Stories by Mubarak Ali

Why Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq are vilified in Pakistan's political discourse

Like the Mirs, today's politicians too change loyalties from one party to another, depending on their personal interests.

Updated 29 May, 2022 03:14pm

Past Present: Seeing history through the prism of religion

The Christian world view had a fundamental impact on history writing

Published 11 Sep, 2016 06:43am

Past Present: Legends and myths

Not always separating fact from fiction, the Greeks were the first to start writing the history of Europe

Published 28 Aug, 2016 07:25am

Pastpresent: How research interests of Muslim historians changed over time

After the decline of the Abbasids, new independent regional dynasties surfaced. The changing political climate also...

Published 31 Jul, 2016 07:15am

Past present: Writing on history

As time progressed, so did the various formats for documenting the past

Published 17 Jul, 2016 07:27am

Past present: In quest of the truth

With time, history writing evolved with different themes and cultural trends

Published 03 Jul, 2016 07:01am

Past present: The historiography of early Islam

In the absence of original manuscripts, court narratives are described as history

Published 19 Jun, 2016 06:11am

Past present: Knowledge is power

Imperial hegemony of knowledge has made us intellectually inferior, lacking confidence in our ability to understand our

Published 05 Jun, 2016 07:00am

Past present: A historical travesty

Truth and facts take a beating when recording history becomes an act of theology

Published 22 May, 2016 07:00am

Past present: Reconstructing the past

Since historical sources are the sum total of all evidence left behind by the past societies, to rewrite history, a

Published 08 May, 2016 06:44am

Past present: Images of reconstruction

“There is no single, eternal and immutable ‘truth’ about past events and their meaning.” — James M. McPherson, historian

Published 24 Apr, 2016 07:48am

Past present: Poet of the people

With his distinctive humanist sensibility, Nazir Akbarabadi stood apart from other poets of his time

Published 10 Apr, 2016 06:30am

Pastpresent: History she wrote

While male historians focused on war and bloodshed, Gulbadan Begum’s memoirs brought to light a softer image of Mughals.

Updated 27 Mar, 2016 12:14pm

Past present: Voice of the common man

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” This simple quote by Thomas Paine not only describes the beginnings of the

Published 13 Mar, 2016 06:40am

Past present: The grand old man

Dadabhai Naoroji was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress, the first British Asian MP to be

Published 28 Feb, 2016 06:32am

Past present: Just one side of the story

History gets made up as textbooks are tampered with to suit and serve the regime

Published 14 Feb, 2016 07:12am

Past present: Lies and half-truths

Why are we telling our students stories that we know are false?

Published 31 Jan, 2016 06:49am

Past present: Understanding the truth

If people were able to read sacred texts in their own language, the church domination would crumble

Published 17 Jan, 2016 06:42am

Divided by faith

Religious conflict stems from failure of the nation-state

Published 03 Jan, 2016 06:51am

Past present: Tyranny of majority

Instead of treating nations as a whole, sometimes masses take rights away from the minority and even order them killed

Published 06 Dec, 2015 06:33am