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History of Pakistan

Pakistan gained independence in 1947 after the partition of British India and became an Islamic republic in 1956.. 5 eras, 1733 to today.

Sikh Empire, 1733–1849 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of South Asia. It existed from 1799, when maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and annexed by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Sikh War. At its peak in the mid-19th century, the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the empire was weakened by the British East India Company stoking internal divisions and political mismanagement.

Seat of power: Lahore

Durrani Empire, 1747–1826 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Durrani Empire was an Afghan empire founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, of the Pashtun Durrani tribe. At its peak, it ruled over present-day Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, parts of northeastern and southeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India. Under Ahmad, the Afghans invaded India on eight occasions, subjugating parts of Kashmir and the majority of Punjab. The empire lost Peshawar, Multan, and Kashmir to the Sikh Empire in the early 19th century.

Seat of power: Kabul

British Raj, 1858–1947 Draft, not yet reviewed

The British Raj was the period of rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasting from 1858 to 1947. The system was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria. It lasted until 1947, when it was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states, the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

Seat of power: Kolkata

Rulers

Dominion of Pakistan, 1947–1956 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Dominion of Pakistan was the Pakistani state between 1947 and 1956, when it existed as an independent federal dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations. It was established on 14 August 1947 when it was created from British India under the Indian Independence Act 1947 of the British parliament. The dominion ceased to exist on 23 March 1956, when the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan adopted a constitution which established Pakistan as a republic.

Seat of power: Karachi

Rulers

Pakistan, 1947 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

Pakistan gained independence in 1947 after the partition of British India, which awarded separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions and was accompanied by an unparalleled mass migration and loss of life. Initially a dominion of the British Commonwealth, Pakistan adopted a republican constitution in 1956 and became an Islamic republic with two geographically separate provinces, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. East Pakistan seceded as the new country of Bangladesh in 1971 after a nine-month-long civil war. In the following four decades, Pakistan has been ruled by governments that alternated between civilian and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamist.

Seat of power: Islamabad

Rulers

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.