Developments and challenges in South Asia after 1947

The unresolved argument over which country, India or Pakistan, should control the Muslim-majority princely state of Kashmir, dating from its contested accession to India in October 1947.

Non-alignment in the Cold War (not joining the US or Soviet bloc) combined with treating Pakistan as India's main regional rival, mostly over Kashmir.

Pakistani-backed tribal fighters invaded Kashmir; Maharaja Hari Singh acceded Kashmir to India in exchange for military help, and Indian troops repelled the invasion.

Pakistan's plan to send soldiers disguised as locals into Indian Kashmir to spark a local uprising against Indian rule; the uprising never happened and full war followed.

The Tashkent Agreement (January 1966), brokered by the Soviet Union, which restored pre-war borders — the war produced no real territorial change.

A civil war inside Pakistan: the Awami League's 1970 election majority was denied, followed by the Operation Searchlight crackdown on East Pakistan and a massive refugee crisis into India.

Pakistan's army surrendered at Dhaka (16 December 1971, ~90,000 prisoners); Bangladesh became independent; the Simla Agreement (1972) followed.

The Green Revolution (food self-sufficiency), victory in the 1971 war, and India's first nuclear test in 1974 ('Smiling Buddha').

A 21-month period when Indira Gandhi suspended civil rights, jailed opposition politicians and censored the press after a court ruled her 1971 election invalid.

He was assassinated in 1991 by a suicide bomber linked to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger militants, after his government had been damaged by the Bofors corruption scandal.

Sweeping economic liberalisation (with finance minister Manmohan Singh) — cutting tariffs, welcoming foreign investment, and ending the tightly controlled 'License Raj' system.

1965 ended in stalemate (Tashkent Agreement, borders unchanged); 1971 produced permanent change (Bangladesh's independence, Pakistan halved, India regionally dominant).

He died, just over a year after becoming Pakistan's first Governor-General — removing unifying leadership before national institutions were established.

Pakistani army general who seized power in a 1958 coup and ruled until 1969; introduced land reforms and a "Decade of Development" but centralised power via the Basic Democracies system.

West Pakistan's leaders refused to accept a Bengali-led government, triggering Operation Searchlight and the 1971 civil war that created Bangladesh.

Led the Pakistan People's Party; became president/PM of the smaller Pakistan after 1971; introduced the 1973 constitution; overthrown by Zia-ul-Haq's coup (1977) and executed (1979).

General who overthrew Bhutto in 1977, imposed martial law, and pursued an Islamisation programme (sharia-based Hudood Ordinances); died in a 1988 plane crash.

It confirmed Islamic legal provisions within Pakistan's constitution, closing a long debate about balancing Islamic and secular law.

It began independence in poverty after a devastating war, suffered the 1974 famine, and saw Mujibur Rahman assassinated in 1975, followed by years of military rule.

Both saw a founding leader die early and destabilise the state: Jinnah's 1948 death in Pakistan, and Mujibur Rahman's 1975 assassination in Bangladesh — each followed by military rule.

Sri Lankan law making Sinhala the sole official language, excluding Tamils from many state jobs and university places; the key trigger for rising Sinhalese-Tamil tension.

Became Sri Lankan prime minister in 1960 (the world's first female head of government) after her husband's assassination in 1959; continued Sinhalese-nationalist policies.

A Sinhalese Marxist youth rebellion against poverty and unemployment, crushed by Bandaranaike's government — a separate crisis of social unrest, not part of the ethnic conflict.

"Black July" — anti-Tamil riots/pogrom killing thousands, following years of tension since the 1956 Sinhala Only Act and the 1976 declaration of Tamil Eelam as a political goal.