Indian subcontinent

Area	4.4 million km2 (1.7 million mi²)
Population	~1.7 billion
Demonym	Subcontinental

The Indian subcontinent is a region of Asia situated mostly on the Indian tectonic plate.

Definition[link]

According to political science professor Tatu Vanhanen, "The seven countries of South Asia constitute geographically a compact region around the Indian Subcontinent";^[1] while according to anthropologist John R. Lukacs, "The Indian Subcontinent occupies the major landmass of South Asia."^[2] According to Chris Brewster, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan constitute the Indian Subcontinent; with Afghanistan and Maldives included it is more commonly referred to as South Asia.^[3]

Nomenclature[link]

The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are used interchangeably.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} In Religions of South Asia, Sushil Mittal and Gene R. Thursby state that Indian Subcontinent and South Asia is referred to as the same area.^[9] Due to political sensitivities, some prefer to use the terms "South Asian Subcontinent",^[10][10][11] the "Indo-Pak Subcontinent",^[12] "the Subcontinent", or simply "South Asia"^[13] over the term "Indian subcontinent". According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, Indian Subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance."^[13] Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the term "South Asia" is getting more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia.^[14] Some academics hold that the term "South Asia" is in more common use in Europe and North America, rather than the terms "Subcontinent" or the "Indian Subcontinent".^[15][16] While using both terms to mean the same region in Religion and Conflict in Modern South Asia Dr. William Gould of University of Leeds explains that "South Asia" is a geopolitical as well as a geographical term.^[17]

Scope[link]

The definition of the geographical extent of Indian subcontinent varies. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, now it generally comprises the countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh;^[18] prior to 1947, the three nations were historically combined and constituted British India. It almost always also includes Nepal, Bhutan, and the island country of Sri Lanka^[19] and may also include Afghanistan and the island country of Maldives.^[4][20][21] The region may also include the disputed territory of Aksai Chin, which was part of the British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but is now administered as part of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.^[22] A booklet published by the United States Department of State in 1959 includes Afghanistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, Nepal, and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) as part of the "Subcontinent of South Asia".^[23] When the term Indian subcontinent is used to mean South Asia, the islands countries of Sri Lanka and the Maldives may sometimes not be included,^[4] while Tibet and Nepal may be included^[24] or excluded^[25] intermittently, depending on the context.

Geography[link]

Geographically, the Indian subcontinent is a peninsular region in south-central Asia, rather resembling a diamond which is delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east,^[26] and which extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.^[4][18] Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain barriers.^[27][28] The Indian Plate includes most of South Asia, forming a land mass which extends from the Himalayas into a portion of the basin under the Indian Ocean, including parts of South China and Eastern Indonesia, as well as Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, ^[29][30][31] and extending up to but not including Ladakh, Kohistan, the Hindu Kush range and Balochistan.^[32][33][34] Counting India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives as the constituent countries of Indian Subcontinent, it covers about 4.4 million km² (1.7 million mi²), which is 10% of the Asian continent or 2.4% of the world's land surface area.^[35][36] Overall, it accounts for about 34% of Asia's population (or over 16.5% of the world's population) and is home to a vast array of peoples.^[35][37][36]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flora of the Indian Subcontinent

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References[link]

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Ahmed Raza (October 10, 1988) is a Pakistani-born United Arab Emirates cricketer who currently plays for the United Arab Emirates. Raza is a left-handed batsman who bowls slow left-arm orthodox.

Raza made his List-A debut against India A in 2006. In 2007 Raza made his first-class debut against Scotland in the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup and has since gone on to represent the UAE in six first class matches. In the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup Raza was the UAE's joint leading wicket taker with twelve wickets along with Moiz Shahid.

External links[link]

• Ahmed Raza on CricketArchive

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Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Urdu: محمد علی جناح,  Audio (help·info); 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a lawyer, politician and statesman who is known as being the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as 'Quaid-e-Azam' (lit. Great Leader) and 'Baba-e-Qaum' (lit. Father of the Nation).

Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947, and as Pakistan's first Governor-General from 15 August 1947 until his death on 11 September 1948. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress initially expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress; he also became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India.

Jinnah later advocated the two-nation theory embracing the goal of creating a separate Muslim state as per the Lahore Resolution.^[7] The League won most reserved Muslim seats in the elections of 1946. After the British and Congress backed out of the Cabinet Mission Plan Jinnah called for a Direct Action Day to achieve the formation of Pakistan. This direct action^[8][9] by the Muslim League and its Volunteer Corps resulted in massive rioting in Calcutta^[9][10] between Muslims and Hindus.^[10][11] As the Indian National Congress and Muslim League failed to reach a power sharing formula for united India, it prompted both the parties and the British to agree to the independence of Pakistan and India. As the first Governor-General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to lay the foundations of the new state of Pakistan, frame national policies and rehabilitate millions of Muslim refugees who had migrated from India. Jinnah also assumed the role and title of 'Protector General of the Hindu Minority' during Hindu-Muslim riots after 1947.^[12] Jinnah died aged 71 in September 1948, just over a year after Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire. Jinnah left a deep and respected legacy in Pakistan, and according to Stanley Wolpert, Jinnah remained Pakistan's greatest leader since the establishment of Pakistan in 1947.^[13]

Early life[link]

Jinnah in his youth, in traditional dress.

Jinnah was born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai (Gujarati: મુહમ્મદ અલી જિન્નાભાઈ)^[14] to the Gujarati-speaking Jinnah family in Wazir Mansion, Karachi in Sindh, a region within the Bombay Presidency of British India. Some sources suggest that he was born in the town of Jhirk.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} Jinnah's first biographer, Sarojini Naidu, as well as his official passport, state the date of birth as 25 December 1876.^[20][21][22]

Jinnah was the second child born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father was a prosperous Gujarati merchant who came from the region now known as Gujarat and subsequently moved to Karachi some time before Jinnah's birth.^[15][23][24] Jinnah's family belonged to the Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam,^[1] though Jinnah later converted to Twelver Khoja Shi'a Islam.^{[2][5][6][25]} He had three brothers and three sisters, including Fatima Jinnah, all of whom became multilingual, speaking Gujarati, Kutchi, Sindhi and English.^[26]

Jinnah studied at several schools: first at the Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi; then briefly at the Gokal Das Tej Primary School in Bombay; and finally at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi,^[14] where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay.^[27][28]

Years in England[link]

Jinnah was offered an apprenticeship at the London office of Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, a business that had extensive dealings with Jinnahbhai Poonja's firm in Karachi.^[14] Before he left for England in 1892, at his mother's urging, he married his distant cousin, Emibai Jinnah, who was two years his junior;^[14] she died a few months later.^[29] During his sojourn in England his mother also died.^[24] In London, Jinnah soon gave up the apprenticeship to study law instead, by joining Lincoln's Inn. It is said that the sole reason of Jinnah's joining Lincoln's Inn is that the main entrance to the Lincoln's Inn had the names of the world's all-time top-ten lawgivers, and that this list was led by the name Muhammad.^[24][30] This story, however, has not been proven.^[31] In three years, at age 19, he became the youngest Indian to be called to the bar in England.^[24]

During his student years in England, Jinnah was influenced by 19th-century British liberalism, like many other future Indian independence leaders. This education included exposure to the idea of the democratic nation and progressive politics.^[29] He particularly admired William Gladstone and John Morley, British liberal statesmen.^{[citation needed]} An admirer of the Indian political leaders Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta,^[32][29] he worked with other Indian students on the former's successful campaign to become the first Indian to hold a seat in the British Parliament.^{[citation needed]}

By now, Jinnah had developed largely constitutionalist views on Indian self-government, and he condemned both the arrogance of British officials in India and the discrimination practiced by them against Indians. This idea of a nation legitimized by democratic principles and cultural commonalities was antithetical to the genuine diversity that had generally characterized the subcontinent. As an Indian intellectual and political authority, Jinnah would find his commitment to the Western ideal of the nation-state developed during his English education– and the reality of heterogeneous Indian society to be difficult to reconcile during his later political career.^{[citation needed]}

Muhmmad Ali Jinnah's passport issued by the British Raj.

Western influences on personal life[link]

The Western world not only inspired Jinnah in his political life. England had greatly influenced his personal preferences, particularly when it came to dress. Jinnah donned Western style clothing and he pursued the fashion with fervor. It is said he owned over 200 hand-tailored suits which he wore with heavily starched shirts with detachable collars. It is also alleged that he never wore the same silk tie twice.^[33][34] Although in his later years he was most commonly seen wearing Sherwani and Karakul hat which subsequently came to be known as the "Jinnah cap".

Return to India[link]

During the final period of his stay in England, Jinnah came under considerable pressure to return home when his father's business was under a financial crisis.^[35][36] In 1896 he returned to India and settled in Bombay. Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. He became a lawyer, gaining particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case".^[32] This prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire him as defence counsel for his sedition trial in 1908 but Jinnah lost that case, resulting in a rigorous term of imprisonment for Tilak. Jinnah unsuccessfully argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-government in his own country.^[32] Jinnah was never reputed to be a successful lawyer, having lost most of the cases he advocated, but the political importance those cases and his general fame as a political leader made him a popular choice for many in the Indian subcontinent.^[37]

When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and progressive politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian National Congress stalwarts Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Surendranath Banerjee. These people had an influence in his early life in England and they would influence his later involvement in Indian politics.^[38]

Early political career[link]

In 1906, Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress,^[22] which was the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties of subcontinent.^[39][40][41] Like most of the Congress at the time, Jinnah did not favor outright independence, considering British influences on education, law, culture and industry as beneficial to India.^{[citation needed]} Jinnah became a member on the 60-member Imperial Legislative Council. The council had no real power, and included a large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists and Europeans. Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of the Child Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim waqf (religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, which helped establish the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun.^[15][42] During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be rewarded with political freedoms.

In April, 1913 he again went to England and met Ghokle. For providing Indian students a platform in England, he made London Indian Association.^[37] Jinnah had initially avoided joining the All India Muslim League, founded in 1906, regarding it as too Muslim oriented. However, he decided to provide leadership to the Muslim minority. Eventually, he joined the League in 1913 on persuasion of Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar and Syed Wazir Hasan^[37] and became the president at the 1916 session in Lucknow. Jinnah was the architect of the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the League, bringing them together on most issues regarding self-government and presenting a united front to the British. Jinnah also played an important role in the founding of the All India Home Rule League in 1916. Along with political leaders Annie Besant and Tilak, Jinnah demanded "home rule" for India—the status of a self-governing dominion in the Empire similar to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. He headed the League's Bombay Presidency chapter.

In 1918, Jinnah married his second wife Rattanbai Petit ("Ruttie"), 24 years his junior.^[29] She was the fashionable young daughter of his personal friend Sir Dinshaw Petit, of an elite Parsi family of Bombay.^[29] Unexpectedly, there was great opposition to the marriage from Rattanbai's family and the Parsi community, as well as orthodox Muslim leaders. Rattanbai defied her family and nominally converted to Islam, adopting (though never using) the name Maryam Jinnah, resulting in a permanent estrangement from her family and Parsi society. The couple resided in Bombay, and frequently travelled across India and Europe. In August 15,1919 she bore Jinnah his only child, daughter Dina Jinnah.^[43][29]

In 1924, Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been president since 1916, and devoted the next seven years attempting to bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop a rational formula to effect a Hindu-Muslim settlement, which he considered the pre condition for Indian freedom. He attended several unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals in 1927, pleaded for the incorporation of the basic Muslim demands in the Nehru report, and formulated the “Fourteen Points”.^[44]

Fourteen points[link]

Jinnah broke with the Congress in 1920 when the Congress leader, Mohandas Gandhi, launched a Non-Cooperation Movement against the British, which Jinnah disapproved of. Unlike most Congress leaders, Gandhi did not wear western-style clothing, did his best to use an Indian language instead of English, and was deeply rooted in Indian culture. Gandhi's local style of leadership gained great popularity with the Indian people. Jinnah criticized Gandhi's support of the Khilafat Movement, which he saw as an endorsement of religious zealotry.^[45] Jinnah quit the Congress, with a prophetic warning that Gandhi's method of mass struggle would lead to divisions between Hindus and Muslims and within the two communities.^[42] Becoming president of the Muslim League, Jinnah was drawn into a conflict between a pro-Congress faction and a pro-British faction.

In September 1923, Jinnah was elected as Muslim member for Bombay in the new Central Legislative Assembly. He showed great gifts as a parliamentarian, organized many Indian members to work with the Swaraj Party, and continued to press demands for full responsible government. He was so active on a wide range of subjects that in 1925 he was offered a knighthood by Lord Reading, who was retiring from the position of Viceroy and Governor General. Jinnah replied: "I prefer to be plain Mr. Jinnah".^[46]

In 1927, Jinnah entered negotiations with Muslim and Hindu leaders on the issue of a future constitution, during the struggle against the all-British Simon Commission. The League wanted separate electorates while the Nehru Report favoured joint electorates. Jinnah personally opposed separate electorates, but then drafted compromises and put forth demands that he thought would satisfy both. These became known as the 14 points of Mr. Jinnah.^[47] However, they were rejected by the Congress and other political parties.

Jinnah's personal life and especially his marriage suffered during this period due to his political work. Although they worked to save their marriage by travelling together to Europe when he was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, the couple separated in 1927. Jinnah was deeply saddened when Rattanbai died in 1929, after a serious illness.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 1929, Jinnah defended Ilm-ud-din, a carpenter who murdered a Hindu book publisher for publishing the book "Rangeela Rasool" which was alleged to be offensive towards the Prophet Muhammad. Jinnah's involvement in this controversy showed a greater inclination towards Islamic politics and a shift away from being an advocate for Hindu-Muslim unity.^[48]

At the Round Table Conferences in London, Jinnah was disillusioned by the breakdown of talks.^[49] After the failure of the Round Table Conferences, Jinnah returned to London for a few years. In 1936, he returned to India to reorganize Muslim League and contest elections held under the provisions of the 1935 Act.^[50]

Jinnah would receive personal care and support as he became more ill during this time from his sister Fatima Jinnah. She lived and travelled with him, as well as becoming a close advisor.^[51] She helped raise his daughter, who was educated in England and India. Jinnah later became estranged from his daughter, Dina Jinnah, after she decided to marry Christian businessman, Neville Wadia (even though he had faced the same issues when he married Rattanbai in 1918). Jinnah continued to correspond cordially with his daughter, but their personal relationship was strained. Dina continued to live in India with her family.

Leader of the Muslim League[link]

Jinnah with his sister Fatima Jinnah (left) and daughter Dina (right) in Bombay

Jinnah moved to London in 1930 for political dialogue with the British government and work for the representation of Indian Muslims in Britain. During this period, he participated in the 1930 Round Table Conference. Due to his firm position regarding the rights of minorities in British India, Congress leaders was not happy with him. As a result, due to the British-Congress companionship, he was not invited for the next two conferences.^[52] Jinnah decided to stay in Britain so that he could convince British politicians about the state of affairs in India. He worked in the Privy Council Bar during this period. Muslims of Bombay elected him in his absence as their representative for the Central Legislative Assembly in October 1934.^[53] In 1934, Jinnah returned India and began to reorganize the party, being closely assisted by Liaquat Ali Khan, who visited Jinnah in London in 1933 and would act as his right-hand man. In the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly, the League emerged as a competent party, capturing a significant number of seats under the system of separate electorates, but lost in the Muslim-majority Punjab,^[54] Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province.^[55] Jinnah offered an alliance with the Congress—both bodies would face the British together, but the Congress had to share power, accept separate electorates and the League as the representative of India's Muslims. The latter two terms were unacceptable to the Congress, which had its own national Muslim leaders and membership and adhered to secularism. Even as Jinnah held talks with Congress president Rajendra Prasad,^[56] Congress leaders suspected that Jinnah would use his position as a lever for exaggerated demands and obstruct government, and demanded that the League merge with the Congress.^[57] The talks failed, and while Jinnah declared the resignation of all Congressmen from provincial and central offices in 1939 as a "Day of Deliverance" from Hindu domination,^[58] some historians assert that he remained hopeful about an agreement.^[56]

In a speech given at Allahabad to the League in 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal came up with an idea of a state for Muslims in "northwest India." Choudhary Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet in 1933 advocating a state called "Pakistan". Following the failure to work with the Congress, Jinnah, who had embraced separate electorates and the exclusive right of the League to represent Muslims, was converted to the idea that Muslims needed a separate state to protect their rights. Jinnah came to believe that Muslims and Hindus were distinct nations, with unbridgeable differences—a view later known as the Two Nation Theory.^[59] Jinnah declared that a united India would lead to the marginalization of Muslims, and eventually civil war between Hindus and Muslims. This change of view may have occurred through his correspondence with Iqbal, who was close to Jinnah.^[60] In the session in Lahore in 1940, the Pakistan resolution was adopted as the main goal of the party. The resolution was rejected outright by the Congress, and criticized by some Muslim leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Syed Ab'ul Ala Maududi.

In 1941, Muhammad Ali Jinnah founded Dawn, a major newspaper that helped him propagate the League's point of views. During the mission of British minister Stafford Cripps, Jinnah demanded parity between the number of Congress and League ministers, the League's exclusive right to appoint Muslims and a right for Muslim-majority provinces to secede, leading to the breakdown of talks. Jinnah supported the British effort in World War II, and opposed the Quit India movement. During this period, the League formed provincial governments and entered the central government. The League's influence increased in the Punjab after the death of Unionist leader Sikander Hyat Khan in 1942. Gandhi held talks 14 times with Jinnah in Bombay in 1944,^[61] about a united front—while talks failed, Gandhi's overtures to Jinnah increased the latter's standing with Muslims.^[62]

Founding of Pakistan[link]

In the 1946 elections for the Constituent Assembly of India, the Congress won most of the elected seats, while the League won a large majority of Muslim electorate seats. The 1946 British Cabinet Mission to India released a plan on 16 May, calling for a united Indian state comprising considerably autonomous provinces, and called for "groups" of provinces formed on the basis of religion. A second plan released on 16 June, called for the separation of India along religious lines, with princely states to choose between accession to the dominion of their choice or independence. The Congress, fearing India's fragmentation, criticised the 16 May proposal and rejected the 16 June plan. Jinnah gave the League's assent to both plans, knowing that power would go only to the party that had supported a plan. After much debate and against Gandhi's advice that both plans were divisive, the Congress accepted the 16 May plan while condemning the grouping principle.^{[citation needed]} Jinnah decried this acceptance as "dishonesty", accused the British negotiators of "treachery",^[63] and withdrew the League's approval of both plans. The League boycotted the assembly, leaving the Congress in charge of the government but denying it legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims.

Jinnah gave a precise definition of the term 'Pakistan' in 1941 at Lahore in which he stated:

Some confusion prevails in the minds of some individuals in regard to the use of the word 'Pakistan'. This word has become synonymous with the Lahore resolution owing to the fact that it is a convenient and compendious method of describing [it].... For this reason the British and Indian newspapers generally have adopted the word 'Pakistan' to describe the Moslem demand as embodied in the Lahore resolution.^[64]

Jinnah issued a call for all Muslims to launch "Direct Action" on 16 August to "achieve Pakistan".^[65] Strikes and protests were planned, but violence broke out all over India, especially in Calcutta and the district of Noakhali in Bengal, and more than 7,000 people were killed in Bihar. Although viceroy Lord Wavell asserted that there was "no satisfactory evidence to that effect",^[66] League politicians were blamed by the Congress and the media for orchestrating the violence.^[67] Interim Government portfolios were announced on 25 October 1946.^[68] Muslim Leaguers were sworn in on 26 October 1946.^[69] The League entered the interim government, but Jinnah refrained from accepting office for himself. This was credited as a major victory for Jinnah, as the League entered government having rejected both plans, and was allowed to appoint an equal number of ministers despite being the minority party. The coalition was unable to work, resulting in a rising feeling within the Congress that independence of Pakistan was the only way of avoiding political chaos and possible civil war. The Congress agreed to the division of Punjab and Bengal along religious lines in late 1946. The new viceroy Lord Mountbatten of Burma and Indian civil servant V. P. Menon proposed a plan that would create a Muslim dominion in West Punjab, East Bengal, Baluchistan and Sindh. After heated and emotional debate, the Congress approved the plan.^[70] The North-West Frontier Province voted to join Pakistan in a referendum in July 1947. Jinnah asserted in a speech in Lahore on 30 October 1947 that the League had accepted independence of Pakistan because "the consequences of any other alternative would have been too disastrous to imagine."^[71]

The independent state of Pakistan, created on 14 August 1947, represented the outcome of a campaign on the part of the Indian Muslim community for a Muslim homeland which had been triggered by the British decision to consider transferring power to the people of India.^[72]