Early and medieval age
1st century AD Standing Buddha from Gandhara, Pakistan
Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan. The earliest known inhabitants in the region were the Soanians who settled in the Soan Valley of Punjab.[15] The Indus region, which covers most of Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic era's Mehrgarh[16] and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation (2800–1800 BCE) at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.[17][18]
The Vedic Civilization (1500–500 BCE) characterized by Indo-Aryan culture laid the foundations of Hinduism, which would become well established in the region.[19][20] Multan was considered an important Hindu pilgrimage centre.[21] The Vedic civilization flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in Punjab.[16]Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Achaemenid Persian empire around 519 BCE, the Greek empire founded by Alexander the Great in 327 BCE and the Mauryan empire founded byChandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE.[16] The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria in 184 BCE included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent underMenander, establishing the Greco-Buddhist period with advances in trade and culture. The city of Taxila became a major centre of learning in ancient times—the remains of the city, located to the west of Islamabad, are one of the country's major archaeological sites.[22] Taxila is considered to be amongst the earliest universities and centers of higher education in the world.[23][24][25][26]
The Medieval period (642–1219 CE) is defined by the spread of Islam in the region. During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam.[27] The Rai Dynasty (489–632 CE) of Sindh, at its zenith, ruled this region and the surrounding territories.[28]
In 711 CE, the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab.[29] This Arab and Islamic victory would set the stage for the rule of several successive Muslim empires in the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975 -1187 CE), the Ghorid Kingdom and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE). The last of Delhi Sultanate, Lodi dynasty was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE). The Mughals transferred Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo-Persian culture in the region.[30]
The Pakistan government's official chronology has stated Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of the region as the point where the "foundation" of Pakistan was laid.[29]
Colonial period
The gradual decline of the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century provided opportunities for the Sikhs to exercise most of the control over large areas until the British East India Companygained ascendancy over South Asia.[31] The Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, was the region's major armed struggle against the British.[32] The largely non-violent freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress engaged millions of protesters in mass campaigns of civil disobedience in the 1920s and 1930s .[33][34]
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder and firstGovernor General of Pakistan, delivering theopening address of the 1947 Constitutional Assembly, explaining the foundations for the new state of Pakistan.
The All India Muslim League rose to popularity in the late 1930s amid fears of under-representation and neglect of Muslims in politics. On 29 December 1930, Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address called for an autonomous "state in northwestern India for Indian Muslims, within the body politic of India."[35] Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution of 1940, popularly known as the Pakistan Resolution.[31] In early 1947, Britain announced the decision to end its rule in India. In June 1947, the nationalist leaders of British India—including Jawaharlal Nehruand Abul Kalam Azad on behalf of the Congress, Jinnah representing the Muslim League, and Master Tara Singh representing the Sikhs—agreed to the proposed terms of transfer of power and independence.[36][37]
The modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 (27 Ramadan 1366 in the Islamic Calendar), carved out of the two Muslim-majority wings in the eastern and northwestern regions of British India and comprising the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab andSindh.[31][36] Partition of the Punjab and Bengal provinces caused communal riots across India and Pakistan—millions of Muslims moved to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs moved to India.[38] Dispute over theprincely state, Jammu and Kashmir, lead to the First Kashmir War in 1948.[39]
Independence
The Minar-e-Pakistan, a symbol of Pakistan's independence
From 1947 to 1956, Pakistan was a dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations.[40] Pakistan has had two monarchs. In 1947, King George VI relinquished the title of Emperor of India, and became King of Pakistan. He remained King of Pakistan until his death on 6 February 1952. Upon his death, Queen Elizabeth II became Queen of Pakistan.[40] Pakistan became an Islamic and Parliamentary republic in 1956,[41] but the civilian rule was stalled by amilitary coup led by the Army Commander-in-Chief General Ayub Khan. The country experienced exceptional growth until a second war with India in 1965 led to economic downfall and internal instability.[42][43] Ayub Khan's successor, General Yahya Khan (1969–71) had to deal with a devastating cyclone which caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan.[44]
In 1970, Pakistan held its first ever democratic elections since independence. The elections were meant to mark a transition from military rule to democracy, however, after the East PakistanAwami League won the elections, Yahya Khan and the ruling elite in West Pakistan refused to hand over power.[45][46] Following civil unrest in the East, Pakistan launched a military operationon 25 March 1971 aimed at restoring control over the province.[45][46] The targeting of civilians and other atrocities during this operation led to a declaration of independence and to the waging of awar of liberation by East Pakistan Bengali Mukti Bahini forces with support from India.[46][47]Independent estimates of civilian deaths during this period range from 1 million to 3 million.[48]Attacks on Indian military bases by the Pakistani air forces in December 1971 led to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 which ended with the formal secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh.[46]
With Pakistan's defeat in the war, General Yahya Khan was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. Civilian rule resumed in Pakistan from 1972 to 1977.[49] During this period Pakistan began the process of building nuclear weapons. In 1972, the country's first atomic power plant was inaugurated.[50][51] In 1977, civilian rule ended with a military coup and, in 1979, General Zia-ul-Haq became the third military president. Military government lasted until 1988, during which Pakistan's economy became one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia.[52] Zia further consolidated nuclear development and was responsible for increasing Islamization of the state.[53] During this period, Pakistan helped the subsidizing and distribution of US resources to factions of the Mujahideen movement against the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[54][55]
With the death of Zia in a plane crash in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was followed by Nawaz Sharif and over the next decade the two leaders fought for power and alternated as the country's situation worsened; the economic indicators fell sharply in contrast to the 1980s. This period is marked with political instability, misgovernance and corruption.[56][57] During Sharif's government in May 1998, India tested five nuclear weapons and tension with India heightened to an extreme, resulting in Pakistan's detonation of six nuclear weapons of its own (see Chagai-I and Chagai-II) half a month later. Military tension in the Kargil with India was followed by the Kargil War, after which General Pervez Musharraf took over through a bloodlesscoup d'état and assumed vast executive powers.[58][59]
General Musharraf ruled Pakistan as head of state from 1999–2001 and as President from 2001–08, a period marked by extensive economic reforms[60] and Pakistan's involvement in the US led war on terrorism. On 15 November 2007, Pakistan's National Assembly completed tenure for the first time in its history and new elections were called.[61] In the 2008 elections, Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the largest number of seats and its member Yousaf Raza Gillani was sworn in as Prime Minister.[62] Musharraf resigned from the presidency when threatened with impeachment on 18 August 2008, and was succeeded by current president; Asif Ali Zardari.[63][64][65] Pakistan's involvement in the war against terrorism has, according to its own estimates, cost up to $67.93 billion,[66][67] thousands of casualties and nearly 3 million displaced civilians.[68]
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