West Punjab Explained

Common Name:Punjab
Conventional Long Name:West Punjab
Subdivision:Former province
Nation:Pakistan
Era:Cold War
Government Type:Self-governing province subject to the central government
Title Leader:Governor
Title Deputy:Chief Minister
Year Leader1:1947–1949
Year Leader2:1949–1951
Year Leader3:1951–1953
Year Leader4:1953–1954
Year Leader5:1954
Year Leader6:1954–1955
Deputy1:Iftikhar Hussain Khan
Year Deputy1:1947–1949
Deputy2:Mumtaz Daultana
Year Deputy2:1951–1953
Deputy3:Feroz Khan Noon
Year Deputy3:1953–1955
Deputy4:Abdul Hamid Khan
Year Deputy4:1955
Political Subdiv:
Demonym:Punjabi
Today:Pakistan
Image Map Caption:Province of West Punjab in Pakistan
Capital:Lahore
P1:Punjab Province (British India) British Punjab
Flag P1:British_Raj_Red_Ensign.svg
S1:West Pakistan
Flag S1:Flag of Pakistan.svg
Stat Year1:1947–1955
Stat Area1:159344
Year Start:1947
Date Start:14 August
Year End:1955
Date End:14 October
Footnotes:Government of Punjab

West Punjab ({{nq|‎لہندا پنجاب‎; Urdu: {{nq|مغربی پنجاب) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. It was established from the western-half of British Punjab, following the independence of Pakistan. The province covered an area of 159,344 km sq (61523 sq mi), including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former Princely state of Bahawalpur. Lahore, being the largest city and the cultural centre, served as the capital of the province. The province was composed of four divisions (Lahore, Sargodha, Multan and Rawalpindi) and was bordered by the state of Bahawalpur to the south-east, the province of Baluchistan to the south-west and Sind to the south, North-West Frontier Province to the north-west, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It shared International border with Indian state of East Punjab to the east and Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir to the north-east. It was dissolved and merged into West Pakistan upon creation of One Unit Scheme, in 1955.

History

The creation of Pakistan in 1947 led to the division of the Punjab Province of British India into two new provinces. The largely Sikh and Hindu East Punjab became part of the new nation of India while the largely Muslim West Punjab became part of the new nation of the Dominion of Pakistan. The name of the province was shortened to Punjab in 1950. West Punjab was merged into the province of West Pakistan in 1955 under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhary Muhammad Ali. When that province was dissolved, the area of the former province of West Punjab was combined with the former state of Bahawalpur to form a new Punjab Province.

Government

The offices of Governor of West Punjab and Chief Minister of West Punjab lasted from 15 August 1947, until 14 October 1955. The first Governor was Sir Francis Mudie with Iftikhar Hussain Khan as the first Chief Minister. Both offices were abolished in 1955, when the province of West Pakistan was created. The last Governor of West Punjab, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani, became the first Governor of West Pakistan.

TenureGovernor of West Punjab[1]
15 August 1947 – 2 August 1949Sir Francis Mudie
2 August 1949 – 24 November 1951Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar
24 November 1951 – 2 May 1953Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar
2 May 1953 – 24 June 1954Mian Aminuddin
26 September 1954 – 26 November 1954Habib Ibrahim Rahmatullah
27 November 1954 – 14 October 1955Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani
14 October 1955Province of West Punjab dissolved
TenureChief Minister of West PunjabPolitical Party
15 August 1947 – 25 January 1949Iftikhar Hussain Khan
25 January 1949 – 5 April 1952Governor's Rule
5 April 1952 – 3 April 1953Mian Mumtaz DaultanaPakistan Muslim League
3 April 1953 – 21 May 1955Malik Firoz Khan NunPakistan Muslim League
21 May 1955 – 14 October 1955Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti
14 October 1955Province of West Punjab dissolved

Demographics

Religion

1901 census

District/
Princely State! colspan="2"
OthersTotal
Lahore District717,519276,375159,7017,2961,0471711,162,109
Sialkot District716,953302,01250,98211,9392,008151,083,909
Rawalpindi District803,28386,26932,2347,6141,06867930,535
Lyallpur District484,657210,45988,0498,672231791,861
Gujranwala District531,908169,59451,6072,7489328756,797
Gujrat District655,83869,34624,893460110750,548
Bahawalpur State598,139114,6707,9858300720,877
Multan District570,254133,5604,6621,96413452710,626
Jhelum District526,72551,80115,0702711510594,018
Shahpur District442,92168,48912,7569120524,259
Dera Ghazi Khan District412,01257,8151,0271521430471,149
Montgomery District334,474109,94519,0926681463,586
Mianwali District371,67450,2022,63344350424,588
Muzaffargarh District350,17752,2213,2253300405,656
Jhang District295,48179,6503,5263800378,695
Shakargarh Tehsil115,189111,8196,55790000234,465
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract23,951136000024,087
Total7,951,1551,944,363483,99942,3715,56231510,427,765

1911 census

District/
Princely State! colspan="2"
OthersTotal
Lahore District626,271217,609169,00821,7811,1393501,036,158
Sialkot District604,801242,32581,76148,6202,02917979,553
Gujranwala District622,430176,075107,74816,2159501923,419
Lyallpur District524,288154,603146,67032,0231252857,711
Multan District665,488126,60319,8812,44139464814,871
Bahawalpur State654,247109,54816,630199152780,641
Gujrat District650,89349,43044,693570480745,634
Shahpur District572,56572,69533,4568,616529687,366
Muzaffargarh District494,91568,1586,3226015569,461
Rawalpindi District458,10148,44931,8398,3201,02890547,827
Montgomery District399,72366,80368,175581134535,299
Attock District471,89019,74126,914707912519,273
Jhang District422,46873,42619,42720140515,526
Jhelum District452,26034,26124,4364501635511,575
Dera Ghazi Khan District442,23456,4851,04276230499,860
Mianwali District299,97136,3264,881168310341,377
Shakargarh Tehsil103,35693,05210,5533,48600210,447
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract28,413169500028,587
Total8,494,3141,645,758813,441144,5145,97758111,104,585

1921 census

District/
Princely State! colspan="2"
OthersTotal
Lahore District647,640255,690179,97546,4541,2093681,131,336
Lyallpur District594,917181,488160,82142,0042312979,463
Sialkot District580,532217,91274,93962,2662,14727937,823
Multan District731,605134,01318,5626,0062850890,264
Gujrat District709,68462,52949,4562,37340824,046
Bahawalpur State647,207114,62119,07128318781,191
Shahpur District596,10082,18230,36111,27032719,918
Montgomery District513,05594,79195,52010,408120713,786
Gujranwala District443,147101,56650,80227,3087544623,581
Jhang District475,38885,3399,37644970570,559
Rawalpindi District470,03857,18531,7189,28695443569,224
Muzaffargarh District493,36969,8784,86935660568,478
Sheikhupura District330,88085,78182,96523,431780523,135
Attock District465,69426,18419,80955750512,249
Jhelum District422,97934,83718,6264301951477,068
Dera Ghazi Khan District411,43156,346932472960469,052
Mianwali District308,87645,9742,98636900358,205
Shakargarh Tehsil106,16890,64512,3033,73300212,849
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract26,578180000026,758
Total8,975,2881,797,141863,091247,0305,93050511,888,985

1931 census

District/
Princely State! colspan="2"
OthersTotal
Lahore District815,820259,725244,30457,0971,4501741,378,570
Multan District942,937182,02939,4539,9244401171,174,900
Lyallpur District720,996173,344211,39145,5189571,151,351
Montgomery District697,542136,783148,15517,245389999,772
Bahawalpur State799,176149,45434,8961,0541220984,612
Sialkot District609,633206,42194,95566,3652,2367979,617
Gujrat District786,75073,35659,1883,097324922,427
Shahpur District679,54690,56140,07411,294141821,490
Gujranwala District521,34392,76471,59549,3641,0711736,138
Sheikhupura District445,99681,887119,47749,2661006696,732
Jhang District552,853102,9908,476494020664,833
Rawalpindi District524,96559,48541,2657,4861,07779634,357
Muzaffargarh District513,26572,5775,28724600591,375
Attock District531,79331,93219,52271021583,960
Jhelum District482,09736,06822,0306722090541,076
Dera Ghazi Khan District432,91157,217760311250491,044
Mianwali District357,10949,7944,231380205411,539
Shakargarh Tehsil125,828101,31815,7304,48700247,363
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract29,469173000029,642
Total10,570,0291,957,8781,180,789324,7306,92145114,040,798

1941 census

At Independence there was a Muslim majority in West Punjab with a significant Hindu and Sikh minority. Nearly all of these minorities left West Punjab for India, to be replaced by large numbers of Muslims fleeing from the opposite direction.

District/
Princely State! colspan="2"
OthersTotal
Lahore District1,027,772284,689310,64670,1471,9511701,695,375
Multan District1,157,911249,87261,62814,290552801,484,333
Lyallpur District877,518204,059262,73751,9483581,396,305
Bahawalpur State1,098,814174,40846,9453,04835117,6431,341,209
Montgomery District918,564210,966175,06424,43249281,329,103
Sialkot District739,218231,319139,40975,8313,2501,4701,190,497
Gujrat District945,60984,64370,2334,4491081,104,952
Shahpur District835,918102,17248,04612,770132998,921
Gujranwala District642,706108,11599,13960,8291,4450912,234
Sheikhupura District542,34489,182160,70660,0542211852,508
Jhang District678,736129,88912,23876350821,631
Rawalpindi District628,19382,47864,1279,0141,33782785,231
Muzaffargarh District616,07490,6435,882227023712,849
Attock District611,12843,20920,1201,3921313675,875
Jhelum District563,03340,88824,6808931595629,658
Dera Ghazi Khan District512,67867,4071,072871060581,350
Mianwali District436,26062,8146,865358231506,321
Shakargarh Tehsil149,600116,55320,5734,77900291,505
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract40,084160200040,246
Total13,022,1602,373,4661,530,112395,3119,52019,53417,350,103

Language

The official language of West Punjab was Urdu but most of the population spoke Punjabi. The linguist George Abraham Grierson in his multi volume Linguistic Survey of India (1904–1928) considered the various dialects up to then called "Western Punjabi", spoken in North, West, and South of Lahore in what is now Pakistani Punjab, as constituting instead a distinct language from Punjabi. (The local dialect of Lahore is the Majhi dialect of Punjabi, which has long been the basis of standard literary Punjabi.) Grierson proposed to name this putative language "Lahnda", and he dubbed as "Southern Lahnda" the coherent dialect cluster now known as Saraiki spoken in Multan Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur division and "North Lahnda" now known as Potwari spoken in Rawalpindi division and "Western Lahnda" now known as Hindko spoken in the regions bordering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Contemporary usage

The term is often used to refer to the Pakistani Punjab.[2]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pakistan Provinces. Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org. 3 October 2007.
  2. Web site: . Global Affairs and Strategic Studies. Facultad de Derecho . 2022-06-29 . Global Affairs and Strategic Studies . es-ES.

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