135. Everchanging Borders of Punjab (Historical Geography of Punjab)!

Punjab is a historically significant region in northern India, also known as Hindustan. The term Punjab, meaning “land of five rivers” in Persian, came into common use after the Muslim conquest of the region. Its natural boundaries are generally considered to be the Indus River in the west, the Yamuna River in the east, the foothills of the Himalayas in the north, and roughly the areas south of the confluence of the five rivers of Punjab. However, these boundaries have always been fluid and ill-defined, shifting over the centuries. For instance, Punjabi and its dialects are still spoken in large areas west of the Indus. In this article, we will examine the geographical boundaries of Punjab over the last three centuries.

Punjab during the Mughal era, around 1700 AD.

As can be seen in the map above (and in the one below), during Mughal times, the Punjab region was divided into three subahs. The Lahore Subah lay between the Indus and Sutlej rivers and included the present-day Jammu region, while the areas south of the Sutlej were part of the Delhi Subah. More intriguing are the boundaries of Multan, which appear to include northern Sindh and even some distant regions of Balochistan. I leave it to my readers to judge how authentic the map below actually is.

A map showing subahs of the Mughal Empire in 1700 AD.

(https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/hd2y5f/the_mughal_empire_at_its_peak_in_1700_ce/)

Sarkar-i-Khalsa in Punjab at the time of the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1839.

The Mughal Empire went into rapid decline in the eighteenth century, and by the middle of the century, they had lost control of Punjab to the Sikhs and Afghans. The Sikhs ultimately won the contest with the Afghans for the control of Punjab under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He not only united all the petty states of Sikh sardars but also vastly expanded his kingdom in all directions by conquering Multan, Kashmir, and Peshawar.

 

Punjab at the end of 1st Anglo-Sikh war in 1846 AD.

By the early nineteenth century, the British had become the supreme power, and Punjab was the last to fall to their expanding empire. The first war between the two powers was fought in the winter of 1845–1846, and the Sikhs were defeated after a series of bloody and hard-fought battles. According to the Treaty of Amritsar, signed after this defeat, Sarkar-i-Khalsa lost the territories between the Beas and Sutlej rivers. Jammu was separated from the Punjab state, and the Dogra rajas were recognized as the rulers of this state. The Kashmir valley was also sold to the Dogras. They further expanded their state and conquered Gilgit, Baltistan, and Leh in the 1840s.

In 1849, after the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Punjab was annexed to British India as a new province. Here it is pertinent to mention that some other Sikh states in the Malwa region succeeded in maintaining their independence by willingly coming under the protection of British India as the paramount power. A treaty was signed in 1809 between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British; under the terms of this agreement, the river Sutlej was agreed upon as the border between the two countries, thus barring Ranjit Singh from taking any action against these states. These states survived until 1947.

Punjab in 1858, after the merger of Delhi Territories with Punjab.

The British Indian Empire was sailing smoothly when suddenly the storm of the 1857 rebellion burst upon it, and almost the whole of north India was affected. Punjab mostly remained peaceful, except for rebellions by a few battalions of the Bengal Army stationed there. The city of Delhi was the first to fall on 11 May 1857 but was recovered by late September of the same year. Until then, Delhi was part of the North-Western Province. After the war, for various reasons, the British thought it better to administer Delhi city and the adjoining districts of Rohtak, Gurgaon, Hissar, Karnal, Ambala, etc., from Lahore. Thus, the province was considerably enlarged, and its boundary in the east reached the Yamuna River. These newly merged territories were mostly Hindi-speaking. Some areas in the southeast of Delhi, formerly possessed by Muslim Nawabs who had rebelled against the British in 1857, were given to the Sikh states of Patiala, Nabha, and Jind as a reward for actively supporting the British during the war of 1857.

Creation of N.W.F.P. as a separate province in 1901.

In 1901 a new province was created by separating six districts of Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Kohat, Peshawar, Mardan and Mansehra, across the river Indus from Punjab. These districts were mostly populated by Pashto speakers. The new province was given the name of North West Frontier Province. 

Punjab after the separation of Delhi in 1911.

For administrative reasons, the British planned to shift the capital from Kolkata to Delhi in 1911. King George V laid the foundation of the new city on 2 December 1911. It took twenty years to complete the city and the viceroy Lord Irwin formally inaugurated it on February 13, 1931. Before that, Delhi was a district of Punjab. 

The situation of Punjab in 1947. 

Notional Division of Punjab.

Once it became clear that Punjab would be divided on religious lines, a notional division of Punjab was made in July 1947. It was based on simple majorities of Muslims and non-Muslims in the districts. 

Radcliffe Award on 17.08.1947.

To decide the final border between India and Pakistan, a boundary commission was set up under a British barrister, Mr. Cyril John Radcliffe. He was given just five weeks to complete this extremely contentious and gigantic task. His decision was made public on 17 August 1947. The dividing line he suggested is called the Radcliffe Line and forms the border between India and Pakistan. It also divided Punjab into two parts.

Punjab from 1948 - 1956 AD. 

After independence, both parts of Punjab in Pakistan and India underwent many administrative changes. The case of Pakistani Punjab was much simpler. The population, after the migration of Hindus and Sikhs, was overwhelmingly Muslim and linguistically homogeneous, with the vast majority speaking Punjabi or its various dialects. So, no major changes were required. However, Bahawalpur, the only princely state of Punjab that acceded to Pakistan, was merged with the Punjab province in 1955.

The situation in the Indian part of Punjab was more complex. Besides the districts, there were almost 33 princely states spread all over Punjab. These states were organized into two groups. The states in the Himalayan mountains were merged and given the name of Himachal Union Territory; these states were Hindi-speaking and ruled and inhabited mostly by Hindus. The states in the plains were merged together to form PEPSU (Patiala & East Punjab States Union). These states were mostly Punjabi-speaking, except for three small states near Delhi. These were eight in number: the four larger ones were ruled by Sikhs, and the four smaller ones were ruled by Muslim rulers.

Punjab 1957 - 1966 AD. 

In 1957, India took another major step towards the reorganization of the Punjab state. PEPSU was abolished and merged with the Punjab state.

Punjab after the creation of Islamabad Capital Territory in 1960 and the reogranization of Indian Punjab in 1966. 

Though almost all Muslims of the Indian part had migrated to the West in 1947, followers of two religions still inhabited this state: Sikhs and Hindus. Another issue causing resentment and unrest in the state was the question of the state’s official language. More than half of the state’s population was Hindi-speaking. Sikhs were particularly resentful, because even after 1947 they were a religious and linguistic minority in the new Punjab.

The Indian Constitution allowed the creation of new states or their reorganization on a linguistic basis. Indeed, in 1956, major internal changes were made, particularly in the southern and western areas of India, and new states were created based on the language spoken in a particular area. On the same principle, the Sikhs demanded a Punjabi Subah. However, for some reasons, the central government in Delhi delayed action on this issue. Hindus of Punjab, both Hindi- and Punjabi-speaking, were also not supportive of this idea.

But the Sikhs were not a people to be cowed down by pressure tactics. They agitated for almost two decades before their demands were finally accepted, and the Hindi-speaking areas were separated from Punjab. Two states, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, were formed out of these areas. Thus, the demands of the Sikhs were finally met, and they became a majority in Punjab for the first time in their history. Probably, the great contribution of the Sikhs in the war of 1965 finally convinced Indira Gandhi to accept their demands.

Map showing the location of Punjab in India in 1947.

Map showing the distribution of Population and Area between Pakistan and India. 

I hope people who have an interest in the history and geography of Punjab will like it. I do appreciate my readers for the suggestions or pointing out any mistakes in facts or maps. 

Tariq Amir

December 23, 2020.
Doha - Qatar. 

For the related post, visit:

035. Partition Of Punjab in 1947