***** {{{ PAKISTAN ZINDABAD }}} *****

HISTORY OF PAKISTAN
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The first known inhabitants of the modern-day Pakistan region are believed to have been the Soanian - Homo erectus, who settled in the Soan Valley and Riwat almost 2 million years ago. Over the next several thousand years, the region would develop into various civilizations like Mehrgarh and the Indus Valley Civilization. Throughout its history, the region has also been apart of various Greek, Persian, Turkic, Islamic and British empires. The region's ancient history also includes some of the oldest empires from the subcontinent^[1] and some of its major civilizations.^[2][3][4][5] The political history of the nation began with the birth of the All India Muslim League in 1906 to protect Muslim interests, amid fears of neglect and under-representation of Muslims, in case the British Raj decided to grant local self-rule. On the 29 December 1930, Muhammad Iqbal called for an autonomous state in "northwestern India for Indian Muslims".^[6] The Muslim League rose to popularity in the late 1930s. Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution^[7] of 1940, demanding the formation of independent states for Muslims in the East and the West of British India. Eventually, a united Pakistan with two wings - West Pakistan and East Pakistan - gained independence from the British, on August 14, 1947. Modern-day Pakistan came in existence in 1971, after a civil war in the distant East Pakistan and emergence of an independent Bangladesh.

Independence witnessed unprecedented and prologued communal riots across India eventually resulting in millions of Muslims migrating to Pakistan. The princely state of Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region whose ruler, a Hindu maharaja, had decided to illegally accede to India. Pashtun tribesmens then invaded Kashmir in October 1947 after the Maharaja's continued hesitance to accede to Pakistan, therefore starting the 1947 war. By October 25, Pakistani forces had already reached the capital, Srinagar. On October 26 the Indian invasion of Kashmir took place. The 1965 War and the Kargil War were also focused on Kashmir. India also began the Siachen conflict in 1984 by successfully invading and taking control of the Siachen Glacier from Pakistan.

Pakistan declared itself an Islamic republic on adoption of a constitution in 1956, but the civilian rule was stalled by the 1956 military coup d'etat by Ayub Khan, who ruled during a period of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965. Economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political tensions and army repression, escalating into civil war^[8] followed by the third war with India. Pakistan's loss in the war ultimately led to the secession of East Pakistan and the brith of Bangladesh.^[9]

Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was deposed by General Zia-ul-Haq, who became the country's third military president. Pakistan's secular policies were replaced by the Islamic Shariah legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation worsened. 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.^[11]

In 2001, Musharraf named himself President after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar. In the 2002 Parliamentary Elections, Musharraf transferred executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 by Shaukat Aziz. On November 15, 2007 the National Assembly completed its term and a caretaker government was appointed with the former Chairman of The Senate, Muhammad Mian Soomro as Prime Minister. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, that resulted in a series of important political developments, her husband Asif Ali Zardari was eventually elected as the new President in 2008.