South Asia: Pakistan and the Himalayan States - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 183

Figure 7-3
Geography of Pakistan and the Northern Areas including
Kashmir . Note the relationship between settlement,
croplands and rivers, especially the Indus.
From H. J. de Blij and P . O. Muller. Geography: Realms,
Regions and Concepts, 14th Edition, 2010, p. 422.
Originally rendered in color H. J. de Blij and P . O. Muller.
Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

TAJIK. 76 °

PARTITION OF
JAMMU AND KASHMIR

AFGHANISTAN

CHINA

HUNZA

National capital is underlined

0

50 100 150 200 Km.

Claimed by India
Controlled by Pakistan

0 25 5 75 100 Miles 0

36 ° Claimed by India

Ceded by Pakistan to China

NORTHERN
AREAS

36 °

Gilgit

BAL TISTAN
KASHMIR

NORTH WEST
FRONTIER

Claimed by India
Controlled by Pakistan

Aksai
Chin

In

Srinagar

Leh

Controlled by India

JAMMU AND
KASHMIR

I slamabad

Claimed by India
Controlled by China

Vale
of
Kashmir

Rawalpindi

CHINA

Jammu

INDIA

76 °

Longitude East of Greenwich

Withholding power from Mujibur Rahman and his
Awami League was a fatal error. East Pakistan erupted
with strikes, demonstrations, and insurgencies. The Ben-
galis refused to pay taxes. West Pakistan countered with
brutal military action—complete with rampant murder,
pillage, and rape. Immediately , 250,000 refugees poured
into India. Ultimately 10 million would seek refuge
across the border.
Faced with hordes of penniless refugees in the al-
ready poor state of West Bengal, India seized the oppor-
tunity to retaliate against its arch enemy in Karachi.
Indian intervention brought the east-west war to an end,
and in 1971, East Pakistan became the independent na-
tion of Bangladesh, with Mujib as its prime minister.
Bhutto became prime minister of West Pakistan, which
was renamed Pakistan.

T To understand contemporary trends and problems we
must look at the different characteristics of each region.

Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP)
The rugged hills of the NWFP are capped by a dramatic
knot where the Karakorum, Pamir, and Hindu Kush
have buckled together. Afghanistan' s Wakhan Corri-
dor, a 16,000- to 24,000-foot (4,880—7,315 m) buffer
zone between Tajikistan (part of the former Soviet
Union) and the former Indian Raj, lies in this region,
extending to China in the east. Below glaciers and bar-
ren, rocky slopes are forests of pine, deodar, and ever-
green oak. At lower and dryer elevations, these give
way to acacia, dwarf palm, and coarse grasses. Wood
and stone houses cling to steeply walled ravines, and
finely constructed rock terraces support irrigated agri-
culture (Figures 7-4 and 7-5).
This dramatic and broken terrain is, in fact, a shatter
zone , inhabited by a kaleidoscope of independent and
feuding tribes. Many cross the border with Afghanistan
(Figure 7-6). Most are Pathan, a general term for tribes
such as the Afridis or Waziris. Most speak Pashto, an
Iranian dialect. While some Pathans had accepted
British rule and laws, others followed pukhtunwali (local
Pathan law). Other groups such as the Chitralis are not
Pathan.

P akistan: Land of the Pure

DIVERSE LANDSCAPES
Pakistan of 1971 was politically divided into four
highly differentiated and unequal parts: Northwest
Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, Sind, and Baluchis-
tan. Waziristan is not a province, but is part of the Fed-
erally Administered T Tribal Areas (FA T A) (Figure 7-3).