Istorija Pakistana obuhvata istoriju regiona koji sačinjava današnji Pakistan. Ona je isprepletena sa istorijom šireg Indijskog potkontinenta i okolnih regiona Južne Azije, Istočne Azije, Centralne Azije i Bliskog Istoka. Smatra se da su anatomski moderni ljudi stigli u Pakistan pre 73 000 do 55 000 godina. Naseljeni život koji uključuje prelazak sa sakupljanja na poljoprivredu i pastoralizam, počeo je u Pakistanu oko 7000. p. n. e.. Domestikacija pšenice i ječma koja je ubrzo praćena pripitomljavanjem koza, ovaca i goveda, dokumentovana je u Mergaru u Beludžistanu. Do 4.500. p. n. e., naseljeni život je postao šire rasprostranjen, i na kraju je evoluirao u civilizaciju doline Inda, ranu civilizaciju Starog sveta koja je bila veća po kopnenoj površini od njenih savremenika Drevog Egipta i Mesopotamije zajedno. Ona je cvetala između 2.500. p. n. e. i 1.900 godine pne sa sedištima u Harapi i Mohendžo-daru, usredsređena uglavnom na Centralni i Južni Pakistan.

Civilizacija doline Inda bila je poznata po razvijenim novim tehnikama zanatstva, ukrasnih proizvoda, rezbarenja pečata, metalurgije, urbanističkog planiranja, kuća od pečene cigle, efikasnih drenažnih sistema, vodovodnih sistema i klastera velikih nestambenih zgrada. To je bila jedna od prvih civilizacija koja je koristila prevoz na točkovima u obliku volovskih kola, a takođe je koristila i čamce.Hasenpflug, Rainer, The Inscriptions of the Indus civilisation Norderstedt, Germany, 2006 Induska civilizacija je znatno zavisila od trgovine. Trgovinski putevi koji presecaju dolinu Inda i koji povezuju centralnu Aziju, Indijski potkontinent i Orijent privukli su ljude iz Grčke i Mongolije. Početkom drugog milenijuma pre nove ere klimatske promene su, uz stalne suše, dovele do napuštanja urbanih središta civilizacije doline Inda. Njeno stanovništvo se preselilo u manja sela i pomešalo se sa indo-arijskim plemenima, koji su se preselila u druga područja Indijskog potkontinenta u nekoliko talasa migracije, takođe pod uticajem posledica ove klimatske promene.

Istorija Pakistana za period koji je prethodio stvaranju zemlje 1947. godinePakistan was created as the Dominion of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 after the end of British rule in, and partition of British India. zajednička je sa istorijama Avganistana, Indije i Irana. Obuhvaćajući zapadni prostor Indijskog potkontinenta i istočne granice Iranske visoravni, region današnjeg Pakistana služio je i kao plodno tlo velike civilizacije i kao ulaz Južne Azije u Srednju Aziju i Bliski Istok. Quote: "Numerous passageways through the northwestern frontiers of the Indian subcontinent in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan served as migration routes to South Asia from the Iranian plateau and the Central Asian steppes. Prehistoric and protohistoric exchanges across the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya ranges demonstrate earlier precedents for routes through the high mountain passes and river valleys in later historical periods. Typological similarities between Northern Neolithic sites in Kashmir and Swat and sites in the Tibetan plateau and northern China show that 'Mountain chains have often integrated rather than isolated peoples.' Ties between the trading post of Shortughai in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan) and the lower Indus valley provide evidence for long-distance commercial networks and 'polymorphous relations' across the Hindu Kush until c. 1800 B.C.' The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) may have functioned as a 'filter' for the introduction of Indo-Iranian languages to the northwestern Indian subcontinent, although routes and chronologies remain hypothetical. (page 55)" Quote: "Here also, in ancient days, was the meeting-place of three great trade-routes, one, from Hindustan and Eastern India, which was to become the `royal highway' described by Megasthenes as running from Pataliputra to the north-west of the Maurya empire; the second from Western Asia through Bactria, Kapisi and Pushkalavati and so across the Indus at Ohind to Taxila; and the third from Kashmir and Central Asia by way of the Srinagar valley and Baramula to Mansehra and so down the Haripur valley. These three trade-routes, which carried the bulk of the traffic passing by land between India and Central and Western Asia, played an all-important part in the history of Taxila. (page 1)"

Reference

Literatura

The Imperial Gazetteer of India (26 vol, 1908–31), highly detailed description of all of Pakistan & India in 1901. complete text online 558 pp. Topical essays by leading scholars online review

. . . . Karachi; New York: Oxford University Press. . London; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Allchin, Bridget; Allchin, F. Raymond. . Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. -e-Adab. . . . . . Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. , by a Pakistani scholar; Covers 1946 to 1974. . online]

. . . Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. Davoodi, Schoresch & Sow, Adama (2007): The Political Crisis of Pakistan in 2007 – EPU Research Papers: Issue 08/07, Stadtschlaining . New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. & Graf Publishers. . Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. . . .

. . Holt. , 1857–1947, Oxford .

Spear, Percival [First published 1965]. . Volume 2. New York: Penguin. . Thackston, Wheeler M.; Robert Irwin (1996). Thapar, Romila [First published 1965]. . Volume 1. New York: Penguin. . . Johnson. . .

Spoljašnje veze -{Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies, a peer-reviewed semiannual scholarly journal sponsored by the Khaldunia Centre for Historical Research in Lahore, Pakistan.}- -{National Fund for Cultural Heritage, Government of Pakistan }- -{Story of Pakistan}- -{A look at some of the historic moments that have shaped Pakistan}- -{Quick History of Pakistan}-