This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontological scholarship to ask: What would it mean to ontologically engage the concept of environmental governance? By examining the ontological underpinnings of three environmental governance domains (land, water, biodiversity), we find that dominant contemporary environmental governance concepts and policy instruments are grounded in a modernist ontology which actively shapes the world, making certain aspects and relationships visible while invisibilizing others. We then survey ethnographic and other literature to highlight how such categories and their relations have been conceived otherwise and the implications of breaking out of a modernist ontology for environmental governance. Lastly, we argue that answering our opening question requires confronting the coloniality woven into the environmental governance project and consider how to instead embrace ontological pluralism in practice. In particular, we examine what taking seriously the right to self-determination enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) could mean for acknowledging Indigenous ontologies as systems of governance in their own right; what challenges and opportunities exist for recognizing and translating ontologies across socio-legal regimes; and how embracing the dynamism and hybridity of ontologies might complicate or advance struggles for material and cognitive justice.

Pakistan is said to be at the brink of being a water-scarce country current per capita water availability is 1090 m3 per year. This point to the water governance issues in Pakistan. Given these problems, a debate among scholars and policymakers is what governance model should Pakistan adopt to manage its water resources effectively. A few of them are a proponent of privatization of water, while others argue that traditional warabandi can still be an effective way to manage the water if certain loopholes in the system can be addressed. In this paper, we discuss both models and analysis with institutional theories of (water) property rights and relations, state authority, and neoliberalism to analyze the pros and cons of both models. In conclusion, we enlist the problems that persist in both models and provide recommendations for better governance of water in Pakistan.

Indus Valley Civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world dating back to 7000BCE. The explored sites of the civilization span present day Pakistan and India. The following paper explore the Indus Valley Civilization through the sites in Pakistan. The paper highlights feature of various stages of the Indus Valley, for example, Early Food Producing Era (7000-4000 BCE), Regionalization Era – Early Harappan Era (4000-2600 BCE), Integration Era (Early Harappan Phase) (2600 – 1900), Localization Era (Late Harappan Phase) (1900 – 1300), and Indus Valley from 1300 BCE to Present. In doing so, the paper discusses the geography, environment, material culture, subsistence patterns, political and social organization of each era. Finally, it explores the various theories of decline of Indus Valley Civilization, drawing on various sources. In the conclusion, the paper provides recommendations for future focus on the archaeological sites in Pakistan enhance our understanding of the civilizations.

An 800-year-old grand fort built by Tamils in Tamil land is located at Polur, Tiruvannamalai district. It is known that this fort was built by the Sambuvaraya kings. From the 11th century AD to the 14th century AD, the Sambuvarayas accepted the rule of the later Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagara emperors and were the rulers of Tondaimandalam and were small land kings. Virinchipuram and Kanchipuram near Vellore were the capitals of Sambuvarayas. Padaiveedu near Polur was a fort town of the Sambuvarayas.