 Until the late 1930s , most Muslims of the British Raj expected , upon independence , to be part of a unitary state encompassing all of British India , as did the Hindus and others who advocated self @-@ government . Despite this , other nationalist proposals were being made . In a speech given at Allahabad to a League session in 1930 , Sir Muhammad Iqbal called for a state for Muslims in India . Choudhary Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet in 1933 advocating a state " Pakistan " in the Indus Valley , with other names given to Muslim @-@ majority areas elsewhere in India . Jinnah and Iqbal corresponded in 1936 and 1937 ; in subsequent years , Jinnah credited Iqbal as his mentor , and used Iqbal 's imagery and rhetoric in his speeches . 
