The Dominion of Pakistan ( ; ), commonly called Pakistan, was an independent federal dominion in South Asia that was established in 1947 on the Partition of India into two sovereign countries (the other being the Dominion of India). The dominion, which included much of modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was conceived under the two-nation theory as a home for the Muslims of the former British India. To begin with it did not include the princely states of Pakistan, which acceded slowly between 1947 and 1948. In 1956 it became the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; and in 1971 East Pakistan seceded from the union to become Bangladesh.