British rule The entire Territory of modern Pakistan was occupied by the British East India Company and
its successor , the British Raj, through a series of wars main being the Battle of Miani (1843) in Sindh, the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-1849) and the three Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839-1919) to remain a part of British Indian Empire till the freedom in 1947. The Physical presence of the British was not significant; they employed divide et impera (Divide and Rule political strategy) to rule. In his historical survey Constantines Sword, James P. Carroll writes: Certainly that was the story of the British Empires success, and its legacy of nurtured local hatreds can be seen wherever the Union Flag flew.
Early Nationalism Period In 1877, Syed Ameer Ali had formed the Central National Muhammadan Association to work towards the political advancements of the Muslims, who had suffered grievously in 1857, in the aftermath of the failed Sepoy Mutiny against the British East India Company; the British were seen as foreign invaders. But the organization declined towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was founded as a forum, which later became a party, to promote a nationalist cause. Although the Congress attempted to include the Muslim community in the struggle for
independence from the British rule and some Muslims were very active in the Congress the majority of Muslim leaders did not trust the party, viewing it as a Hindudominated organization. Some Muslims felt that an independent united India would inevitably be ruled by Hindus, and that there was a need to address the issue of the Muslim administration in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (now Uttar Pradesh), acceded to Hindu demands and made Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, the official language. The proslytisation conducted in the region by the activists of a new Hindu reformist movement also stirred Muslims concerns about their faith. Eventually, the Muslims feared that the Hindu majority would seek to suppress Muslim culture and religion in an independent Hindustan. Independence of Pakistan On the 14th and 15th of August, 1947, British India gave way to two new independent states, the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India, both dominions which joined the British Commonwealth. However, the ill conceived and controversial decision to divide Punjab and Bengal, two of the biggest provinces, between India and Pakistan had disastrous consequences. This division created inter-religious violence of such magnitude that exchange of population along religious lines became a necessity in these provinces. More than two million migrated across the new borders and more than one thousand died in the spate of communal violence that spread even beyond these provinces. The Independence also resulted in tensions over Kashmir leading to the IndoPakistani war of 1947. The post-independence political history of Pakistan has been characterized by several periods of authoritarian military rule and continuing
territorial disputes with India over the status of Kashmir, and with Afghanistan over the Pashtunistan issue. Structure of the Economy Pakistan attained nationhood under difficult circumstances. At the partition of British India in 1947 resulting in the creation of the independent nations of India and Pakistan, Pakistan was an agrarian economy in which a small number of powerful landowners with large holdings dominated the countryside. The majority of the population consisted of tenant farmers who cultivated small plots for a meager existence. Scant rainfall in West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) forced farmers to rely on the extensive irrigation system developed by the British. The headwaters of the Indus river and its main tributaries, however, were under Indian control. Disputes arose between the two nations and were not settled until the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 was signed. Pakistan had almost no industry in 1947. Under British rule, the area that became Pakistan supplied agricultural products for processing to the territory that became the independent India. Energy sources were rudimentary, with wood and animal dung furnishing the bulk of the energy consumed. Ports, transportation, and other services, such as banking and government, were underdeveloped. More than 1,600 kilometers of Indian Territory separated the East Wing and West Wing of Pakistan until the former became independent Bangladesh in 1971. In 1947 a dispute over exchange rate halted the flow of goods between Pakistan and India, disrupting the complementary nature of their economies that had developed under British colonial rule.
Report by:
Josephine M. Ollos
