From 1947-1997

To Look Back in Time:

Moving your mouse over a date on the timeline to the right will display related images of Pakistan's key events.

For more details about Pakistan's history scroll thru the historical review to the far right.

1947: Pakistan is born; Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes governor-general of the new nation; Liaquat Ali Khan becomes Prime Minister

1948: Jinnah dies; Khwaja Nazimuddin becomes governor-general

1951: Liaquat assassinated; Nazimuddin becomes Prime Minister

1955: Governor-General Ghulam Mohammad resigns, succeeded by Iskander Mirza

1956  Constitution adopted; Mirza becomes president

1958  Mirza abrogates Constitution, declares martial law; Mirza sent into exile; General Mohammad Ayub Khan assumes presidency

1965  Second war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir

1969: Martial law declared; Ayub Khan resigns; General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan assumes presidency

1970  First general elections; Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League secures absolute majority in new National Assembly; West Pakistan-dominated government declines to convene assembly

1971  East Pakistan attempts to secede; civil war begins; Bangladesh declares itself independent issued; India intervenes on behalf of Bengali separatists; Pakistani military surrenders to Indian armed forces; Yahya Khan resigns; Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president of Pakistan

1972: Bhutto and India's prime minister Indira Gandhi sign Simla agreement which adjusts cease-fire line between the two countries and creates new Line of Control

1973: New constitution goes into effect; Bhutto becomes prime minister

1976: Diplomatic ties established between Pakistan and Bangladesh

1977: General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq proclaims martial law

1978: Zia becomes Pakistan's sixth president

1979 Islamic penal code introduced; Bhutto hanged

1983: Zia announces that martial law will be lifted, says army will retain key role in future governments

1985: General elections held

1988: Zia dismisses Prime Minister Mohammmad Khan Junejo's government, orders new elections; Zia killed in mysterious place crash; investigation concludes that his death was caused by "criminal act of sabotage;" elections held; Benazir Bhutto sworn in as first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation

1990: National elections see Benazir Bhutto's PPP losing to coalition of rightist parties; Nawaz Sharif elected prime minister

1993: President Ishaq Khan dismisses Sharif's government, citing corruption; elections held; Benazir Bhutto's government wins slim margin; Benazir becomes prime minister

1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Benazir Bhutto; accuses her government of corruption and nepotism

1997: National elections held; Sharif comes to power again