A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Province of the Punjab | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of British India | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1849–1947 | |||||||||||||||||||
 Coat of arms
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  Maps of the Punjab Province | |||||||||||||||||||
| Anthem | |||||||||||||||||||
| "God Save the King" | |||||||||||||||||||
| Capital |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Demonym | Punjabi | ||||||||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||||||||
| • Type | British Colonial Government | ||||||||||||||||||
| • Motto | Crescat e Fluviis "Let it grow from the rivers" | ||||||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1849–1853 | Henry Montgomery Lawrence (first) | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1946–1947 | Evan Meredith Jenkins (last) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Premier | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1937–1942 | Sikandar Hayat Khan | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1942–1947 | Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana | ||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | New Imperialism | ||||||||||||||||||
| 29 March 1849 | |||||||||||||||||||
• Transfer of Delhi from North-Western Provinces | 1858 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Formation of North-West Frontier Province | 9 November 1901 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Delhi district separated | 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 14–15 August 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Political subdivisions | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Today part of | India Pakistan | ||||||||||||||||||
The Punjab Province was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the British East India Company on 29 March 1849; it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British control. In 1858, the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the rule of the British Crown. It had a land area of 358,355 square kilometers.
The province comprised four natural geographic regions – Indo-Gangetic Plain West, Himalayan, Sub-Himalayan, and the North-West Dry Area – along with five administrative divisions – Delhi, Jullundur, Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi – and a number of princely states.[1] In 1947, the Partition of India led to the province's division into East Punjab and West Punjab, in the newly independent dominions of the Indian Union and Pakistan respectively.
Etymology
The region was originally called Sapta Sindhu Rivers,[2] the Vedic land of the seven rivers originally: Saraswati, Indus, Sutlej, Jehlum, Chenab, Ravi, and Beas.[3] The Sanskrit name for the region, as mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata for example, was Pañcanada which means literally "Five Waters", and was translated from Sanskrit to Farsi as Panj-Âb after the Islamic conquests.[4][5] The later name Punjab is a compound of two Farsi words[6][7] Panj (five) and āb (water) and was introduced to the region by the Turko-Persian conquerors[8] of India and more formally popularised during the Mughal Empire.[9][10] Punjab literally means "(The Land of) Five Waters" referring to the rivers: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas.[11] All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Chenab being the largest.
Geography
Geographically, the province was a triangular tract of country of which the Indus River and its tributary the Sutlej formed the two sides up to their confluence, the base of the triangle in the north being the Lower Himalayan Range between those two rivers. Moreover, the province as constituted under British rule also included a large tract outside these boundaries. Along the northern border, Himalayan ranges divided it from Kashmir and Tibet. On the west it was separated from the North-West Frontier Province by the Indus, until it reached the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District, which was divided from Baluchistan by the Sulaiman Range. To the south lay Sindh and Rajputana, while on the east the rivers Jumna and Tons separated it from the United Provinces.[1] In total Punjab had an area of approximately 357 000 km square about the same size as modern day Germany, being one of the largest provinces of the British Raj.
It encompassed the present day Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and some parts of Himachal Pradesh which were merged with Punjab by the British for administrative purposes (but excluding the former princely states which were later combined into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union) and the Pakistani regions of the Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In 1901 the frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province: the North-West Frontier Province. Subsequently, Punjab was divided into four natural geographical divisions by colonial officials on the decadal census data:[12]: 2 [13]: 4
- Indo-Gangetic Plain West geographical division (including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura District);
- Himalayan geographical division (including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State);
- Sub-Himalayan geographical division (including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District;
- North-West Dry Area geographical division (including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract).
History
Company rule
On 21 February 1849, the East India Company decisively defeated the Sikh Empire at the Battle of Gujrat bringing to an end the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Following the victory, the East India Company annexed the Punjab on 2 April 1849 and incorporated it within British India. The province whilst nominally under the control of the Bengal Presidency was administratively independent. Lord Dalhousie constituted the Board of Administration by inducting into it the most experienced and seasoned British officers. The Board was led by Sir Henry Lawrence, who had previously worked as British Resident at the Lahore Durbar and also consisted of his younger brother John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel.[14] Below the Board, a group of acclaimed officers collectively known as Henry Lawrence's "Young Men" assisted in the administration of the newly acquired province. The Board was abolished by Lord Dalhousie in 1853; Sir Henry was assigned to the Rajputana Agency, and his brother John succeeded as the first Chief Commissioner.
Recognising the cultural diversity of the Punjab, the Board maintained a strict policy of non-interference in regard to religious and cultural matters.[15] Sikh aristocrats were given patronage and pensions and groups in control of historical places of worship were allowed to remain in control.[15]
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Punjab remained relatively peaceful, apart from rebellion led by Ahmad Khan Kharral.[16] In May, John Lawrence took swift action to disarm potentially mutinous sepoys and redeploy most European troops to the Delhi ridge.[17] Finally he recruited new regiments of Punjabis to replace the depleted force, and was provided with manpower and support from surrounding princely states such as Jind, Patiala, Nabha and Kapurthala and tribal chiefs on the borderlands with Afghanistan. By 1858, an estimated 70,000 extra men had been recruited for the army and militarised police from within the Punjab.[16]
British Raj
In 1858, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown.[18] Delhi Territory was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to the Punjab in 1858, partly to punish the city for the important role the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, and the city as a whole, played in the 1857 Rebellion.[19]
Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner, was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor on 1 January 1859. In 1866, the Judicial Commissioner was replaced by a Chief Court. The direct administrative functions of the Government were carried by the Lieutenant-Governor through the Secretariat, comprising a Chief Secretary, a Secretary and two Under-Secretaries. They were usually members of the Indian Civil Service.[20] The territory under the Lieutenant consisted of 29 Districts, grouped under 5 Divisions, and 43 Princely States. Each District was under a Deputy-Commissioner, who reported to the Commissioner of the Division. Each District was subdivided into between three and seven tehsils, each under a tahsildar, assisted by a naib (deputy) tahsildar.[21]
In 1885 the Punjab administration began an ambitious plan to transform over six million acres of barren waste land in central and western Punjab into irrigable agricultural land. The creation of canal colonies was designed to relieve demographic pressures in the central parts of the province, increase productivity and revenues, and create a loyal support amongst peasant landholders.[22] The colonisation resulted in an agricultural revolution in the province, rapid industrial growth, and the resettlement of over one million Punjabis in the new areas.[23] A number of towns were created or saw significant development in the colonies, such as Lyallpur, Sargodha and Montgomery. Colonisation led to the canal irrigated area of the Punjab increasing from three to fourteen million acres in the period from 1885 to 1947.[24]
The beginning of the twentieth century saw increasing unrest in the Punjab. Conditions in the Chenab colony, together with land reforms such as the Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 and the Colonisation Bill, 1906 contributed to the 1907 Punjab unrest. The unrest was unlike any previous agitation in the province as the government had for the first time aggrieved a large portion of the rural population.[25] Mass demonstrations were organised, headed by Lala Lajpat Rai, a leader of the Hindu revivalist sect Arya Samaj.[25] The unrest resulted in the repeal of the Colonisation Bill and the end of paternalist policies in the colonies.[25]
During the First World War, Punjabi manpower contributed heavily to the Indian Army. Out of a total of 683,149 combat troops, 349,688 hailed from the province.[26] In 1918, an influenza epidemic broke out in the province, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 962,937 people or 4.77 percent of the total estimated population.[27] In March 1919 the Rowlatt Act was passed extending emergency measures of detention and incarceration in response to the perceived threat of terrorism from revolutionary nationalist organisations.[28] This led to the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919, where Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered detachments of the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles under his command to fire into a group of some 10,000 unarmed protesters and Baisakhi pilgrims, killing 379.[29]
Administrative reforms
The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms enacted through the Government of India Act 1919 expanded the Punjab Legislative Council and introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. The first Punjab Legislative Council under the 1919 Act was constituted in 1921, comprising 93 members, seventy per cent to be elected and rest to be nominated.[30] Some of the British Indian ministers under the dyarchy scheme were Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk and Lala Hari Kishen Lal.[31][32]
The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy to Punjab replacing the system of dyarchy. It provided for the constitution of Punjab Legislative Assembly of 175 members presided by a Speaker and an executive government responsible to the Assembly. The Unionist Party under Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan formed the government in 1937. Sir Sikandar was succeeded by Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana in 1942 who remained the Premier till partition in 1947. Although the term of the Assembly was five years, the Assembly continued for about eight years and its last sitting was held on 19 March 1945.[33]
Partition
The struggle for Indian independence witnessed competing and conflicting interests in the Punjab. The landed elites of the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities had loyally collaborated with the British since annexation, supported the Unionist Party and were hostile to the Congress party led independence movement.[34] Amongst the peasantry and urban middle classes, the Hindus were the most active National Congress supporters, the Sikhs flocked to the Akali movement whilst the Muslims eventually supported the All-India Muslim League.[34]
Since the partition of the sub-continent had been decided, special meetings of the Western and Eastern Section of the Legislative Assembly were held on 23 June 1947 to decide whether or not the Province of the Punjab be partitioned. After voting on both sides, partition was decided and the existing Punjab Legislative Assembly was also divided into West Punjab Legislative Assembly and the East Punjab Legislative Assembly. This last Assembly before independence, held its last sitting on 4 July 1947.[35]
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1855 | 17,600,000 | — |
| 1868 | 19,700,000 | +11.9% |
| 1881 | 20,800,995 | +5.6% |
| 1891 | 22,915,894 | +10.2% |
| 1901 | 24,367,113 | +6.3% |
| 1911 | 23,791,841 | −2.4% |
| 1921 | 25,101,514 | +5.5% |
| 1931 | 28,490,869 | +13.5% |
| 1941 | 34,309,861 | +20.4% |
| Source: Census of India [13]: 8 [36]: 6 [37]: 86 | ||
The first British census of the Punjab was carried out in 1855. This covered only British territory to the exclusion of local princely states, and placed the population at 17.6 million. The first regular census of British India carried out in 1881 recorded a population of 20.8 million people. The final British census in 1941 recorded 34.3 million people in the Punjab, which comprised 29 districts within British territory, 43 princely states, 52,047 villages and 283 towns.[37]
In 1881, only Amritsar and Lahore had populations over 100,000. The commercial and industrial city of Amritsar (152,000) was slightly larger than the cultural capital of Lahore (149,000). Over the following sixty years, Lahore increased in population fourfold, whilst Amritsar grew two-fold. By 1941, the province had seven cities with populations over 100,000 with emergence and growth of Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot, Jullundur and Ludhiana.[37]
The colonial period saw large scale migration within the Punjab due to the creation of canal colonies in western Punjab. The majority of colonists hailed from the seven most densely populated districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ambala and Sialkot, and consisted primarily of Khatris, Brahmins, Jats, Arains, Sainis, Kambohs and Rajputs. The movement of many highly skilled farmers from eastern and central Punjab to the new colonies, led to western Punjab becoming the most progressive and advanced agricultural region of the province. The period also saw significant numbers of Punjabis emigrate to other regions of the British Empire. The main destinations were East Africa - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Southeast Asia - Malaya and Burma, Hong Kong and Canada.[37]
Religion
The Punjab was a religiously eclectic province, comprising three major groups: Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. By 1941, the religious Muslims constituting an absolute majority at 53.2%, whilst the Hindu population was at 30.1%.[g] The period between 1881 and 1941 saw a significant increase in the Sikh and Christian populations, growing from 8.2% and 0.1% to 14.9% and 1.9% respectively.[37] The decrease in the Hindu population has been attributed to the conversion of Hindus mainly to Sikhism and Islam, and also to Christianity.[37]
In 1941, the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs made 30.1,[g] 53.2 and 14.9 per cent of the total population of Punjab but made 37.9, 51.4 and 8.4 per cent of its urban population respectively.[37]
| Religious group |
Population % 1881[h] |
Population % 1891 |
Population % 1901[h] |
Population % 1911[h] |
Population % 1921 |
Population % 1931 |
Population % 1941 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islam | 47.6% | 47.8% | 49.2% | 50.8% | 51.1% | 52.4% | 53.2% |
| Hinduism[g] | 43.8% | 43.6% | 41.8% | 36.3% | 35.1% | 31.7% | 30.1% |
| Sikhism | 8.2% | 8.2% | 8.5% | 11.9% | 12.4% | 14.3% | 14.9% |
| Christianity | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Other religions / No religion | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Religious group |
1881[38][39][40][h] | 1901[41]: 34 [h] | 1911[42]: 27 [43]: 27 [h] | 1921[44]: 29 | 1931[45]: 277 | 1941[13]: 42 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
Islam 
|
9,872,745 | 47.58% | 12,183,345 | 49.22% | 12,275,477 | 50.75% | 12,813,383 | 51.05% | 14,929,896 | 52.4% | 18,259,744 | 53.22% |
Hinduism  [g]
|
9,095,175 | 43.84% | 10,344,469 | 41.79% | 8,773,621 | 36.27% | 8,799,651 | 35.06% | 9,018,509 | 31.65% | 10,336,549 | 30.13% |
Sikhism 
|
1,706,165 | 8.22% | 2,102,896 | 8.49% | 2,883,729 | 11.92% | 3,107,296 | 12.38% | 4,071,624 | 14.29% | 5,116,185 | 14.91% |
Jainism 
|
42,572 | 0.21% | 49,983 | 0.2% | 46,775 | 0.19% | 41,321 | 0.16% | 43,140 | 0.15% | 45,475 | 0.13% |
Christianity 
|
28,054 | 0.14% | 66,591 | 0.27% | 199,751 | 0.83% | 332,939 | 1.33% | 419,353 | 1.47% | 512,466 | 1.49% |
Buddhism .svg){kind=small}
|
3,251 | 0.02% | 6,940 | 0.03% | 7,690 | 0.03% | 5,912 | 0.02% | 7,753 | 0.03% | 854 | 0.002% |
Zoroastrianism 
|
413 | 0.002% | 477 | 0.002% | 653 | 0.003% | 526 | 0.002% | 569 | 0.002% | 4,359 | 0.01% |
Judaism 
|
— | — | 24 | 0.0001% | 54 | 0.0002% | 19 | 0.0001% | 13 | 0% | 39 | 0.0001% |