The All-India Muslim League is a political party that advocates the creation of a separate Muslim-majority nation, Pakistan.

It emerges from the Aligarh Movement, formed originally to promote a modern education for Muslims.

It is founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka (now Bangladesh) under the auspices of Aga Khan III, in 1906, in the midst of the protests over the partition of Bengal in 1905.

The goal is to define and advance Muslim agendas, protect Muslim rights in India, and present a unified Muslim voice to the British Raj which will ruleIndia until 1947.

The League until the late 1930s is not a mass organization but represents the landed and commercial Muslim interests of the United Provinces (today's Uttar Pradesh).

An early leader in the League, Muhammad Iqbal, is one of the first to propose (1930) the creation of a separate Muslim India.

By 1940, under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it has gained such power that, for the first time, it demands the establishment of a Muslim state (Pakistan), despite the opposition of the Indian National Congress.The Muslim League plays a decisive role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement, as the driving force behind the division of India along religious lines and the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in 1947.

During the Second World War the Congress is banned, but the League, which supports the British war effort, is allowed to function and gains strength.

It wins nearly all of the Muslim vote in the elections of 1946.

The following year sees the division of the Indian subcontinent and the Muslim League becomes the major political party of newly formed Pakistan.

By 1953, however, dissensions within the League have led to the formation of several different political parties.After the independence of India and Pakistan, the League continues as a minor party in India, especially in Kerala, where it is often in government within a coalition with others.

In Pakistan, the League forms the country's first government, but disintegrates during the 1950s following an army coup.

One or more factions of the Muslim League have been in power in most of the civilian governments of Pakistan since 1947.Between 1958 and 1962, while martial law is in force under Muhammad Ayub Khan, the League is officially defunct.

Later, the League reforms into two separate factions: the Convention Muslim League (under Ayub) and the Council Muslim League.

This latter group joins a united front with other political parties in 1967 in opposition to the group led by Ayub.

The Convention Muslim League ceases to exist when Ayub Khan resigns in 1969.

The Council Muslim League, which had brought about the founding of Pakistan, is virtually eliminated from the political scene in the elections of 1970.In Bangladesh, the party is revived in 1976 and wins 14 seats in 1979 parliamentary election.

Since then its importance has reduced, rendering it insignificant in the political arena.Since the lifting of restrictions on political parties in 1985 a number of parties have used the name Pakistan Muslim League, but they have little real connection with the original Muslim League.

The Muslim League as a minor party in India has since 1988 splintered into several groups, the most important of which is the Indian Union Muslim League.