Timeline of Pakistani history
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Contents |
[edit] BCE
- 2,000,000 BCE: In Riwat, dating at this period, stones implementations (tools) have been found at the site, proposing a possibility of earlier homo erectus existence
- 1,600,000 BCE: A stone artefact is discovered in Riwat, dated to this period
- 500,000 BCE: Some of the earliest relics of Stone Age man have been found in the Soan Valley of the Potohar region near Rawalpindi, dating back to 500,000 BCE
- 9000 BCE - 5500 BCE: Mehrgarh Period I
- 5500 BCE - 4800 BCE: Mehrgarh Period II
- 4800 BCE - 3500 BCE: Mehrgarh Period III
- 3500 BCE - 2800 BCE: Mehrgarh Periods IV to VI
- 2800 BCE - 2000 BCE: Mehrgarh Period VII
- 2800 BCE - 2500 BCE: Early Harappan / Kot Diji Phase
- 2500 BCE - 1900 BCE: Harappan Phase; Flourishment of Indus Valley Civilizationat urban centres, Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa
- 1900 BCE - 1300 BCE: Late Harappan Phase (Cemetery H Culture)
- 1700 BCE - 0600 BCE: Start of the Aryan civilization in Sapta Sindhu, Punjab and of Indus culture, Rigvedic civilization
- 1500 BCE: Earliest rhymes of Rg-Veda were written in the Indus Valley (Pakistan)
- 500 BCE: Gandhara civilization (500 BCE to 500 ACE)
- 516 BCE: North Pakistan becomes easternmost province of Achaemenid Empire of Persia. Gandharais semi-independent kingdom
- 600 BCE: Beginning of historic period under Achaemenians; Sindh & Punjab as provinces of the empire of Darius I of Persia
- 327 BCE - 325 BCE: Alexander of Macedonia invades Pakistan and captures Taxila
- 326 BCE: Porus, the king of Punjab, fought the battle of the Hydaspes River against the macedonian king Alexander.
- 325 BCE: During the siege of the capital of the Mallians (modern Multan), Alexander was seriously wounded by an arrow in the chest, later he died of that wound
- 300 BCE: Mauryan empire, Ashoka promotes Buddhism
- 185 BCE: Bactrian Greeks conquer North-West Pakistan
- 75 BCE: Arrival of Scythians (Sakas) from central Asia
[edit] CE
- 20: Parthians conquer Northern Pakistan
- 60: Kushans from central Asia overthrow Parthians
- 3rd Century: Kushans decline and are dominated by Sassanian empire of Persia
- 4th Century: Kidar (little) Kushans come to power
- 450: White Huns (Hephthalites) attacked Gandhara, sacked its cities and burnt down its many monasteries and centres of learning
- 565: Sassanians and Turks overthrow Huns
- Late 6th –7th Century: Turki Shahi control area West of Indus, including Gandhara
- 711 - 712: Muhammad bin Qasim conquers Sindh and Southern Punjab
- 870 - 1026: Hindu Shahi ruled from Multan to Kabul
- 1001: Mahmud Ghazni defeats the Hindu Shahi king Jayapala (A Janjua Rajput) near Peshawar
- 1021: Mahmud Ghazni defeats Tarnochalpal and annexes Punjab
- 1058: Sumra Dynasty(1058-1351) ends the arab domination and establishes its own rule over Sindh.
- 1148 - 1206: Ghaurids Period
- 1206: A body of Gakhars assassinated Muhammad Ghori during a a raid on his camp on the Jhelum River
- 1221: Mongol Genghiz Khan invades Punjab
- 1351: Samma Dynasty assumed rule over Sindh
- 1398: Tamerlane plunders Lahore
- 1472: Sher Shah Suri (original name Farid Khan] born in Multan
- 1526 - 1857: Mughal ascendancy (1526-1707), nominal rule by Mughals (1707-1857)
- 1541 - 1543: Sher Shah Suri built the Rohtas Fort
- 1586: Yusufzais defeat Akbar in the Karakar pass
- 1701: Kalhoro Dynasty establishes its rule over Sindh
- 1739: Nadir Shah of Persia invades subcontinent
- 1751-52: Ahmed Shah Abdali annexes Punjab to his kingdom
- 1782: Talpur Balochs defeat the last Kalhora ruler Mian Abdul Nabi in the battle of Halani
- 1801 - 1849: Sikhs become dominant force in Punjab, Ranjit Singh rules (1799-1839),
- 1843: British defeat Talpurs in the battle of Miani and annex Sindh
- 1849: British defeat Sikhs and annex Punjab
- 1935: A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 jolted Quetta killing over 50,000 people
- 1947: Pakistan gains independence
[edit] Post-Independence Era
- 1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, dies
- 1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated
- 1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution
- 1958: After a military coup Ayub Khan takes over
- 1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president
- 1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir
- 1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency
- 1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistan; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.
- 1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister
- 1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law
- 1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president
- 1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged
- 1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances
- 1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister
- 1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plan crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister
- 1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar
- 1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister
- 1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.
- 1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time
- 1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government
- 1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time
- 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests
- 1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf
- 2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.
- 2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office
- 2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister
- 2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office
- 2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister
- 2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)
- 2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti
