West Pakistan
Encyclopedia
West Pakistan common name West-Pakistan (WP), in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...

 on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

 was disintegrated
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

 and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. The politically dominant western wing was composed of three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...

 and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner's province (Baluchistan Province
Baluchistan (Chief Commissioners Province)
The Chief Commissioner's Province of Baluchistan was a province of British India located in the northern parts of the modern Balochistan province.- History :...

), the Baluchistan States Union
Baluchistan States Union
The Baluchistan States Union existed between 3 October 1952 and 14 October 1955 in southwest Pakistan. It was formed by the states of Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran with the capital at the town of Kalat. The area of the Union was roughly the western half of the modern province of Balochistan...

, several other princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral
Chitral
Chitral or Chetrar , translated as field in the native language Khowar, is the capital of the Chitral District, situated on the western bank of the Kunar River , in Pakistan. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, high...

, Dir
Dir
-Acronyms:* Detroit International Riverfront, an area of Detroit, Michigan that borders the Detroit River* Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based approach, a developmental intervention to autism developed by Stanley Greenspan and Serena Weider....

, Hunza, Khairpur
Khairpur
Khairpur is the twelfth largest city in the province of Sindh in southeast Pakistan. It was founded in 1783 by Mir Sohrab Khan, who established the Khairpur branch of the Talpur clan. The settlement was selected as the seat of the Mirs of northern Sindh. It is the capital of the modern Khairpur...

 and Swat
Swat (Pakistan)
Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora...

), the Federal Capital Territory (around Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

) and the tribal areas
Fata
The FATA or FC-ATA is a type of computer hard disk drive. FATA is simply the low cost ATA or SATA disk drive equipped with a small external converter, that changes the interface to Fibre Channel...

.

The eastern wing formed the single province of East Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....

 (including the former Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 district of Sylhet
Sylhet
Sylhet , is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is the main city of Sylhet Division and Sylhet District, and was granted metropolitan city status in March 2009. Sylhet is located on the banks of the Surma Valley and is surrounded by the Jaintia, Khasi and Tripura hills...

), which despite having over half of the population, had a disproportionately small number of seats in the Constituent Assembly. This inequality of the two wings and the geographical distance between them was believed to be holding up the adoption of a new constitution
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the supreme law of Pakistan. Known as the Constitution of 1973, it was drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and, following additions by the opposition parties, was approved by the legislative assembly on April 10, 1973...

. To diminish the differences between the two regions, the government decided to reorganise the country as two distinct provinces under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...

 Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Punjabi, ; (July 15, 1905 - December 2, 1980) was a Pakistani statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956.-Early life:...

 on 22 November 1954.

On the set of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Pakistan was a close allied of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, having an influential member of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...

 (SEATO), Central Treaty Organization
Central Treaty Organization
The Central Treaty Organization was formed in 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It was dissolved in 1979.U.S...

, and at same time was part of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (MNAC). Pakistan was de-facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

 divided in two wings between the Republic of India. The West Pakistan claimed an exclusive mandate
Exclusive Mandate
An exclusive mandate is a government's assertion of its legitimate authority over a certain territory, part of which another government controls with stable, de facto sovereignty...

 for all of Pakistan, considering itself to be the reorganized continuation of the country in the United Nations. It the line that East-Pakistan was indeed a client province and its satellite state, with the believe of West-Pakistan first. West-Pakistan emerged as the one of South-Asia's largest economy, and emerged as one of South Asia's largest military power. West-Pakistan's economy was boomed and at its highest peak, and it was called as West-Germany of East. However, East-Pakistan was not benefited with the economical progress and majority of the funds o East-Pakistan was never issued. Pakistan's first Chief Martial Law Administrator
Chief Martial Law Administrator
The office of the Chief Martial Law Administrator was a senior government post created in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia that gave considerable executive authority and powers to the holder of the post to enforce martial law in the country. This office has been used mostly by...

 (CMLA) Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who remained in office from 1958 until 1969, had worked for a full alignment with the West rather than neutrality. He not only secured the membership of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...

 (SEATO) but was also a proponent of agreements that developed Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).

With the results of parliamentary elections
Pakistani general election, 1970
General elections were held for the first time in Pakistan in on 7 December 1970, although the polls in East Pakistan, originally scheduled for October, were delayed by disastrous floods and rescheduled for later in December and January 1971....

 were announced, the power of imbalance was clearly seen. A conflict that lasted only 13 days, West-Pakistan was dissolved and became what is now today known as Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

Parliamentary democracy

After the state establishment, the West-Pakistan claimed the exclusive mandate of entire Pakistan, with majority of the leading figures in Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...

 presented in West-Pakistan. The province of West Pakistan was created on 14 October 1947 by the merger of the provinces, states and tribal areas of the western wing. The province was composed of twelve divisions and the provincial capital was established at Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

. The province of East Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....

 was renamed East-Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

 with the provincial capital at Dacca
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

. The two states had different political ideologies and different lingual cultural aspect. The West-Pakistan sided with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and her Western Allies, and East-Pakistan remained sympathetic to Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and her Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...

. The state was founded on main basis of country having a parliamentary democracy, and Islam as its state religion. The ethnic and religious violence in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 was spread all over the country. This inter-communal violence soon spread to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and a regional conflicts put West-Pakistan and India to a war-threatening situation. Prime ministers of Pakistan and India, met in Lahore on emergency basis and Muhammad Ali Bogra
Muhammad Ali Bogra
Nawabzada Mohammed Ali Bogra was a Pakistani statesman of Bengali origin, who served as the third Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955.-Early life:...

, Prime minister of Pakistan, declared martial law in Lahore to curbed the violence.

Military dictatorships

However, the parliamentary democracy in both state was failed to process and during the period of 1947 till 1959, seven Prime ministers, four Governor-Generals
Governor-General of Pakistan
The Governor-General of Pakistan was the representative in Pakistan of the Crown from the country's independence in 1947. When Pakistan was proclaimed a republic in 1956 the connection with the British monarchy ended, and the office of Governor-General was abolished.-History:Pakistan gained...

 and one President were forcefully removed either by the constitutional and the military coup d'état
1958 Pakistani coup d'état
The 1958 Pakistani coup d'état refers to the events between October 7, when the President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza abrogated the Constitution of Pakistan and declared martial law, and October 27, when Mirza himself was deposed by Gen. Ayub Khan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistani Army...

. The Urdu-speaking class and the Bengali nation was forcefully removed from the affairs of West-Pakistan. With the imposition of the martial law led by then-Army Commander-in-Chief General Ayub Khan, the central government
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...

 was moved from Karachi to Army Generals Combatant Headquarters (The GHQ) at Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

 in 1959, whilst the federal legislature was moved to Dacca. In 1963, Rawalpindi had became ineffective federal capital and a new city was planned and constructed which was completed in 1965. In 1965, the capital and central government was finally re-located in Islamabad.

First War with India

In 1965, Foreign minister
Foreign Minister of Pakistan
The Foreign Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current Foreign Minister is Hina Rabbani Khar who took office as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 11 February 2011, and as full Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20 July, 2011...

 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...

 and Defence minister
Defence Minister of Pakistan
The Defence Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Defence, under which serve the three armed forces of the country, Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, and Pakistan Navy...

 Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan
Afzal Rahman Khan
Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan , , was a high profile military official who served as the Interior and Defence Minister under the military government of Field Marshal Ayub Khan...

 approached to President Ayub Khan for the approval of the covert-back operation, codename Operation Gibraltar
Operation Gibraltar
Operation Gibraltar was the codename given to the strategy of Pakistan to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of India, and start a rebellion against Indian rule...

. Operation Gibraltar was codename of a airborne mission to infiltrate in Indian Kashmir, and was originally planned to executed by Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

 Special Service Group and Air Force
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...

 Special Service Wing
Special Service Wing
The Special Service Wing, codename the SS Wing, or previously known as 312th Special Service Wing or Maroon berets, is an special operations aerospace unit of the Pakistan Air Force . The SS Wing or Maroon Berets are an elite special operations force based upon United States Air Force's Special...

. At night of September 1965, airborne troops began to parachuted in Indian Kashmir and an assault was began by Pakistan Army's ground troops. The Pakistan Airborne troops managed to occupy much of the Indian-held Kashmir and was only 6 mile (10km) away from Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...

, this was the closest Pakistan airborne troops were ever got to capture the city. On September of 1965, India launched a counter-attack and the airborne troops were pushed back to Pakistan Kashmir Province. The operation brutally failed and Indian Armed Forces attack West Pakistan with full force.

This month long war ended with no permanent territorial changes, and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 intervened in the conflict. In the of month of September, both West-Pakistan and India signed Tashkent Declaration
Tashkent Declaration
The Tashkent Declaration of 10 January 1966 was a peace agreement between India and Pakistan. In September 1965 before the two had engaged in the short run Indo-Pakistani War of 1965...

. This ceasefire was criticized both in India and Pakistan, public resentment against each other grew. In West-Pakistan, Ayub Khan deposed Bhutto as his Foreign minister, and Vice-Admiral Khan blamed Bhutto for this failure. As aftermath, Bhutto tapped anti-Ayub Khan movement and tapped a civil disobedience in entire West-Pakistan. Amid protests and spontaneous demonstration broke out in the entire country and Ayub Khan lost the control over of the country. In 1967, another martial law was imposed by another Army Commander-in-Chief General Yahya Khan, who designated himself as the Chief Martial Law Administrator.

Position toward East-Pakistan

During this episode, the East-Pakistan remained quiet and did not intervened in the West-Pakistan's conflict with India. East-Pakistan's Military government remained silenced and did not send any troops to press any pressure on Eastern India. This line of action became a negative consequences and evidently contributed in a resentment against the military government of East-Pakistan. West-Pakistan accused East-Pakistan for not taking any action even, in fact, Eastern Air Command
Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force
The Eastern Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force. Currently headquartered in Shillong in Meghalaya, it had its beginning as No 1 Operational Group on 27 May 1958 at Ranikutir in Calcutta as a part of the Govt's increasing emphasis on defence of the eastern...

 of Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...

 did attack the East-Pakistan's Air Force. However, East-Pakistan defended only by an understrength infantry division, the 14th Infantry Division, sixteen fighter jet and no tanks or no navy was established in the East-Pakistan.

Days of disintegration

West Pakistan formed a seemingly homogeneous block but with marked linguistic and ethnic distinctions and the One Unit
One Unit
One-Unit was the title of a scheme launched by the federal government of Pakistan to merge the four provinces of West Pakistan into one homogenous unit, as a counterbalance against the numerical domination of the ethnic Bengalis of East Pakistan...

 policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform which would reduce expenditure and eliminate provincial prejudices. However with the military coup of 1958, trouble loomed for the province when the office of Chief Minister was abolished and the President took over executive powers for West-Pakistan. The province of West Pakistan was dissolved in July 1970 by President Yahya Khan
Yahya Khan
General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan Qizilbash, H.Pk, HJ, S.Pk, psc was the third President of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan...

. In 1969, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was critical of the disparity in military resources deployed in East and West Pakistan, calling for greater autonomy for East Pakistan, which ultimately led to the Bangladesh Liberation war and another war between India and Pakistan in 1971.

Power struggle between East and West-Pakistan

The support of socialism
Socialism in Pakistan
The influences of Socialism and socialist movements in Pakistan have been fluctuating and often limited at various times throughout the country's history and at present remain questionable...

 grew in Pakistan. The democratic socialist leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...

 participated in General elections
Pakistani general election, 1970
General elections were held for the first time in Pakistan in on 7 December 1970, although the polls in East Pakistan, originally scheduled for October, were delayed by disastrous floods and rescheduled for later in December and January 1971....

 held in December 1970 saw the socialist-Awami League under Mujibur Rahman win an overall majority of seats in parliament (all but two of the 162 seats allocated to East Pakistan). The Awami League advocated greater autonomy for East Pakistan but the military government did not permit Mujibur Rahman to form a government. In November of 1971, General Yahya Khan ordered Pakistan Army Corps of Military Police to led the arrest of both Bhutto and Rehman and ordered an action to be taken against the East-Pakistan's military government.
On 25 March 1971, West-Pakistan began a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

 to subdue the democratic victory of East Pakistanis. This began the war between the Pakistani military and the Mukhti Bahini. The resulting refugee crisis led to the intervention by India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, eventually leading to the surrender of the Pakistani Army. East Pakistan suffered a genocide of its Bengali population. East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. The term West Pakistan became redundant.

Government

West-Pakistan went through many political changes. From 1947 till 1956, West-Pakistan was governed under a parliamentary republic with Prime minister as the head of the government and state. The 1956 Constitution
Constitution of Pakistan of 1956
The Constitution of 1956 was the fundamental law of Pakistan from March 1956 until the Revolution of October 1958.-Origins:Pakistan became independent of the United Kingdom in 1947. Under Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, the Government of India Act, 1935 became, with certain...

 provided the country with Semi-Presidential system
Semi-presidential system
The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state...

 and the office of President was inaugurated the same year. Major-General (retired) Iskander Mirza became the country's first President, but the system did not evolved for more than the three years. In 1958, General Ayub Khan, Army Commander-in-Chief, imposed the martial law and the military government was installed instead.

The office of Governor of West Pakistan was a largely ceremonial position but later Governors wielded some executive powers as well. The first Governor was Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Mushtaque Ahmed Gurmani was a Pakistani politician. In his role as Minister without Portfolio he signed the Karachi Agreement of 1949 that established a ceasefire line between Pakistani and Indian areas of Kashmir, which later become known as the Line of Control...

, who was also the last Governor of West Punjab. Ayub Khan abolished the Governor's office and instead established the Martial Law Administrator of West-Pakistan.

The office Chief Minister of West-Pakistan was the chief executive of the province and the leader of the largest party in the provincial assembly. The first Chief Minister was Dr Khan Sahib who had served twice as Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prior to independence. The office of Chief Minister was abolished in 1958 when Ayub Khan took over the administration of West-Pakistan.

The legislature was the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly but it had no lasting effects of West-Pakistan's affair. The assembly was soon disbanded and the legislature was moved to East-Pakistan.

The twelve divisions of West Pakistan province were Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur , located in the province of Punjab, is the twelfth largest city in Pakistan. The city was once the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The city was home to various Nawabs and counted as part of the Rajputana states...

, Dera Ismail Khan
Dera Ismail Khan
Dera Ismail Khan is a city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is situated on the west bank of the Indus River, west of Lahore and northwest of Multan. The city is the capital of the district and tehsil of the same name. In Pakistan, its name is often abbreviated to D. I...

, Hyderabad, Kalat
Kalat District
Kalat or Qalat is a district in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of 26 in that province, and encompasses an area of 6,621 km². The population of the district is estimated to be over 400,000 in 2005. The district is governed from the city of Kalat....

, Khairpur
Khairpur
Khairpur is the twelfth largest city in the province of Sindh in southeast Pakistan. It was founded in 1783 by Mir Sohrab Khan, who established the Khairpur branch of the Talpur clan. The settlement was selected as the seat of the Mirs of northern Sindh. It is the capital of the modern Khairpur...

, Lahore, Malakand
Malakand Agency
The Malakand Agency was one of the Tribal Areas in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan until 1970. It included the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat, and an area around the Malakand Fort known as the Malakand Protected Area.In 1970, following the abolition of the princely states,...

, Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

, Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

, Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...

, Rawalpindi, and Sargodha
Sargodha
Sargodha is a city in the Sargodha District of Punjab province, Pakistan.Sargodha is located in the northwest of Pakistan. It is the eleventh largest city of Pakistan and also known as Pakistan's best citrus-producing area. It is an agricultural trade centre with various industries...

; all named after their capitals except the capital of Malakand was Saidu, and Rawalpindi was administered from Islamabad. The province also incorporated the former Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

i enclave of Gwadar
Gwadar
Gwadar also known as Godar is a developing port city on the southwestern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan. It is the district headquarters of Gwadar District in Balochistan province and has a population of approximately 50,000.Gwadar is strategically located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the...

 following its purchase in 1958, and the former Federal Capital Territory (Karachi) in 1961; the latter forming a new division in its own right.

Governors of West Pakistan

Tenure Governor of West Pakistan Party Background Form of Government
14 October 1955 - 27 August 1957 Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Mushtaque Ahmed Gurmani was a Pakistani politician. In his role as Minister without Portfolio he signed the Karachi Agreement of 1949 that established a ceasefire line between Pakistani and Indian areas of Kashmir, which later become known as the Line of Control...

 
Muslim League
Muslim League (Pakistan)
Muslim League was the original successor of All India Muslim League that led the Pakistan Movement achieving an independent nation. After formation of Pakistan, the party was renamed to Muslim League which came to an end soon after Qaid-e-Azam's death on the first marshal law in 1958.-History:On...

 
Democratic Government
September 1957 - 12 April 1960 Akhter Husain
Akhter Husain
Akhter Husain , HPk, OBE, was an eminent senior statesman and civil servant of Pakistan. He was appointed Governor of West Pakistan in September 1957 succeeding Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani and then continued in office during the regime of General Muhammad Ayub Khan until April 1960.-Early life:Mr...

 
Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

Democratic Government
12 April 1960 - 18 September 1966 Amir Mohammad Khan  Muslim League
Muslim League (Pakistan)
Muslim League was the original successor of All India Muslim League that led the Pakistan Movement achieving an independent nation. After formation of Pakistan, the party was renamed to Muslim League which came to an end soon after Qaid-e-Azam's death on the first marshal law in 1958.-History:On...

 
Democratic Government
Tenure Term Martial Law Administrator Type of Government Service in effect
18 September 1966 - 20 March 1969 General (retired) Muhammad Musa Military Government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

 
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

20 March 1969 - 25 March 1969 Yusuf Haroon
Yusuf Haroon
Muhammad Yusuf Abdullah Haroon was a politician from Sindh, Pakistan.The eldest of Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon’s sons, he worked closely with Quaid-e-Azam as his ADC and was active in the Pakistan Movement...

Civilian Government  Civilian Authority
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

25 March 1969 - 29 August 1969 Lieutenant-General Attiqur Rahman (first term) Military Government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

 
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

29 August 1969 - 1 September 1969 Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan
Tikka Khan
General Tikka Khan, HJ, HQA, SPk, was a senior four-star general in the Pakistan Army who served as the first Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 3 March 1972 to 1 March 1976. Before his four-star assignment, Khan was a Martial Law Administrator of erstwhile East-Pakistan...

 
Military Government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

 
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

1 September 1969 - 1 February 1970 Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

  Nur Khan
Nur Khan
Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan, HJ, HS, HQA, SPk was the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Air Force from 1965 to 1969. Considered the hero of the 1965 air war - the man who led the Pakistan air force achieve parity over the three times bigger Indian air force on the very first day of the 1965 war - a...

Military Government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

Pakistan Air Force
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...

1 February 1970 - 1 July 1970 Lieutenant-General Attiqur Rahman (second term) Military Government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

 
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

1 July 1970 Province of West Pakistan dissolved

Chief Ministers of West Pakistan

Tenure Chief Minister of West Pakistan Political Party
14 October 1955 - 16 July 1957 Dr Khan Sahib Pakistan Muslim League
Pakistan Muslim League
The Pakistan Muslim League was founded in 1962, as a successor to the previously disbanded Muslim League in Pakistan. Unlike the original PML which ended in 1958 when General Ayub Khan banned all political parties, each subsequent Muslim League was in some way propped by the military dictators of...

/Republican Party
Republican Party (Pakistan)
The Pakistani Republican Party was formed in October 1955, by a break away faction of the Muslim League and other politicians supporting the creation of the West Pakistan province, on the instigation of key leaders in the military and civil service....

16 July 1957 - 18 March 1958 Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan
Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan
Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan was a senior police officer from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and cabinet minister in Pakistan.Born in Dera Ismail Khan, Sardar Rashid was educated at Islamia College Peshawar...

Republican Party
Republican Party (Pakistan)
The Pakistani Republican Party was formed in October 1955, by a break away faction of the Muslim League and other politicians supporting the creation of the West Pakistan province, on the instigation of key leaders in the military and civil service....

18 March 1958 - 7 October 1958 Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash
Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash
Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash was a politician from the Punjab and a minister in the governments of the Punjab, West Pakistan and Pakistan....

Republican Party
Republican Party (Pakistan)
The Pakistani Republican Party was formed in October 1955, by a break away faction of the Muslim League and other politicians supporting the creation of the West Pakistan province, on the instigation of key leaders in the military and civil service....

7 October 1958 Office of Chief Minister abolished

See also

  • Bangladesh Liberation War
    Bangladesh Liberation War
    The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

  • East Pakistan
    East Pakistan
    East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

  • Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
    Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
    The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...

  • List of Speakers of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly
  • Partition of India
    Partition of India
    The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

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