A Brief History of Pakistan

337 Pages·2008·20.75 MB·English

by  James Wynbrandt, Fawaz A. Gerges

A B H
RIEF ISTORY
P
OF AKISTAN
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A B H
RIEF ISTORY
P
OF AKISTAN
J W
AMES YNBRANDT
Foreword by Fawaz A. Gerges
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A Brief History of Pakistan
Copyright © 2009 by James Wynbrandt; foreword by Fawaz A. Gerges
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
publisher. For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc.
An imprint of Infobase Publishing
132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wynbrandt, James.
A brief history of Pakistan / James Wynbrandt; foreword by Fawaz A. Gerges.
p. cm.—(Brief history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-6184-6
ISBN-10: 0-8160-6184-X
1. Pakistan—History. I. Title.
DS382.W96 2008
954.91—dc22 2008008921
Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk
quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call
our Special Sales Department in New York at [phone] or [phone].
You can fi nd Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfi le.com
Text design by Joan M. McEvoy
Cover design by Semadar Megged/Jooyoung An
Map design by Sholto Ainslie
Printed in the United States of America
MP Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper and contains 30 percent postconsumer
recycled content.
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Maps viii
Foreword ix
Introduction xi
1 The Land and Its Early History 1
2 Inroads of Armies and Ideas (500 B.C.E.–700 C.E.) 22
3 The Coming of Islam (700–1526) 41
4 The Mughal Period (1526–1748) 67
5 Trading Company Wars (1748–1858) 94
6 The Raj Era (1858–1909) 114
7 The Road to Independence (1909–1947) 138
8 The Challenges of Independence (1947–1958) 160
9 Military Rule (1958–1971) 183
10 B etween East and West (1971–1988) 202
11 C ivilian Rule Restored (1988–1999) 225
12 A Return to the World Stage (1999–2008) 253
Appendixes
1 Glossary 282
2 Basic Facts about Pakistan 286
3 Chronology 291
4 Bibliography 300
5 Suggested Reading 307
Index 312
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List of illustrations
Aerial view of the Indus River 3
K2, the world’s second-highest mountain peak 5
Mohenjo-Daro 16
Seal from an Indus Valley Civilization 17
Drawing of Alexander the Great and inhabitants of the
islands of the Oriental Sea 28
Gandhara stone carvings 32
Gandhara petroglyphs 34
An image of Buddha carved into stone 35
Mausoleum of Sultan Abdul Razaq, in Ghazni, Afghanistan 54
Sultanate of Delhi 64
Thatta ruins 65
Drawing of Babur’s flight from Samarkand 70
Drawing of Mughals playing a game of polo 73
Rohtas Fort 75
Illustration of Akbar’s attack on Rathanbhor Fort 78
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on his throne 87
Badshahi Mosque 88
Derawar Fort, near Bahawalpur, Punjab 105
Musicians and dancers entertain British East India Company
officers 107
Arrival of Lord Canning in Lahore 121
Photograph of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan 124
Tiger hunt expedition 135
Image of Muhammad Ali Jinnah 140
Lahore Session of All India Muslim League 152
Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mohandas K. Gandhi, 1944 153
Final phase of the Partition of India meeting, 1947 158
Muhammad Ali Jinnah announces independence of Pakistan
over the All India Radio 159
Refugees arrive in Pakistan by special train 163
Photograph of first prime minister, Nawabzada
Liaquat Ali Khan 168
Karachi shipyard 185
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View of a building-lined street in Islamabad 186
Women practicing rifl e shooting 193
Refi nery in Karachi 209
Interior of an industrial plant 210
Photograph of Zia ul-Haq 213
Benazir Bhutto being sworn in as prime minister 228
Nawaz Sharif addressing parliament 235
Protests against Benazir Bhutto’s policies 246
Photograph of General Musharraf 254
Pakistani newspaper advertising the country’s six
most-wanted terrorists 263
Benazir Bhutto addresses supporters after her return
from exile in October 2007 276
Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif at a joint press
conference in March 2008 278
List of Maps
Topographical Map of Pakistan 4
Political Map of Pakistan 9
Archaeological Sites 18
Empire of Alexander the Great, ca. 323 B.C.E. 26
Early Arab Expeditions in Pakistan 44
Delhi Sultanate 59
Mughal Empire 68
India, 1805 97
Partition of India, 1947–1949 161
Kashmir, 1972 194
Pashtun Tribes of the NWFP and FATA 269
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Foreword
S
ince September 11, 2001, Pakistan has emerged as a pivotal front in
the U.S. war on terrorism. Its very political destiny is distorted by
the unfolding global struggle against al-Qaeda and other militants, such
as the Taliban, who have found a home in Pakistan. With the excep-
tion of Iraq, the global confrontation against jihadists and their Taliban
allies is playing itself out on the streets of Pakistan’s crowded urban
centers and tribal areas more than in any other country.
From a U.S. perspective, Pakistan’s active participation in the fi ght
against terrorism dwarfs everything else in importance, including
human rights, socioeconomic equity, and democracy; like its other
Arab and Muslim neighbors, Pakistan has become important for the
wrong reasons.
A fl ood of publications and media commentary on Pakistan focuses
almost exclusively on Pakistan’s commitment to the war on terrorism
and the security of its nuclear arsenal. Little is being written or aired on
the daily struggle of Pakistan’s impoverished population, the endemic
corruption of its ruling elite, and the infl uential role played by the secu-
rity forces. Little is being said about how America’s war on terrorism
exacerbates internal tensions and cleavages in the country and deepens
and widens the divide between religiously oriented activists and other
social and political forces; it also provides the security apparatus with a
powerful rationale to suspend constitutional checks and balances and
marginalize civil society. America’s war on terrorism could easily desta-
bilize the country and turn it into a failed state.
But as James Wynbrandt shows in his incisive history, the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan occupies a position of historic and strategic
importance as a crossroads of religious and political ideologies that
have infl uenced international events. Although Pakistan is a young
nation, born after World War II, Wynbrandt reconstructs the historical
continuity of the Indian subcontinent as a cradle of spiritual awaken-
ing and intercivilizational fertilization between East and West; Pakistan
stands at the center stage of world culture and politics. Before and after
achieving independence in 1947, what is now Pakistan was and is a
prize and participant in the Great Game of global power politics. More
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