is a site being studied. Such a site excavation concerns itself with a specific archaeological site or a connected series of sites, and may be conducted over as little as several weeks to over a number of years.

Megalith Large stone used to build a structure or monument

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. The word megalithic describes structures made of such large stones without the use of mortar or concrete, representing periods of prehistory characterised by such constructions. For later periods, the word monolith, with an overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used.

Harappa archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) to the north. The current village of Harappa is less than 1 km (0.62 mi) from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a legacy railway station from the British Raj period, it is a small crossroads town of 15,000 people today.

Buddhist and Early Historical or Medieval sites

Early Islamic sites

Punjab Province

Sindh Province

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and Northern Areas

Balochistan Province

Mughal was also the project director of two major schemes for "Survey and Documentation of Sites and Monuments in Sindh and Punjab" between 1993 and 1996.

Publications

Books and Edited Volumes:

Articles:

See also

Related Research Articles

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Jonathan Mark Kenoyer is an American archaeologist and George F. Dales Jr. and Barbara A. Dales Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master's, and Doctorate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, finishing in 1983.

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References

  1. "The who's-who of archaeology in Pakistan". The Friday Times. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  2. "Rafique Mughal " Archaeology Department " Boston University". Boston, MA: Boston University. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  3. "Mohammad Rafique Mughal " Center for the Study of Asia". Boston, MA: Boston University Arts & Sciences Center for the Study of Asia. Retrieved 8 February 2011.