Ancient
Human occupation of the area we know as Pakistan dates back some 300,000 years, with evidence of stone-age communities found in the northern Punjab region. These evolved into farming and herding communities that cultivated large areas of land, though it was the Indus Valley civilisation that really flourished in the basins of the Indus River. It’s not known why this civilisation collapsed, but they were eventually replaced by the Persian Achaemenid Empire until Alexander the Great rolled into town with his Macedonian army in 327 BC. When Alexander died, he left behind an enormous empire stretching from Greece to the Indus River, which was split among his generals.
Conquest after conquest
Pakistan continued to be a highly sought-after territory. Buddhism and Hinduism both prevailed in the area until the first Muslim foothold was achieved with Muhammad bin Qasim’s conquest in 711 AD. Islam spread throughout the region, culminating in the creation of the Mughal Empire, which covered modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh. The Mughals were descendants of the Turks and their leader, Babur, was said to descend from Genghis Kahn himself . The Mughals were renowned for their architecture (think the Taj Mahal and Red Fort in India), as well as their interest in the arts, which blended Persian, Indian and European influences. The empire started to crack in the early 1700s and by the end of the century a Sikh Empire had taken control of the Punjab region.
British colonisation
The British Raj ruled the Indian subcontinent, including much of Pakistan, from 1858–1947 after several confrontations with the Sikh armies. After victory in the Anglo-Sikh wars, and as a result of the influence of the East India Company, the British dominated the region though a national Muslim identity was slowly emerging. One of the key figures in this movement was Muhammad Iqbal, a writer and poet, who felt that a Muslim state was necessary in a Hindu-dominated region, though some argue that he advocated for a Muslim province rather than a partition of country.
The name ‘Pakistan’ was created in 1933 by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a political science student, as an acronym for the five northern regions of British India: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. ‘PAKSTAN’ became ‘Pakistan’ for pronunciation purposes, and this led to the birth of the Pakistan Movement.
Independence
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was granted independence from the British in 1947 (as was India). Once the borders were drawn, an unforseen issue arose in the Punjab region between Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Muslim minorities in India. A population exchanged was agreed upon but it was far from peaceful. It’s estimated that over ten million people migrated across the borders and that 1–2 million people died as a result of violence between the two religions. This clash was the basis of the still unresolved Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India. It’s worth noting, too, that Bangladesh was formerly known as East Pakistan and had a Bengali Muslim majority. In 1971, however, the Bengali Muslims split from their western family because of discrimination and a lack of attention from the government in Pakistan proper.
Modern
Pakistan is a regional (and nuclear) power with one of the world’s fastest-growing middle class. The problems are many, including corruption, terrorism and poverty, but the country is tipped to become a large and important economy. Imran Kahn, Pakistan’s current prime minister and former cricket captain, has prioritised tourism as an important source of future wealth.
