Dominion of Pakistan

Pakistan,[4] also called the Dominion of Pakistan, was an

independent federal dominion in South Asia that was established Pakistan[1]
in August 1947 as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which led 1947–1956[2]
to the Partition of British India along religious lines in order to
create a separate country for British Indian Muslims. The
dominion, which included much of modern-day Pakistan and
Bangladesh, was conceived under the two-nation theory as an
independent sovereign state comprising most of the Muslim-
majority areas of Hindu-majority India.
Flag Emblem (1947–
At its inception on 14 August 1947, the Dominion of Pakistan, 1955)
similarly to the neighbouring Dominion of India, did not include
its princely states, which gradually acceded over the next year.
The nation's status as a federal dominion within the British
Empire ended in 1956 with the formal drafting of the
Constitution of Pakistan, which officially established the country
as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The constitution also
administratively split the nation into West Pakistan and East
Pakistan, which were until this point governed as a singular
entity despite being completely separate geographic exclaves. In
1971, following a liberation war between Pakistan Armed
Forces (aided by East Pakistani loyalists) and ethnic Bengali
rebels known as the Mukti Bahini, the territory of East Pakistan
seceded from the union with Indian military support to form the
independent People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Land controlled by the Dominion of
Pakistan shown in dark green; land
claimed but not controlled shown in light
green
Contents
Capital Karachi
Partition of British India
Common languages Englisha,
Territory Urdub, Bengalic
Radcliffe Line
Religion Islam (majority)
Reign of Elizabeth II Hinduism
Sikhism
List of monarchs Christianity
References Demonym(s) Pakistani
Further reading Government Federal
parliamentary
constitutional
Partition of British India monarchy
Monarch
Section 1 of the Indian Independence Act 1947 provided that • 1947–1952 George VI
• 1952–1956 Elizabeth II
from "the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-
Governor-General
seven, two independent dominions shall be set up in India, to be
• 1947–1948 Muhammad Ali
known respectively as India and Pakistan." The Dominion of
India held seventy-five percent of the territory and eighty percent Jinnah
of the population of the former British India. As it was already a • 1948–1951 Khawaja
member of the United Nations, India continued to hold its seat Nazimuddin
there and did not apply for a new membership. The British • 1951–1955 Malik Ghulam
• 1955–1956 Iskander Mirza
monarch became head of state of the new dominion, with
Prime Minister
Pakistan sharing a king with the United Kingdom and the other
• 1947–1951 Liaquat Ali
Dominions of the British Commonwealth, but the monarch's
Khan
constitutional roles were delegated to the Governor-General of • 1951–1953 Khawaja
Pakistan, and most real powers resided with the new government Nazimuddin
headed by Jinnah. • 1953–1955 Mohammad Ali
Bogra
Before August 1947, about half of the area of present-day • 1955–1956 Chaudhry
Pakistan was part of the Presidencies and provinces of British Mohammad Ali
India, in which the agents of the sovereign as Emperor of India Legislature Constituent
had full authority, while the remainder were princely states in Assembly
subsidiary alliances with the British, enjoying internal self-
History
government. The British abandoned these alliances in August
1947, leaving the states entirely independent, and between 1947 • Formation 14 August
and 1948 the states all acceded to Pakistan, while retaining 1947[3]
• Republican 23 March 1956
internal self-government for several years.
constitution
adopted
Territory Area
1956 943,665 km2
The dominion began as a federation of five provinces: East (364,351 sq mi)
Bengal (later to become Bangladesh), West Punjab, Balochistan, Currency Pakistani rupee
Sindh, and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Each
province had its own governor, who was appointed by the Preceded Succeeded by
Governor-General of Pakistan. In addition, over the following by
year the princely states of Pakistan, which covered a significant British Islamic
area of West Pakistan, acceded to Pakistan. They included Raj Republic of
Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Swat, Dir, Hunza, Chitral, Makran, and Pakistan
the Khanate of Kalat.
Today part of Pakistan

Radcliffe Line Bangladesh

The controversial Radcliffe Award, not published until 17 a. Official Language: 14 August 1947
b. First National Language: 23 February
August 1947 specified the Radcliffe Line which demarcated the 1948
border between the parts of British India allocated to the two c. Second National Language: 29
new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The February 1956
Radcliffe Boundary Commission sought to separate the Muslim-
majority regions in the east and northwest from the areas with a Hindu majority. This entailed the partition of
two British provinces which did not have a uniform majority — Bengal and Punjab. The western part of
Punjab became the Pakistani province of Punjab and the eastern part became the Indian state of Punjab.
Bengal was similarly divided into East Bengal (in Pakistan) and West Bengal (in India).

Reign of Elizabeth II
During the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, she was crowned as Queen of seven independent
Commonwealth countries, including Pakistan,[5] which was still a Dominion at the time, whereas India was
not, as the Dominion of India had become a republic under the new Indian constitution of 1950. In her
Coronation Oath, the new Queen promised "to govern the Peoples of ... Pakistan ... according to their
respective laws and customs".[6] The Standard of Pakistan at the Coronation was borne by Mirza Abol Hassan
Ispahani.[7]

Pakistan ceased being a dominion on 23 March 1956 on the adoption of a republican constitution.[8] However,
Pakistan became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Queen visited Pakistan as Head of the Commonwealth in 1961 and 1997, accompanied by Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh.

Pakistan left the Commonwealth in 1972 over the issue of the former East Pakistan province becoming
independent as Bangladesh. It rejoined in 1989, then was suspended from the Commonwealth twice: firstly
from 18 October 1999 to 22 May 2004 and secondly from 22 November 2007 to 22 May 2008.

List of monarchs
Monarch Monarch Relationship with
Portrait Name Birth Death
From Until Predecessor(s)

14 6 14 6 None (position created).

George VI December February August February Emperor of India before
1895 1952 1947 1952 partition.

6
21 April 23 March
Elizabeth II February Daughter of George VI
1926 1956
1952

References
1. As to official name being just "Pakistan" and not "Dominion of Pakistan": Indian Independence
Act 1947, Section1.-(i) As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven,
two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and
Pakistan."
2. Timothy C. Winegard (29 December 2011). Indigenous Peoples of the British Dominions and
the First World War (https://books.google.com/books?id=qzIw-c1YOAIC&pg=PA2) (1st ed.).
Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-1107014930. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
3. Singh Vipul (1 September 2009). Longman History & Civics Icse 10 (https://books.google.com/
books?id=RX4OiM0MGZUC&pg=PA132). Pearson Education India. pp. 132–. ISBN 978-81-
317-2042-4.
4. As to official name being just "Pakistan" and not "Dominion of Pakistan": Indian Independence
Act 1947, Section1.-(i) As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven,
two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and
Pakistan."
5. "The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLN1kREJ2Q&t=
280s). Retrieved 16 May 2014.
 6. "The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be
observed in the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter,
Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953" (http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronat
ion/cor1953b.html). Oremus.org. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40020/supplement/6240 The London Gazette, no.
40020 of 20 November 1953, pp. 6240 ff.
8. John Stewart Bowman (2000). Columbia chronologies of Asian history and culture (https://archi
ve.org/details/columbiachronolo00john). Columbia University Press. p. 372 (https://archive.org/
details/columbiachronolo00john/page/372). ISBN 978-0-231-11004-4. Retrieved 22 March
2011.

Further reading
Chester, Lucy P. (2009) Borders and Conflict in South Asia: The Radcliffe Boundary
Commission and the Partition of Punjab. (https://archive.today/20160509144755/http://www.ma
nchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9780719091360) Manchester:
Manchester University Press.
Read, A. and Fisher, D. (1997). The Proudest Day: India's Long Road to Independence. New
York: Norton.

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