Province of East Punjab
Former province of India
1947–1950

East Punjab, 1951
CapitalShimla[1]
Historical era20th century
• Established
1947
• PEPSU formed
1948
• Disestablished
1950
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Punjab Province
Punjab State
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Chandigarh
PEPSU
Today part ofPunjab
Chandigarh
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh

East Punjab was a province of India from 1947 until 1950. It consisted parts of the Punjab province that remained in India following the partition of the province between the new dominions of Pakistan and the Indian Union by the Radcliffe Commission in 1947. The mostly Muslim western parts of the old Punjab became Pakistan's West Punjab, later renamed as Punjab Province, while the mostly Hindu and Sikh eastern parts remained with India.

History

Partition of India

With the partition of India, the Punjab province was to be divided in two as per the Indian Independence Act 1947, passed by the parliament of the United Kingdom. The province was to cease to exist, and two new provinces were to be constituted, to be known respectively as West Punjab & East Punjab.[2] All the princely states of the Punjab States Agency, except Bahawalpur, which acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan, acceded to the new Union of India and were combined into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). The northeast Hill States of the Punjab Province banded together and were declared a union territory in 1950 as Himachal Pradesh.

Renaming of the state

Administrative divisions of India in 1951

The Constitution of India, which came into effect in 1950, renamed the province of "East Punjab" as the state of "Punjab".

Reorganisation of Indian States

In 1956, the PEPSU was merged into an expanded Punjab state.

Punjabi Suba movement

A map of the distribution of native Punjabi speakers in India and Pakistan

With effect from 1 November 1966, there was yet another reorganisation, this time on linguistic lines, when the state of Punjab as constituted in 1956 was divided into three: the mostly Hindi-speaking part became the present-day Indian state of Haryana and the mostly Punjabi-speaking part became the present-day Punjab,[3][4] while a new union territory (Chandigarh) was also created, to serve as a capital to both states. At the same time, some parts of the former territory of Patiala and East Punjab States Union, including Solan and Nalagarh, were transferred to Himachal Pradesh.

Demography

1941 census

Religions in East Punjab, India region (1941)[5]: 42 [lower-alpha 1]

  Hinduism[lower-alpha 2] (46.95%)
  Islam (30.88%)
  Sikhism (21.14%)
  Christianity (0.69%)
  Jainism (0.21%)
  Others[lower-alpha 3] (0.12%)

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the Radcliffe Line was made into a new province – East Punjab. The area includes the contemporary states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by district and princely state with an overall total as per the 1941 Indian census.

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of East Punjab, India region (1941)[5]: 42 [lower-alpha 1]
District/
Princely State		 Hinduism [lower-alpha 2] Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[lower-alpha 3] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Patiala State 597,488 30.86% 436,539 22.55% 896,021 46.28% 1,592 0.08% 3,101 0.16% 1,518 0.08% 1,936,259 100%
Firozpur District 287,733 20.22% 641,448 45.07% 479,486 33.69% 12,607 0.89% 1,674 0.12% 128 0.01% 1,423,076 100%
Amritsar District 217,431 15.38% 657,695 46.52% 510,845 36.13% 25,973 1.84% 1,911 0.14% 21 0% 1,413,876 100%
Hoshiarpur District 584,080 49.91% 380,759 32.53% 198,194 16.93% 6,165 0.53% 1,125 0.1% 0 0% 1,170,323 100%
Jalandhar District 311,010 27.59% 509,804 45.23% 298,741 26.5% 6,233 0.55% 1,395 0.12% 7 0% 1,127,190 100%
Hisar District 652,842 64.85% 285,208 28.33% 60,731 6.03% 1,292 0.13% 6,126 0.61% 510 0.05% 1,006,709 100%
Karnal District 666,301 66.99% 304,346 30.6% 19,887 2% 1,249 0.13% 2,789 0.28% 3 0% 994,575 100%
Rohtak District 780,474 81.61% 166,569 17.42% 1,466 0.15% 1,043 0.11% 6,847 0.72% 0 0% 956,399 100%
Kangra District 846,531 94.12% 43,249 4.81% 4,809 0.53% 788 0.09% 101 0.01% 3,899 0.43% 899,377 100%
Gurdaspur District[lower-alpha 4] 174,221 20.21% 440,323 51.08% 200,688 23.28% 46,743 5.42% 25 0% 6 0% 862,006 100%
Gurgaon District 560,537 65.83% 285,992 33.59% 637 0.07% 1,673 0.2% 2,613 0.31% 6 0% 851,458 100%
Ambala District 412,658 48.68% 268,999 31.73% 156,543 18.47% 6,065 0.72% 3,065 0.36% 415 0.05% 847,745 100%
Ludhiana District 171,715 20.98% 302,482 36.95% 341,175 41.68% 1,913 0.23% 1,279 0.16% 51 0.01% 818,615 100%
Kapurthala State 61,546 16.27% 213,754 56.49% 88,350 23.35% 1,667 0.44% 380 0.1% 12,683 3.35% 378,380 100%
Jind State 268,355 74.17% 50,972 14.09% 40,981 11.33% 161 0.04% 1,294 1294% 49 0.01% 361,812 100%
Simla Hill States 345,716 96.16% 10,812 3.01% 2,693 0.75% 161 0.04% 126 0.04% 12 0% 359,520 100%
Nabha State 146,518 42.59% 70,373 20.45% 122,451 35.59% 221 0.06% 480 0.14% 1 0% 344,044 100%
Mandi State 227,463 97.79% 4,328 1.86% 583 0.25% 11 0% 0 0% 208 0.09% 232,593 100%
Faridkot State 21,814 10.95% 61,352 30.79% 115,070 57.74% 247 0.12% 800 800% 0 0% 199,283 100%
Chamba State 155,910 92.3% 12,318 7.29% 107 0.06% 190 0.11% 0 0% 383 0.23% 168,908 100%
Sirmoor State 146,199 93.7% 7,374 4.73% 2,334 1.5% 38 0.02% 81 0.05% 0 0% 156,026 100%
Bilaspur State 108,375 98.22% 1,498 1.36% 453 0.41% 7 0.01% 3 0% 0 0% 110,336 100%
Malerkotla State 23,482 26.65% 33,881 38.45% 30,320 34.41% 116 0.13% 310 0.35% 0 0% 88,109 100%
Suket State 69,974 98.43% 884 1.24% 234 0.33% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 71,092 100%
Kalsia State 29,866 44.32% 25,049 37.17% 12,235 18.15% 55 0.08% 188 0.28% 0 0% 67,393 100%
Simla District 29,466 76.38% 7,022 18.2% 1,032 2.68% 934 2.42% 114 0.3% 8 0.02% 38,576 100%
Dujana State 23,727 77.37% 6,939 22.63% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 30,666 100%
Loharu State 23,923 85.77% 3,960 14.2% 7 0.03% 2 0.01% 0 0% 0 0% 27,892 100%
Pataudi State 17,728 82.38% 3,655 16.98% 0 0% 9 0.04% 128 0.59% 0 0% 21,520 100%
Total 7,963,083 46.95% 5,237,584 30.88% 3,586,073 21.14% 117,155 0.69% 35,955 0.21% 19,908 0.12% 16,959,758 100%
Note: Territory comprises the contemporary subdivisions of Punjab, India, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.

2011 census

Religion

Religion in East Punjab (2011)[6]

  Hinduism (65.94%)
  Sikhism (28.63%)
  Islam (4.13%)
  Others (1.3%)

East Punjab comprising the states of (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union territory of Chandigarh) had a population of 61,014,852 people as of 2011 census report of India. The Hindus form a majority in East Punjab region with 40,234,605 adherents comprising (65.94%), Sikhs are 17,466,731 comprising (28.62%) of the region, Muslims are 2,518,159 comprising (4.12%) of the region and others are 795,357 including Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and atheists together comprising remaining (1.3%) of the region. Sikhs are the majority in Punjab, while Hindus form the majority in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh. Muslims are majority in Malerkotla and Nuh districts of Punjab and Haryana.[7]

Language

Languages spoken in East Punjab (2011)[8]

  Punjabi (46.16%)
  Hindi (26.64%)
  Haryanvi (15.44%)
  Pahari languages (7.53%)
  Others (4.23%)

As per 2011 census, Punjabi is the most spoken language and is spoken by 28,166,306 people, followed by Hindi which is spoken by 16,259,205 people, Haryanvi by 9,423,138 people and Western Pahari language by 4,599,283 people. While 2,580,928 people speaks other languages like Nepali.[9]

Modern usage

Since it ceased to be the name of a state, "East Punjab" has been used in India to refer to the eastern part of the present Punjab state, while in Pakistan it means the eastern part of Pakistan's Punjab province, although Pakistanis also sometimes refer to the current Indian Punjab as "East Punjab".[10] Terms East and West Punjab are also often used in modern India and Pakistan when making a comparison between the two territories.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 1941 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Simla, Kangra, Ambala, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Loharu, Dujana, Pataudi, Kalsia, Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Sirmoor, Simla Hill, Bilaspur, Mandi, Suket, and Chamba) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the eastern side of the Radcliffe Line. See 1941 census data here: [5]: 42 
    Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and princely states would ultimately make up the subdivision of East Punjab, which also included Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Chief Commissioner's Province of Himachal Pradesh, and Bilaspur State. The states that make up this region in the contemporary era are Punjab, India, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.
  2. 1 2 Including Ad-Dharmis
  3. 1 2 Including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
  4. ↑ Does not include Shakargarh Tehsil, which was awarded to Pakistan as part of the Radcliffe Line.

References

  1. ↑ Shimla Then & Now. Indus Publishing. 1 January 1996. ISBN 9788173870460 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ "Salient features of the act" (PDF). Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  3. ↑ S. Gajrani, History, Religion and Culture of India (2004), p. 217
  4. ↑ "Punjab Legislative Assembly". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  6. ↑ https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/11361
  7. ↑ https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/11361
  8. ↑ https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/10191
  9. ↑ https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/10191
  10. ↑ "Ties will grow, says Indian Punjab CM". 31 January 2004.

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