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Friday, July 15, 2016

Pakistan, Cool Facts #126

<= 125. India                                                                                                           127. Bangladesh =>



1. Evolution of the Pakistani area

The present-day Pakistan was born, when the British Indian colony was partitioned into the Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Before that the present-day Pakistan was part of several Empires along the history. 

List of Empires that have ruled in the area of present-day Pakistan: 

Click here to see the complete list

7000-2600BC Mehrgarh: a precurcsor to the Indus Valley Civilization 

2500-1500BC Indus Valley Civilization: established by the Dravidian people residing in the Indus Valley region. The ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have remained as ruins from this time period. 




550-330 BC Achaemenid Empire: called as the First Persian Empire 




322-185 BC Mauryan Empire: ruled most parts of the Indian subcontinent




661-750 Umayyad Caliphate: second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Mohammad 




1206-1526 Delhi Sultanate: a Muslim kingdom that ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent



1206-1368 Mongol Empire: ruled Pakistani areas in the late 1200s 



1526-1857 Mughal Empire: an Empire established by Babur who won the last ruler of Delhi Sultanate in a battle 




1747-1826 Durrani Empire: also known as the Last Afghan Empire 



1799-1849 Sikh Empire: an Empire based around Punjab 



1858-1947 British Empire




2. The Partitions of India and Pakistan 

Muhammad Ali Jinnah is regarded as the Father of the Nation in Pakistan. He advocated for Hindu-Muslim unity and was a prominent member in the Indian National Congress. Jinnah resigned from the Indian National Congress in 1920 and by 1940 he had come to believe that Muslims in British India should have their own state. 

The Lahore Resolution in 1940 demanded a separate nation for the Muslims. The Muslims and Hindus agreed to establish separate independent states for the Hindus and Muslims after the Indian National Congress and Muslim League couldn't reach a power-sharing formula for a united India. In 1947 India and Pakistan became independent from Great Britain. 

Pakistan consistent of West Pakistan (Pakistan) and East Pakistan (Bangladesh). East Pakistan started a civil war or the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, in which it became independent from West Pakistan as Bangladesh. Bangladesh as East Pakistan wasn't satisfied as West Pakistan dominated the politics over the more populous East Pakistan. 

Important dates in the Pakistani history: 
1940 Lahore Resolution 
1947 India and Pakistan become independent as separate states 
1971 Pakistan splits into Bangladesh (East Pakistan) and Pakistan (West Pakistan) after the civil war 




Documentary about the partition of India by BBC 



3. Kashmir conflict

- Territorial conflict between Pakistan and India 
- Pakistan claims the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir regions from India
- China claims the Shaksam Valley and Aksai Chin from India 
- Pakistan and India have warred over the regions three times: 1947-49, 1965 and 1999 
- 1989 insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir  
- Some Kashmiri separatists seek Kashmir's complete independence some accession to Pakistan 
- India hasn't allowed a referendum in Kashmir about its situation
Kashmir conflict map
Kashmir conflict video:

4. Bhutto Family 

Benazir Bhutto became the world's first female Prime Minister in a Muslim state in 1988. The former Prime Minister Mohammed Zia ul-Haq was killed that year in a plane crash. Zia ul-Haq had overthrown Benazir's father Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was then tried and executed by the Supreme Court due to authorizing the murder of a political opponent.

Benazir Bhutto was re-elected in 1993 and served until 1996. Benazir was accused of corruption and in 1998 she went into exile in Dubai. In 2007 Benazir reached an understanding with President Pervez Musharraf and returned to Pakistan. Benazir was granted amnesty and all the corruption charges against her were withdrawn. Bhutto returned to Pakistan but she was assassinated the same year in a bombing.

The Bhutto family has influenced a lot the Pakistani politics through the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has been ruled by the family since the establishment of the party when Zulfikar Bhutto was elected as the first chairman. Zulfikar's wife Nusrat led the party after him also. Zulfikar's daughter Benazir became the head of the party after Nusrat and Benazir's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became the co-chairman with his father after the death of Benazir.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto


5. Hippie trail 

From the mid-1960s to the late 1970s many people, especially the members of the hippie subculture, took an overland journey from Europe to India and further. Pakistan was an important checkpoint before reaching India and the other destinations in Asia. The hippie trail came an end in the late 1970s with political changes in the countries through which the route crossed. So Pakistan and all the countries lost tourists because of the several conflicts in the Middle East.

Political changes that influenced the hippie trail 

1973 Yom Kippur War
1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War
1979 Iranian Revolution
1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War
1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War

The Hippie trail route

Timeline

2500-1500BC Indus Valley Civilization, which declined when the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the area
300-100BC Indus Valley was ruled by local Princes or by the dynasties of North India like Maurya, Kushana and Gupta
700s The Arabs brought Islam
1000 Mahmud of Ghazni from present-day Afghanistan instilled Islam to the region
1100s Delhi Sultanate, the first Islamic state in the region, was established
1398 Timur Lenk's Tatars from Central Asia attacked the Indus Valley and India scattering the existing states into smaller separate states
1526 Timur Lenk's grandchild Babur established the Mughal Empire, consisting almost the whole Indian subcontinent
1700s The Mughal Empire was degrading and the Indus Valley didn't have a strong central power, but it was controlled by local Talpur rulers
1799 The Sikhs created their own state in Kashmir and Punjab
1800s The British East India Company had taken advantage of the degrading Mughal Empire, which was fighting against the Maratha Empire and controlled in the middle of the century the whole subcontinent
1858 The last Mughal ruler was overthrown and present-day Pakistan became part of the British Indian colony of British Raj. During the Mughal era, Muslims had ruled the country but the British favored the Hindu, who were given important tasks and educated
1885 The nationalist movements organized as the Indian National Congress
1906 The Muslims in India established the All-India Muslim League, which defended the Muslim rights in the British India
1930s Muhammad Ali Jinnah from the Muslim League started demanding for the establishment of an independent Muslim state, which succeeded
1947 India and Pakistan became independent from Great Britain, Pakistan consisted of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (Pakistan), which was the dominating party
1970 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League won the parliament elections, which sought autonomy for East Pakistan, but he wasn't allowed to form a government and East Pakistan wasn't granted autonomy
1971 East Pakistan declared itself as the independent Bangladesh, which was followed by a civil war
1973 The Baluchi people rebelled in the western part of Pakistan demanding back the 1415 lost independence and control over the natural resources of the mountain area, which they inhabited. The rebellion was suppressed in a four-year war in Baluchistan, which is situated between Pakistan and Afghanistan
1977 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown by soldiers in a military coup and general Mohammed Zia ul-Haq became the leader. Zia ul-Haq hanged Bhutto despite the international objections
1988 Zia ul-Haq died in an attach and afterwards the PPP won the elections and Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhutto became the first female Prime Minister in any Muslim country
1997 Benazir Bhutto had to exile after being accused of corruption in Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif from IDA became the next Prime Minister
1998 India and Pakistan threatened each others by conducting nuclear weapon tests
1998 General Pervez Musharraf took over power and elected himself the president, as an invaluable ally to the USA in their war against terrorism, Musharraf didn't even face any international pressure after his undemocratic use of power
2007 Benazir Bhutto returned to her home country but was assassinated. President Musharraf was pressured to resign and Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari became the Prime Minister
2011 American special forces hit secretly Osama bin Laden's home palace in Abbottabad and killed him 

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