128. Demographics of North West Frontier Province According to the Census of 1941

The British reached this part of India in the mid-nineteenth century, when they defeated the Sikh state of Lahore in 1849. At that time, Hazara, the Peshawar Valley, and the areas east of Waziristan were part of the Sikh state of Lahore. The British granted provincial status to these newly conquered areas of Punjab. But they did not stop there and continued to extend their influence northward and westward, finally concluding an agreement with Afghanistan in 1893, which defined the border between British India and Afghanistan. These newly acquired areas were either recognized as princely states or administered as tribal areas.

This arrangement remained in place until 1901, when the six trans-Indus districts of Punjab were carved out as a new province and given the name North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). After independence in 1947, the princely states and some tribal areas (such as Kohistan) were gradually merged into NWFP. However, the tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan were only merged in 2018. In the meantime, the province was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2010.

In this post, however, our focus is only on the census conducted in 1941 in the NWFP as it existed at that time, that is, the six districts of the province, excluding the princely states and tribal areas.

NWFP in 1941 

First, you will find the percentage of the populations of all three major religious communities—Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs,  district-wise. The maps given below will explain the point further.

Census of NWFP Province in 1941
No	District	Population	Muslims	%	Hindus	%	Sikhs	%
01	Hazara	796,230	756,004	94.95	30,267	3.80	9,220	1.16
02	Mardan	506,539	483,575	95.47	10,677	2.11	11,838	2.34
03	Peshawar	851,833	769,589	90.35	51,212	6.01	24,030	2.82
04	Kohat	289,404	266,224	91.99	17,527	6.06	4,349	1.50
05	Bannu	295,930	257,648	87.06	31,471	10.63	6,112	2.07
06	D. I. Khan	298,131	255,757	85.79	39,167	13.14	2,390	0.80
	Total	3,038,067	2,788,797	91.80	180,321	5.94	57,939	1.91

Census of NWFP Province in 1941

No

District

Population

Muslims

%

Hindus

%

Sikhs

%

01

Hazara

796,230

756,004

94.95

30,267

3.80

9,220

1.16

02

Mardan

506,539

483,575

95.47

10,677

2.11

11,838

2.34

03

Peshawar

851,833

769,589

90.35

51,212

6.01

24,030

2.82

04

Kohat

289,404

266,224

91.99

17,527

6.06

4,349

1.50

05

Bannu

295,930

257,648

87.06

31,471

10.63

6,112

2.07

06

D. I. Khan

298,131

255,757

85.79

39,167

13.14

2,390

0.80

 

Total

3,038,067

2,788,797

91.80

180,321

5.94

57,939

1.91

The Muslim population in 1941. (District Wise)

The Hindu population in 1941. (District Wise)

The Sikh population in 1941. (District Wise)

The census report of NWFP, the year 1941, also provides the details of the population of the Tehsils (sub-districts). That provides a more detailed picture of the distribution of the populations of the three major religious communities. 

No	District/Tehsil	Muslims	%	Hindus	%	Sikhs	%
1	Hazara	756,004	94.95	30,267	3.80	9,220	1.16
i	Mansehra	237,306	97.58	4,910	2.02	965	0.41
ii	Abbottabad	284,228	92.13	17,558	5.69	6,035	1.96
iii	Haripur	178,545	95.04	7,278	3.87	2,011	1.07
iv	Amb	47,288	98.69	433	0.90	195	0.41
v	Phulra	8,637	98.83	88	1.01	14	0.16
2	Mardan	483,575	95.47	10,677	2.11	11,838	2.34
i	Mardan	281,161	93.91	8,709	2.91	9,091	3.04
ii	Swabi	202,414	97.71	1,968	0.95	2,747	1.33
3	Peshawar	769,589	90.35	51,212	6.01	24,030	2.82
i	Peshawar	335,871	86.27	33,551	8.62	15,454	3.97
ii	Nowshera	194,084	88.92	15,128	6.93	6,636	3.04
iii	Charsadda	239,634	98.11	2,533	1.04	1,940	0.79
4	Kohat	266,244	91.99	17,527	6.06	4,349	1.50
i	Kohat	100,868	88.01	9,156	7.99	3,613	3.15
ii	Teri	110,146	97.73	2,462	2.18	86	0.08
iii	Hangu	55,210	88.97	5,909	9.52	650	1.05
5	Bannu	257,648	87.06	31,471	10.63	6,112	2.07
i	Bannu	157,097	83.74	24,517	13.07	5,285	2.82
ii	Marwat	100,551	92.82	6,954	6.42	827	0.76
6	D. I. Khan	255,757	85.79	39,157	13.13	2,390	0.80
i	D. I. Khan	155,100	82.68	30,065	16.03	1,740	0.93
ii	Tank	49,847	89.55	5,279	9.48	401	0.72
iii	Kulachi	50,810	92.58	3,823	6.97	249	0.45

The Muslim population in 1941. (Tehsil Wise)

The Hindu population in 1941. (Tehsil Wise)

The Sikh population in 1941. (Tehsil Wise)

The data given below shows the population of religious communities in the towns, cities and cantonments in the province

City	Total	Muslims	%	Hindus	%	Sikh	%
Abbottabad C	13,866	3,331	24.02	8922	64.34	1,205	8.69
Abbottabad M	13,558	8,861	65.36	2964	21.86	1,475	10.88
Haripur	9,322	5,174	55.50	3113	33.39	1,035	11.10
Baffa	7,988	7,166	89.71	735	9.20	81	1.01
Nawanshehr	6,414	5,075	79.12	1030	16.06	309	4.82
Kot Najibullah	5,315	4,228	79.55	929	17.48	156	2.94
Mansehra	10,217	8,141	79.68	1699	16.63	375	3.67
Mardan M	39,200	28,994	73.96	4700	11.99	5,368	13.69
Mardan C	3,294	1,307	39.68	1151	34.94	646	19.61
Peshawar M	13,0967	104,650	79.91	16546	12.63	8,554	6.53
Peshwar C	42,453	18,322	43.16	15084	35.53	5,691	13.41
Nowshera NA	17,491	16,876	96.48	379	2.17	236	1.35
Nowshera C	26,531	11,256	42.43	9452	35.63	4,017	15.14
Risalpur C	9,007	3,506	38.93	3937	43.71	1,024	11.37
Cherat C	337	270	80.12	30	8.90	25	7.42
Charsadda	16,845	15,747	93.48	745	4.42	294	1.75
Utmanzai	10,129	9,768	96.44	182	1.80	171	1.69
Tangi	12,906	12,456	96.51	444	3.44	2	0.02
Parang	13,496	13,494	99.99	2	0.01	-	-
Kohat M	34,316	27,868	81.21	4632	13.50	1,546	4.51
Kohat C	10,706	4,243	39.63	3618	33.79	2,016	18.83
Bannu M	3,3210	8,507	25.62	20773	62.55	3,583	10.79
Bannu C	5,294	2,189	41.35	1442	27.24	1,311	24.76
Lakki NA	10,141	8,010	78.99	3710	36.58	548	5.40
D. I. Khan M	49,238	25,443	51.67	22315	45.32	1,204	2.45
D. I. Khan C	2,068	981	47.44	500	24.18	238	11.51
Kulachi	8,838	6,610	74.79	2092	23.67	138	1.56
Tank	9,089	5,531	60.85	3296	36.26	181	1.99

Area of the administrative units of NWFP:

No	District/Tehsil	Area Km2
1	Hazara	7,793
	Mansehra	3,753
	Abbottabad	1,810
	Haripur	1,686
	Amb	451
	Phulra	93
2	Mardan	2,833
	Mardan	1,614
	Swabi	1,220
3	Peshawar	3,996
	Peshawar	1,178
	Nowshera	1,826
	Charsadda	992
4	Kohat	7,001
	Kohat	1,930
	Teri	3,970
	Hangu	1,101
5	Bannu	4,398
	Bannu	1,197
	Marwat	3,201
6	D. I. Khan	8,990
	D. I. Khan	4,496
	Tank	1,673
	Kulachi	2,820
	Total	35,051

Cover of the Census Report.

I took the data of the population from the official report for the census of NWFP in 1941. I hope this post will be useful to people who have some interest in the demographics of this region before the partition. Your comments are very valuable and helpful in improving this work.

Tariq Amir

May 20, 2020.

Doha - Qatar.

For related posts. visit:

035. Partition Of Punjab in 1947

036. Muslim Population Of India: According To The Censuses Of 1941 and 2001

037. Partitions Of Bengal in 1905 and 1947

038. Demographics Of Jammu & Kashmir

054. Muslim Population Of India: According To The Census of 2011

127. Demographics of Sindh Province According to the Census of 1941

129 - The Disputed States I : Jammu & Kashmir (Demographics 1941)

130 - The Disputed States II: Hyderabad State (Demographics 1941)