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I agree with your description of the lack of an effective central power in India at the time of the British expansion. My point is simply that it would be a big mistake to stereotype all muslims as hungering for Osama to proclaim himself Mahdi, or as some would like, Caliph. The Pakistanis are muslim Indians who will not be ruled by Arabs or Pushtuns, whom they regard as little better than barbarians. The Paks backed the Taliban because they wanted a friendly and compliant government in Afghanistan. Now that we are taking the Taliban boys out, the Paks are happily scheming to create their successors.

The notion that Osama could suddenly appear in Rawalpindi, Lahore or Karachi, proclaim himself Mahdi, and trigger a revolution is fantasy. He would immediately disappear into the clutches of the Pak police. And they don't believe in due process or Miranda rights.

Taliban Build a Base Inside Quetta (Pakistan)

"Taliban infiltrators are quietly colonising Pakistani border areas and setting up a logistics base which is being boosted by volunteers, medical treatment, cash and food.
US warplanes roar overhead on their way to Afghanistan but they cannot touch the Taliban networkers who are successfully tapping religious, tribal and family ties, making the wild, sun-baked plains of Baluchistan province a sanctuary from the bombing.
Several times a week ambulances deposit wounded fighters at hospitals in Quetta, the province's biggest city, and in the opposite direction new recruits and former veterans, including doctors, make the six-hour car drive to Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
Daily donations collected at mosques, bazaars, homes and offices now exceed £10,000, according to Said Sanan, a Taliban officer who defected to Pakistan two weeks ago. "Baluchistan is important to the Taliban. They are soaking up the support."
In an ominous development for the allies, two US helicopters came under fire in Pakistan earlier this week as they tried to retrieve the wreckage of another helicopter which crashed during a raid.
Some analysts say Baluchistan could become a rallying point from which militants could launch a guerrilla campaign against a post-Taliban government should they be ousted from Afghanistan."
The Taliban's popularity grows as the bombing continues. "My God, it is terrible, the Taliban's support is increasing by the day," said Maudir Bakht, a political scientist at Quetta's university. "Before the bombing they were disliked by a majority of Pakistanis but now there is a level of moral and humanitarian support which may start turning military."

The notion that Osama could suddenly appear in Karachi, proclaim himself Mahdi, and trigger a revolution is fantasy.

I hope you're right.

But I suspect that most of the Pakistani police and army would turn their guns on Musharraf before they would arrest OBL.

Think Shah and Ayatollah, circa 1979. Who was arrested, who fled, and who took over the country?