Axe key, Northern Pakistan has always been a crossing point between the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia. Armies crossed the mountains, from Persians to Greeks, Huns to Tibetans, Chinese, Mongolian, up to Russian and English who drew the current borders.

Alexander the Great

The Karakoram has juggled with religions, in ancient times the Zoroastrians from Persia settled there. Greek cities of the Indus and Bactria greeted Buddhism, giving birth to the art of Gondhara.Conquering Islam and its Mogol emperors sealed  the religious fate of this region from the sixteenth century, introducing Islam.

	Scythian warrior

Marco Polo would have come north of this area at this time. Following centuries were dominated by warlords.
In the early nineteenth century, Sikhs controlled Kashmir and Punjab until 1846, when English attached these territories. They called them Jammu and Kashmir, before selling them to Gulab Singh and declaring him Maharaja. Russians got interested in this sector and to counter their expansion English took part of the "great game". They sent expeditions to map these regions. Unwelcome by the mountain lords, they eventually controlled the area in the early twentieth century.

Genghis Khan

	Ali Jinnah

It is a tricky situation that Lord Mountbatten, last Viceroy of India has failed to resolve. In October 1947 Pakistan launched an offensive on the Kashmir valley, the Maharaja appealed to India to protect him. In 1949 a line of demarcation is drawn. It will continue to be contested by the two forces. In 1984, taking advantage of a relaxation of Pakistani, Indian army annexed the upper part of Siachem glacier. It is the highest conflict in the world, which causes more deaths due to altitude than bullets.

Pakistan has entered the nuclear age competing with the power of his Indian neighbours. Since the WTC attacks of 2001, President Pervez Musharraf, wrestles with its domestic politics under Islamist pressure, while maintaining its alliance with the Americans.