indain history
Early and medieval age
Main articles: Indo-Greek Kingdom, Indus Valley Civilization, Vedic Civilization, Sikh Empire, and Mughal Empire
Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan.[50] The earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab.[51] The Indus region, which covers most of present day Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic Mehrgarh[52] and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation (2800–1800 BC) at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.[53][54]
The Vedic Civilization (1500–500 BC), characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, which would become well established in the region.[55][56] Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre.[57] The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in Punjab.[52] Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire around 519 BC), Alexander the Great's empire in 326 BC[58] and the Maurya Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great until 185 BC.[52] The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BC) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BC), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region.[52][59] Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world.[60][61][62][63]
The Rai Dynasty (489–632 AD) of Sindh, at its zenith, ruled this region and the surrounding territories.[64] The Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire that under Dharampala and Devapala stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan.
The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD.[65][66][67][68][69] The Pakistan government's official chronology identifies this as the point where the "foundation" of Pakistan was laid.[65][70][71] The Early Medieval period (642–1219 AD) witnessed 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.[72] These developments set the stage for the rule of several successive Muslim empires in the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975–1187 AD), the Ghorid Kingdom and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 AD). The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 AD). The Mughals introduced Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo-Persian culture in the region.[73] From the region of modern day Pakistan, key cities during the Mughal rule were Lahore and Thatta,[74] both of which were chosen to house immensely beautiful Mughal buildings.[75] In the early 16th century, the region remained under the Mughal Empire ruled by Muslim emperors.[76] By the early 18th century, the increasing European influence slowly disintegrated the empire as the lines between commercial and political dominance were increasingly blurred.[76]
During this time, the English East India Company had established coastal outposts.[76] Control over the seas, greater resources, technology, and military force projection by East India Company of British Empire led it to increasingly flex its military muscle; a factor that was crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the subcontinent by 1765 and sidelining the European competitors.[77] Expanding access beyond Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annexe or subdue most of region by the 1820s.[76] To many historians, this marked the starting of region's colonial period.[76] By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[76] Such reforms included the enforcement of English Education Act in 1835 and the introduction of the Indian Civil Service (ICS).[78] Traditional madrasahs – primary institutions of higher learning for Muslims in the subcontinent – were no longer supported by the English Crown, and nearly all of the madrasahs lost their financial endowment.[79]
Colonial period
The gradual decline of the Mughal Empire in the early 18th century enabled the Sikh Empire's influence to control larger areas until the BritishEast-India Company gained ascendancy over the Indian subcontinent.[80] The rebellion in 1857 (or Sepoy mutiny) was the region's major armed struggle against the British Empire and Queen Victoria.[81] Divergence in the relationship between Hinduism and Islam created a major rift in British India; thus instigating racially motivated religious violence in India.[82] The language controversy further escalated the tensions between Hindus and Muslims.[83] The Hindu renaissance witnessed an awakening of intellectualism in traditional Hinduism and saw the emergence of more assertive influence in the social and political spheres in British India.[84][85] An intellectual movement to counter the Hindu renaissance was led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who helped to found the All-India Muslim League in 1901 and envisioned as well as advocated for the two-nation theory.[80] In contrast to the Indian Congress's anti-British efforts, the Muslim League was a pro-British whose political program inherited the British values that would shape Pakistan's future civil society.[86][87] In events during World War I, British Intelligence foiled an anti-English conspiracy involving the nexus of Congress and the German Empire.[88] The largely non-violent independence struggle led by the Indian Congress engaged millions of protesters in mass campaigns of civil disobedience in the 1920s and 1930s against the British Empire.[89][90][91]
The Muslim League slowly rose to mass popularity in the 1930s amid fears of under-representation and neglect of Muslims in politics. In his presidential address of 29 December 1930, Allama Iqbal called for "the amalgamation of North-West Muslim-majority Indian states" consisting of Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan.[93] Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, greatly espoused the two-nation theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution of 1940, popularly known as the Pakistan Resolution.[80] In World War II, Jinnah and British educated founding fathers in the Muslim League supported the United Kingdom's war efforts, countering opposition against it whilst working towards Sir Syed's vision.[94]
The 1946 elections had resulted in the Muslim League winning 90 percent of the seats reserved for Muslims. Thus the 1946 election was effectively a plebiscite where the Indian Muslims were to vote on the creation of Pakistan; a plebiscite which the Muslim League won.[95] This victory was assisted by the support given to the Muslim League by the rural peasantry of Bengal as well as the support of the landowners of Sindh and Punjab. The Congress, which initially denied the Muslim League's claim of being the sole representative of Indian Muslims, was now forced to recognise that the Muslim League represented Indian Muslims.[95] The British had no alternative except to take Jinnah's views into account as he had emerged as the sole spokesperson of India's Muslims. However, the British did not desire India to be partitioned and in one last effort to avoid it they arranged the Cabinet Mission plan.[96]
As the cabinet mission failed, the British government announced its intention to end the British Raj in India in 1946–47.[97] Nationalists in British India – including Jawaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad of Congress, Jinnah of Muslim League, and Master Tara Singh representing the Sikhs—agreed to the proposed terms of transfer of power and independence in June 1947 with the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma.[98] As the United Kingdom agreed upon partitioning of India in 1947, the modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 (27th of Ramadan in 1366 of the Islamic Calendar) in amalgamating the Muslim-majority eastern and northwestern regions of British India.[91] It comprised the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab and Sindh; thus forming Pakistan.[80][98]
In the riots which preceded the partition in the Punjab Province, it is believed that between 200,000 and 2,000,000[99][100][101][102][103][104] people were killed in the retributive genocide between the religions [105][106] while 50,000 Musllim women were abducted and raped by Hindu and Sikh men and 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women also experienced the same fate at the hands of Muslims.[107][108][109][110] Around 6.5 million Muslims moved from India to West Pakistan and 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from West Pakistan to India.[111] It was the largest mass migration in human history.[112][113][114] Dispute over Jammu and Kashmir led to the First Kashmir War in 1948.[115][116
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