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Part ofa series on the
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Timeline
Ancient Palaeolithic Soanian culture, c. 500,000 – 250,000 BCE Neolithic Mehrgarh, c. 7000 – c. 3000 BCE Indus Valley Civilisation, c. 3300 – c. 1700 BCE Vedic Civilization, c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE Achaemenid Empire, c. 550 – c. 330 BCE Gedrosia, c. 542 – c. 330 BCE Gandhara, c. 518 – c. 330 BCE Arachosia, c. 518 – c. 330 BCE Hindush, c. 517 – c. 330 BCE Sattagydia, c. 516 – c. 330 BCE Macedonian Empire, c. 329 – c. 323 BCE Arachosia, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Gedrosia, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Paropamisadae, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Porus, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Taxiles, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Mauryan Empire, c. 322 – c. 200 BCE Seleucid Empire, c. 312 – c. 63 BCE Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, c. 190 – c. 140 BCE Indo-Greek Kingdom, c. 170 – c. 50 BCE Indo-Scythian Kingdom, c. 110 BCE – c. 95 CE Apracharajas, c. 25 BCE – c. 50 CE Paratarajas, c. 120 – c. 300 CE
Classical Parthian Empire, c. 90 BCE – c. 25 CE Indo-Parthian Kingdom, c. 25 – c. 80 CE Kushan Empire, c. 60 – 345 CE Sasanian Empire, c. 250 – 655 CE Indo-Sasanians, c. 240 – 410 CE Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom, c. 240 – 410 CE Gupta Empire, c. 345 – c. 455 CE Rai dynasty, c. 415 – 644 CE Hephthalite Empire, c. 450 – 560 CE Brahman dynasty, c. 641 – 725 CE
Medieval Caliphate, c. 643 – 860 CE Rashidun Caliphate, c. 643 – 661 CE Umayyad Caliphate, c. 670 – 860 CE Pala Empire, c. 770 – 850 CE Habbari dynasty, c. 841 – 1024 CE Hindu Shahi, c. 870 – 1010 CE Samanid Empire, c. 905 – 999 CE Ghaznavids, c. 999 – 1186 CE Soomra dynasty, c. 1024 – 1351 CE Ghurid dynasty, c. 1170 – 1215 CE Delhi Sultanate, c. 1206 – c. 1526 CE Mamluk dynasty, c. 1206 – c. 1290 CE Khalji dynasty, c. 1290 – c. 1320 CE Tugluq dynasty, c. 1320 – c. 1413 CE Sayyid dynasty, c. 1414 – c. 1451 CE Lodhi dynasty, c. 1451 – c. 1526 CE Mongol Empire, c. 1221 – c. 1327 CE Chagatai Khanate, c. 1225 – c. 1485 CE Ilkhanate, c. 1256 – c. 1353 CE Raees dynasty, c. 1320 – 1620 CE Katoor dynasty, c. 1570 – c. 1947 CE Samma dynasty, c. 1351 – c. 1524 CE Arghun dynasty, c. 1520 – c. 1554 CE Mughal Empire, c. 1526 – c. 1707 CE Bombay Presidency, c. 1618 – c. 1947 CE Suri dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556 CE Tarkhan dynasty, c. 1554 – 1591 CE
Early modern Durrani Empire, c. 1747 – c. 1826 CE Las Bela, c. 1802 – c. 1947 CE Misl, c. 1716 – c. 1799 CE Maratha Empire, c. 1758 – c. 1760 CE Sikh Empire, c. 1799 – c. 1849 CE British Raj, c. 1858 – c. 1947 CE Independence Movement
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TheOne Unit Scheme (Urdu:ون یونٹ;Bengali:এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was the reorganisation of the provinces of Pakistan by the centralPakistani government. It was led byPrime MinisterMuhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and enacted on 30 September 1955. The government claimed that the programme would overcome the difficulty of administering the two non-contiguous, unequal polities ofWest andEast Pakistan separated from each other by more than a thousand miles.^[1] To diminish the differences between the two regions, the 'One Unit' programme merged the four provinces ofWest Pakistan (West Punjab,Sind, theNorth-West Frontier Province (NWFP) andBaluchistan) into a single province to parallel the province ofEast Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

The One Unit program met with great resistance and grievances were raised by the four provinces after its establishment. As per scholar Julien Levesque, the One Unit project had mainly been pushed by thePunjabi elite of West Pakistan since 1953 with the aim of preventing politicians from East Pakistan from gaining power at the centre.^[2] TheNational Awami Party successfully sponsored a bill in the National Assembly calling for its dissolution and providing for regional autonomy. This led to the military takeover of the national government.^[3] The One Unit programme remained in effect until 1970.^[1] Finally,President GeneralYahya Khan imposedLegal Framework Order No. 1970 to end the One Unit program and reinstate the provisional status of the Four Provinces as ofAugust 1947.^[1]

Following the failure to implement the Bogra Formula, PM Muhammad Ali Bogra began working towards the controversial One Unit program that integrated the Four Provinces into a single province West Pakistan, to equalize the western wing with the eastern wing, East Pakistan.

During this time,Malik Ghulam Muhammad's health began to deteriorate, and paralysis spread through his whole body, forcing him to take a 2 month leave of absence in 1955 to seek treatment in the United Kingdom.Iskander Mirza was appointed as acting governor-general on 7 August 1955. Soon after the appointment, Acting Governor-General Mirza began having confrontations with Prime Minister Bogra on regional disparity though both were Bengali and were from Bengal, and Mirza forced Prime Minister Bogra to resign, appointing him as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States. On 12 August 1955, he invitedChaudhri Muhammad Ali, the Finance Minister, to take over the government as a prime minister. The One Unit policy was enacted on 30 September 1955 by the new Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali. Mirza dismissed Malik Ghulam to take over his post on 6 October 1955 (just one day before his acting capacity ended), supported by the Constituent Assembly's legislators (as Ghulam Muhammad was seen as despotic).

Pakistan wasconceived by philosopherSir Muhammad Iqbal in 1930 (uniting the four states of the northwesternBritish Indian Empire), the country wasestablished on 14 August 1947, directly resulting from thePakistan Movement led byMuhammad Ali Jinnah. Since then, the country had been without a consolidated written constitution, and all Pakistan's state affairs had been run under constitutional acts of theBritish Indian Empire, such as theGovernment of India Act 1935 and theIndian Independence Act 1947.

TheGovernment had prolonged difficulty in administeringEast Bengal, with its border withEastern India, and the four provinces, which borderedWestern India,Iran,China, andAfghanistan.

One Unit was conceived by then-Governor-GeneralMalik Ghulam Muhammad and drafting was completed by then-chief MinisterMumtaz Daultana. The first official announcement about it was made on 22 November 1954. Rationalizing the framework,Bogra enumerated the benefits of having one unit or province:

"There will be noBengalis, noPunjabis, noSindhis, noPathans, noBalochis, no Bahawalpuris (referring to inhabitants of theprincely state ofBahawalpur), no Khairpuris (referring to inhabitants of the princely state ofKhairpur). The disappearance of these groups will strengthen the integrity of Pakistan."^[4]

Prime MinisterChaudhry Muhammad Ali implemented the framework of the One Unit program on 14 October 1955 after Pakistan National Assembly passed a bill merging all of West Pakistan into a single province on 30 September 1955.

1. It would end the curse ofprovincial prejudices.

2. It would allow the development of backward areas.

3. It would reduce administrative expenses.

4. It would make it easier to draw up anew constitution.

5. It would give East and West Pakistan maximum autonomy.

(The reasons given to the Assembly for adopting the One Unit Scheme byIskander Mirza in September 1955.)^[4]

After the1954 general election, the four provinces andTribal Areas were merged in the western wing. The province was composed of twelvedivisions and the provincial capital was established atLahore. The province ofEast Bengal (includingSylhet and theChittagong Hill Tracts) was renamedEast Pakistan with the provincial capital atDacca. The federal government moved the country's capital in the beginning of the year 1959 fromKarachi to the army headquarters ofRawalpindi (serving as provisional capital until the town planning ofIslamabad was carried out and completed).

West Pakistan formed a single and united political entity but with marked linguistic and ethnic distinctions. The One Unit policy was regarded as an administrative reform that would reduce expenditure and help eliminate ethnic and parochial prejudices. However, with the military coup of 1958, trouble loomed for the province when the office ofChief Minister was abolished and the President claimed executive power overWest Pakistan. The province ofWest Pakistan was dissolved on 1 July 1970 by President GeneralYahya Khan.

• Talbot, Ian (1998),Pakistan: A Modern History, St. Martin's Press,ISBN 978-0-312-21606-1

• Formation of One UnitArchived 30 January 2012 at theWayback Machine, storyofpakistan.com website, West Pakistan Established as 'One Unit' province on 30 Sept.1955. Retrieved 16 August 2015

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