CHAPTER 2 History Pakistan standing at the gateway to central Asia has been invaded and settled by many different armies throughout its history At one time or another it has been invaded by Persians Aryans Greeks Scythians Arabs Huns and also the British Ancient civilizations The first settlements in Pakistan date to about 6500 BCE when Pakistan was populated by Neolithic farming communities By 3000 BCE the Indus Valley was populated by many farming communities The remains of two cities from around this time have been found at Mohenjo KEY DATES IN PAKISTAN’S EARLY HISTORY 6500 5000 BCE Agriculture established in the Indus Valley 2600 1800 BCE Indus Valley Civilization 514 BCE Persians invade 326 BCE Alexander the Great invades c 711 Arabs introduce Islam 1526 The Mughal dynasty begins Daro in Sindh and Harappa in the Punjab Both cities contained sophisticated brick buildings an administrative center an efficient sewage system and neatly ordered residential areas Sometime between 1900 and1800 BCE what is known as the Indus Valley The site of Mohenjo Daro or Mound of the Dead was discovered in Pakistan in the 1920s This ancient city of the Indus Valley Civilization flourished between 2600 and 1900 BCE
This image depicts the first Mughal emperor Babur at the head of his army Babur engaged in many battles to dominate central Asia and the Indian subcontinent Civilization seems to have declined though the causes are not clear It is thought that the Indus river changed course and several earthquakes occurred This could explain why the civilization died out Early invaders After the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization Pakistan came under the influence of semi-nomadic Aryan tribes migrating from central Asia In the fifth century BCE Pakistan was part of the Persian Empire and by the fourth century BCE it was conquered by Alexander the Great For the next few centuries Pakistan was subject to more invasions and a succession of dynasties and empires Scythians Kushans Sassanians and Huns By the sixth century CE Pakistan already had a rich and complex history but the arrival of the Islamic faith in the seventh century CE was to have an important and long-lasting influence The coming of Islam The Muslim faith was first brought to Pakistan by Arab invaders led by Muhammad bin Qasim in about 711 Before that Hinduism and Buddhism were important religions but Islam spread quickly through the region once it was introduced By the fifteenth century Islam was well established as a major religion in the country The Mughal Empire Of all the dynasties and empires in Pakistan’s early history the Mughal Empire is perhaps best known The first of the Mughal the word comes from Mongol emperors Babur descended from the Mongol leader Ghengis Khan He swept through the Khyber Pass with his army in 1526 and defeated the last of the Delhi sultans at the Battle of Panipat At the height of their power in 1700 the Mughal dynasty controlled most of the Indian subcontinent The six Mughal emperors introduced the game of polo built fine forts and palaces and also created an administrative system that helped create the building blocks of a modern state a tax system roads and a well-organized army 11
PAKISTAN European dominance By the sixteenth century several European powers were competing for trade and territory in Pakistan and India The French Dutch Portuguese and British all jostled for dominance in the region It was the British though who emerged as the dominant power around the middle of the eighteenth century British rule British involvement in India and Pakistan began in 1615 when a company called the East India Company started exporting cotton and tea to Britain The East India Company became very successful and even built fortresses throughout the country in order to protect its trading posts The British government sent troops to the region but did not seize direct political control until after CASE STUDY THE GREAT GAME In the nineteenth century Russia was eager to extend its territory across central Asia Britain feared the Russians might attack India through the Khyber Pass Both sides engaged in military and diplomatic activity in order to try to achieve dominance in the region The Pamir mountains were a key point of tension but an agreement in 1895 established the Wakhan Corridor as a buffer zone between Pakistan and Russia the Great Mutiny of 1857 58 when Indian troops attacked the British After 1858 the British governed Pakistan and India through a viceroy governor appointed by the monarch The Khyber Pass is a 33-mile 53-kilometer km passage through the Hindu Kush mountains It connects the northern frontier of Pakistan with Afghanistan and so is a key route to the stans Uzbekistan Tajikistan and Turkmenistan then Kazakhstan and on to Russia 12
HISTORY Ali Jinnah 1876 1948 was the first governor-general of Pakistan and the country’s founding father British influence The British are credited with helping to modernize and develop Pakistan during their rule Under the British railways were developed and the canals that helped to irrigate the Punjab were repaired and extended making more land available for cultivation However British rule caused tensions In the Punjab landowners who tended to be Hindus did well under British rule but many peasants who were Muslims felt they were unfairly treated This deepened tensions that already existed between Hindus and Muslims The Muslim League and independence Tensions between Muslims and Hindus developed through the nineteenth century and led to the Mahatma Gandhi 1869 1948 led a successful campaign of non-violent resistance against British rule in India and was the foremost leader of the Indian independence movement creation of a group called the Muslim League in 1906 The founders of the Muslim League believed that Muslim interests and rights were being neglected and campaigned to improve the situation They also tried to work with activists campaigning for an independent India For some time in the 1920s it seemed possible that an independent India would include the territory of what is now Pakistan However Muslim League president Ali Jinnah lost confidence that Muslims would be treated fairly He believed that Muslims and Hindus were two different nations and required two separate states the Two Nation Theory In the period before Indian independence in 1947 Jinnah rejected calls for unity from Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi 13
