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Historical regions of Pakistan
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Historical regions of Pakistan
Flag of Historical regions of Pakistan Emblem of Pakistan
This article is part of the series:
Historical regions of Pakistan
Map of Pakistan with Historical regions of Pakistan highlighted
Capital
Karachi, Islamabad
Area
947,940 km²
Main language(s) Urdu, Bengali
Established 14th August 1947
Abolished Not applicable
Historic regions of Pakistan
Original Provinces
* Baluchistan
* East Bengal
* Federal Capital Territory
* North West Frontier Province
* Sind
* West Punjab
One-Unit Provinces
* East Pakistan
* West Pakistan
Former States
* Amb
* Bahawalpur
* Chitral
* Dir
* Hunza
* Kalat
* Khairpur
* Kharan
* Las Bela
* Makran
* Nagar
* Phulra
* Swat
Other subdivisions
* Baluchistan States Union
* Gilgit Agency
o Trans-Karakoram Tract
* Divisions of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The historical regions of Pakistan are former states, provinces and territories which mainly existed between 1947 and 1975 when the current provinces and territories were finally established. The historic regions have no administrative function today but some remain as historical and cultural legacies. In some cases, the current provinces and territories correspond to the historic regions - for example the province of Punjab includes almost all the territory of the former province of West Punjab.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Post Independence
* 2 Two Provinces System
* 3 New Provinces
* 4 Changes after 1970
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
[edit] Post Independence
The origins of most of the historic regions lay in the administrative setup inherited from British India. From 1947 to 1971, Pakistan comprised two wings that were 1600 kilometres apart separated by India. The eastern wing comprised the single province of East Bengal which included the Sylhet district from the former Indian province of Assam. The politically dominant western wing was formed from three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), West Punjab and Sind), one Chief Commissioner's Province (Baluchistan), several princely states and parts of Kashmir. In 1948, the area around Karachi was separated from Sind province to form the Federal Capital Territory. In 1950 the North-West Frontier Province was expanded to include the small states of Amb and Phulra and the name of West Punjab province was changed to Punjab. The Baluchistan States Union was formed in 1952 by the four princely states of southwest Pakistan. Thus, between 1947 and 1955, Pakistan comprised five provinces and one territory:
Flag not found
Federal Capital Image:Pk-bal.gif
Baluchistan Flag not found
East Bengal
Image:Pk-nwf.gif
NWFP
Image:Sindh flag.gif
Sind
West Punjab
In the western wing there were also thirteen princely states, one union of states and parts of Kashmir:
* Baluchistan States Union (combining Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran - using flag of Kalat)
* Gilgit Agency (part of Kashmir)
Flag not found
Amb
State of Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur
Chitral
State of Dir
Dir
State of Hunza
Hunza
State of Kalat
Kalat
Image:Khayrpur Flag.gif
Khayrpur
State of Kharan
Kharan
State of Las Bela
Las Bela
State of Makran
Makran
No flag found
Nagar
No flag found
Phulra
State of Swat
Swat
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, the proponent of the One-Unit system
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, the proponent of the One-Unit system
[edit] Two Provinces System
Simmering tensions between the eastern and western wings of Pakistan led to the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali. The states and provinces of the western wing were merged in 1955, to become divisions of the new province of West Pakistan with the provincial capital at Lahore. At the same time, East Bengal became the new province of East Pakistan with the provincial capital at Dhaka. West Pakistan annexed the former Omani enclave of Gwadar in 1958 as part of Kalat division. In 1960 the federal government was moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi (provisional capital until Islamabad was completed), whilst the federal legislature moved to Dhaka. The Federal Capital Territory was merged with West Pakistan in 1961 to form the new division of Karachi. In 1963 the Trans-Karakoram Tract was transferred by treaty from Gilgit Agency to China under the proviso that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute. Thus from 1955 to 1970, Pakistan comprised two provinces:
* East Pakistan
* West Pakistan
The new provinces of Pakistan
The new provinces of Pakistan
[edit] New Provinces
The One Unit policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform to reduce expenditure and eliminate provincial prejudices. However the military coup of 1958 signalled troubled times for the two-province system as the office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan was abolished by President Ayub Khan to be replaced by Governor's rule. Eventually, in 1970, the province of West Pakistan was dissolved by President Yahya Khan and four new provinces were created along with some changes in Pakistani Kashmir. These provinces combined most of the former provinces and states as follows:
New Province Constituent Historical Regions
Baluchistan Province
* Baluchistan Chief Commissioners Province
* Baluchistan States Union
* Enclave of Gwadar
North-West Frontier Province
* Former North-West Frontier Province
* States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat
Punjab Province
* Former West Punjab Province
* State of Bahawalpur
Sindh Province
* Former Sind Province
* State of Khairpur
* Former Federal Capital Territory
Centrally Administered Area
* 906 km² of former West Punjab Province
Northern Areas
* Gilgit Agency
[edit] Changes after 1970
The province of East Pakistan became independent in December 1971 as the new country of Bangladesh. The states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and their territories merged into the Northern Areas in 1974. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were formed from parts of the North West Frontier Province districts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan in 1975.
The status of the Islamabad area was changed to a capital territory in 1981. The names of two provinces were slightly modified in 1990 - Baluchistan became Balochistan and Sind became Sindh.
[edit] See also
* Subdivisions of Pakistan
* Politics of Pakistan
* History of Pakistan
* A Short History of Pakistan
[edit] External links
* Government of Pakistan
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_regions_of_Pakistan"
Categories: Historical regions of Pakistan | Political history of Pakistan | Politics of Pakistan | Subdivisions of Pakistan
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