History of Pakistan

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The first known inhabitants of the modern-day Pakistan are believed to have been the Soanian - Homo erectus which setteled in the Soan Valley and Riwat almost 2 million years ago. Over the next several thousand years, the region would develop into various civilizations like Mehrgarh and the Indus Valley Civilization. Throughout it's history, the region has also been apart of various Greek, Persian, Islamic and British empires. The region's ancient history also includes some of the oldest empires from the Indian Subcontinent[1] and some of its major civilizations.[2][3]. Modern-day Pakistan began with independence from British India on August 14th, 1947.[4][5] The political history of eventual birth of the country began in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which culminated in 90 years of direct rule by the British Crown and subsequently, spawned a successful freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress and later by the All India Muslim League. The latter was founded in 1906 to protect Muslim interests and rose to popularity in the late 1930s amid fears of neglect and under-representation of Muslims in politics. On the December 29th, 1930, Muhammad Iqbal called for an autonomous state in "northwestern India for Indian Muslims".[6] Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution[7] of 1940, demanding the formation of an independent Pakistan.

Pakistan became independent from British India as a Muslim-majority state with two wings - West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Independence resulted in communal riots across India and Pakistan while millions of Muslims were migrating to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs were migrating to India. Disputes arose over several princely states including Kashmir and Jammu whose ruler had illegally acceded to India following an invasion by Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan. This led to the First Kashmir War in 1948 which ended in Pakistan administrating one-third of the state.

Pakistan declared itself a Islamic republic in 1956, but was stalled by the 1956 military coup d'etat by Ayub Khan, who ruled during a period of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965. Economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political tensions and army repression, escalating into civil war[8] followed by the third war with India. This ultimately led to the secession of East Pakistan and the brith of Bangladesh.[9]

Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was deposed by General Zia-ul-Haq, who became the country's third military president. Pakistan's secular policies were replaced by the Islamic Shariah legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation worsened. Military tensions in the Kargil conflict[10] with India were followed by a 1999 coup d'état in which General Pervez Musharraf assumed executive powers.[11]

In 2001, Musharraf named himself President after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar. In the 2002 Parliamentary Elections, Musharraf transferred executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 by Shaukat Aziz. On November 15th, 2007 the National Assembly completed its term and a caretaker government was appointed with the former Chairman of The Senate, Muhammad Mian Soomro as Prime Minister. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, resulted in a series of important political developments. Asif Ali Zardari was eventually elected as the new President.
Contents
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* 1 Prehistory
o 1.1 Soanian Culture
o 1.2 Mehrgarh
o 1.3 Indus Valley Civilization
o 1.4 Aryan Invasion
o 1.5 Vedic culture
* 2 Early history
o 2.1 Achaemenid Empire
o 2.2 Greek Kingdoms and Alexander The Great
o 2.3 Mauryan Empire
o 2.4 Gandhara
o 2.5 Gupta Empire
o 2.6 Kushan Empire
* 3 Muslim period
o 3.1 Umayyad Empire
o 3.2 Ghaznavid Dynasty
o 3.3 Delhi Sultanate
o 3.4 Mughal Empire
o 3.5 Sikh Empire
* 4 Independence
o 4.1 1857 Rebellion
o 4.2 The Muslim League
o 4.3 Muslim Homeland - "Now or Never"
o 4.4 Independence Day
* 5 Modern Day Pakistan
o 5.1 First democratic era (1947-1958)
o 5.2 First military era (1958-1971)
o 5.3 Second democratic era (1971-1977)
o 5.4 Second military era (1977-1988)
o 5.5 Third democratic era (1988-1999)
o 5.6 Third military era (1999 - 2007)
o 5.7 Fourth democratic era (2008-present)
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links