West Punjab

2022-01-19T00:24:28Z

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{{Short description|Former province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955}}
{{About|a former province of Pakistan|the modern province|Punjab, Pakistan|other uses|Punjab (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| common_name = West Punjab
| conventional_long_name = West Punjab
| native_name = {{nastaliq|مغربی پنجاب}}
| subdivision = Former [[Former administrative units of Pakistan|Province]]
| nation = Pakistan
| image_flag =
| image_map = West Punjab map.gif
| image_map_caption =
| capital = [[Lahore]]
| p1 = Punjab Province (British India) {{!}} Punjab Province
| flag_p1 = British_Raj_Red_Ensign.svg
| s1 = West Pakistan
| flag_s1 = Flag of Pakistan.svg
| stat_year1 =
| stat_area1 = 159344
| year_start = 1947
| date_start = 14 August
| year_end = 1955
| date_end = 14 October
| footnotes = [http://www.punjab.gov.pk Government of Punjab]
}}{{Former administrative units of Pakistan}}
'''West Punjab''' ({{lang-pnb|{{nq|‎لیندا پنجاب‎}}}}; {{lang-ur|{{nq|پنجاب مغربی}}}}) was a province of [[Pakistan]] from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 205,344 km2 (79,284 sq mi), including much of the current [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]] province and the [[Islamabad Capital Territory]], but excluding the former [[Princely States|princely state]] of [[State of Bahawalpur|Bahawalpur]]. The capital was the city of [[Lahore]] and the province was composed of four divisions ([[Lahore Division|Lahore]], [[Sargodha Division|Sargodha]], [[Multan Division|Multan]] and [[Rawalpindi Division|Rawalpindi]]). The province was bordered by the Indian states of [[East Punjab]] and [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] to the east, the princely state of Bahawalpur to the south, the provinces of [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] and [[Sind Province (1936–1955)|Sind]] to the southwest, [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] to the northwest, and [[Azad Kashmir]] to the northeast.

==History==
The Independence of Pakistan in 1947 led to the division of the [[Punjab (British India)|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 (Pakistan)|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 (Pakistan)|Punjab Province]].

==Demographics==
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. The official language of West Punjab was [[Urdu]] but most of the population spoke [[Punjabi language|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 language|Potwari]] spoken in [[Rawalpindi]] division and "Western Lahnda" now known as [[Hindko]] spoken in the regions bordering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

==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 [[Francis Mudie|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]].

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Tenure||Governor of West Punjab<ref name="worldstatesmen">{{cite web| url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Pakistan_states.html#Punjab| title=Pakistan Provinces| author=Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org| access-date=3 October 2007}}</ref>
|-
|15 August 1947 – 2 August 1949||[[Francis Mudie|Sir Francis Mudie]]
|-
|2 August 1949 – 24 November 1951||Sardar [[Abdur Rab Nishtar]]
|-
|24 November 1951 – 2 May 1953||[[Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar]]
|-
|2 May 1953 – 24 June 1954||Mian Aminuddin
|-
|26 September 1954 – 26 November 1954||Habib Ibrahim Rahmatullah
|-
|27 November 1954 – 14 October 1955||Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani
|-
|14 October 1955||Province of West Punjab dissolved
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Tenure||Chief Minister of West Punjab<ref name="worldstatesmen" />||Political Party
|-
|15 August 1947 – 25 January 1949||Iftikhar Hussain Khan||
|-
|25 January 1949 – 5 April 1952||Governor's Rule||
|-
|5 April 1952 – 3 April 1953||Mian Mumtaz Daultana||[[Pakistan Muslim League]]
|-
|3 April 1953 – 21 May 1955||[[Malik Firoz Khan Nun]]||Pakistan Muslim League
|-
|21 May 1955 – 14 October 1955||Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti||
|-
|14 October 1955||Province of West Punjab dissolved||
|}

==Contemporary usage==
Today the term '''Western Punjab''' is used in Pakistan to describe the whole part of Pakistan's Punjab province except the '''Lahore/Central Region''',<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/herald/herald18.htm The political divides within – Dawn]</ref> while in India it is often used to refer to the entire [[Pakistani Punjab]].<ref>[http://punjabgovt.nic.in/CULTURE/Excavated.htm Excavated Sites – Government of Punjab (India)]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Punjab region]]
* [[Punjab (Pakistan)]]
* [[Punjab (India)]]
* [[Haryana]]
* [[Bahawalpur State]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|West Punjab}}
* [http://www.punjab.gov.pk Government of Punjab]
* [http://www.pap.gov.pk/general/assemblies/1947-49.htm Punjab Provincial Assembly Records]
* [http://www.statoids.com/upk.html#Population_History Population at 1951 census by Statoids.com]

{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|31|00|N|72|00|E|region:PK_type:adm1st|display=title}}

[[Category:1947 establishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:1955 disestablishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1947]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1955]]
[[Category:Former subdivisions of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Punjab]]

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West Punjab