paksitan

The region forming modern Pakistan was home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and then, successively, recipient of ancient Vedic, Persian, Turco-Mongol, Indo-Greek and Islamic cultures. The area has witnessed invasions and/or settlement by the Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols, Sikhs and the British. It was a part of India during the period of the British Raj, from 1858 to 1947. Under compulsions of the Indian independence movement, (led by Mahatma Gandhi of the Indian National Congress), and the Pakistan Movement, (led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the All India Muslim League, which demanded an independent state for the majority Muslim populations of the eastern and western regions of British India), the British granted independence and also the creation of the Muslim majority state of Pakistan, that comprised the provinces of Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, Balochistan and East Bengal. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in intervention from India and the subsequent independence of Bangladesh. Pakistan's history has been characterized by periods of military rule and political instability.