History of Pakistan : History Of Pakistan

History Of Pakistan

Pakistan of Bioghraphy

The history of Pakistan (Urdu: تاريخ پاكِستان ‎) encompasses the history of the region constituting modern Pakistan. Prior to independence in 1947, the territory of modern Pakistan was a part of the British Indian Empire. Prior to that it was ruled in different periods by local kings and numerous imperial powers. The ancient history of the region comprising present-day Pakistan also includes some of the oldest of the names of empires of Indian Subcontinent^[1]and some of its major civilizations.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] By the 18th century the land was incorporated into British India. Pakistan's political history began with the birth of the All India Muslim League in 1906 to protect "Muslim interests, amid neglect and under-representation" and to oppose Congress and growing Indian nationalism in return the British Raj would decide to grant local self-rule. On 29 December 1930, philosopher Sir Muhammad Iqbal called for an autonomous new state in "northwestern India for Indian Muslims".^[6] The League rose to popularity in the late 1930s. Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the League to adopt the Lahore Resolution^[7] of 1940, demanding the formation of independent states in the East and the West of British India. Eventually, a successful movement led by Jinnah resulted in the partition of India and independence from Britain, on 14 August 1947.

On 12 March 1949, the second constituent assembly of Pakistan passed the Objectives Resolution which was proposed by the first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modeled entirely on a European pattern, but on the ideology and democratic faith of Islam. The legislative elections in 1954 saw the Awami League coming to power and its leader Huseyn Suhrawardy becoming country's first BengaliPrime minister. Promulgation of Constitution in 1956 lead to Pakistan declaring itself Islamic republic (official name) with the adoption of parliamentary democratic system of government. The constitution transformed the Governor-General of Pakistan into President of Pakistan (as head of state). Subsequently, Iskander Mirza became the first president as well as first Bengali in 1956, but the democratic system was stalled after President Mirza imposed the military coup d'état and appointed Ayub Khan as an enforcer of martial law. Two weeks later, President Mirza was ousted by Ayub Khan; his presidency saw an era of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965. Economic grievances and political disenfranchisement in East Pakistan led to violent political tensions and armed repression, escalating intoguerrilla war^[8] followed by the third war with India. Pakistan's defeat in the war ultimately led to the secession of East Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh.^[9]

Democracy again returned which was resumed from 1972 to 1977 under leftist PPP led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was vanquished by General Zia-ul-Haq, who became the country's third military president. Pakistan's banished-secularpolicies were replaced by the new Islamic Shariah legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, the new general elections announced the victory ofPPP led by Benazir Bhutto who was elevated as the country's first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with conservative Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML(N)) led by Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation deteriorated. 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.

Self-appointing himself as President after the resignation of President Rafiq Tarar, Musharraf held nationwide general elections in 2002 to transfer the executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 by Shaukat Aziz. During the election campaign in 2007 following the parliament completing its term on 15 November 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated which resulted in a series of important political developments when left-wing alliance led by PPP. The historic general elections held in 2013 marked the return of PML(N) coming to national prominence with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assuming the leadership of the country for the third time in it's history.

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Prehistory[edit]

Soanian culture[edit]

Main article: Soanian

The Soanian is archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic (ca. 1.9 mya to 125,000 BCE), contemporary to theAcheulean. It is named after the Soan Valley in the Sivalik Hills, near modern-day Islamabad/Rawalpindi. In Adiyalaand Khasala, about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Rawalpindi, on the bend of the Soan River hundreds of edged pebble tools were discovered. No human skeletons of this age have yet been found. In the Soan River Gorge many fossil bearing rocks are exposed on the surface. The 14-million-year-old fossils of gazelle, rhinoceros, crocodile, giraffe and rodents have been found there. Some of these fossils are on display at Pakistan Museum of Natural History.

Mehrgarh period[edit]

Main article: Mehrgarh

Mehrgarh, (7000–5500 BCE), on the Kachi Plain of Balochistan, is an important Neolithic site discovered in 1974, with early evidence of farming and herding,^[11] and dentistry.^[1] Early residents lived in mud brick houses, stored grain in granaries, fashioned tools with copper ore, cultivated barley, wheat, jujubes and dates, and herded sheep, goats and cattle. As the civilization progressed (5500–2600 BCE) residents began to engage in crafts, including flint knapping, tanning, bead production, and metalworking. The site was occupied continuously until 2600 BCE,^[12] when climatic changes began to occur. Between 2600 and 2000 BCE, region became more arid and Mehrgarh was abandoned in favour of the Indus Valley,^[13] where a new civilization was in the early stages of development.^[14]

Indus Valley Civilization[edit]

Main article: Indus Valley Civilization

Extent of Indus Valley Civilizationsites.

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) extending throughout much of what is modern-day Pakistan today. ^[15] Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and of the three the most widespread,^[16] covering an area of 1.25 million km².^[17] It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which once coursed through eastern Pakistan.^[18] At its peak, the civilization hosted a population of approximately 5 million in hundreds of settlements extending as far as the Arabian Sea, present-day southern and eastern Afghanistan, and the Himalayas.^[19]Major urban centers were at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa as well as an offshoot called the Kulli culture (2500–2000 BCE) in southern Balochistan, which had similar settlements, pottery and other artifacts. The civilization collapsed around 1700 BCE, though the reasons behind its fall are still unknown. Through the excavation of the Indus cities and analysis of town planning and seals, it has been inferred that the Civilization had high level of sophistication in its town planning, arts, crafts, and trade.^[20]

Early history[edit]

Vedic period[edit]

Main article: Vedic Civilization

Achaemenid Empire[edit]

Main article: Achaemenid Empire

Much of modern-day Pakistan was subordinated to the Achaemenid Empire and forced to pay tributes to Persia

Little is known about the Achaemenid Persian invasion of modern-day Pakistan as historical sources and evidence are scant about the easternmost regions of the Empire, and fragmentary containing little detail. There is no archaeological evidence of Achaemind control over modern-day Pakistan as not a single archaeological site that can be positively identified with the Achaemenid Empire has been found anywhere in Pakistan, including at Taxila.^[25] What is known about the easternmost satraps and borderlands of the Achaemenid Empire are alluded to in the Darius inscriptions and from Greek sources such as the Histories of Herodotus and the later Alexander Chronicles (Arrian, Strabo et al.). These sources list three Indian tributaries or conquered territories that were subordinated to the Persian Empire and made to pay tributes to the Persian Kings: Gandhara, Sattagydia (Thatagus) and Hindush.^[26]

Gandhara and Sattagydia (Thatagus) are listed amongst the provinces inherited by Darius when he seized the throne in 522 BC in his commemorative Behistun inscription, however, the dates of the initial annexation of these two regions is not certain.^[26] The locations of Sattagydia and Hindush and the extent of their boundaries have not been identified either though it is certain that these two tributaries existed along the river Indus as the name Hindush is analogous with the Indus and was derived by the Persians from the Sanskrit word Sindhu.

Additionally, much of what constitutes Balochistan province in southwest Pakistan formed part of the Achaemenid satrap of Gedrosia.^[27]

Greek rule[edit]

Empire of Alexander the Great[edit]

Modern-day Pakistan was the easternmost part of Alexander the Great's empire

Main article: Alexander the Great

After the defeat of the Persian Achaemenid empire, Alexander the Great, the Greek king fromMacedonia, invaded the region of modern Pakistan and conquered much of the Punjab region. After defeating King Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes (modern-day Jhelum), his battle weary troops refused to advance further into India^[28] to engage the army of Nanda Dynasty and its vanguard of trampling elephants. Alexander, therefore proceeded southwest along the Indus valley.^[29] Along the way, he engaged in several battles with smaller kingdoms before marching his army westward across the Makran desert towards what is now Iran. Alexander founded several new Macedonian and Greek settlements in Gandhara, Punjab and Sindh. ^[30] During that time, many Greeks settled all over in Pakistan,^{[dubious – discuss]} initiating interaction between the culture of Hellenistic Greece and the region's prevalent Hindu and Buddhist cultures.

Main article: Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his Diadochi (generals) divided the empire among themselves, with the Macedonian warlord Seleucus setting up the Seleucid Kingdom, which included the Indus plain.^[31] Around 250 BCE, the eastern part of the Seleucid Kingdom broke away to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

Maurya Empire[edit]

Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great

Main article: Maurya Empire

Modern-day Pakistan was conquered by Chandragupta Maurya, who overthrew the powerful Nanda Dynasty of Magadhaand established the Maurya Empire: He conquered the trans-Indus region to the west, which was under Macedonian rule - annexing Balochistan and much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Herat^[32] and Kandahar provinces - and then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Greek general from Alexander's army. Seleucus is said to have reached apeace treaty with Chandragupta by giving him control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush upon intermarriage as well as 500 elephants.

Alexander took these away from the Indo-Aryans and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicatorgave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.^[33]

— Strabo, 64 BC–24 AD

Emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara expanded the Empire into India's central and southern areas, while Ashoka pushed further into previously unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha). With an area of 5,000,000 km², the Maura Empire was one of the world's largest empires in its time, and the largest ever in the South Asia. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, and to the east stretching into what is now Assam province near the border with modern Myanmar (Burma).

Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Mauryans were followers of Buddhism and Hinduism. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of South Asia. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia and Mediterranean Europe.^[32] After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan Empire's decline began 60 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BC with the foundation of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.

Gandhara civilization[edit]

A coin ofMenander I, who ruled the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria

Greco-Buddhism (or Græco-Buddhism) was the syncretism between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism in the then Gandhara region of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE.^[34] It influenced the artistic development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it spread to central and eastern Asia, from the 1st century CE onward. Demetrius (son of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus) invaded northern India in 180 BCE as far as Pataliputra and established an Indo-Greek kingdom. To the south, the Greeks captured Sindh and nearby coastal areas, completing the invasion by 175 BCE and were stopped by the Indian Shunga Empire to the east. Meanwhile, in Bactria, the usurper Eucratides killed Demetrius in a battle. Although the Indo-Greeks lost part of the Gangetic plain, their kingdom lasted nearly two centuries.

Indo-Greeks[edit]

Indo-Greek Kingdom

possible extent of expeditions

• Capital cities

The Indo-Greek Menander I (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out ofGandhara and beyond the Hindu Kush, becoming a king shortly after his victory. His territories covered Panjshirand Kapisa in modern Afghanistan and extended to the Punjab region, with many tributaries to the south and east, possibly as far as Mathura. The capital Sagala (modern Sialkot) prospered greatly under Menander's rule and Menander is one of the few Bactrian kings mentioned by Greek authors.^[35] The classical Buddhist text Milinda Pañha praises Menander, saying there was "none equal to Milinda in all India".^[36] His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king, Strato II, disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles, son of Eucratides, fled from the Yuezhi invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of the Jhelum River. The last known Indo-Greek ruler wasTheodamas, from the Bajaur area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription "Su Theodamasa" ("Su" was the Greek transliteration of the Kushan royal title "Shau"("Shah" or "King")). Various petty kings ruled into the early 1st century CE, until the conquests by the Scythians,Parthians and the Yuezhi, who founded the Kushan dynasty.

History Of Pakistan,