Northwest India was a historical region, geographically located on the north-western Indian subcontinent. It predominantly constitutes what are now parts of the present-day South Asian republics of India and Pakistan (specifically modern north-western India and eastern Pakistan) after the 1947 Partition of British India.[1][2]
The region encompassed the modern Pakistan and the territory of the modern India approximately to the west of the 77th meridian east and north of the 24th parallel north.[3]
See also: History of Pakistan and Muslim conquests of Afghanistan |
The Indus Valley Civilisation formed in the northwestern subcontinent over 4000 years ago, with climate change potentially having caused its later decline.[4]
Northwest India was a hub of Buddhism in ancient times, [5][6] and was the region from which Buddhism reached China by travelling through Central Asia.
The Umayyad Caliphate conquered Sindh in the 8th century CE,[7] marking the beginning of what was to become a major Islamic presence in the region.[8]