Mohandas K. Gandhi spinning yarn, late 1920s. He led the Indian National Congress as India seized independence from Great Britain.
In this photo, Jinnah addresses the delegates to the Muslim Political Convention held in New Delhi in 1943. He was leader of the Muslim League and presented his "Two Nations Theory," which argued that while they may live side by side, the Hindus and Muslims of South Asia constituted two separate nations.
Liaquat Ali Khan meets with U.S. President Harry S. Truman in 1950. Khan was named prime minister of Pakistan in 1947 and worked to craft a constitution for the new nation.
Iskander Mirza, shown here with the Shah of Iran in 1955, became Pakistan's first president in 1956. He quickly imposed "president's rule" on East Pakistan.
This image, from 1992, shows Nawaz Sharif (center) when he was prime minister. A businessman turned politician, he was elected prime minister of Pakistan for the third time on June 5, 2013. It was the first time in Pakistan's turbulent political history that one democratically elected government, having served out its term, was replaced by another democratically elected government formed by a different political party.
The territory of the Himalayan Kashmir region remains hotly disputed among Pakistan, India, and China.
This image shows the tomb of Khawaja Nazimudden who became Pakistan's prime minister after the previous minister was assassinated in 1951. He established martial law, but was soon removed from power as Chaudhri Muhammad became prime minister.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, here on the left in 1946, eventually led the Muslim League in West Pakistan, which created its own paramilitary force in the mid-1950s to defy President Iskander Mirza's government. Khan was a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, an opponent of Partition, and an advocate of democracy.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto meets with U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1973 in the Oval Office. He had created the socialist Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1967.
U-2 spy planes were used by the U.S. at the Peshawar Air Station in Pakistan to fly reconnaissance missions into the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
General Muhammad Yahya Khan removed Ayub from power in 1969, abrogated the Constitution of 1962, banned all political parties, and declared martial law.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib), the first and fourth president of Bangladesh
Indira Gandhi, the fourth prime minister of India, declared that India could not cope with the millions of refugees crossing the border from East Pakistan / Bangladesh in 1971.
General Zia-ul-haq, as pictured here in the Oval Office with U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982, staged a coup and had Bhutto executed in 1979. He instituted Islamization, increased his power as president, and enforced martial law until 1985.
Benazir Bhutto meeting with intellectuals in Pakistan in 1996. She rallied the PPP and won election as prime minister in 1988. After another period of exile, she campaigned for office after Musharraf transformed himself into a civilian politician. She was assassinated in 2007.
General Pervez Musharraf speaks at the Pakistan Air Force base in Chaklala Pakistan ca. 2005. He led a coup against Nawaz Sharif's second term as prime minister.
President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai in 2009 (left to right)
Fighters in the Bengali liberation forces during the war between East and West Pakistan in 1971
During the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, millions of refugees moved to one country or the other, like this Muslim family walking to Pakistan carrying an elderly woman.
Trains packed with refugees during the India-Pakistan Partition 1947
