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History
Pakistan, along with
parts of western India, contains the archeological remains
of an urban civilization dating back 4,500 years.
Alexander the Great included the Indus Valley in his
empire in 326 B.C., and his successors founded the
Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria based in what is today
Afghanistan and extending to Peshawar. Following the rise
of the Central Asian Kushan Empire in later centuries, the
Buddhist culture of Afghanistan and Pakistan, centered on
the city of Taxila just west of Islamabad, experienced a
cultural renaissance known as the Gandhara period.
Pakistan's Islamic
history began with the arrival of Muslim traders in the
8th century in Sindh. The collapse of the Mughal Empire in
the 18th century provided an opportunity to the English
East India Company to extend its control over much of the
subcontinent. The Sikh adventurer Ranjit Singh carved out
a dominion that extended from Kabul to Srinagar and
Lahore, encompassing much of the northern area of modern
Pakistan. British rule replaced the Sikhs in the first
half of the 19th century. In a decision that had
far-reaching consequences, the British permitted the Hindu
Maharaja of Kashmir, a Sikh appointee, to continue in
power.
Pakistan emerged from an
extended period of agitation by Muslims in the
subcontinent to express their national identity free from
British colonial domination as well as domination by what
they perceived as a Hindu-controlled Indian National
Congress. Muslim anti-colonial leaders formed the
All-India Muslim League in 1906. Initially, the League
adopted the same objective as the
Congress--self-government for India within the British
Empire--but Congress and the League were unable to agree
on a formula that would ensure the protection of Muslim
religious, economic, and political rights.
Information
obtained from the US Dept of State.
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