This is a timeline of Pakistani history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in the region of modern-day Pakistan. To read about the background of these events, see History of Pakistan and History of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. __NOTOC__

Paleolithic PeriodMiddle Paleolithic Period

Upper Paleolithic PeriodCenturies BCE 35th27th25th19th17th15th13th12th10th7th6th5th4th3rd2nd1st CE 1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th21st

Middle Paleolithic Year Date Event 300,000 BCE – 100,000 BCE Flake tools, microliths and other chopping tools have been found in Soan Valley. Most of these tools were composed of the metamorphic quartzite rocks. The stone tool artifacts in this assemblage have been identified as a part of the second inter-pluvial period in Pakistan.

Upper Paleolithic Year Date Event 43,000 BCE The archaeological site of Riwat 55 dates back to this period. It is modern form of Early Riwat Site. Riwat 55 contains a structure that includes a low wall footing, a pit, and a stone-lined niche, all associated with a freshly flaked stone assemblage that included blades.

35th century BCE Year Date Event 3500 BCE – 3300 BCE Mature phases of the Indus Valley Civilization begins. The civilization used an early form of the Indus signs, also called Indus script. Over the course of next 1000–1500 years, inhabitants of the civilization developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products and seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin) had elaborate urban planning, baked brick houses, efficient drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. The civilization depended significantly on trade, was the first civilization to use wheeled transport in form of bullock carts, and also used boats.Hasenpflug, Rainer, The Inscriptions of the Indus civilisation Norderstedt, Germany, 2006.

27th century BCE Year Date Event2700 BCE – 2600 BCE The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro become large metropolises and the civilization expands to over 2,500 cities and settlements across the whole region of modern-day Pakistan, covering a region of around one million square miles, which was larger than the land area of its contemporaries Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, and also had superior urban planning and sewage systems. The civilization began using the mature Indus script for its writing system.

25th century BCE Year Date Event2500 BCE – 2000 BCE The culture, artichetere, technology and educational system of Indus Valley civilization reached at its zenith with Harappa and Kot Diji as main centres. These fluctuations reflect complex and dynamic political, ideological, and economic processes that are an integral part of urban society.

19th century BCE Year Date Event 1900 BCE – 1300 BCE Late Harappan Phase (Cemetery H Culture)

13th century BCE Year Date Event 1300 BCE Cemetery H culture comes to an end

10th century BCE Year Date Event 1000 BCE Middle and Late Vedic period (to 500 BCE) Iron Age of Indian subcontinent (including today's Pakistan)

6th century BCE Year Date Event 600 BCE Sixteen Maha Janapadas ("Great Realms" or "Great Kingdoms") emerge.J.M. Kenoyer (2006), "Cultures and Societies of the Indus Tradition. In Historical Roots" in the Making of 'the Aryan, R. Thapar (ed.), pp. 21–49. New Delhi, National Book Trust. Vedic period ends. 535 BCE – 518 BCE Achaemenid Emperors launched Persian campaign of Indus Valley and in result parts of modern-day Pakistan became easternmost part of Achaemenid Empire(Fussman, 1993, p. 84). "This is inferred from the fact that Gandhara (OPers. Gandāra) is already mentioned at Bisotun, while the toponym Hinduš (Sindhu) is added only in later inscriptions." 500 BCE Gandhara Civilization at first stage of its flourishness.Gandhara Civilization

5th century BCE Year Date Event 500 BCE – 450 BCE Persian rule is at its zenith. 500 BCE Roruka as capital of Sauvira Kingdom become most important trading center of Indian subcontinent, also mentioned in early Buddhist literature.Derryl N. MacLean (1989), Religion and Society in Arab Sind, p.63

4th century BCE Year Date Event 333 BCE Persian rule in the Pakistan ends after Darius III is defeated by Alexander the Great, who establishes the Macedonian Empire after inheriting the Persian Achaemenid Empire.Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction, edited by A.B. Bosworth, E.J. Baynham. New York: Oxford University Press (USA), 2002 (Paperback, ). 326 BCE Ambhi king of Takshila surrenders to Alexander. Porus who ruled parts of the Punjab, fought Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River.325 BCE During the Mallian Campaign, Alexander was seriously wounded by an arrow in the chest and this became reason of his death.321 BCE Mauryan Empire is founded by Chandragupta Maurya.Bongard-Levin, G. M. Mauryan India (Stosius Inc./Advent Books Division May 1986) 305 BCE Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleucus Nicator of the Seleucid Empire. 304 BCE Seleucus gives up his territories (Balochistan) to Chandragupta in exchange for 500 elephants. Seleucus offers his daughter in marriage to Chandragupta to seal their friendship.

2nd century BCE Year Date Event 200 BCE – 150 BCE Gandhara Civilization (present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) flourished in new way by combination of Hellenistic culture and Ancient Indian culture. Taxila became centre of Gandhara Civilization and religion of Buddhism.

1st century BCE Year Date Event 75 BCE Arrival of Scythians (Sakas) from Central Asia. 58 BCE Beginning of Vikram Era.

1st century Year Date Event 20 AD – 35 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom was established and conquered present northern Pakistan. 35 AD Western Satraps formed.Claudius Ptolemy, "The geography", Translated and edited by Edward Luther Stevenson, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 68 AD Establishment of the Kushan Empire by Kujula Kadphises.*

2nd century Year Date Event 100 AD or after Sugar was first produced from sugarcane plants in Punjab.*Sato, Tsugitaka (2014). Sugar in the Social Life of Medieval Islam. BRILL. p. 01. .

3rd century Year Date Event 240 AD Sri Gupta starts the establishment of Gupta Empire in Indian subcontinent (including present Pakistan). 260 AD Kushans decline and are dominated by Indo-Sassanians.

4th century Year Date Event 320 AD Chandragupta I ascends the throne of Gupta Empire. Kidarite Kingdom came to power in the region of modern-day Pakistan. 335 AD Samudragupta ascends the Gupta throne and expands the empire. 380 AD Chandragupta II, Samudragupta's son becomes the Gupta Emperor.

5th century Year Date Event 450 AD White Huns (Hephthalites) attacked Gandhara, sacked its cities and burnt down its many monasteries and centres of learning.Iaroslav Lebedynsky, "Les Nomades", Paris 2007,

6th century Year Date Event 524 AD Rai dynasty come to power in the region of Sindh. 554 AD Collapse of Gupta Empire after the death of Skandagupta. 565 AD Sassanians and Turks overthrow Huns.

7th century Year Date Event 601 AD Rai dynasty reached at its zenith and covered whole of Pakistan and Afghanistan with the capital of Aror, Sindh.Harsha and His Times: A Glimpse of Political History During the Seventh Century A.D., Page 78 by Bireshwar Nath Srivastava (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1976) 632 AD Brahman dynasty come into power and Chach of Aror become Maharaja of Sindh.History of Ancient India By Rama Shankar Tripathi, Motilal Banarsidass Publications, Page 337 644 AD Islam arrived in Indian subcontinent. Rashidun Caliphate defeated Rai dynasty in the Battle of Rasil and Balochistan become easternmost frontier of Rashidun Caliphate. 665 AD Turk Shahi gained control west of the Indus River, including Gandhara.Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2006). Peoples of Western Asia. p. 364. 671 AD At the death of Chach of Alor, the Brahmin dynasty reached its zenith and he was succeeded by his brother Chandar of Sindh.Wink, André. (1991). Al- Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest. 2, p. 153. Leiden: Brill. 679 AD Chandar of Sindh died and succeeded by his nephew Raja Dahir, last Hindu Maharaja of Sindh.

8th century Year Date Event 712 AD Muhammad Bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir and established Umayyad Islamic rule on Sindh and southern Punjab (Multan) on the orders of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.Alexander Berzin, "Part I: The Umayyad Caliphate (661 - 750 CE), The First Muslim Incursion into the Indian Subcontinent", The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire 747 AD – 751 AD Umayyad Era finished and Abbasid Era begins.Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Jabir. The Origins of the Islamic State, Part II. Trans. Francis Clark Murgotten. New York: Columbia University, 1924. Mansur ibn Jumhur al-Kalbi revolted against Umayyad Dynasty during Abbasid Revolution and after Abbasid victory in revolution, he was confirmed as Abbasid Governor of Sindh.

9th century Year Date Event 841 AD Dynastic rule of Habbaris over Sindh begin under suzerainty of Abbasid Caliphate.P. M. (M.S. Asimov, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Unesco, Clifford Edmund Bosworth), The History of Civilizations of Central Asia, UNESCO, 1999, , pg 293-294. 870 AD Hindu Shahis captured Kingdom of Kabul Shahi and expanded their rule in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Punjab. 875 AD Habbari dynasty rule expanded over whole of Sindh, Southern Balochistan and southern Punjab (Multan).P. M. ( Nagendra Kumar Singh), Muslim Kingship in India, Anmol Publications, 1999, , pg 43-45.

10th century Year Date Event 977 AD – 997 AD Sabuktigin of Ghaznavid dynasty defeated many times Hindu Shahi ruler Jayapala and became ruler of domains east of the Indus River.The History of India: The Hindu and Mahometan Periods, Elphinstone, pg 321

11th century Year Date Event 1001 Mahmud Ghazni defeated Raja Jayapala of Hindu Shahi; after that Jayapala commits suicide. 1021 Mahmud Ghazni defeats Raja Tarnochalpal and Punjab becomes part of Ghaznavid dynasty. In this way whole of Pakistan comes under Muslim rule; Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa under Ghaznavid Empire, Sindh under Habbari dynasty while Makran (Balochistan) under Caliphate. 1030 Alberuni arrives in Indian subcontinent; death of Mahmud Ghazni. 1058 Muslim Rajput Soomra Dynasty ends the rule of Habbari dynasty and starts to rule on the behave of Abbasid Caliph. 1092 Reign of Zainab Tari begins; first absolute female ruler in the history of South Asia as well as only female who ruled Sindh.

12th century Year Date Event 1175 Muhammad of Ghurid dynasty defeats Qarmatians rulers of Multan in 1175.Andre Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol. 2, 244. 1186 Muhammad Ghori along with Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad ends the rule of Ghaznavid dynasty after having captured Lahore.The Iranian World, C.E. Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5, ed. J. A. Boyle, John Andrew Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 161–170.Rediscovery Of India, The: A New Subcontinent By Ansar Hussain Khan, Ansar Hussain Published by Orient Longman Limited Page 54Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopædia Iranica 1191 "Victory of Prithviraj Chauhan". First Battle of Tarain fought between Muhammad Ghori and Prithviraj III. Ghori is defeated by Prithivi Raj Chauhan III.A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East, Vol. I, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 263. 1192 "Victory of Muhammad Ghori". Second Battle of Tarain fought between Muhammad Ghori and Prithivi Raj Chauhan III. Chauhan is defeated by Muhammad Ghori. 1193 Qutb al-Din Aibak becomes deputy of Ghurid Empire in Indian subcontinent.Kutb al-Din Aybek, P. Jackson, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V, ed. C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, B. Lewis, and C. Pellat, (Brill, 1986), 546.

13th century