Editing History of Pakistan (section)

=== British conquest and organisation ===
{{Main|Military history of Pakistan#British annexation}}
None of the territory of modern Pakistan was ruled by the British, or other European powers, until 1839, when [[Karachi]], then a small fishing village with a mud fort guarding the harbour, was [[History of Karachi#Company rule|taken]], and held as an enclave with a port and [[Karachi Cantonment|military base]] for the [[First Afghan War]] that soon followed. The rest of [[Sindh]] was [[British conquest of Sindh|taken in 1843]], and in the following decades, first the [[British East India Company|East India Company]], and then after the post-[[Sepoy Mutiny]] (1857–1858) direct rule of [[Queen Victoria]] of the [[British Empire]], took over most of the country partly through wars, and also treaties. The main wars were that against the [[Baloch people|Baloch]] [[Talpur dynasty]], ended by the [[Battle of Miani]] (1843) in Sindh, the [[Anglo-Sikh War (disambiguation)|Anglo-Sikh Wars]] (1845–1849) and the [[Anglo-Afghan War]]s (1839–1919). By 1893, all modern Pakistan was part of the [[British Indian Empire]], and remained so until independence in 1947.<ref name="British India geography">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/geographybritis00smitgoog |title=The Geography of British India, Political & Physical |publisher=John Murray |year=1882 |location=London |access-date=2 August 2014}}</ref>

Under the British, modern Pakistan was mostly divided into the [[Sind Division]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], and the [[Baluchistan Agency]]. There were various [[princely state]]s, of which the largest was [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. Sindh was part of the [[Bombay Presidency]], and there were many complaints over the years that it was neglected by its distant rulers in modern [[Mumbai]], although there was usually a [[List of commissioners and governors of Sind in British India|Commissioner based in Karachi]].{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The Punjab (which included the modern [[Punjab, India|Indian state]]) was instead technically ruled from even more distant [[Calcutta]], as part of the [[Bengal Presidency]], but in practice most matters were devolved to local British officials, who were often among the most energetic and effective in India. At first there was a "Board of Administration" led by [[Henry Lawrence (Indian Army officer)|Sir Henry Lawrence]], who had previously worked as British Resident at the [[Lahore]] [[Durbar (court)|Durbar]] and also consisted of his younger brother [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|John Lawrence]] and [[Charles Grenville Mansel]].<ref>J. S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3, Cambridge University Press, 8 Oct 1998, p.258</ref> Below the Board worked a group of acclaimed officers collectively known as [[Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"]]. After the Mutiny, Sir John Lawrence became the first [[List of governors of Punjab (British India)|Governor of Punjab]]. The [[Punjab Canal Colonies]] were an ambitious and largely successful project, begun in the 1880s, to create new farmland through irrigation, to relieve population pressure elsewhere (most of the areas involved are now in Pakistan).

The Baluchistan Agency largely consisted of princely states and tribal territories, and was governed with a light touch, although near the Afghan border [[Quetta]] was built up as a military base, in case of invasion by either the Afghans or the Russians.  The [[1935 Quetta earthquake]] was a major disaster.  From 1876 the sensitive far north was made a [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|"Chief Commissioner's Province"]].  The border with Afghanistan, which remains the modern border of Pakistan, was finally fixed on the [[Durand Line]] in 1893.

[[History of rail transport in Pakistan|Railway construction began in the 1850s]], and most of the network (some now discontinued) was completed by 1900. [[Karachi#British control|Karachi expanded enormously]] under British rule, followed to a [[History of Lahore#British Raj|lesser extent by Lahore]] and the other larger cities.

Different regions of Pakistan were conquered by [[East India Company]] as below:<br />
•[[Sindh]] was conquered by [[Battle of Hyderabad]] and [[Battle of Miani]] in 1843.<br />
•[[Punjab]] and eastern [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] were conquered during [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1849.

Regions conquered by [[British Raj]] are as below:<br />
•Southern [[Balochistan]] came under control by [[Treaty of Kalat]] in 1876.<br />
•Western [[Balochistan]] was conquered by British empire in [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] through [[Treaty of Gandamak]], in 1879.