This article is part of the series Former administrative units of Pakistan Original provinces : Baluchistan East Bengal Federal Capital Territory North-West Frontier Province Sind West Punjab Princely states : Baluchistan States Union Amb Bahawalpur Chitral Dir Hunza Kalat Khairpur Kharan Las Bela Makran Nagar Swat Minor states :Jhalawan Phulra Sarawan One-unit provinces : East Pakistan West Pakistan Other subdivisions : Gilgit Agency    Trans-Karakoram Tract Marri-Bugti Country East Pakistan Capital Dhaka Area 144000 km Languages Bengali Established  14 October 1955 Abolished 25 March 1971 (Independence declared)16 December 1971 (Recognized)

East Pakistan (Bengali: Purbo Pakistan Urdu: Mashriq Pkistn) was a province of Pakistan between 1947 and 1971; it is now the independent nation of Bangladesh.

East Pakistan was created from Bengal Province based on the 'Mountbatten Plan' in what was then British India in 1947. Eastern Bengal was given to the Dominion of Pakistan and became a province of Pakistan by the name East Bengal. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and later became the country of Bangladesh after the bloody Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 which took place after the General Elections of 1970. Contents 1 History 2 Independence 3 Government 4 Governors 5 Chief Ministers 6 See also 7 References 8 External links History Main article: History of Bangladesh (19471971) Independence See also: Bangladesh Liberation War Separatist/nationalistic flag of East Bengal

The tension between East and West Pakistan reached a climax in 1970 when the Awami League the largest East Pakistani political party led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a landslide victory in the national elections in East Pakistan. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan and thus a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However Yahya Khan the leader of Pakistan refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. This increased agitation for greater autonomy in the East.

On 26 March 1971 the day after the military crackdown on civilians in East Pakistan Sk. Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh just after midnight of March 25 1971 before he was arrested by Pakistan army. All major Awami League leaders including elected leaders of national Assembly and Provincial Assembly fled to neighboring India and an exile government was formed headed by Sk. Mujibur Rahman. While he was in Pakistan Prison Syed Nazrul Islam was the acting President with Tazuddin Ahmed as the Prime Minister. The exile government took oath on April 17 1971 at Mujib Nagar within East Pakistan territory of Kustia district and formally formed the government. Col (retd) MAG Osmani was appointed the commander in chief of liberation forces and whole East Pakistan was divided into eleven sectors headed by eleven sector commanders. All sector commanders were Bengali officers from Pakistan army. This started the Bangladesh Liberation War in which the freedom fighters joined in December 1971 by 400000 Indian soldiers faced the Pakistani Army of 100000 plus paramilitary and collaborationist forces. An additional approximately 25000 ill-equipped civilian volunteers and police forces also sided with the Pakistan army. On 16 December 1971 the Pakistani Army surrendered to the joint liberation forces of Bangladesh freedom fighters and Indian army Headed by Lt. Gen Jagjit Singh Arora. Air Vice Marshall AK Khondoker represented the Bangladesh freedom fighters. Pakistan General AAK Niazi signed the surrender letter. Bangladesh quickly gained recognition from most countries and with the signing of the Shimla Accord most of the countries accepted the new state. Bangladesh joined the United Nations in 1974. Sk. Mujib returned to free Bangladesh on January 10 1972. Upon his request India withdrew all of its forces. 40000 Pakistan soldiers and 45000 civilians were transferred to India as prisoners of war.citation needed Government

On 14 October 1955 the last governor of East Bengal (Amiruddin Ahmad) became the first Governor of East Pakistan. At the same time the last Chief Minister of East Bengal became the first Chief Minister of East Pakistan. This system lasted until the military coup of 1958 when the post of Chief Minister was abolished in both East Pakistan and West Pakistan. From 1958 to 1971 the administration was largely in the hands of the President of Pakistan and the Governor of East Pakistan who at times held the title of Martial Law Administrator. Governors Tenure Governor of East Pakistan1 14 October 1955 March 1956 Amiruddin Ahmad March 1956 13 April 1958 A. K. Fazlul Huq 13 April 1958 3 May 1958 Hamid Ali (acting) 3 May 1958 10 October 1958 Sultanuddin Ahmad 10 October 1958 11 April 1960 Zakir Husain 11 April 1960 11 May 1962 Lieutenant-General Azam Khan PA 11 May 1962 25 October 1962 Ghulam Faruque 25 October 1962 23 March 1969 Abdul Monem Khan 23 March 1969 25 March 1969 Mirza Nurul Huda 25 March 1969 23 August 1969 Major-General Muzaffaruddin PA (acting martial law administrator and governor as he was the GOC 14th Infantry Division) 23 August 1969 1 September 1969 Lieutenant-General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan PA (martial law administrator and governor) 1 September 1969 7 March 1971 Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan PN (martial law administrator and governor) 7 March 1971 April 1971 Lieutenant-General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan PA (martial law administrator and governor) April 1971 31 August 1971 Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan PA (martial law administrator and governor) 31 August 1971 14 December 1971 Abdul Motaleb Malik (governor) 14 December 1971 16 December 1971 Lieutenant-General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi PA (martial law administrator and governor) 16 December 1971 Province of East Pakistan dissolved Chief Ministers Tenure Chief Minister of East Pakistan1 Political Party August 1955 September 1956 Abu Hussain Sarkar Krishan Sramik Party September 1956 March 1958 Ata-ur-Rahman Khan Awami League March 1958 Abu Hussain Sarkar Krishan Sramik Party March 1958 18 June 1958 Ata-ur-Rahman Khan Awami League 18 June 1958 22 June 1958 Abu Hussain Sarkar Krishan Sramik Party 22 June 1958 25 August 1958 Governor's Rule 25 August 1958 7 October 1958 Ata-ur-Rahman Khan Awami League 7 October 1958 Post abolished 16 December 1971 Province of East Pakistan dissolved See also Partition of British India East Bengal West Pakistan Bangladesh Liberation War Biharis Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Blood telegram References a b Ben Cahoon WorldStatesmen.org. "Bangladesh". http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Bangladesh.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.  External links Government of Bangladesh Government of Pakistan v d eBengali Language Movement History and Events Bengali nationalism  Bengali Language Movement  Partition of India  1947 Partition of Bengal  East Pakistan  Bengal  Constituent Assembly of Pakistan  Tamaddun Majlish  Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod  Rashtrabhasa Sangram Parishad  Role of political parties during Bengali Language Movement  Urdu movement Pakistaner Rashtra Bhasha: Bangla Na Urdu People Abul Barkat  Abdul Jabbar  Sofiur Rahman  Abdus Salam  Rafiq Uddin Ahmed  Dhirendranath Datta  Khwaja Nazimuddin  Muhammad Ali Jinnah  Hamidur Rahman  Abul Kashem  Shamsul Huq  Nurul Huq Bhuiyan  Liaquat Ali Khan  Mohammad Toaha  Abdul Matin  Abdul Malek Ukil  A. K. Fazlul Huq  Maulana Bhashani  Kabi M.A.N Shahidullah Shahittaratno  Oli Ahad  Abul Hashim  Shawkat Ali  Abul Kalam Shamsuddin  Kazi Golam Mahboob  Gaziul Haque  Muhammad Habibur Rahman  Mahbub Ul Alam Choudhury  Zahir Raihan  Mohammad Sultan  Abdul Latif  Altaf Mahmud  Muhammad Shahidullah  Nurul Amin  Ayub Khan  Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish  Sheikh Mujibur Rahman  Munier Chowdhury Commemoration Ekushey Book Fair  Shaheed Minar  Ekushey Padak  Language Movement Day  International Mother Language Day  Moder Gorob  Artistic depictions of the Bengali Language Movement  Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano