Punjab Province (British India): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Former Subdivision

*[[Lahore]]

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==Etymology==

The region was originally called [[Sapta Sindhu]],<ref name=Anin1>D. R. Bhandarkar, 1989, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=8120604571 Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture: Sir William Meyers Lectures, 1938-39], Asia Educational Services, p.{{nbsp}}2.</ref> the [[Vedic period|Vedic]] land of the seven rivers flowing into the ocean.<ref name=curr1>A.S. valdiya, [http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/104/01/0042.pdf "River Sarasvati was a Himalayn-born river"], [http://www.currentscience.ac.in Current Science], vol 104, no.01, ISSN 0011-3891.</ref> The [[Sanskrit]] name for the region, as mentioned in the [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]] for example, was ''Panchanada'' which means "Land of the Five Rivers", and was translated to Persian as ''Punjab'' after the Muslim conquests.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.1:375.hobson|title=Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive|first=Henry|last=Yule|date=31 December 2018|website=dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/macdonell_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%9E%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%96&searchhws=yes|title=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary with Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological Analysis Throughout|first=Arthur Anthony|last=Macdonell|date=31 December 2018|website=dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu}}</ref> The later name ''Punjab'' is a compound of two [[Persian language|Persian]] words<ref name=EoS>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/PUNJAB.html |title=The Punjab |author=H K Manmohan Siṅgh |work=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Editor-in-Chief Harbans Singh |publisher=[[Punjabi University]], Patiala |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten|year=2013|page=1 ("Introduction")|publisher=Aleph Book Company|location=New Delhi, India, Urbana, [[Illinois]]|isbn=978-93-83064-41-0}}</ref> Panj (five) and āb (water) and was introduced to the region by the [[Turko-Persian]] conquerors<ref>{{cite book|last=Canfield|first=Robert L.|title=Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective|year=1991|page=1 ("Origins")|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=[[Cambridge]], United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-521-52291-5}}</ref> of [[History of India|India]] and more formally popularised during the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten|year=2013|publisher=Aleph Book Company|location=New Delhi, India, Urbana, [[Illinois]]|isbn=978-93-83064-41-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Shimmel|first=Annemarie|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|year=2004|publisher=Reaktion Books Ltd.|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=1-86189-1857|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne}}</ref> Punjab literally means ''"(The Land of) Five Waters"'' referring to the rivers: [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], [[Chenab River|Chenab]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]], [[Sutlej]], and [[Beas River|Beas]].<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., vol.20, Punjab, p.107</ref> All are tributaries of the [[Indus River]], the Chenab being the largest.

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 (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]] by the Indus, until it reached the border of [[Dera Ghazi Khan District]], which was divided from [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Baluchistan]] by the [[Sulaiman Range]]. To the south lay [[Sindh]] and [[Rajputana]], while on the east the rivers [[Jumna River|Jumna]] and [[Tons River|Tons]] separated it from the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]].<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 653"/> In total Punjab had an area of approximately 357 000&nbsp;km square about the same size as modern day Germany, being one of the largest provinces of the British Raj.

In 1901 the frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province: the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]].

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===British Raj===

Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner, was appointed the first [[List of Governors of Punjab (British India)|Lieutenant-Governor]] on 1{{nbsp}}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]].<ref name=two>{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_337.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 20, page 331 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|work=uchicago.edu}}</ref> The territory under the Lieutenant consisted of 29 Districts, grouped under 5 Divisions, and 43 [[Princely State]]s. 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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_339.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 20, page 333 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|work=uchicago.edu}}</ref>

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.<ref name="autogenerated353">Barrier, N. Gerald. "The Punjab Disturbances of 1907: The Response of the British Government in India to Agrarian Unrest." Modern Asian Studies, vol. 1, no. 4, 1967, pp. 353–383</ref> Mass demonstrations were organised, headed by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], a leader of the Hindu revivalist sect [[Arya Samaj]].<ref name="autogenerated353"/> The unrest resulted in the repeal of the Colonisation Bill and the end of paternalist policies in the colonies.<ref name="autogenerated353"/>

===Administrative reforms===

===Partition===

{{See also|Partition of India}}

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.<ref>http://www.pap.gov.pk/uploads/previous_members/S-1946-1947.htm Provincial Assembly of the Punjab</ref>

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! style="background: green; color: white;"| Islam

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! style="background: OrangeRed; color: white;"| Hinduism

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! style="background: orange;"| Sikhism

In the immediate aftermath of annexation, the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]] was disbanded, and soldiers were required to surrender their weapons and return to agricultural or other pursuits.<ref name="autogenerated77"/> The [[Bengal Army]], keen to utilise the highly trained ex-Khalsa army troops began to recruit from the Punjab for Bengal infantry units stationed in the province. However opposition to the recruitment of these soldiers spread and resentment emerged from sepoys of the Bengal Army towards the incursion of Punjabis into their ranks. In 1851, the [[Punjab Irregular Force]] also known as the 'Piffars' was raised. Initially they consisted of one garrison and four mule batteries, four regiments of cavalry, eleven of infantry and the [[Corps of Guides (India)|Corps of Guides]], totalling approximately 13,000 men.<ref name="autogenerated293">Septimus Smet Thorburn, The Punjab in Peace and War, William Blackwood and Sons (1904), p.293</ref> The gunners and infantry were mostly Punjabi, many from the Khalsa Army, whilst the cavalry had a considerable Hindustani presence.<ref name="autogenerated293"/>

The huge proportion of Punjabis in the army meant that a significant amount of military expenditure went to Punjabis and in turn resulted in an abnormally high level of resource input in the Punjab.<ref name="autogenerated23">Rajit K. Mazumder, The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab, Orient Blackswan, 2003, p.23</ref> It has been suggested that by 1935 if remittances of serving officers were combined with income from military pensions, more than two thirds of Punjab's land revenue could have been paid out of military incomes.<ref name="autogenerated23"/> Military service further helped reduce the extent of indebtedness across the Province. In [[Hoshiarpur]], a notable source of military personnel, in 1920 thirty percent of proprietors were debt free compared to the region's average of eleven percent.<ref name="autogenerated23"/> In addition, the benefits of military service and the perception that the government was benevolent towards soldiers, affected the latter's attitudes towards the British.<ref name="autogenerated2003"/> The loyalty of recruited peasantry and the influence of military groups in rural areas across the province limited the reach of the nationalist movement in the province.<ref name="autogenerated2003"/>

==Education==

In the early 1860s, a number of educational colleges were established, including [[Lawrence College, Murree]], [[King Edward Medical University]], [[Government College University (Lahore)|Government College, Lahore]],

==Language==

In 1854, the Board of Administration abruptly ended the two-language policy and Urdu was designated as the official language of government across the province. The decision was motivated by new civil service rules requiring all officials pass a test in the official language of their local court. In fear of potentially losing their jobs, officials in Persian districts petitioned the board to replace Persian with Urdu, believing Urdu the easier language to master.<ref name="University of California Press">{{cite book |last1=Mir |first1=Farina |title=The Social Space of Language: Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab |date=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0520262697 |pages=37–50}}</ref> Urdu remained the official administrative language until 1947.

! Council !! Inaugurated !! Dissolved !! President(s)

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===First Assembly Election===

{{See also|1937 Punjab Provincial Assembly election}}

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===Second Assembly Election===

{{See also|1946 Punjab Provincial Assembly election}}

==Coat of arms==

==See also==

* [[History of Punjab]]

* [[Sikh Empire]]

==References==

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{Presidencies and provinces of British India}}