The History of Pakistan

The region of Pakistan was one of the cradles of civilisation. Stone-age hunter-gatherers lived on the Potohar plateau and in the Soan Valley in northern Punjab 300,000 or more years ago. Excavations on the Balochistan plateau show a more advanced culture which flourished from 4000 to 2000 BCE. At Kot Diji in the Khairpur district, an early bronze age culture developed in this period. These early civilisations reached their peak in the Indus valley cities, of which Harappa is the most notable. These societies had mastered town planning and pictographic writing.

In 327 BCE Alexander the Great invaded with his Macedonian army. Later, Mauryans from India ruled the northern Punjab area, to be replaced by Bactrian Greeks from Afghanistan and central Asian tribes. Different religions prevailed in turn: Buddhism (under the Mauryans), Hinduism and, with Arab conquest in the eighth century, Islam.

Two main principalities emerged under Arab rule, that of al- Mansurah and that of Multan. The Ghaznarid sultans gained ascendancy in Punjab in the 11th century. The subsequent ascendancy of the Moghuls, who originated in Central Asia, lasted from 1536 to 1707; their rule lingered nominally until 1857. They established a sophisticated imperial administration and left a rich legacy of forts and walled cities, gardens and gateways, mosques and tombs.

In the early 17th century European traders arrived on the subcontinent. Through the East India Company, the British became the dominant force. After the unsuccessful uprising against Britain of 1857, the British took direct control. Slowly a national Muslim identity emerged, championed by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–89). The All India Muslim League was founded in 1907.As the subcontinent moved towards independence, it became clear that Hindu and Muslim interests could not be reconciled. The campaign to establish an independent Muslim state came to prominence in the 1920s and 30s. It was led by the philosopher and poet Mohammad Iqbal and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Pakistan was created, as an Islamic state, out of the partition of the UK’s Indian Empire, at independence in August 1947. It originally consisted of two parts, West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), separated by 1,600 km of Indian territory. Partition was followed by war with India over Kashmir and the mass migration of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs to resettle within the new borders, an upheaval which led to violence, financial loss and death on a large scale. With the arrival of Indian Muslims and departure of Pakistan’s Hindus and Sikhs, Pakistan became an almost entirely Muslim society. Jinnah, who is honoured as the Quaid-i-Azam, or great leader, died in 1948.In 1956, Pakistan became a federal republic. It has been under military rule for long periods.

Its first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was assassinated in 1951. In 1958, martial law was declared and political parties abolished. General (later Field Marshal) Ayub Khan became President in 1960 and allowed a form of guided ‘basic democracy’. However, failure to win the 1965 war against India and accusations of nepotism and corruption undermined his position. In the east, the Awami League of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman voiced the grievances of the Bengali population. Ayub Khan resigned in 1969 and power was taken over by General Yahya Khan, who in December 1970 held the first national elections in independent Pakistan.

Mujib and the Awami League won an electoral majority in Pakistan’s general election on a platform demanding greater autonomy for East Pakistan. At the same time Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) gained a majority in the West. Despite Mujib’s victory, he was prevented by the Pakistan authorities from becoming Prime Minister of the combined state and the Awami League then issued their own plans for a new constitution for an independent state in the East. As a result of the military intervention that ensued, civil war broke out in the eastern region in 1971; the Indian army intervened in support of the Bengalis; Pakistan forces withdrew and Bangladesh became an independent state. In 1972 Pakistan withdrew from the Commonwealth but rejoined in 1989.