154-465: The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated by the two boundary commissions for the provinces of Punjab and Bengal during the Partition of India . It is named after Cyril Radcliffe , who, as the joint chairman of the two boundary commissions, had the ultimate responsibility to equitably divide 175,000 square miles (450,000 km) of territory with 88 million people. The term "Radcliffe Line"
308-439: A "test of my patience and nothing else and I am amazed at my own patience". Their second meeting proved no more fruitful than the first, Jinnah sensed by this time the futility of the talks. Then there was a session of written correspondence on 11, 12, 13 and 14 September, and on 24, 25 and 26 September 1944, but nothing came out of it. Gandhi by now believed that "Jinnah was a good person but he suffers hallucination when he imagines
462-697: A Boundary Commission be set up consisting of two Muslim and two non-Muslim members recommended by the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He also proposed that a British judge of the High Court be appointed as the chairman of the commission. Jinnah and the Muslim League continued to oppose the idea of partitioning the provinces, and the Sikhs were disturbed about the possibility of getting only 12 districts (without Gurdaspur). In this context,
616-480: A Muslim majority and the 'West Bengal' province, with its capital at Calcutta , had a Hindu majority. However, this partition of Bengal was reversed in 1911 in an effort to mollify Bengali nationalism . Proposals for partitioning Punjab had been made starting in 1908. Its proponents included the Hindu leader Bhai Parmanand , Congress leader Lala Lajpat Rai , industrialist G. D. Birla , and various Sikh leaders. After
770-808: A Muslim majority. It would also give Pakistan the Shakargarh, Batala and Gurdaspur tehsils of the Gurdaspur district. If the boundary went by Doabs, Pakistan could get not only the 16 districts which had already under the notional partition been put into West Punjab, including the Gurdaspur District, but also get the Kangra District in the mountains, which was about 93% Hindu and was located to the north and east of Gurdaspur. Or one could go by commissioners' divisions. Any of these units being adopted would have been more favourable to Pakistan than
924-774: A Sikh state with Ambala , Jalandher , Lahore Divisions with some districts from the Multan Division , which, however, did not meet the Cabinet delegates' agreement. In discussions with Jinnah, the Cabinet Mission offered either a 'smaller Pakistan' with all the Muslim-majority districts except Gurdaspur or a 'larger Pakistan' under the sovereignty of the Indian Union. The Cabinet Mission came close to success with its proposal for an Indian Union under
1078-514: A belief in their suitability to serve in harsh conditions, Punjabi recruits were favoured as they could be paid at the local service rate, whereas soldiers serving on the frontier from more distant lands had to be paid extra foreign service allowances. By 1875, of the entire Indian army, a third of recruits hailed from the Punjab. In 1914, three fifths of the Indian army came from the Punjab, despite
1232-702: A broadcast speech delivered from Delhi. The plan, commonly known as the Wavell Plan, proposed the following: 1. The Viceroy’s Executive Council would be immediately reconstituted and the number of its members would be increased. 2. In the Council there would be equal representation of high-caste Hindus and Muslims. 3. All the members of the Council, except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, would be Indians. 4. An Indian would be appointed as
1386-569: A federal scheme, but it fell apart in the end because of Nehru's opposition to a heavily decentralised India. In March 1947, Lord Mountbatten arrived in India as the next viceroy, with an explicit mandate to achieve the transfer of power before June 1948. Over ten days, Mountbatten obtained the agreement of Congress to the Pakistan demand except for the 13 eastern districts of Punjab (including Amritsar and Gurdaspur). However, Jinnah held out. Through
1540-406: A few years of its annexation, the Punjab was regarded as British India's model agricultural province. From the 1860s onwards, agricultural prices and land values soared in the Punjab. This stemmed from increasing political security and improvements in infrastructure and communications. New cash crops such as wheat , tobacco , sugar cane and cotton were introduced. By the 1920s the Punjab produced
1694-410: A growing crisis of indebtedness. When landowners were unable to pay down their loans, urban based moneylenders took advantage of the law to foreclose debts of mortgaged land. This led to a situation where land increasingly passed to absentee moneylenders who had little connection to the villages were the land was located. The colonial government recognised this as a potential threat to the stability of
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#17327717972181848-413: A link between Karachi and Lahore via Multan. The Punjab Northern State Railway linked Lahore and Peshawar in 1883. By 1886, the independent railways had amalgamated into North Western State Railway . The construction of railway lines and the network of railway workshops generated employment opportunities, which in turn led to increased immigration into cantonment towns. As connectivity increased across
2002-544: A list before consulting the Muslim League's working committee. The conference was adjourned till 14 July, meanwhile Wavell met with Jinnah on 8 July and tried to convince him as Jinnah was determined to nominate all the proposed Muslim members from the Muslim League as he considered the Congress' Muslim representatives to be "show boys". Wavell gave him a letter that was placed in front of the Muslim League's Working Committee on 9 July. Jinnah replied after careful consideration of
2156-541: A part of UNESCO 's Histories flagship project, recently disclosed documents of the history of the partition reveal British complicity with the top Indian leadership to wrest Kashmir from Pakistan. Alastair Lamb, based on the study of recently declassified documents, has convincingly proven that Mountbatten, in league with Nehru, was instrumental in pressurizing Radcliffe to award the Muslim-majority district of Gurdaspur in East Punjab to India which could provide India with
2310-440: A personal challenge to bring together the two parties. He had plans in mind and was willing to use his influence and power to settle the communal deadlock. He would try to bring some moderate Indian leaders to a settlement by calling them to Simla (India's summer capital). His list included as he told to Amery, "Gandhi and one "other" of the Congress party, Jinnah and one other member of the Muslim League, Dr. Ambedkar to represent
2464-726: A plan for a new Executive Council in which all members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indians. This executive council was to be a temporary measure until a new permanent constitution could be agreed upon and come into force. All portfolios except Defense would be held by Indian members. Prime Minister Winston Churchill as head of the war cabinet proposed Field Marshal Wavell's name to his cabinet in mid-June 1943, as India's next Viceroy. General Sir Claude Auchinleck who had followed Wavell in his Middle Eastern command
2618-413: A policy to provide secular education in all government managed institutions. Privately run institutions would only receive grants-in-aid in return for providing secular instruction. By 1864 this had resulted in a situation whereby all grants-in-aid to higher education schools and colleges were received by institutions under European management, and no indigenous owned schools received government help. In
2772-660: A quick and dignified British withdrawal". "Many of the seeds of postcolonial disorder in South Asia were sown much earlier, in a century and half of direct and indirect British control of large part of the region, but, as book after book has demonstrated, nothing in the complex tragedy of partition was inevitable." Radcliffe justified the casual division with the truism that no matter what he did, people would suffer. The thinking behind this justification may never be known since Radcliffe "destroyed all his papers before he left India". He departed on Independence Day itself, before even
2926-483: A road link to Jammu and Kashmir." As per the 'notional' award that had already been put into effect for purposes of administration ad interim, all of Gurdaspur district, owing to its Muslim majority, was assigned to Pakistan. From 14 to 17 August, Mushtaq Ahmed Cheema acted as the Deputy Commissioner of the Gurdaspur District, but when, after a delay of two days, it was announced that the major portion of
3080-455: A series of six meetings with Mountbatten, he continued to maintain that his demand was for six full provinces. He "bitterly complained" that the Viceroy was ruining his Pakistan by cutting Punjab and Bengal in half as this would mean a 'moth-eaten Pakistan'. The Gurdaspur district remained a key contentious issue for the non-Muslims. Their members of the Punjab legislature made representations to Mountbatten's chief of staff Lord Ismay as well as
3234-399: A steady decline in the number of schools across the province since annexation. He noted in particular how Punjabi Muslim's avoided government run schools due to the lack of religious subjects taught in them, observing how at least 120,000 Punjabis attended schools unsupported by the state and describing it as 'a protest by the people against our system of education.' Leitner had long advocated
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#17327717972183388-552: A surgical operation", Nehru noted after considering Wavell's idea, "We have to get rid of our preoccupation with a petty problem" as he considered the demand for Pakistan a petty problem. Jinnah accepted the invitation but only if he could meet with Wavell alone first on 24 June. One day before the conference was convened on 24 June, Wavell met with Abul Kalam Azad , Gandhi and Jinnah to assess their approach. He noted in his diary, "Gandhi & Jinnah are behaving like very temperamental prima donnas". Lord Wavell officially opened
3542-574: A tenth of India's total cotton crop and a third of its wheat crop. Per capita output of all the crops in the province increased by approximately 45 percent between 1891 and 1921, a growth contrasting to agricultural crises in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during the period. The Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute became the first higher educational agricultural institution in the Punjab when established in 1906. Rapid agricultural growth, combined with access to easy credit for landowners, led to
3696-456: A united India as that would be much more beneficial for all because it would be a stronger nation at an international level. Jinnah argued that "Indian unity was only a British creation". Bengal's governor Richard Casey was well informed about Congress-League relations and he wrote to Wavell saying: "Congress is basically responsible for the growth of the Pakistan idea, by the way they treated
3850-527: Is also sometimes used for the entire boundary between India and Pakistan. However, outside of Punjab and Bengal, the boundary is made of existing provincial boundaries and had nothing to do with the Radcliffe commissions. The demarcation line was published on 17 August 1947, two days after the independence of Pakistan and India. Today, the Punjab part of the line is part of the India–Pakistan border while
4004-554: Is not the language of these districts and neither is Persian". 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
4158-399: Is said to have sent Wavell a peevish telegram asking ''why Gandhi has not died yet?'' Communal division was the greatest hurdle in the path of any political progress in India, so Wavell also began to agree with Amery's conviction that until the "Aged Trinity" (Gandhi, Churchill and Jinnah ) continued to lead there was little chance of any political advance. Lord Wavell had a plan in mind and
4312-487: 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. Mass demonstrations were organised, headed by Lala Lajpat Rai , a leader of the Hindu revivalist sect Arya Samaj . The unrest resulted in the repeal of the Colonisation Bill and the end of paternalist policies in the colonies. During
4466-554: The Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of the Lahore Division from Pakistan would put a majority of Sikhs in India. (Amritsar had a non-Muslim majority and Gurdaspur a marginal Muslim majority.) To compensate for the exclusion of the Gurdaspur district, they included the entire Dinajpur district in the eastern zone of Pakistan, which similarly had a marginal Muslim majority. After receiving comments from John Thorne, member of
4620-622: The First World War , Punjabi manpower contributed heavily to the Indian Army . Out of a total of 683,149 combat troops, 349,688 hailed from the province. In 1918, an influenza epidemic broke out in the province, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 962,937 people or 4.77 percent of the total estimated population. In March 1919 the Rowlatt Act was passed extending emergency measures of detention and incarceration in response to
4774-559: The Government of India Act 1919 expanded the Punjab Legislative Council and introduced the principle of dyarchy , whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. The first Punjab Legislative Council under the 1919 Act was constituted in 1921, comprising 93 members, seventy per cent to be elected and rest to be nominated. Some of
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4928-592: The Indian National Congress and two from the Muslim League . Given the deadlock between the interests of the two sides and their rancorous relationship, the final decision was essentially Radcliffe's. After arriving in India on 8 July 1947, Radcliffe was given just five weeks to decide on a border. He soon met with his fellow college alumnus Mountbatten and travelled to Lahore and Calcutta to meet with commission members, chiefly Nehru from
5082-583: 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
5236-981: The Kargil conflict of 1999 . There were disputes regarding the Radcliffe Line's award of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Gurdaspur district . Disputes also evolved around the districts of Malda , Khulna , and Murshidabad in Bengal and the sub-division of Karimganj of Assam. In addition to Gurdaspur's Muslim majority tehsils, Radcliffe also gave the Muslim majority tehsils of Ajnala ( Amritsar District ), Zira, Firozpur (in Firozpur District), Nakodar and Jullandur (in Jullandur District) to India instead of Pakistan. On
5390-539: The Lahore Durbar and also consisted of his younger brother John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel . Below the Board, a group of acclaimed officers collectively known as Henry Lawrence's "Young Men" assisted in the administration of the newly acquired province. The Board was abolished by Lord Dalhousie in 1853; Sir Henry was assigned to the Rajputana Agency , and his brother John succeeded as
5544-546: The North-West Dry Area – along with five administrative divisions – Delhi , Jullundur , Lahore , Multan , and Rawalpindi – and a number of princely states . In 1947, the Partition of India led to the province's division into East Punjab and West Punjab , in the newly independent dominions of the Indian Union and Pakistan respectively. The region was originally called Sapta Sindhu Rivers ,
5698-469: The Scinde , Punjab and Delhi railways to build and operate new lines. In 1862, the first section of railway in the Punjab was constructed between Lahore and Amritsar, and Lahore Junction railway station opened. Lines were opened between Lahore and Multan in 1864, and Amritsar and Delhi in 1870. The Scinde, Punjab and Delhi railways merged to form the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway in 1870, creating
5852-467: The Sikh Khalsa Army was disbanded, and soldiers were required to surrender their weapons and return to agricultural or other pursuits. 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
6006-607: The Vedic land of the seven rivers originally: Saraswati, Indus, Sutlej, Jehlum, Chenab, Ravi, and Beas. The Sanskrit name for the region, as mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata for example, was Pañcanada which means literally "Five Waters", and was translated from Sanskrit to Farsi as Panj-Âb after the Islamic conquests . The later name Punjab is thus a compound of two Farsi words Panj (five) and āb (water) and
6160-532: The Viceregal Lodge in Simla . When it was clear that British intended to leave India, they desperately needed an agreement on what should happen when they leave. Talks stalled on the issue of the selection of Muslim representatives. The All-India Muslim League claimed to be the sole representative of Indian Muslims, and refused to back any plan in which the Indian National Congress , the dominant party in
6314-675: The "Depressed classes", Tara Singh to represent the Sikhs, M. N. Roy for labor representation, and some other to represent Non- Congress and Non-League Hindus and Muslims. After correspondence with Amery in October, Wavell decided to write to Churchill directly and he tried to convince Churchill in this regard though he was sure that Churchill was reluctant to hold or attend any summit as "he hated India and anything to do with it". Churchill informed Amery that he would not be able to see Wavell until March 1945, Wavell on his own behalf met with Jinnah on 6 December, and tried to convince him to live in
Radcliffe Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
6468-431: The 1940 Lahore resolution of the Muslim League demanding Pakistan, B. R. Ambedkar wrote a 400-page tract titled Thoughts on Pakistan. In the tract, he discussed the boundaries of Muslim and non-Muslim regions of Punjab and Bengal. His calculations showed a Muslim majority in 16 western districts of Punjab and non-Muslim majority in 13 eastern districts. In Bengal, he showed non-Muslim majority in 15 districts. He thought
6622-646: 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 , totalling approximately 13,000 men. The gunners and infantry were mostly Punjabi, many from the Khalsa Army, whilst
6776-736: The Bengal part of the line serves as the Bangladesh–India border . On 18 July 1947, the Indian Independence Act 1947 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom stipulated that British rule in India would come to an end just one month later, on 15 August 1947. The Act also stipulated the partition of the Presidencies and provinces of British India into two new sovereign dominions : India and Pakistan. Pakistan
6930-580: The Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract. As with religion, Punjab was a linguistically eclectically diverse province and region . In 1837, Persian had been abolished as the official language of Company administration and replaced by local Indian vernacular languages. In the Sikh Empire, Persian continued to be the official state language. Shortly after annexing the Punjab in 1849, the Board of Administration canvassed local officials in each of
7084-413: The Board of Administration was abolished, and authority was invested in a single Chief Commissioner. The Government of India Act 1858 led to further restructuring and the office of Lieutenant-Governor replaced that of Chief Commissioner. Simla Conference The Simla Conference of 1945 was a meeting between the Viceroy of India , Lord Wavell and the major political leaders of British India at
7238-637: The British Indian ministers under the dyarchy scheme were Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir , Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk and Lala Hari Kishen Lal. The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy to Punjab replacing the system of dyarchy. It provided for the constitution of Punjab Legislative Assembly of 175 members presided by a Speaker and an executive government responsible to the Assembly. The Unionist Party under Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan formed
7392-442: The Congress and Jinnah, president of the Muslim League. He objected to the short time frame, but all parties were insistent that the line be finished by the 15 August British withdrawal from India. Mountbatten had accepted the post as Viceroy on the condition of an early deadline. The decision was completed just a couple of days before the withdrawal, but due to political considerations, not published until 17 August 1947, two days after
7546-458: The Delhi ridge. Finally he recruited new regiments of Punjabis to replace the depleted force, and was provided with manpower and support from surrounding princely states such as Jind, Patiala, Nabha and Kapurthala and tribal chiefs on the borderlands with Afghanistan. By 1858, an estimated 70,000 extra men had been recruited for the army and militarised police from within the Punjab. In 1858, under
7700-622: The Executive Council in charge of Home affairs, Wavell forwarded the proposal to the Secretary of State. He justified the exclusion of the Amritsar district because of its sacredness to the Sikhs and that of Gurdaspur district because it had to go with Amritsar for 'geographical reasons'. The Secretary of State commended the proposal and forwarded it to the India and Burma Committee, saying, "I do not think that any better division than
7854-526: The Governor telling them that Gurdaspur was a "non-Muslim district". They contended that even if it had a marginal Muslim majority of 51%, which they believed to be erroneous, the Muslims paid only 35% of the land revenue in the district. In April, the Governor of Punjab Evan Jenkins wrote a note to Mountbatten proposing that Punjab be divided along Muslim and non-Muslim majority districts and proposed that
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#17327717972188008-521: The Hindu population was at 30.1%. The period between 1881 and 1941 saw a significant increase in the Sikh and Christian populations, growing from 8.2% and 0.1% to 14.9% and 1.9% respectively. The decrease in the Hindu population has been attributed to the conversion of Hindus mainly to Sikhism and Islam, and also to Christianity. In 1941, the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs made 30.1, 53.2 and 14.9 per cent of
8162-588: The Hoshiarpur district, it would have taken quite long time to construct the roads, bridges and communications that would have been necessary for military movements. Stanley Wolpert writes that Radcliffe in his initial maps awarded Gurdaspur district to Pakistan but one of Nehru's and Mountbatten's greatest concerns over the new Punjab border was to make sure that Gurdaspur would not go to Pakistan, since that would have deprived India of direct road access to Kashmir. As per "The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture",
8316-719: The Lieutenant consisted of 29 Districts, grouped under 5 Divisions, and 43 Princely States . 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 . In 1885 the Punjab administration began an ambitious plan to transform over six million acres of barren waste land in central and western Punjab into irrigable agricultural land. The creation of canal colonies
8470-544: The Muslim League in July 1947 before the Radcliffe Boundary Commission, stated that the boundary commission was a farce. A secret deal between Mountbatten and Congress leaders had already been struck. Mehr Chand Mahajan , one of the two non-Muslim members of the boundary commission, in his autobiography, has acknowledged that when he was selected for the boundary commission, he was not inclined to accept
8624-673: The Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities had loyally collaborated with the British since annexation, supported the Unionist Party and were hostile to the Congress party led independence movement. Amongst the peasantry and urban middle classes, the Hindus were the most active National Congress supporters, the Sikhs flocked to the Akali movement whilst the Muslims eventually supported the All-India Muslim League . Since
8778-409: The Muslims could have no objection to redrawing provincial boundaries. If they did, "they [did] not understand the nature of their own demand". After the breakdown of the 1945 Simla Conference of viceroy Lord Wavell , the idea of Pakistan began to be contemplated seriously. Sir Evan Jenkins , the private secretary of the viceroy (later the governor of Punjab), wrote a memorandum titled "Pakistan and
8932-446: The Muslims especially by refusing to allow them into the coalition provincial governments." Wavell agreed with everything Casey said about Pakistan, writing in his reply: "I do not believe that Pakistan will work." Churchill chaired his war cabinet that reviewed and rejected Wavell's proposal for constitutional reforms in India on 18 December. But Wavell was invited to visit England, and met with Churchill and Cabinet in May 1945. Wavell
9086-668: The Partition Plan of 3 June was announced with a notional partition showing 17 districts of Punjab in Pakistan and 12 districts in India, along with the establishment of a Boundary Commission to decide the final boundary. In Sialkoti's view, this was done mainly to placate the Sikhs. A crude border had already been drawn up by Lord Wavell , the Viceroy of India prior to his replacement as Viceroy, in February 1947, by Lord Louis Mountbatten. In order to determine exactly which territories to assign to each country, in June 1947, Britain appointed Sir Cyril Radcliffe to chair two boundary commissions—one for Bengal and one for Punjab. The commission
9240-573: The Punjab was carried out in 1855. This covered only British territory to the exclusion of local princely states, and placed the population at 17.6 million. The first regular census of British India carried out in 1881 recorded a population of 20.8 million people. The final British census in 1941 recorded 34.3 million people in the Punjab, which comprised 29 districts within British territory, 43 princely states, 52,047 villages and 283 towns. In 1881, only Amritsar and Lahore had populations over 100,000. The commercial and industrial city of Amritsar (152,000)
9394-404: The Punjab", where he discussed the issues surrounding the partition of Punjab. K. M. Panikkar , then prime minister of the Bikaner State , sent a memorandum to the viceroy titled "Next Step in India", wherein he recommended that the principle of 'Muslim homeland' be conceded but territorial adjustments made to the two provinces to meet the claims of the Hindus and Sikhs. Based on these discussions,
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#17327717972189548-410: The Punjab, reducing its influence more so than in any other province, and inhibiting its ability to challenge colonial rule locally. The political dominance of the Unionist Party would remain until partition, and significantly it was only on the collapse of its power on the eve of independence from Britain, that communal violence began to spread in rural Punjab. In the immediate aftermath of annexation,
9702-456: The Reforms Commissioner, and his colleague Sir B. N. Rau in the Reforms Office. They prepared a note called "Demarcation of Pakistan Areas", where they included the three western divisions of Punjab ( Rawalpindi, Multan and Lahore ) in Pakistan, leaving two eastern divisions of Punjab in India ( Jullundur and Delhi ). However, they noted that this allocation would leave 2.2 million Sikhs in the Pakistan area and about 1.5 million in India. Excluding
9856-478: The Sikh community. Lord Islay was rueful for the British not to give more consideration to the community who, in his words, had "provided many thousands of splendid recruits for the Indian Army" in its service for the crown in World War I. However, the Sikhs were militant in their opposition to any solution which would put their community in a Muslim ruled state. Moreover, many insisted on their own sovereign state, something no one else would agree to. Last of all, were
10010-468: The Sikh leaders accepted both the long term and interim proposals despite their earlier rejection. The Sikhs attached themselves to the Indian state with the promise of religious and cultural autonomy. In March 1946, the British government sent a Cabinet Mission to India to find a solution to resolve the conflicting demands of Congress and the Muslim League. Congress agreed to allow Pakistan to be formed with 'genuine Muslim areas'. The Sikh leaders asked for
10164-415: The Sikhs also feared Muslim domination. Sikhs warned the British government that the morale of Sikh troops in the British Army would be affected if Pakistan was forced on them. Giani Kartar Singh drafted a scheme of a separate Sikh state if India was to be divided. During the Partition developments, Jinnah offered Sikhs to live in Pakistan with safeguards for their rights. Sikhs refused because they opposed
10318-448: The United Nations—also satisfied the British Government's urgent desire to save face by avoiding the appearance that it required outside help to govern—or stop governing—its own empire." The equal representation given to politicians from Indian National Congress and the Muslim League appeared to provide balance, but instead created deadlock. The relationships were so tendentious that the judges "could hardly bear to speak to each other", and
10472-675: The Working Committee: "I regret to inform you that you have failed to give assurance relating to the nomination of all Muslim members from Muslim League's platform so we are not able to submit a list." The Viceroy was equally resolved not to give at that point and wired to Amery at that night his own list of new council members. Four were to be Muslim League members ( Liaquat Ali Khan , Khawaja Nazimuddin , Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman and Eassak Sait ) and another Non-League Muslim Muhammad Nawaz Khan (a Punjabi landlord). The five 'Caste Hindus' had to be Jawaharlal Nehru , Vallabhbhai Patel , Rajendra Prasad , Madhav Shrihari Aney , B. N. Rau . Tara Singh
10626-410: The agendas so at odds that there seemed to be little point anyway. Even worse, "the wife and two children of the Sikh judge in Lahore had been murdered by Muslims in Rawalpindi a few weeks earlier." In fact, minimizing the numbers of Hindus and Muslims on the wrong side of the line was not the only concern to balance. The Punjab Border Commission was to draw a border through the middle of an area home to
10780-416: 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. 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. Military service further helped reduce
10934-406: The army took place. Henceforth recruitment into the British Indian Army was restricted to loyal peoples and provinces. Punjabi Sikhs emerged as a particularly favoured martial race to serve the army. In the midst of The Great Game , and fearful of a Russian invasion of British India, the Punjab was regarded of significant strategic importance as a frontier province. In addition to their loyalty and
11088-499: The award was changed to put a salient portion of the non-Muslim majority Firozpur district (consisting of the two Muslim-majority tehsils of Firozpur and Zira ) east of the Sutlej canal within India's domain instead of Pakistan's. There were two apparent reasons for the switch: the area housed an army arms depot, and contained the headwaters of a canal which irrigated the princely state of Bikaner, which would accede to India. After
11242-622: The benefits of oriental scholarship, and the fusion of government education with religious instruction. In January 1865 he had established the Anjuman-i-Punjab, a subscription based association aimed at using a European style of learning to promote useful knowledge, whilst also reviving traditional scholarship in Arabic , Persian and Sanskrit . In 1884, a reorganisation of the Punjab education system occurred, introducing measures tending towards decentralisation of control over education and
11396-532: The board to replace Persian with Urdu, believing Urdu the easier language to master. Urdu remained the official administrative language until 1947. Officials, although aware that Punjabi was the colloquial language of the majority, instead favoured the use of Urdu for a number of reasons. Criticism of Punjabi included the belief that it was simply a form of patois , lacking any form of standardisation, and that "would be inflexible and barren, and incapable of expressing nice shades of meaning and exact logical ideas with
11550-448: The boundary awards were distributed. By his own admission, Radcliffe was heavily influenced by his lack of fitness for the Indian climate and his eagerness to depart India. The implementation was no less hasty than the process of drawing the border. On 16 August 1947 at 5:00 pm, the Indian and Pakistani representatives were given two hours to study copies, before the Radcliffe award was published on 17 August. To avoid disputes and delays,
11704-560: The cavalry had a considerable Hindustani presence. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , eighteen new regiments were raised from the Punjab which remained loyal to the East India Company throughout the crisis in the Punjab and United Provinces. By June 1858, of the 80,000 native troops in the Bengal Army, 75,000 were Punjabi of which 23,000 were Sikh. In the aftermath of the rebellion, a thorough re-organisation of
11858-456: The central government, then similar councils of local political leaders would be formed in all the provinces. 8. None of the changes suggested would in any way prejudice or prejudge the essential form of the future permanent Constitution of India. To discuss these proposals with Indian leaders, Wavell summoned them to a conference in Simla on 25 June 1945. The Wavell Plan, in essence, proposed
12012-567: The colonies, such as Lyallpur , Sargodha and Montgomery . Colonisation led to the canal irrigated area of the Punjab increasing from three to fourteen million acres in the period from 1885 to 1947. 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
12166-442: The communities without any representation. The Bengal Border Commission representatives were chiefly concerned with the question of who would get Calcutta. The Buddhist tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bengal had no official representation and were left totally without information to prepare for their situation until two days after the partition. Perceiving the situation as intractable and urgent, Radcliffe went on to make all
12320-428: The complete "Indianisation" of the Executive Council, but instead of asking all the parties to nominate members to the Executive Council from all the communities, seats were reserved for members on the basis of religion and caste, with the caste Hindus and Muslims being represented on it on the basis of parity. Even Mahatma Gandhi resented the use of the words "caste Hindus". While the plan proposed immediate changes to
12474-478: The composition of the Executive Council it did not contain any guarantee of Indian independence, nor did it contain any mention of a future constituent assembly or any proposals for the division of power between the various parties of India. Meanwhile, a general election had been held in the United Kingdom in July 1945 which had brought the Labour Party to power. The Labour party wanted to transfer power to
12628-437: The concept of Pakistan and also because they did not want to become a small minority within a Muslim majority. Vir Singh Bhatti distributed pamphlets for the creation of a separate Sikh state "Khalistan". Master Tara Singh wanted the right for an independent Khalistan to federate with either Hindustan or Pakistan. However, the Sikh state being proposed was for an area where neither religion was in absolute majority. Negotiations for
12782-419: The difficult decisions himself. This was impossible from inception, but Radcliffe seems to have had no doubt in himself and raised no official complaint or proposal to change the circumstances. Before his appointment, Radcliffe had never visited India and knew no one there. To the British and the feuding politicians alike, this neutrality was looked upon as an asset; he was considered to be unbiased toward any of
12936-445: The district had been awarded to India instead of Pakistan, Cheema left for Pakistan. The major part of Gurdaspur district, i.e. three of the four sub-districts had been handed over to India giving India practical land access to Kashmir. It came as a great blow to Pakistan. Jinnah and other leaders of Pakistan, and particularly its officials, criticized the award as 'extremely unjust and unfair'. Muhammad Zafarullah Khan , who represented
13090-503: The district was followed by a population transfer between the two nations, with Muslims leaving for Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs arriving from there. The entire district of Gurdaspur had a bare majority of 50.2% Muslims. (In the `notional' award attached to the Indian Independence Act, all of Gurdaspur district was marked as Pakistan with a 51.14% Muslim majority. In the 1901 census, the population of Gurdaspur district
13244-462: The division was done in secret. The final Awards were ready on 9 and 12 August, but not published until two days after the partition. According to Read and Fisher, there is some circumstantial evidence that Nehru and Patel were secretly informed of the Punjab Award's contents on 9 or 10 August, either through Mountbatten or Radcliffe's Indian assistant secretary. Regardless of how it transpired,
13398-437: The early 1860s, a number of educational colleges were established, including Lawrence College, Murree , King Edward Medical University , Government College, Lahore , Glancy Medical College and Forman Christian College . In 1882, Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner published a damning report on the state of education in the Punjab. He lamented the failure to reconcile government run schools with traditional indigenous schools, and noted
13552-525: The early morning breakfast on 10 February 1943 a fast for 21 days. Weighing 109 pounds when he began, Gandhi lost eighteen pounds after his 22-day fast. Fearing the death of Gandhi in prison as before him Kasturba , his wife and Mahadev Desai , his private secretary died in the same prison in Pune Palace, Lord Linlithgow recommended to Churchill the immediate unconditional release of Gandhi. Churchill wrote back to Linlithgow, "it seems almost certain that
13706-420: The elite classes. In 1849, a Board of Administration was put in place to govern the newly annexed province. The Board was led by a President and two assistants. Beneath them Commissioners acted as Superintendents of revenue and police and exercised the civil appellate and the original criminal powers of Sessions Judges, whilst Deputy Commissioners were given subordinate civil, criminal and fiscal powers. In 1853,
13860-451: The exclusion of the Gurdaspur district, they included the entire Dinajpur district in the eastern zone of Pakistan, which similarly had a marginal Muslim majority. Pakistanis have alleged that the award of the three tehsils to India was a manipulation of the Award by Lord Mountbatten in an effort to provide a land route for India to Jammu and Kashmir . However, Shereen Ilahi points out that
14014-477: 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. 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. The loyalty of recruited peasantry and
14168-573: The first Chief Commissioner. Recognising the cultural diversity of the Punjab, the Board maintained a strict policy of non-interference in regard to religious and cultural matters. Sikh aristocrats were given patronage and pensions and groups in control of historical places of worship were allowed to remain in control. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the Punjab remained relatively peaceful, apart from rebellion led by Ahmad Khan Kharral . In May, John Lawrence took swift action to disarm potentially mutinous sepoys and redeploy most European troops to
14322-513: The first to seek their fortunes abroad. At the outbreak of the Second World War, 48 percent of the Indian army came from the province. In Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Attock, the percentage of the total male population who enlisted reached fifteen percent. The Punjab continued to be the main supplier of troops throughout the war, contributing 36 percent of the total Indian troops who served in the conflict. The huge proportion of Punjabis in
14476-822: The frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province: the North-West Frontier Province . Subsequently, Punjab was divided into four natural geographical divisions by colonial officials on the decadal census data: On 21 February 1849, the East India Company decisively defeated the Sikh Empire at the Battle of Gujrat bringing to an end the Second Anglo-Sikh War . Following
14630-846: The future government of India which would be acceptable to both the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League. Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement in August 1942, after which he was arrested with other Congress lieutenants like Nehru and Patel . He was held separately in the Agha Khan's Pune palace while others were kept in the Ahmednagar Fort . Now he decided to launch his '' Satyagraha '', he commenced after
14784-458: The government in 1937. Sir Sikandar was succeeded by Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana in 1942 who remained the Premier till partition in 1947. Although the term of the Assembly was five years, the Assembly continued for about eight years and its last sitting was held on 19 March 1945. The struggle for Indian independence witnessed competing and conflicting interests in the Punjab. The landed elites of
14938-652: The grant of independence to India and Pakistan. Each boundary commission consisted of five people – a chairman ( Radcliffe ), two members nominated by the Indian National Congress and two members nominated by the Muslim League . The Bengal Boundary Commission consisted of justices C. C. Biswas, B. K. Mukherji , Abu Saleh Mohamed Akram and S.A.Rahman . The members of the Punjab Commission were justices Mehr Chand Mahajan , Teja Singh, Din Mohamed and Muhammad Munir . All lawyers by profession, Radcliffe and
15092-475: The increasing franchise of the rural population, this interventionist approach led to a long lasting impact on the political landscape of the province. The agricultural lobby remained loyal to the government, and rejected communalism in common defence of its privileges against urban moneylenders. This position was entrenched by the Unionist Party. The Congress Party's opposition to the Act led to it being marginalised in
15246-557: The independent Sikh state had commenced at the end of World War II and the British initially agreed but the Sikhs withdrew this demand after pressure from Indian nationalists. The proposals of the Cabinet Mission Plan had seriously jolted the Sikhs because while both the Congress and League could be satisfied the Sikhs saw nothing in it for themselves. as they would be subjected to a Muslim majority. Master Tara Singh protested this to Pethic-Lawrence on 5 May. By early September
15400-508: The influence of military groups in rural areas across the province limited the reach of the nationalist movement in the province. In 1853, the Viceroy Lord Dalhousie issued a minute stressing the military importance of railways across India. In the Punjab, however, it was initially strategic commercial interests which drove investment in railways and communications from 1860. Independent railway companies emerged, such as
15554-566: The invitation as he believed that the commission was just a farce and that decisions were actually to be taken by Mountbatten himself. It was only under British pressure that the charges against Mountbatten of last minute alterations in the Radcliffe Award were not officially brought forward by Pakistani Government in the UN Security Council while presenting its case on Kashmir. Zafrullah Khan states that, in fact, adopting
15708-677: The land route to Kashmir was entirely within the Hindu-majority Pathankot tehsil. The award of the Batala and Gurdaspur tehsils to India did not affect the Kashmir land route. Pakistan maintains that the Radcliffe Award was altered by Mountbatten ; Gurdaspur was handed over to India and thus was manipulated the accession of Kashmir to India. In support of this view, some scholars claim the award to India "had little to do with Sikh demands but had much more to do with providing India
15862-698: The largest provinces of the British Raj. It encompassed the present day Indian states of Punjab , Haryana , Chandigarh , Delhi , and some parts of Himachal Pradesh which were merged with Punjab by the British for administrative purposes (but excluding the former princely states which were later combined into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union ) and the Pakistani regions of the Punjab , Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . In 1901
16016-437: The member for Foreign Affairs in the Council and a British commissioner would be responsible for trade matters. 5. The defense of India would remain in British hands until power was ultimately transferred to Indians. 6. The Viceroy would convene a meeting of Indian politicians including the leaders of Congress and the Muslim League at which they would nominate members of the new Council. 7. If this plan were to be approved for
16170-576: The northeast (54.4% Muslim). After elaborate discussions, these two provinces ended up being partitioned between India and Pakistan. The Punjab's population distribution was such that there was no line that could neatly divide the Hindus , Muslims , and Sikhs . Likewise, no line could appease both the Muslim League , headed by Jinnah , and the Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel . Moreover, any division based on religious communities
16324-469: The old rascal [Gandhi] will emerge all better for his so-called fast.'' Gandhi broke his fast on 3 March 1943. Gandhi suffered from malaria , and after that his health seriously deteriorated. The new Viceroy Archibald Wavell , recommended his unconditional release, Leo Amery the secretary of state for India convinced Churchill to release Gandhi on medical grounds, so he was released. After his release, Gandhi managed to recover. Upon hearing of this Churchill
16478-431: The one the Viceroy proposes is likely to be found". The Sikh leader Master Tara Singh could see that any division of Punjab would leave the Sikhs divided between Pakistan and Hindustan. He espoused the doctrine of self-reliance, opposed the partition of India and called for independence on the grounds that no single religious community should control Punjab. Other Sikhs argued that just as Muslims feared Hindu domination
16632-517: The only possible access to Kashmir. Andrew Roberts believes that Mountbatten cheated over India-Pak frontier and states that if gerrymandering took place in the case of Firozepur, it is not too hard to believe that Mountbatten also pressurized Radcliffe to ensure that Gurdaspur wound up in India to give India road access to Kashmir. Perry Anderson states that Mountbatten, who was officially supposed to neither exercise any influence on Radcliffe nor to have any knowledge of his findings, intervened behind
16786-632: The other commissioners had all of the polish and none of the specialized knowledge needed for the task. They had no advisers to inform them of the well-established procedures and information needed to draw a boundary. Nor was there time to gather the survey and regional information. The absence of some experts and advisers, such as the United Nations, was deliberate, to avoid delay. Britain's new Labour government "deep in wartime debt, simply couldn't afford to hold on to its increasingly unstable empire." "The absence of outside participants—for example, from
16940-545: The other hand, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Khulna , with non-Muslim population of 97% and 51% respectively, were awarded to Pakistan. Indian historians now accept that Mountbatten probably did influence the Firozpur award in India's favour. The headworks of River Beas, which later joins River Sutlej flowing into Pakistan, were located in Firozpur. Congress leader Nehru and Viceroy Mountbatten had lobbied Radcliffe that headworks should not go to Pakistan. The Gurdaspur district
17094-406: The parties, except of course Britain. Only his private secretary, Christopher Beaumont, was familiar with the administration and life in Punjab. Wanting to preserve the appearance of impartiality, Radcliffe also kept his distance from Viceroy Mountbatten . No amount of knowledge could produce a line that would completely avoid conflict; already, "sectarian riots in Punjab and Bengal dimmed hopes for
17248-746: 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. The first British census of
17402-451: The partition, the fledgling governments of India and Pakistan were left with all responsibility to implement the border. After visiting Lahore in August, Viceroy Mountbatten hastily arranged a Punjab Boundary Force to keep the peace around Lahore, but 50,000 men was not enough to prevent thousands of killings, 77% of which were in the rural areas. Given the size of the territory, the force amounted to less than one soldier per square mile. This
17556-482: The perceived threat of terrorism from revolutionary nationalist organisations. This led to the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919, where Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered detachments of the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles under his command to fire into a group of some 10,000 unarmed protesters and Baisakhi pilgrims, killing 379. The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms enacted through
17710-682: The precision so essential in local proceedings." Similar arguments had earlier been made about Bengali , Oriya and Hindustani ; however, those languages were later adopted for local administration. Instead it is believed the advantages of Urdu served the administration greater. Urdu, and initially Persian, allowed the Company to recruit experienced administrators from elsewhere in India who did not speak Punjabi, to facilitate greater integration with other Indian territories which were administered with Urdu, and to help foster ties with local elites who spoke Persian and Urdu and could act as intermediaries with
17864-415: The present boundary line. The tehsil was the most favourable unit. But all of the aforementioned Muslim majority tehsils, with the exception of Shakargarh, were handed over to India while Pakistan didn't receive any Non-Muslim majority district or tehsil in Punjab. Zafruallh Khan states that Radcliffe used district, tehsil, thana, and even village boundaries to divide Punjab in such a way that the boundary line
18018-663: The promotion of an indigenous education agency. As a consequence several new institutions were encouraged in the province. The Arya Samaj opened a college in Lahore in 1886, the Sikhs opened the Khalsa College whilst the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam stepped in to organise Muslim education. In 1886, the Punjab Chiefs' College, later renamed Aitchison College , was opened to further the education of
18172-455: The province, and a split emerged in the government between paternalists who favoured intervention to ensure order, and those who opposed state intervention in private property relations. The paternalists emerged victorious and the Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 prevented urban commercial castes, who were overwhelmingly Hindu, from permanently acquiring land from statutory agriculturalist tribes, who were mainly Muslim and Sikh. Accompanied by
18326-473: The province, it facilitated the movement of goods, and increased human interaction. It has been observed that the Ferozpur, Lahore and Amritsar began to develop into one composite cultural triangle due to the ease of connectivity between them. Similarly barriers of spoken dialects eroded over time, and cultural affinities were increasingly fostered. In 1854, the Punjab education department was instituted with
18480-517: The province. The period also saw significant numbers of Punjabis emigrate to other regions of the British Empire . The main destinations were East Africa - Kenya , Uganda and Tanzania , Southeast Asia - Malaya and Burma , Hong Kong and Canada . The Punjab was a religiously eclectic province, comprising three major groups: Muslims , Hindus and Sikhs . By 1941, the religious Muslims constituting an absolute majority at 53.2%, whilst
18634-512: The provinces's six divisions to decide which language was "best suited for the Courts and Public Business". Officials in the western divisions recommended Persian whilst eastern officials suggested a shift to Urdu. In September 1849 a two-language policy was instituted throughout the province. The language policy in the Punjab differed from other Indian provinces in that Urdu was not a widespread local vernacular. In 1849 John Lawrence noted "that Urdu
18788-562: The region constituting approximately one tenth of the total population of British India. During the First World War, Punjabi Sikhs alone accounted for one quarter of all armed personnel in India. Military service provided access to the wider world, and personnel were deployed across the British Empire from Malaya , the Mediterranean and Africa . Upon completion of their terms of service, these personnel were often amongst
18942-404: The scenes – probably at Nehru's behest – to alter the award. He had little difficulty in getting Radcliffe to change his boundaries to allot the Muslim-majority district of Gurdaspur to India instead of Pakistan, thus giving India the only road access from Delhi to Kashmir. Punjab Province (British India) The Punjab Province was a province of British India . Most of the Punjab region
19096-407: The seven most densely populated districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ambala and Sialkot, and consisted primarily of Khatris , Brahmins , Jats , Arains , Sainis , Kambohs and Rajputs . The movement of many highly skilled farmers from eastern and central Punjab to the new colonies, led to western Punjab becoming the most progressive and advanced agricultural region of
19250-538: The sole representative of Muslims of India was acknowledged. Wavell found this demand impossible thus half an hour later he told Gandhi about his failure, Gandhi took the news calmly and said: "His Majesty King George will sooner or later have to take the Hindu or Muslim point of view as they were irreconcilable." Thus the Wavell plan that was later to be called the Simla Conference failed in its objective and set
19404-469: The summit at 11:00 am on 25 June 1945. In the beginning Azad being president of Congress spoke of its "non-communal" character. Jinnah responded to this by speaking of Congress ' predominantly Hindu character and at that point there was a tug of war which had to be quieted down by Wavell. On the morning of 29 June the conference was reconvened and Wavell asked parties to submit a list of candidates for his new council, Azad agreed while Jinnah refused to submit
19558-582: The talks, appointed Muslim representatives. This scuttled the conference, and perhaps the last viable opportunity for a united, independent India. When the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League reconvened under the Cabinet Mission the next year, the Indian National Congress was far less sympathetic to the Muslim League's requests despite Jinnah's approval of the British plan. On 14 June 1945 Lord Wavell announced
19712-657: The tehsil as a unit would have given Pakistan the Firozepur and Zira tehsils of the Firozpur District, the Jullundur and Nakodar tehsils of Jullundur district and the Dasuya tehsil of the Hoshiarpur district. The line so drawn would also give Pakistan the princely state of Kapurthala (which had a Muslim majority) and would enclose within Pakistan the whole of the Amritsar district of which only one tehsil, Ajnala, had
19866-644: The terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria , the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown. Delhi Territory was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to the Punjab in 1858, partly to punish the city for the important role the last Mughal emperor , Bahadur Shah II , and the city as a whole, played in the 1857 Rebellion. Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner,
20020-1089: The total population of Punjab but made 37.9, 51.4 and 8.4 per cent of its urban population respectively. Including Hisar district , Loharu State , Rohtak district , Dujana State , Gurgaon district , Pataudi State , Delhi , Karnal district , Jalandhar district , Kapurthala State , Ludhiana district , Malerkotla State , Firozpur district , Faridkot State , Patiala State , Jind State , Nabha State , Lahore District , Amritsar district , Gujranwala District , and Sheikhupura District . Including Sirmoor State , Simla District , Simla Hill States , Bilaspur State , Kangra district , Mandi State , Suket State , and Chamba State . Including Ambala district , Kalsia State , Hoshiarpur district , Gurdaspur district , Sialkot District , Gujrat District , Jhelum District , Rawalpindi District , and Attock District . Including Montgomery District , Shahpur District , Mianwali District , Lyallpur District , Jhang District , Multan District , Bahawalpur State , Muzaffargarh District , Dera Ghazi Khan District , and
20174-532: The trend for the immediate topics that would dominate discourse until Indian independence. In May 1945 Wavell visited London and discussed his ideas with the British Government. These London talks resulted in the formulation of a definite plan of action which was officially made public simultaneously on 14 June 1945 by L.S. Amery, the Secretary of State for India, in the House of Commons and by Wavell in
20328-440: The unnatural division of India and creation of Pakistan". Wavell wired to Amery: "Gandhi wants independence first and then is willing to resolve communal problem afterwards as he is profoundly a Hindu and wants transfer of full power to some nebulous national, while Jinnah wants to settle the communal problem first and then wants independence as he has lost his trust in Congress and Hindus." Wavell viewed this mini-summit breakdown as
20482-587: The viceroy sent a note on the "Pakistan theory" to the Secretary of State for India . The viceroy informed the Secretary of State that Jinnah envisaged the full provinces of Bengal and Punjab going to Pakistan with only minor adjustments, whereas Congress was expecting almost half of these provinces to remain in India. This essentially framed the problem of partition. The Secretary of State responded by directing Lord Wavell to send 'actual proposals for defining genuine Muslim areas'. The task fell on V. P. Menon ,
20636-581: The victory, the East India Company annexed the Punjab on 2 April 1849 and incorporated it within British India . The province whilst nominally under the control of the Bengal Presidency was administratively independent. Lord Dalhousie constituted the Board of Administration by inducting into it the most experienced and seasoned British officers. The Board was led by Sir Henry Lawrence , who had previously worked as British Resident at
20790-1137: The wider populace. As per the 1911 census, speakers of the Punjabi dialects and languages , including standard Punjabi along with Lahnda formed just over three-quarters (75.93 per cent) of the total provincial population. Including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, and Gujranwala District. Including Nahan State, Simla district, Simla Hill States, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State. Including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District. Including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, and Dera Ghazi Khan District. Punjab Province
20944-410: Was 49% Muslim, 40% Hindu, and 10% Sikh.) The Pathankot tehsil was predominantly Hindu while the other three tehsils were Muslim majority. In the event, only Shakargarh was awarded to Pakistan. Radcliffe explained that the reason for deviating from the notional award in the case of Gurdaspur was that the headwaters of the canals that irrigated the Amritsar district lay in the Gurdaspur district and it
21098-474: Was allowed to fly back to India in June 1945 to release Congress Working Committee members and start the talks that would later be called the Simla Conference. Wavell decided to call all key leaders of India in Simla on 25 June 1945 and broadcast a message to all Indians on 14 June 1945 showing British willingness to give India dominion status as soon as possible if the communal deadlock was broken down. "India needs
21252-675: Was annexed by the British East India Company on 29 March 1849 ; it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British control. In 1858, the Punjab , along with the rest of British India, came under the rule of the British Crown . It had a land area of 358,355 square kilometers. The province comprised four natural geographic regions – Indo-Gangetic Plain West , Himalayan , Sub-Himalayan , and
21406-737: Was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor on 1 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 . The territory under
21560-408: Was designed to relieve demographic pressures in the central parts of the province, increase productivity and revenues, and create a loyal support amongst peasant landholders. The colonisation resulted in an agricultural revolution in the province, rapid industrial growth, and the resettlement of over one million Punjabis in the new areas. A number of towns were created or saw significant development in
21714-451: Was diverse, with the main castes represented alongside numerous subcastes and tribes (also known as Jāti or Barādarī ), forming parts of the various ethnic groups in the province, contemporarily known as Punjabis , Saraikis , Haryanvis , Hindkowans , Dogras , Paharis , Potoharis , Bagri people and other non related ethnicities were Kashmiris , Balti people , Ladakhi people , Pashtuns , Baloch people , Marwaris . Within
21868-668: Was divided geographically by the Ravi River , with the Shakargarh tehsil on its west bank, and Pathankot , Gurdaspur and Batala tehsils on its east bank. The Shakargarh tehsil, the biggest in size, was awarded to Pakistan. (It was subsequently merged into the Narowal district of West Punjab .) The three eastern tehsils were awarded to India. (Pathankot was eventually made a separate district in East Punjab .) The division of
22022-563: Was drawn much to the prejudice of Pakistan. However, while Muslims formed about 53% of the total population of Punjab in 1941, Pakistan received around 58% of the total area of the Punjab, including more of the most fertile parts. According to Zafrullah Khan, the assertion that the award of the Batala and Gurdaspur tehsils to India did not 'affect' Kashmir is far-fetched. If Batala and Gurdaspur had gone to Pakistan, Pathankot tehsil would have been isolated and blocked. Even though it would have been possible for India to get access to Pathankot through
22176-574: Was eager to invite key leaders to a summit, but he was waiting for something to come out of the Gandhi-Jinnah meetings rescheduled on 9 September. C. Rajagopalachari presented a formula before that meeting accepting the Muslim right for a separate homeland. The talks began on 9 September 1944 at Jinnah's residence in Malabar Hill, Bombay where both leaders spent three and a half hours of secret discussion but Gandhi later with C. R. called it
22330-403: Was important to keep them under one administration. Radcliffe might have sided with Lord Wavell's reasoning from February 1946 that Gurdaspur had to go with the Amritsar district, and the latter could not be in Pakistan due to its Sikh religious shrines. In addition, the railway line from Amritsar to Pathankot passed through the Batala and Gurdaspur tehsils. He further claimed that to compensate for
22484-481: Was instructed to "demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will also take into account other factors." Other factors were undefined, giving Radcliffe leeway, but included decisions regarding "natural boundaries, communications, watercourses and irrigation systems", as well as socio-political consideration. Each commission also had four representatives—two from
22638-441: Was intended as a Muslim homeland, while India remained secular . Muslim-majority British provinces in the northwest were to become the foundation of Pakistan. The provinces of Baluchistan (91.8% Muslim before partition) and Sindh (72.7%) and North-West Frontier Province became entirely Pakistani territory. However, two provinces did not have an overwhelming Muslim majority— Punjab in the northwest (55.7% Muslim) and Bengal in
22792-533: Was introduced to the region by the Turko-Persian conquerors of India and more formally popularised during the Mughal Empire . Punjab literally means "(The Land of) Five Waters" referring to the rivers: Jhelum , Chenab , Ravi , Sutlej , and Beas . All are tributaries of the Indus River , the Chenab being the largest. Geographically, the province was a triangular tract of country of which
22946-532: Was not enough to protect the cities much less the caravans of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who were fleeing their homes in what would become Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan were loath to violate the agreement by supporting the rebellions of villages drawn on the wrong side of the border, as this could prompt a loss of face on the international stage and require the British or the UN to intervene. Border conflicts led to three wars, in 1947 , 1965 , and 1971 , and
23100-574: Was separated from the North-West Frontier Province by the Indus, until it reached the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District , which was divided from Baluchistan by the Sulaiman Range . To the south lay Sindh and Rajputana , while on the east the rivers Jumna and Tons separated it from the United Provinces . In total Punjab had an area of approximately 357 000 km square about the same size as modern day Germany, being one of
23254-485: Was slightly larger than the cultural capital of Lahore (149,000). Over the following sixty years, Lahore increased in population fourfold, whilst Amritsar grew two-fold. By 1941, the province had seven cities with populations over 100,000 with emergence and growth of Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot, Jullundur and Ludhiana. The colonial period saw large scale migration within the Punjab due to the creation of canal colonies in western Punjab . The majority of colonists hailed from
23408-462: Was sure to entail "cutting through road and rail communications, irrigation schemes, electric power systems and even individual landholdings." The idea of partitioning the provinces of Bengal and Punjab had been present since the beginning of the 20th century. Bengal had in fact been partitioned by the then viceroy Lord Curzon in 1905, along with its adjoining regions. The resulting 'Eastern Bengal and Assam' province, with its capital at Dhaka , had
23562-410: Was to be the next Commander in Chief of the Indian army after Lord Wavell . In October 1943 the British Government decided to replace Lord Linlithgow with Lord Wavell as the Viceroy of India . Before assuming the vice royalty, Lord Wavell had been head of the Indian army and thus had an understanding of the Indian situation. On becoming Viceroy, Wavell’s most important task was to present a formula for
23716-457: Was to represent the Sikhs and B. R. Ambedkar to represent the "untouchables", John Mathai was the only Christian thus bringing the total to sixteen including the Viceroy and Commander-in-Chief. Amery asked Wavell to consult this list with Jinnah, when Jinnah was asked about the Muslim names he adamantly refused to allow any League member to be part of the government until the League's right to be
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