Timeline: Pakistan

A chronology of key events:

1906 - Muslim League founded as forum for Indian Muslim separatism.

Muhammed Ali Jinnah - founding father of Pakistan Born in Karachi, 1876 Pakistan's first head of state until his death in 1948 1998: Screening the life of Jinnah

1940 - Muslim League endorses idea of separate nation for India's Muslims.

1947 - Muslim state of East and West Pakistan created out of partition of India at the end of British rule. Hundreds of thousands die in widespread communal violence and millions are made homeless.

1948 - Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, dies.

1948 - First war with India over disputed territory of Kashmir.

Military rule

1951 - Jinnah's successor Liaquat Ali Khan is assassinated.

1956 - Constitution proclaims Pakistan an Islamic republic.

1958 - Martial law declared and General Ayyub Khan takes over.

1960 - General Ayyub Khan becomes president.

War and secession

1965 - Second war with India over Kashmir.

1969 - General Ayyub Khan resigns and General Yahya Khan takes over.

1970 - Victory in general elections in East Pakistan for breakaway Awami League, leading to rising tension with West Pakistan.

1971 - East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war. India intervenes in support of East Pakistan which eventually breaks away to become Bangladesh.

1972 - Simla peace agreement with India sets new frontline in Kashmir.

1973 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister.

Zia takes charge

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was ousted and executed On This Day 1979: Deposed Pakistani PM is executed

1977 - Riots erupt over allegations of vote-rigging by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). General Zia ul-Haq stages military coup.

1978 - General Zia becomes president.

1979 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged.

1980 - US pledges military assistance to Pakistan following Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

1985 - Martial law and political parties ban lifted.

1986 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir returns from exile to lead PPP in campaign for fresh elections.

1988 August - General Zia, the US ambassador and top Pakistan army officials die in mysterious air crash.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan takes over as acting president, and is later elected to the post.

Bhutto comeback

General Zia's death in 1988 ended 11-year military rule 1999: Echoes of General Zia

1988 November - Benazir Bhutto's PPP wins general election.

1990 - Benazir Bhutto dismissed as prime minister on charges of incompetence and corruption.

1991 - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.

1992 - Government launches campaign to stamp out violence by Urdu-speaking supporters of the Mohajir Quami Movement.

1993 - President Khan and Prime Minister Sharif both resign under pressure from military. General election brings Benazir Bhutto back to power.

Politics and corruption

BENAZIR BHUTTO 1953 - 2007 Daughter of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was ousted and executed Served as premier 1988-1990, and 1993-1996 Died in a bomb blast in 2007, shortly after returning from exile Obituary: Benazir Bhutto

1996 - President Leghari dismisses Bhutto government amid corruption allegations.

1997 - Nawaz Sharif returns as prime minister after his Pakistan Muslim League party wins elections.

1998 - Pakistan conducts its own nuclear tests after India explodes several devices.

1999 April - Benazir Bhutto and her husband convicted of corruption and given jail sentences. Benazir stays out of the country.

1999 May - Kargil conflict: Pakistan-backed forces clash with the Indian military in the icy heights around Kargil in Indian-held Kashmir. More than 1,000 people are killed on both sides.

1999 October - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. Coup is widely condemned, Pakistan is suspended from Commonwealth.

2000 April - Nawaz Sharif sentenced to life imprisonment on hijacking and terrorism charges.

2000 December - Nawaz Sharif goes into exile in Saudi Arabia after being pardoned by military authorities.

Nawaz Sharif, ousted in 1999 coup, exiled, back in government in 2008 Profile: Nawaz Sharif

2001 20 June - Gen Pervez Musharraf names himself president while remaining head of the army. He replaced the figurehead president, Rafiq Tarar, who vacated his position earlier in the day after the parliament that elected him was dissolved.

2001 July - Musharraf meets Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the first summit between the two neighbours in more than two years. The meeting ends without a breakthrough or even a joint statement because of differences over Kashmir.

2001 September - Musharraf swings in behind the US in its fight against terrorism and supports attacks on Afghanistan. US lifts some sanctions imposed after Pakistan's nuclear tests in 1998, but retains others put in place after Musharraf's coup.

Kashmir tensions

2001 October - India fires on Pakistani military posts in the heaviest firing along the dividing line of control in Kashmir for almost a year.

2001 December - India imposes sanctions against Pakistan, to force it to take action against two Kashmir militant groups blamed for a suicide attack on parliament in New Dehli. Pakistan retaliates with similar sanctions.

2001 December - India, Pakistan mass troops along common border amid mounting fears of a looming war.

Tensions with India over Kashmir go back decades In Depth: Kashmir flashpoint Timeline: Pakistan-India tensions

2002 January - President Musharraf bans two militant groups - Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad - and takes steps to curb religious extremism.

2002 January - Musharraf announces that elections will be held in October 2002 to end three years of military rule.

2002 April - Musharraf wins another five years in office in a referendum criticised as unconstitutional and fraught with irregularities.

2002 May - 14 people, including 11 French technicians, are killed in a suicide attack on a bus in Karachi. The following month 12 people are killed in a suicide attack outside the US consulate in the city.

Missile tests

2002 May - Pakistan test fires three medium-range surface-to-surface Ghauri missiles, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Musharraf tells nation that Pakistan doesn't want war but is ready to respond with full force if attacked.

2002 June - Britain and US maintain diplomatic offensive to avert war, urge their citizens to leave India and Pakistan.

President Musharraf - a key player in the US "war on terror" Profile: Pervez Musharraf

2002 August - President Musharraf grants himself sweeping new powers, including the right to dismiss an elected parliament. Opposition forces accuse Musharraf of perpetuating dictatorship.

2002 October - First general election since the 1999 military coup results in a hung parliament. Parties haggle over the make-up of a coalition. Religious parties fare better than expected.

2002 November - Mir Zafarullah Jamali selected as prime minister by the National Assembly. He is the first civilian premier since the 1999 military coup and a member of a party close to General Musharraf.

2003 February - Senate elections: Ruling party wins most seats in voting to the upper house. Elections said to be final stage of what President Musharraf calls transition to democracy.

2003 June - North-West Frontier Province votes to introduce Sharia law.

Kashmir ceasefire

2003 November - Pakistan declares a Kashmir ceasefire, which is swiftly matched by India.

2003 December - Pakistan and India agree to resume direct air links and to allow overflights of each other's planes from beginning of 2004 after two-year ban.

President Musharraf survives an attempt on his life; bombs explode under a bridge seconds after his car passes over it.

Tensions spill out into Karachi's streets 2007: Pakistan's bitterly divided metropolis 2004: Karachi - Volatile metropolis 2004: Pakistan's schisms spill into present

2004 February - Leading nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan admits to having leaked nuclear weapons secrets. Technology is said to have been transferred to Libya, North Korea and Iran.

2004 April - Parliament approves creation of military-led National Security Council. Move institutionalises role of armed forces in civilian affairs.

2004 May - Pakistan readmitted to Commonwealth.

Factional violence in Karachi: Senior Sunni cleric shot dead; bomb attack on Shia mosque kills 16, injures 40.

2004 June - Military offensive near Afghan border against suspected al-Qaeda militants and their supporters after attacks on checkpoints. Earlier offensive, in March, left more than 120 dead.

2004 August - Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister. In July he escaped unhurt from an apparent assassination attempt.

2004 December - President Musharraf says he will stay on as head of the army having previously promised to relinquish the role.

2005 January - Tribal militants in Balochistan attack facilities at Pakistan's largest natural gas field, forcing closure of main plant.

2005 quake killed thousands, left millions without shelter 2005: In Depth - Quake

2005 7 April - Bus services, the first in 60 years, operate between Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

More than 200 suspected Islamic extremists are detained at premises which include religious schools and mosques. The move comes after deadly attacks in the British capital; three of the bombers visited Pakistan in 2004.

2005 August - Pakistan tests its first, nuclear-capable cruise missile.

Kashmir quake

2005 8 October - An earthquake, with its epicentre in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, kills tens of thousands of people. The city of Muzaffarabad is among the worst-hit areas.

2006 January - Up to 18 people are killed in a US missile strike, apparently targeting senior al-Qaeda figures, on a border village in the north.

2006 February - More than 30 people are killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack and ensuing violence at a Shia Muslim procession in the north-west.

2006 April - A suspected double suicide bombing kills at least 57 people at a Sunni Muslim ceremony in Karachi.

Baloch nationalists have been fighting for autonomy 2006: Battle over Balochistan

2006 August - Security forces kill prominent Balochistan tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. Protests over his death turn violent.

2006 October - Raid on an Islamic seminary in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan kills up to 80 people, sparking anti-government protests. The army says the madrassa was a training camp for militants.

2006 December - Pakistan says it has successfully test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

2007 January - Islamabad rejects an assertion by the head of US National Intelligence that al-Qaeda leaders are hiding out in Pakistan.

2007 January-June - Tension mounts between the government and the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.

2007 February - Bombings in different parts of the country, including at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel and the international airport, kill a number of people.

68 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, are killed by bomb blasts and a blaze on a train travelling between the Indian capital New Delhi and the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Pakistan and India sign an agreement aimed at reducing the risk of accidental nuclear war.

Musharraf targets judiciary

2007 March - President Musharraf suspends the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, triggering a wave of anger across the country.

First joint protests held by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

RED MOSQUE SIEGE The battle for the radical Red Mosque killed over 100 people. Profile: Red Mosque In pictures: Mosque stand-off 2007: Challenge to Musharraf

2007

March-April - Officials say around 250 people have been killed in fighting between South Waziristan tribesmen and foreign militants said to be linked to al-Qaeda.

2007 May - Several killed in Karachi during rival demonstrations over dismissal of Chief Justice Chaudhry. Subsequent strikes paralyse much of the country.

2007 May - A bomb blast in a hotel in Peshawar kills 24.

2007 June - President Musharraf extends media controls to include the internet and mobile phones amid a growing challenge to his rule.

2007 July - Security forces storm the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad following a week-long siege.

Supreme Court reinstates Chief Justice Chaudhry.

2007 July - Ms Bhutto, President Musharraf hold a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi on a possible power-sharing deal.

2007 August - Supreme Court rules Nawaz Sharif can return from exile.

TOP JUDGE BECOMES A HERO Suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry became a focus for opposition to President Musharraf Q&A: Pakistan's judicial crisis

2007

September - Mr Sharif returns but is sent back to exile within hours.

2007 October - Musharraf wins most votes in presidential election. The Supreme Court says no winner can be formally announced until it rules if the general was eligible to stand for election while still army chief.

Nearly 200 people die in fighting with Islamic militants in North Waziristan, stronghold of pro-Taleban and al-Qaida groups.

Ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto returns from exile. Dozens of people die in a suicide bomb targetting her homecoming parade in Karachi.

Emergency rule

2007 November - Gen Musharraf declares emergency rule while still awaiting Supreme Court ruling on whether he was eligible to run for re-election. Chief Justice Chaudhry is dismissed. Ms Bhutto is briefly placed under house arrest.

Caretaker government sworn in.

New Supreme Court - now staffed with compliant judges - dismisses challenges to Musharraf's re-election.

Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner announces that general elections to be held on 8 January 2008.

Nawaz Sharif returns from exile again.

Musharraf resigns from army post and is sworn in for second term as president.

Bhutto assassinated

2007 15 December - State of emergency lifted.

27 December - Benazir Bhutto assassinated at election campaign rally in Rawalpindi.

2008 January - Elections postponed to 18 February.

Suicide bomber kills more than 20 policemen gathered outside the High Court in Lahore ahead of an anti-government rally.

Up to 90 fighters killed in clashes in the tribal region of South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, where militants have been openly challenging the army.

2008 February - Parliamentary elections. The two main opposition parties gain a clear majority. They later agree to form a coalition government.

2008 March - Pakistan People's Party (PPP) nominee Yusuf Raza Gilani becomes prime minister.

2008 May - The disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, says allegations he passed on nuclear secrets are false and that he was made a scapegoat.

Musharraf steps down

2008 August - The two main governing parties agree to launch impeachment proceedings against President Musharraf.

Mr Musharraf resigns. Senate Speaker Muhammad Sumroo becomes acting president.

PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari - Benazir Bhutto's widower - says he will be the party's candidate in the presidential election set for 6 September.

Former PM Nawaz Sharif pulls his PML-N out of the coalition government, accusing the PPP of breaking its promise to approve the reinstatement of all judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf.

PAKISTAN'S TALEBAN Taleban militia have expanded their influence in Pakistan's tribal areas Pakistan's spreading Taleban war Profile: Baitullah Mehsud Will Sharia law bring order to Swat?

2008

September - Asif Ali Zardari elected by legislators as Pakistan's new president.

Marriott Hotel in Islamabad devastated in a suicide truck bombing which leaves at least 50 dead. An Islamist militant group claims responsibility.

2008 October - Earthquake in south-western province of Balochistan leaves hundreds dead.

2008 November - President Zardari warns the US military that missile strikes on Pakistani territory are "counter-productive".

The government borrows billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund to overcome its spiralling debt crisis.

Militancy

2008 December - India says militants who carried out the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November had Pakistani links, and it urges Pakistani action. Islamabad denies any involvement in the attacks, but promises to co-operate with the Indian investigation.

2009 February - Government agrees to implement Sharia law in north-western Swat valley in effort to persuade Islamist militants there to agree to permanent ceasefire.

2009 March - Gunmen in Lahore attack a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team. Five policemen are killed and seven players injured.

After days of public protests, the government gives in to opposition demands and announces the reinstatement of sacked former chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, and other judges dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf. The main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, calls off a mass protest march.

At least 40 people are killed when gunmen storm a police academy in Lahore.

2009 April - Swat agreement breaks down after Taleban-linked militants seek to extend their power-base. Government attempts to re-impose its writ over north-western districts controlled by militants.