Pakistan (West Pakistan)

Capital : Islamabad

Punjab, Baluchistan, North West Frontier, Sind

Size: 307 000 sq m Popn: 115 520 000

History

In the C7th AD, the Islamic religion was founded by Muhammad in the Arab peninsula. In 712, it was brought to the West Coast of India by Arab invaders and raids by Turkish chiefs spread it in the North during the C11th and C12th. The Delhi sultanate, founded in 1206, gradually acquired huge amounts of land and Islamic influence reached its height with the Mogul Empire founded by Baber in 1526. In 1701, the death of Aurangzeb led to the fragmentation of Empire and the British steadily took over.

In 1930, the name 'Pakistan' was coined for the proposed Muslim division of British India. It is made up of the elements pak 'pure' and stan 'land' and also refers to the Muslim parts of the Indian Subcontinent - Punjab, Afghan North West Frontier, Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. Fear of the Hindu majority increased demand for a separate state by 1940 and led to a delay in the granting of independence to India. In 1947, British India was divided into the two dominions of India and Pakistan with Mohammad Ali Jinnah as the first leader of Pakistan, which comprised the two geographically separate areas of West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Jinnah died in 1948 and the country remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state until a republic was declared in 1956. In 1958, General Muhammad Ayub Khan took power in a military coup and the constitution was abrogated.

There was rapid economic growth during the 1960s but tensions grew between the two halves as East Pakistan was demographically dominant. Serious strikes and riots led to General Ayub Khan being replaced by General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan. Elections were held in 1970 with Sheik Mujib ur-Rahman's Awami League, which proposed autonomy, taking East Pakistan and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) gaining a majority in West Pakistan. In 1971, the East declared independence and formed the republic of Bangladesh. Yahya Khan resigned and power passed to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who brought in a new federal parliamentary constitution in 1973 and began a socialist programme of land reform and nationalization. He was based in Sind and during the 1970s, regional opposition grew, especially from Baluchistan and the Pathans who wanted an independent Pakhtoonistan, but he won the 1977 election. He was accused of ballot rigging and months of violent riots resulted.

In 1977, the army chief of staff, Punjabi Muslim General Zia ul-Haq, took power in a bloodless coup, imposing martial law and hanging Bhutto on charges of murder in 1979. He restricted political activity, introduced a more fundamental Islamic policies and arrested hundreds of opposition politicians when they campaigned for a return to parliamentary government. After 1982, Zia began to allow more civilians into his government and a referendum of 1984 was in favour of the Islamization process. After direct, non-party elections in 1985, a civilian cabinet was formed, martial law was lifted and the constitution amended to allow political parties. The Pagaro faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, led by Mohammad Khan Junejo formed a government subservient to General Zia.

In 1986, Benazir Bhutto, leader of the PPP and daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, returned from London and campaigned for open elections. Riots were put down by troops and PPP leaders arrested. The state of the economy grew worse and in 1988 Zia dismissed Junejo government, promising elections within 90 days, and decreed that the Shari'a, the Islamic legal code, would become the country's supreme law. A month later, he and senior army officers died in a plane crash, suspected to be sabotage, and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, chair of the Senate, became president. Multi-party elections produced a coalition between the PPP, the largest single party, and the Mohajir National Movement (MQM) and Benazir Bhutto became prime minister, with Ghulam Ishaq Khan re-elected president. The administration promised a free market economy, and to leave the military budget untouched but the MQM withdrew from the coalition in October 1989 and joined the opposition, the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA). Bhutto's government survived a vote of no confidence but was dismissed by the president in August 1990 after accusations of corruption, incompetence and abuse of power.

In November 1990, the opposition swept to power and Nawaz Sharif, who had been Bhutto's chief minister of the Punjab province, became prime minister. The IDA won 105 out of the 207 seats (the PPP took 45) and gained control of three of the four regional assemblies, Sind remaining pro-Bhutto. Sharif promised a free market and the PPP supported some of his social reforms but not the 'Islamic welfare state' proposed by the Shari'a bill of 1991. He tried to bring in a programme of deregulation and privatization but this was prevented by labour unrest, terrorism and a financial scandal which involed members of Sharif's family and the government.

Throughout its existence, Pakistan has had border disputes with India and there were wars over Kashmir in 1965 and East Pakistan in 1971. The shared hostility to India has led to an alliance with China and close relations with the USA developed during the 1970s. It provided support for the US-backed rebels in Afghanistan and sent troops to Saudi Arabia to protect Islamic shrines during the Gulf War although there was considerable anti-American feeling within the country. The US suspended military aid in 1991 when it learnt that Pakistan was developing nuclear capability.

Names

Indian Muslim, Pakistani and Bangladeshi names are mostly of Arabic origin with some Persian (Farsee) borrowings.

Male

Female

Surnames

These are generally patronymics but religious types such as Mohammed or Islam occur. The following are all full names of real people, mostly cricketers!

Pathan (Khan)

These are male names which occur with the second name 'Khan'.

This collection of names was compiled by Kate Monk and is ©1997, Kate Monk.

Copies may be made for personal use only.