Pakistan gains independence from the British Empire as the Dominion of Pakistan, due to the partition of India.

The Pakistan Movement was a Muslim nationalist political and social movement, emerging in the early 20th century, that advocated the formation of Pakistan as a separate Muslim homeland in the Muslim-majority parts of what was then the British India. It was rooted in the two-nation theory, which asserted that Muslims were fundamentally and irreconcilably distinct from Hindus and would therefore require separate self-determination upon decolonisation.

The idea was largely realised when the All-India Muslim League ratified the Lahore Resolution on 23 March 1940, calling for the Muslim-majority regions of the Indian subcontinent to be "grouped to constitute independent states" that would be "autonomous and sovereign" with the aim of securing Muslim socio-political interests vis-à-vis the Hindu majority.

It was in the aftermath of the Lahore Resolution under the aegis of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, that the cause of "Pakistan" became widely popular among the Muslims of South Asia.

Muslim League leaders after a dinner party, 1940 (Photo 429-6)
Muslim League leaders after a dinner party, 1940 (Photo 429-6) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
1946 Map of British India with areas demanded for separate Pakistan by Muslim League
1946 Map of British India with areas demanded for separate Pakistan by Muslim League (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib
General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Edward Armitage (1817-96) - The Battle of Meeanee, 17 February 1843 - RCIN 407185 - Royal Collection
Edward Armitage (1817-96) - The Battle of Meeanee, 17 February 1843 - RCIN 407185 - Royal Collection (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Watch: Story of Pakistan | The Beginning (1857 – 1905) | Narrated by Shan | Episode 1 | 08 Aug 2020 | ISPR

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Sources and further reading: Wikipedia — Pakistan Movement, Pakistan, British Empire, Dominion of Pakistan (CC BY-SA). Images: Wikimedia Commons.