Punjab Province (British India)

This article is about the former province of British India (1849-1947). For other uses, see Punjab Province (disambiguation).

The Punjab Province was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region 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.

Province of the Punjab
Province of British India
1849–1947
Flag Coat of arms
Maps of the Punjab Province
Anthem
"God Save the King"
Capital	Lahore (1873-1947) Muree (summer capital) (1873–1876) Shimla (summer capital) (1876–1947)
Demonym	Punjabi
Government
• Type	British Colonial Government
• Motto	Crescat e Fluviis "Let it grow from the rivers"
Governor
• 1849–1853	Henry Montgomery Lawrence (first)
• 1946–1947	Evan Meredith Jenkins (last)
Premier
• 1937–1942	Sikandar Hayat Khan
• 1942–1947	Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Second Anglo-Sikh War	29 March 1849
• Transfer of Delhi from North-Western Provinces	1858
• Formation of North-West Frontier Province	9 November 1901
• Delhi district separated	1911
• Partition of India	14–15 August 1947
Political subdivisions	Rawalpindi Division Lahore Division Multan Division Jullundur Division Delhi Division Princely states
Preceded by Succeeded by 1849: Sikh Empire 1858: North-Western Provinces 1862: Cis-Sutlej states 1901: North-West Frontier Province 1947: West Punjab East Punjab PEPSU
Today part of	India Pakistan

The province comprised four natural geographic regions – Indo-Gangetic Plain West, Himalayan, Sub-Himalayan, and 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.

Etymology

The region was originally called Sapta Sindhu Rivers, 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 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.

Geography

Geographically, the province was a triangular tract of country of which the Indus River and its tributary the Sutlej formed the two sides up to their confluence, the base of the triangle in the north being the Lower Himalayan Range between those two rivers. Moreover, the province as constituted under British rule also included a large tract outside these boundaries. Along the northern border, Himalayan ranges divided it from Kashmir and Tibet. On the west it was separated from the North-West Frontier Province 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 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 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:

1. Indo-Gangetic Plain West geographical division (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);
2. Himalayan geographical division (including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State);
3. Sub-Himalayan geographical division (including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District;
4. North-West Dry Area geographical division (including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract).

History

Company rule

See also: Company rule in India

The Durbar, or assembly of native princes and nobles, convened by Sir John Lawrence at Lahore

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 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 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 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 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.

British Raj

See also: British Raj

The Punjab in 1880

In 1858, under 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Administrative reforms

The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms enacted through 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 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 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.

Partition

See also: Partition of India

The struggle for Indian independence witnessed competing and conflicting interests in the Punjab. The landed elites of 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 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.

Demographics

Population history

Year	Pop.	±%
1855	17,600,000	—
1868	19,700,000	+11.9%
1881	20,800,995	+5.6%
1891	22,915,894	+10.2%
1901	24,367,113	+6.3%
1911	23,791,841	−2.4%
1921	25,101,514	+5.5%
1931	28,490,869	+13.5%
1941	34,309,861	+20.4%
Source: Census of India

The first British census of 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) 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 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 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.

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Punjab

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 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 the total population of Punjab but made 37.9, 51.4 and 8.4 per cent of its urban population respectively.

Population trends for major religious groups in the Punjab Province of the British India(1881–1941)

Religious group	Population % 1881	Population % 1891	Population % 1901	Population % 1911	Population % 1921	Population % 1931	Population % 1941
Islam	47.6%	47.8%	49.2%	50.8%	51.1%	52.4%	53.2%
Hinduism	43.8%	43.6%	41.8%	36.3%	35.1%	31.7%	30.1%
Sikhism	8.2%	8.2%	8.5%	11.9%	12.4%	14.3%	14.9%
Christianity	0.1%	0.2%	0.3%	0.8%	1.3%	1.5%	1.5%
Other religions / No religion	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%

Religious groups in Punjab Province (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	9,872,745	47.58%	12,183,345	49.22%	12,275,477	50.75%	12,813,383	51.05%	14,929,896	52.4%	18,259,744	53.22%
Hinduism	9,095,175	43.84%	10,344,469	41.79%	8,773,621	36.27%	8,799,651	35.06%	9,018,509	31.65%	10,336,549	30.13%
Sikhism	1,706,165	8.22%	2,102,896	8.49%	2,883,729	11.92%	3,107,296	12.38%	4,071,624	14.29%	5,116,185	14.91%
Jainism	42,572	0.21%	49,983	0.2%	46,775	0.19%	41,321	0.16%	43,140	0.15%	45,475	0.13%
Christianity	28,054	0.14%	66,591	0.27%	199,751	0.83%	332,939	1.33%	419,353	1.47%	512,466	1.49%
Buddhism	3,251	0.02%	6,940	0.03%	7,690	0.03%	5,912	0.02%	7,753	0.03%	854	0.002%
Zoroastrianism	413	0.002%	477	0.002%	653	0.003%	526	0.002%	569	0.002%	4,359	0.01%
Judaism	—	—	24	0.0001%	54	0.0002%	19	0.0001%	13	0%	39	0.0001%
Others	57	0.0003%	12	0%	0	0%	13	0.0001%	0	0%	34,190	0.1%
Total population	20,748,432	100%	24,754,737	100%	24,187,750	100%	25,101,060	100%	28,490,857	100%	34,309,861	100%

Religion in West Punjab (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	6,201,859	78.09%	7,951,155	76.25%	8,494,314	76.49%	8,975,288	75.49%	10,570,029	75.28%	13,022,160	75.1%
Hinduism	1,449,913	18.26%	1,944,363	18.65%	1,645,758	14.82%	1,797,141	15.12%	1,957,878	13.94%	2,373,466	13.69%
Sikhism	272,908	3.44%	483,999	4.64%	813,441	7.33%	863,091	7.26%	1,180,789	8.41%	1,520,112	8.77%
Christianity	12,992	0.16%	42,371	0.41%	144,514	1.3%	247,030	2.08%	324,730	2.31%	395,311	2.28%
Jainism	4,352	0.05%	5,562	0.05%	5,977	0.05%	5,930	0.05%	6,921	0.05%	9,520	0.05%
Zoroastrianism	354	0.004%	300	0.003%	377	0.003%	309	0.003%	413	0.003%	312	0.002%
Buddhism	0	0%	6	0.0001%	168	0.002%	172	0.001%	32	0.0002%	87	0.001%
Judaism	—	—	9	0.0001%	36	0.0003%	16	0.0001%	6	0%	7	0%
Others	21	0.0003%	0	0%	0	0%	8	0.0001%	0	0%	19,128	0.11%
Total Population	7,942,399	100%	10,427,765	100%	11,104,585	100%	11,888,985	100%	14,040,798	100%	17,340,103	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary subdivisions of Punjab, Pakistan and Islamabad Capital Territory.

Religion in East Punjab (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism	7,645,262	59.7%	8,400,106	58.63%	7,127,863	54.48%	7,002,510	53%	7,060,631	48.86%	7,963,083	46.93%
Islam	3,670,886	28.67%	4,232,190	29.54%	3,781,163	28.9%	3,838,095	29.05%	4,359,867	30.17%	5,237,584	30.86%
Sikhism	1,433,257	11.19%	1,618,897	11.3%	2,070,288	15.82%	2,244,205	16.99%	2,890,835	20.01%	3,596,073	21.19%
Jainism	38,220	0.3%	44,421	0.31%	40,798	0.31%	35,391	0.27%	36,219	0.25%	35,955	0.21%
Christianity	15,062	0.12%	24,220	0.17%	55,237	0.42%	85,909	0.65%	94,623	0.65%	117,155	0.69%
Buddhism	3,251	0.03%	6,934	0.05%	7,522	0.06%	5,740	0.04%	7,721	0.05%	767	0.005%
Zoroastrianism	59	0.0005%	177	0.001%	276	0.002%	217	0.002%	156	0.001%	4,047	0.02%
Judaism	—	—	15	0.0001%	18	0.0001%	3	0%	7	0%	32	0.0002%
Others	36	0.0003%	12	0.0001%	0	0%	5	0%	0	0%	15,062	0.09%
Total Population	12,806,033	100%	14,326,972	100%	13,083,165	100%	13,212,075	100%	14,450,059	100%	16,969,758	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary subdivisions of Punjab, India, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.

Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division

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.

Religious groups in the Indo—Gangetic Plain West geographical division of Punjab Province (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism	4,975,901	48.94%	5,825,964	48.64%	4,790,624	43.44%	4,735,960	41.37%	4,709,545	36.59%	5,314,610	34.43%
Islam	3,751,891	36.9%	4,481,366	37.42%	4,144,971	37.59%	4,350,186	38%	5,112,215	39.72%	6,247,791	40.48%
Sikhism	1,390,873	13.68%	1,605,457	13.4%	1,993,750	18.08%	2,186,429	19.1%	2,816,785	21.88%	3,576,659	23.17%
Jainism	36,479	0.36%	41,877	0.35%	39,111	0.35%	33,515	0.29%	34,806	0.27%	34,744	0.23%
Christianity	11,729	0.12%	22,103	0.18%	58,462	0.53%	140,104	1.22%	198,081	1.54%	247,028	1.6%
Zoroastrianism	139	0%	299	0%	412	0%	318	0%	314	0%	235	0%
Buddhism	1	0%	3	0%	132	0%	184	0%	23	0%	39	0%
Judaism	—	—	19	0%	28	0%	14	0%	5	0%	30	0%
Others	49	0%	12	0%	0	0%	6	0%	0	0%	14,844	0.1%
Total population	10,167,062	100%	11,977,100	100%	11,027,490	100%	11,446,716	100%	12,871,774	100%	15,435,980	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1901)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Jainism		Christianity		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hisar District	544,799	69.69%	202,009	25.84%	28,642	3.66%	6,003	0.77%	253	0.03%	11	0%	781,717	100%
Loharu State	13,254	87.03%	1,963	12.89%	0	0%	12	0.08%	0	0%	0	0%	15,229	100%
Rohtak District	533,723	84.63%	91,687	14.54%	94	0.01%	5,087	0.81%	80	0.01%	1	0%	630,672	100%
Dujana State	18,380	76.03%	5,790	23.95%	4	0.02%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	24,174	100%
Gurgaon District	499,373	66.92%	242,548	32.5%	99	0.01%	3,909	0.52%	278	0.04%	1	0%	746,208	100%
Pataudi State	18,281	83.35%	3,549	16.18%	0	0%	103	0.47%	0	0%	0	0%	21,933	100%
Delhi District	510,532	74.09%	167,290	24.28%	294	0.04%	7,726	1.12%	3,158	0.46%	39	0.01%	689,039	100%
Karnal District	623,597	70.6%	241,412	27.33%	12,294	1.39%	4,739	0.54%	1,179	0.13%	4	0%	883,225	100%
Jalandhar District	368,051	40.11%	421,011	45.88%	125,817	13.71%	969	0.11%	1,713	0.19%	26	0%	917,587	100%
Kapurthala State	93,652	29.79%	178,326	56.73%	42,101	13.39%	226	0.07%	39	0.01%	7	0%	314,351	100%
Ludhiana District	269,076	39.98%	235,937	35.05%	164,919	24.5%	2,217	0.33%	947	0.14%	1	0%	673,097	100%
Malerkotla State	38,409	49.56%	27,229	35.13%	10,495	13.54%	1,361	1.76%	12	0.02%	0	0%	77,506	100%
Firozpur District	279,099	29.13%	447,615	46.72%	228,355	23.83%	1,090	0.11%	1,908	0.2%	5	0%	958,072	100%
Faridkot State	35,778	28.64%	35,996	28.82%	52,721	42.21%	406	0.33%	11	0.01%	0	0%	124,912	100%
Patiala State	880,490	55.14%	357,334	22.38%	355,649	22.27%	2,877	0.18%	316	0.02%	26	0%	1,596,692	100%
Jind State	211,963	75.16%	38,717	13.73%	29,975	10.63%	1,258	0.45%	80	0.03%	10	0%	282,003	100%
Nabha State	160,553	53.89%	58,550	19.65%	78,361	26.3%	476	0.16%	7	0%	2	0%	297,949	100%
Lahore District	276,375	23.78%	717,519	61.74%	159,701	13.74%	1,047	0.09%	7,296	0.63%	171	0.01%	1,162,109	100%
Amritsar District	280,985	27.44%	474,976	46.39%	264,329	25.82%	1,439	0.14%	2,078	0.2%	21	0%	1,023,828	100%
Gujranwala District	169,594	22.41%	531,908	70.28%	51,607	6.82%	932	0.12%	2,748	0.36%	8	0%	756,797	100%
Total	5,825,964	48.64%	4,481,366	37.42%	1,605,457	13.4%	41,877	0.35%	22,103	0.18%	333	0.003%	11,977,100	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1911)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hisar District	541,720	67.3%	218,600	27.16%	38,508	4.78%	273	0.03%	5,767	0.72%	21	0%	804,889	100%
Loharu State	16,178	86.99%	2,401	12.91%	0	0%	0	0%	18	0.1%	0	0%	18,597	100%
Rohtak District	450,549	83.21%	86,076	15.9%	161	0.03%	334	0.06%	4,369	0.81%	0	0%	541,489	100%
Dujana State	20,161	79.11%	5,324	20.89%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	25,485	100%
Gurgaon District	421,885	65.59%	217,237	33.78%	342	0.05%	782	0.12%	2,921	0.45%	10	0%	643,177	100%
Pataudi State	16,114	82.45%	3,338	17.08%	0	0%	9	0.05%	82	0.42%	0	0%	19,543	100%
Delhi District	469,561	71.4%	171,745	26.12%	2,985	0.45%	5,693	0.87%	7,539	1.15%	81	0.01%	657,604	100%
Karnal District	556,203	69.54%	224,920	28.12%	13,531	1.69%	920	0.12%	4,213	0.53%	0	0%	799,787	100%
Jalandhar District	265,378	33.09%	357,051	44.52%	176,227	21.98%	2,404	0.3%	842	0.1%	18	0%	801,920	100%
Kapurthala State	61,426	22.91%	152,117	56.73%	54,275	20.24%	107	0.04%	205	0.08%	3	0%	268,133	100%
Ludhiana District	131,370	25.4%	176,043	34.04%	207,042	40.03%	888	0.17%	1,849	0.36%	0	0%	517,192	100%
Malerkotla State	22,902	32.19%	25,942	36.46%	21,018	29.54%	14	0.02%	1,268	1.78%	0	0%	71,144	100%
Firozpur District	273,832	28.53%	418,553	43.61%	262,511	27.35%	3,342	0.35%	1,401	0.15%	18	0%	959,657	100%
Faridkot State	37,377	28.69%	37,105	28.48%	55,397	42.52%	6	0%	409	0.31%	0	0%	130,294	100%
Patiala State	563,940	40.06%	307,384	21.84%	532,292	37.81%	739	0.05%	3,282	0.23%	22	0%	1,407,659	100%
Jind State	210,222	77.36%	37,520	13.81%	22,566	8.3%	187	0.07%	1,233	0.45%	0	0%	271,728	100%
Nabha State	126,414	50.79%	46,032	18.5%	76,198	30.62%	5	0%	238	0.1%	0	0%	248,887	100%
Lahore District	217,609	21%	626,271	60.44%	169,008	16.31%	21,781	2.1%	1,139	0.11%	350	0.03%	1,036,158	100%
Amritsar District	211,708	24.04%	408,882	46.43%	253,941	28.83%	4,763	0.54%	1,386	0.16%	48	0.01%	880,728	100%
Gujranwala District	176,075	19.07%	622,430	67.4%	107,748	11.67%	16,215	1.76%	950	0.1%	1	0%	923,419	100%
Total	4,790,624	43.44%	4,144,971	37.59%	1,993,750	18.08%	58,462	0.53%	39,111	0.35%	572	0.01%	11,027,490	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1921)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hisar District	548,351	67.13%	215,943	26.44%	45,615	5.58%	1,024	0.13%	5,874	0.72%	3	0%	816,810	100%
Loharu State	17,978	87.18%	2,625	12.73%	0	0%	0	0%	18	0.09%	0	0%	20,621	100%
Rohtak District	629,592	81.52%	125,035	16.19%	602	0.08%	10,033	1.3%	7,010	0.91%	0	0%	772,272	100%
Dujana State	20,135	77.94%	5,698	22.06%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	25,833	100%
Gurgaon District	460,134	67.47%	216,860	31.8%	924	0.14%	1,316	0.19%	2,762	0.4%	7	0%	682,003	100%
Pataudi State	15,090	83.38%	2,898	16.01%	0	0%	0	0%	109	0.6%	0	0%	18,097	100%
Karnal District	573,224	69.17%	235,618	28.43%	12,280	1.48%	3,382	0.41%	4,222	0.51%	0	0%	828,726	100%
Jalandhar District	244,995	29.79%	366,586	44.57%	206,130	25.06%	4,088	0.5%	736	0.09%	9	0%	822,544	100%
Kapurthala State	58,412	20.55%	160,457	56.44%	64,074	22.54%	1,100	0.39%	228	0.08%	4	0%	284,275	100%
Ludhiana District	135,512	23.87%	192,961	33.99%	235,721	41.53%	1,613	0.28%	1,796	0.32%	19	0%	567,622	100%
Malerkotla State	29,459	36.68%	28,413	35.37%	21,828	27.18%	37	0.05%	585	0.73%	0	0%	80,322	100%
Firozpur District	306,350	27.89%	482,540	43.94%	302,761	27.57%	5,365	0.49%	1,211	0.11%	21	0%	1,098,248	100%
Faridkot State	38,610	25.63%	44,813	29.74%	66,658	44.24%	107	0.07%	473	0.31%	0	0%	150,661	100%
Patiala State	642,055	42.81%	330,341	22.03%	522,675	34.85%	1,395	0.09%	3,249	0.22%	24	0%	1,499,739	100%
Jind State	234,721	76.16%	43,251	14.03%	28,026	9.09%	637	0.21%	1,548	0.5%	0	0%	308,183	100%
Nabha State	133,870	50.84%	50,756	19.27%	78,389	29.77%	41	0.02%	278	0.11%	0	0%	263,334	100%
Lahore District	255,690	22.6%	647,640	57.25%	179,975	15.91%	46,454	4.11%	1,209	0.11%	368	0.03%	1,131,336	100%
Amritsar District	204,435	22%	423,724	45.59%	287,004	30.88%	12,773	1.37%	1,375	0.15%	63	0.01%	929,374	100%
Gujranwala District	101,566	16.29%	443,147	71.06%	50,802	8.15%	27,308	4.38%	754	0.12%	4	0%	623,581	100%
Sheikhupura District	85,781	16.4%	330,880	63.25%	82,965	15.86%	23,431	4.48%	78	0.01%	0	0%	523,135	100%
Total	4,735,960	41.37%	4,350,186	38%	2,186,429	19.1%	140,104	1.22%	33,515	0.29%	522	0.005%	11,446,716	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1931)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hisar District	253,784	28.21%	583,429	64.86%	55,169	6.13%	1,107	0.12%	5,988	0.67%	2	0%	899,479	100%
Loharu State	3,119	13.36%	20,198	86.55%	2	0.01%	1	0%	18	0.08%	0	0%	23,338	100%
Rohtak District	137,880	17.11%	655,963	81.42%	596	0.07%	4,807	0.6%	6,375	0.79%	0	0%	805,621	100%
Dujana State	5,863	20.78%	22,347	79.2%	1	0%	5	0.02%	0	0%	0	0%	28,216	100%
Gurgaon District	242,357	32.74%	493,174	66.63%	500	0.07%	1,463	0.2%	2,665	0.36%	4	0%	740,163	100%
Pataudi State	3,168	16.79%	15,596	82.64%	1	0.01%	3	0.02%	105	0.56%	0	0%	18,873	100%
Karnal District	259,730	30.46%	570,297	66.89%	16,928	1.99%	1,469	0.17%	4,190	0.49%	0	0%	852,614	100%
Jalandhar District	419,556	44.46%	268,822	28.49%	249,571	26.45%	4,323	0.46%	1,379	0.15%	70	0.01%	943,721	100%
Kapurthala State	179,251	56.59%	64,319	20.31%	72,177	22.79%	983	0.31%	27	0.01%	0	0%	316,757	100%
Ludhiana District	235,598	35.03%	120,161	17.87%	312,829	46.52%	2,477	0.37%	1,419	0.21%	10	0%	672,494	100%
Malerkotla State	31,417	37.82%	21,252	25.58%	28,982	34.89%	135	0.16%	1,286	1.55%	0	0%	83,072	100%
Firozpur District	515,430	44.56%	244,688	21.15%	388,108	33.55%	7,070	0.61%	1,411	0.12%	25	0%	1,156,732	100%
Faridkot State	49,912	30.37%	20,855	12.69%	92,880	56.51%	167	0.1%	550	0.33%	0	0%	164,364	100%
Patiala State	363,920	22.39%	623,597	38.36%	632,972	38.94%	1,449	0.09%	3,578	0.22%	4	0%	1,625,520	100%
Jind State	46,002	14.17%	243,561	75.02%	33,290	10.25%	210	0.06%	1,613	0.5%	0	0%	324,676	100%
Nabha State	57,393	19.96%	132,354	46.02%	97,452	33.89%	66	0.02%	309	0.11%	0	0%	287,574	100%
Lahore District	815,820	59.18%	259,725	18.84%	244,304	17.72%	57,097	4.14%	1,450	0.11%	174	0.01%	1,378,570	100%
Amritsar District	524,676	46.97%	174,556	15.63%	399,951	35.8%	16,619	1.49%	1,272	0.11%	46	0%	1,117,120	100%
Gujranwala District	521,343	70.82%	92,764	12.6%	71,595	9.73%	49,364	6.71%	1,071	0.15%	1	0%	736,138	100%
Sheikhupura District	445,996	64.01%	81,887	11.75%	119,477	17.15%	49,266	7.07%	100	0.01%	6	0%	696,732	100%
Total	5,112,215	39.72%	4,709,545	36.59%	2,816,785	21.88%	198,081	1.54%	34,806	0.27%	342	0.003%	12,871,774	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1941)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hisar District	285,208	28.33%	652,842	64.85%	60,731	6.03%	1,292	0.13%	6,126	0.61%	510	0.05%	1,006,709	100%
Loharu State	3,960	14.2%	23,923	85.77%	7	0.03%	2	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	27,892	100%
Rohtak District	166,569	17.42%	780,474	81.61%	1,466	0.15%	1,043	0.11%	6,847	0.72%	0	0%	956,399	100%
Dujana State	6,939	22.63%	23,727	77.37%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	30,666	100%
Gurgaon District	285,992	33.59%	560,537	65.83%	637	0.07%	1,673	0.2%	2,613	0.31%	6	0%	851,458	100%
Pataudi State	3,655	16.98%	17,728	82.38%	0	0%	9	0.04%	128	0.59%	0	0%	21,520	100%
Karnal District	304,346	30.6%	666,301	66.99%	19,887	2%	1,249	0.13%	2,789	0.28%	3	0%	994,575	100%
Jalandhar District	509,804	45.23%	311,010	27.59%	298,741	26.5%	6,233	0.55%	1,395	0.12%	7	0%	1,127,190	100%
Kapurthala State	213,754	56.49%	61,546	16.27%	88,350	23.35%	1,667	0.44%	380	0.1%	12,683	3.35%	378,380	100%
Ludhiana District	302,482	36.95%	171,715	20.98%	341,175	41.68%	1,913	0.23%	1,279	0.16%	51	0.01%	818,615	100%
Malerkotla State	33,881	38.45%	23,482	26.65%	30,320	34.41%	116	0.13%	310	0.35%	0	0%	88,109	100%
Firozpur District	641,448	45.07%	287,733	20.22%	479,486	33.69%	12,607	0.89%	1,674	0.12%	128	0.01%	1,423,076	100%
Faridkot State	61,352	30.79%	21,814	10.95%	115,070	57.74%	247	0.12%	800	0.4%	0	0%	199,283	100%
Patiala State	436,539	22.55%	597,488	30.86%	896,021	46.28%	1,592	0.08%	3,101	0.16%	1,518	0.08%	1,936,259	100%
Jind State	50,972	14.09%	268,355	74.17%	40,981	11.33%	161	0.04%	1,294	0.36%	49	0.01%	361,812	100%
Nabha State	70,373	20.45%	146,518	42.59%	122,451	35.59%	221	0.06%	480	0.14%	1	0%	344,044	100%
Lahore District	1,027,772	60.62%	284,689	16.79%	310,646	18.32%	70,147	4.14%	1,951	0.12%	170	0.01%	1,695,375	100%
Amritsar District	657,695	46.52%	217,431	15.38%	510,845	36.13%	25,973	1.84%	1,911	0.14%	21	0%	1,413,876	100%
Gujranwala District	642,706	70.45%	108,115	11.85%	99,139	10.87%	60,829	6.67%	1,445	0.16%	0	0%	912,234	100%
Sheikhupura District	542,344	63.62%	89,182	10.46%	160,706	18.85%	60,054	7.04%	221	0.03%	1	0%	852,508	100%
Total	6,247,791	40.48%	5,314,610	34.43%	3,576,659	23.17%	247,028	1.6%	34,744	0.23%	15,148	0.1%	15,435,980	100%

Himalayan geographical division

Including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State.

Religious groups in the Himalayan geographical division of Punjab Province (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism	1,458,481	94.74%	1,598,853	94.6%	1,630,084	94.53%	1,642,176	94.5%	1,729,008	94.42%	1,929,634	94.76%
Islam	70,642	4.59%	76,480	4.53%	74,205	4.3%	77,425	4.46%	82,711	4.52%	87,485	4.3%
Christianity	3,840	0.25%	3,415	0.2%	4,400	0.26%	4,471	0.26%	2,586	0.14%	2,129	0.1%
Buddhism	3,250	0.21%	6,931	0.41%	7,518	0.44%	5,718	0.33%	7,705	0.42%	614	0.03%
Sikhism	2,680	0.17%	3,897	0.23%	7,894	0.46%	7,610	0.44%	8,948	0.49%	12,245	0.6%
Jainism	536	0.03%	483	0.03%	358	0.02%	356	0.02%	291	0.02%	425	0.02%
Zoroastrianism	4	0%	7	0%	18	0%	40	0%	3	0%	3,895	0.19%
Judaism	—	—	0	0%	3	0%	1	0%	1	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	4	0%	0	0%	1	0%
Total population	1,539,433	100%	1,690,066	100%	1,724,480	100%	1,737,801	100%	1,831,253	100%	2,036,428	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1901)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Nahan State	128,478	94.69%	6,414	4.73%	688	0.51%	46	0.03%	61	0.04%	0	0%	135,687	100%
Simla District	30,299	75.09%	6,675	16.54%	544	1.35%	2,798	6.93%	32	0.08%	3	0.01%	40,351	100%
Simla Hill States	373,886	96.03%	11,535	2.96%	1,318	0.34%	113	0.03%	274	0.07%	2,223	0.57%	389,349	100%
Kangra District	722,554	94.07%	39,672	5.16%	1,220	0.16%	385	0.05%	113	0.01%	4,180	0.54%	768,124	100%
Mandi State	170,304	97.85%	3,187	1.83%	41	0.02%	3	0%	0	0%	510	0.29%	174,045	100%
Suket State	54,005	98.77%	665	1.22%	6	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	54,676	100%
Chamba State	119,327	93.35%	8,332	6.52%	80	0.06%	70	0.05%	3	0%	22	0.02%	127,834	100%
Total	1,598,853	94.6%	76,480	4.53%	3,897	0.23%	3,415	0.2%	483	0.03%	6,938	0.41%	1,690,066	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1911)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Nahan State	130,276	94.05%	6,016	4.34%	2,142	1.55%	37	0.03%	49	0.04%	0	0%	138,520	100%
Simla District	29,047	73.87%	5,820	14.8%	693	1.76%	3,666	9.32%	49	0.12%	45	0.11%	39,320	100%
Simla Hill States	386,953	95.7%	11,374	2.81%	2,911	0.72%	224	0.06%	172	0.04%	2,709	0.67%	404,343	100%
Kangra District	725,156	94.13%	38,859	5.04%	1,910	0.25%	386	0.05%	81	0.01%	3,994	0.52%	770,386	100%
Mandi State	178,115	98.35%	2,799	1.55%	26	0.01%	4	0%	2	0%	164	0.09%	181,110	100%
Suket State	54,268	98.8%	587	1.07%	71	0.13%	2	0%	0	0%	0	0%	54,928	100%
Chamba State	126,269	92.93%	8,750	6.44%	141	0.1%	81	0.06%	5	0%	627	0.46%	135,873	100%
Total	1,630,084	94.53%	74,205	4.3%	7,894	0.46%	4,400	0.26%	358	0.02%	7,539	0.44%	1,724,480	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1921)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Nahan State	132,431	94.29%	6,449	4.59%	1,449	1.03%	44	0.03%	65	0.05%	10	0.01%	140,448	100%
Simla District	33,228	73.31%	6,953	15.34%	1,173	2.59%	3,823	8.43%	90	0.2%	60	0.13%	45,327	100%
Simla Hill States	292,768	95.45%	9,551	3.11%	2,040	0.67%	164	0.05%	142	0.05%	2,053	0.67%	306,718	100%
Bilaspur State	96,000	97.96%	1,559	1.59%	437	0.45%	4	0%	0	0%	0	0%	98,000	100%
Kangra District	722,277	94.28%	38,263	4.99%	2,083	0.27%	363	0.05%	56	0.01%	3,023	0.39%	766,065	100%
Mandi State	181,358	98.01%	3,462	1.87%	142	0.08%	10	0.01%	0	0%	76	0.04%	185,048	100%
Suket State	53,625	98.71%	659	1.21%	44	0.08%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	54,328	100%
Chamba State	130,489	91.98%	10,529	7.42%	242	0.17%	63	0.04%	3	0%	541	0.38%	141,867	100%
Total	1,642,176	94.5%	77,425	4.46%	7,610	0.44%	4,471	0.26%	356	0.02%	5,763	0.33%	1,737,801	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1931)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Sirmoor State	139,031	93.58%	7,020	4.73%	2,413	1.62%	52	0.04%	52	0.04%	0	0%	148,568	100%
Simla District	28,661	77.91%	5,810	15.79%	760	2.07%	1,540	4.19%	1	0%	14	0.04%	36,786	100%
Simla Hill States	317,390	95.93%	10,017	3.03%	1,817	0.55%	176	0.05%	141	0.04%	1,309	0.4%	330,850	100%
Bilaspur State	99,023	98.05%	1,458	1.44%	507	0.5%	6	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	100,994	100%
Kangra District	752,098	93.86%	40,483	5.05%	2,396	0.3%	576	0.07%	94	0.01%	5,665	0.71%	801,312	100%
Mandi State	199,935	96.37%	6,351	3.06%	899	0.43%	141	0.07%	0	0%	139	0.07%	207,465	100%
Suket State	57,616	98.64%	733	1.25%	44	0.08%	1	0%	0	0%	14	0.02%	58,408	100%
Chamba State	135,254	92.09%	10,839	7.38%	112	0.08%	94	0.06%	3	0%	568	0.39%	146,870	100%
Total	1,729,008	94.42%	82,711	4.52%	8,948	0.49%	2,586	0.14%	291	0.02%	7,709	0.42%	1,831,253	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1941)

District/ Princely State	Hinduism		Islam		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
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%
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%
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%
Bilaspur State	108,375	98.22%	1,498	1.36%	453	0.41%	7	0.01%	3	0%	0	0%	110,336	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%
Mandi State	227,463	97.79%	4,328	1.86%	583	0.25%	11	0%	0	0%	208	0.09%	232,593	100%
Suket State	69,974	98.43%	884	1.24%	234	0.33%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	71,092	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%
Total	1,929,634	94.76%	87,485	4.3%	12,245	0.6%	2,129	0.1%	425	0.02%	4,510	0.22%	2,036,428	100%

Sub−Himalayan geographical division

Including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District.

Religious groups in the Sub—Himalayan geographical division of Punjab Province (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	3,511,174	58.8%	3,741,759	60.62%	3,551,989	61.19%	3,587,246	61.44%	4,009,166	61.99%	4,751,911	62.32%
Hinduism	2,159,634	36.17%	2,042,505	33.09%	1,588,097	27.36%	1,556,703	26.66%	1,565,034	24.2%	1,799,915	23.6%
Sikhism	284,592	4.77%	350,587	5.68%	565,596	9.74%	570,759	9.78%	753,168	11.65%	906,802	11.89%
Christianity	10,363	0.17%	29,930	0.48%	92,524	1.59%	117,172	2.01%	132,500	2.05%	155,386	2.04%
Jainism	5,231	0.09%	7,278	0.12%	6,695	0.12%	6,866	0.12%	7,299	0.11%	9,172	0.12%
Zoroastrianism	200	0%	117	0%	152	0%	111	0%	76	0%	141	0%
Buddhism	0	0%	6	0%	11	0%	8	0%	22	0%	171	0%
Judaism	—	—	5	0%	17	0%	1	0%	7	0%	6	0%
Others	1	0%	0	0%	0	0%	3	0%	0	0%	1,681	0.02%
Total population	5,971,195	100%	6,172,187	100%	5,805,081	100%	5,838,869	100%	6,467,272	100%	7,625,185	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1901)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ambala District	240,710	29.5%	510,105	62.52%	58,073	7.12%	4,362	0.53%	2,614	0.32%	16	0%	815,880	100%
Kalsia State	21,921	32.63%	38,626	57.5%	6,453	9.61%	0	0%	181	0.27%	0	0%	67,181	100%
Hoshiarpur District	312,958	31.62%	603,710	60.99%	71,126	7.19%	813	0.08%	1,173	0.12%	2	0%	989,782	100%
Gurdaspur District	463,371	49.28%	380,636	40.48%	91,756	9.76%	4,471	0.48%	72	0.01%	28	0%	940,334	100%
Sialkot District	716,953	66.15%	302,012	27.86%	50,982	4.7%	11,939	1.1%	2,008	0.19%	15	0%	1,083,909	100%
Gujrat District	655,838	87.38%	69,346	9.24%	24,893	3.32%	460	0.06%	11	0%	0	0%	750,548	100%
Jhelum District	526,725	88.67%	51,801	8.72%	15,070	2.54%	271	0.05%	151	0.03%	0	0%	594,018	100%
Rawalpindi District	803,283	86.32%	86,269	9.27%	32,234	3.46%	7,614	0.82%	1,068	0.11%	67	0.01%	930,535	100%
Total	3,741,759	60.62%	2,042,505	33.09%	350,587	5.68%	29,930	0.48%	7,278	0.12%	128	0.002%	6,172,187	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1911)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ambala District	205,203	29.74%	380,592	55.16%	94,471	13.69%	7,483	1.08%	2,187	0.32%	34	0%	689,970	100%
Kalsia State	18,820	33.66%	30,640	54.8%	6,258	11.19%	31	0.06%	160	0.29%	0	0%	55,909	100%
Hoshiarpur District	281,805	30.68%	498,642	54.28%	134,146	14.6%	2,978	0.32%	998	0.11%	0	0%	918,569	100%
Gurdaspur District	408,216	48.78%	284,017	33.94%	121,078	14.47%	23,365	2.79%	73	0.01%	22	0%	836,771	100%
Sialkot District	604,801	61.74%	242,325	24.74%	81,761	8.35%	48,620	4.96%	2,029	0.21%	17	0%	979,553	100%
Gujrat District	650,893	87.29%	49,430	6.63%	44,693	5.99%	570	0.08%	48	0.01%	0	0%	745,634	100%
Jhelum District	452,260	88.41%	34,261	6.7%	24,436	4.78%	450	0.09%	163	0.03%	5	0%	511,575	100%
Rawalpindi District	458,101	83.62%	48,449	8.84%	31,839	5.81%	8,320	1.52%	1,028	0.19%	90	0.02%	547,827	100%
Attock District	471,890	90.88%	19,741	3.8%	26,914	5.18%	707	0.14%	9	0%	12	0%	519,273	100%
Total	3,551,989	61.19%	1,588,097	27.36%	565,596	9.74%	92,524	1.59%	6,695	0.12%	180	0.003%	5,805,081	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1921)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ambala District	205,750	30.19%	370,125	54.31%	97,614	14.32%	5,679	0.83%	2,272	0.33%	37	0.01%	681,477	100%
Kalsia State	20,394	35.55%	28,769	50.15%	8,014	13.97%	4	0.01%	190	0.33%	0	0%	57,371	100%
Hoshiarpur District	289,298	31.19%	500,339	53.95%	132,958	14.34%	3,745	0.4%	1,079	0.12%	0	0%	927,419	100%
Gurdaspur District	422,877	49.62%	258,823	30.37%	137,625	16.15%	32,832	3.85%	20	0%	15	0%	852,192	100%
Sialkot District	580,532	61.9%	217,912	23.24%	74,939	7.99%	62,266	6.64%	2,147	0.23%	27	0%	937,823	100%
Gujrat District	709,684	86.12%	62,529	7.59%	49,456	6%	2,373	0.29%	4	0%	0	0%	824,046	100%
Jhelum District	422,979	88.66%	34,837	7.3%	18,626	3.9%	430	0.09%	195	0.04%	1	0%	477,068	100%
Rawalpindi District	470,038	82.58%	57,185	10.05%	31,718	5.57%	9,286	1.63%	954	0.17%	43	0.01%	569,224	100%
Attock District	465,694	90.91%	26,184	5.11%	19,809	3.87%	557	0.11%	5	0%	0	0%	512,249	100%
Total	3,587,246	61.44%	1,556,703	26.66%	570,759	9.78%	117,172	2.01%	6,866	0.12%	123	0.002%	5,838,869	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1931)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ambala District	230,837	31.07%	346,809	46.68%	155,555	20.94%	7,141	0.96%	2,550	0.34%	10	0%	742,902	100%
Kalsia State	21,797	36.42%	28,832	48.18%	9,035	15.1%	22	0.04%	162	0.27%	0	0%	59,848	100%
Hoshiarpur District	328,078	31.78%	526,182	50.98%	173,147	16.77%	3,764	0.36%	1,016	0.1%	0	0%	1,032,187	100%
Gurdaspur District	493,216	50.8%	255,949	26.36%	178,471	18.38%	43,243	4.45%	15	0%	4	0%	970,898	100%
Sialkot District	609,633	62.23%	206,421	21.07%	94,955	9.69%	66,365	6.77%	2,236	0.23%	7	0%	979,617	100%
Gujrat District	786,750	85.29%	73,356	7.95%	59,188	6.42%	3,097	0.34%	32	0%	4	0%	922,427	100%
Jhelum District	482,097	89.1%	36,068	6.67%	22,030	4.07%	672	0.12%	209	0.04%	0	0%	541,076	100%
Rawalpindi District	524,965	82.76%	59,485	9.38%	41,265	6.51%	7,486	1.18%	1,077	0.17%	79	0.01%	634,357	100%
Attock District	531,793	91.07%	31,932	5.47%	19,522	3.34%	710	0.12%	2	0%	1	0%	583,960	100%
Total	4,009,166	61.99%	1,565,034	24.2%	753,168	11.65%	132,500	2.05%	7,299	0.11%	105	0.002%	6,467,272	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1941)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ambala District	268,999	31.73%	412,658	48.68%	156,543	18.47%	6,065	0.72%	3,065	0.36%	415	0.05%	847,745	100%
Kalsia State	25,049	37.17%	29,866	44.32%	12,235	18.15%	55	0.08%	188	0.28%	0	0%	67,393	100%
Hoshiarpur District	380,759	32.53%	584,080	49.91%	198,194	16.93%	6,165	0.53%	1,125	0.1%	0	0%	1,170,323	100%
Gurdaspur District	589,923	51.14%	290,774	25.21%	221,261	19.18%	51,522	4.47%	25	0%	6	0%	1,153,511	100%
Sialkot District	739,218	62.09%	231,319	19.43%	139,409	11.71%	75,831	6.37%	3,250	0.27%	1,470	0.12%	1,190,497	100%
Gujrat District	945,609	85.58%	84,643	7.66%	70,233	6.36%	4,449	0.4%	10	0%	8	0%	1,104,952	100%
Jhelum District	563,033	89.42%	40,888	6.49%	24,680	3.92%	893	0.14%	159	0.03%	5	0%	629,658	100%
Rawalpindi District	628,193	80%	82,478	10.5%	64,127	8.17%	9,014	1.15%	1,337	0.17%	82	0.01%	785,231	100%
Attock District	611,128	90.42%	43,209	6.39%	20,120	2.98%	1,392	0.21%	13	0%	13	0%	675,875	100%
Total	4,751,911	62.32%	1,799,915	23.6%	906,802	11.89%	155,386	2.04%	9,172	0.12%	1,999	0.03%	7,625,185	100%

North−West Dry Area geographical division

Including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract.

Religious groups in the North—West Dry Area geographical division of Punjab Province (1881–1941)

Religious group	1881		1901		1911		1921		1931		1941
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Islam	2,539,038	82.68%	3,883,740	79.01%	4,504,312	80%	4,798,526	78.95%	5,725,804	78.22%	7,172,557	77.86%
Hinduism	501,159	16.32%	877,147	17.84%	764,816	13.58%	864,812	14.23%	1,014,922	13.86%	1,292,390	14.03%
Sikhism	28,020	0.91%	142,955	2.91%	316,489	5.62%	342,498	5.64%	492,723	6.73%	620,479	6.74%
Christianity	2,122	0.07%	11,143	0.23%	44,365	0.79%	71,192	1.17%	86,186	1.18%	107,923	1.17%
Jainism	326	0.01%	345	0.01%	611	0.01%	584	0.01%	744	0.01%	1,134	0.01%
Zoroastrianism	70	0%	54	0%	71	0%	57	0%	176	0%	88	0%
Buddhism	0	0%	0	0%	29	0%	2	0%	3	0%	30	0%
Judaism	—	—	0	0%	6	0%	3	0%	0	0%	3	0%
Others	7	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	17,664	0.19%
Total population	3,070,742	100%	4,915,384	100%	5,630,699	100%	6,077,674	100%	7,320,558	100%	9,212,268	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1901)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Montgomery District	334,474	72.15%	109,945	23.72%	19,092	4.12%	66	0.01%	8	0%	1	0%	463,586	100%
Shahpur District	442,921	84.49%	68,489	13.06%	12,756	2.43%	91	0.02%	2	0%	0	0%	524,259	100%
Mianwali District	371,674	87.54%	50,202	11.82%	2,633	0.62%	44	0.01%	35	0.01%	0	0%	424,588	100%
Lyallpur District	484,657	61.2%	210,459	26.58%	88,049	11.12%	8,672	1.1%	23	0%	1	0%	791,861	100%
Jhang District	295,481	78.03%	79,650	21.03%	3,526	0.93%	38	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	378,695	100%
Multan District	570,254	80.25%	133,560	18.79%	4,662	0.66%	1,964	0.28%	134	0.02%	52	0.01%	710,626	100%
Muzaffargarh District	350,177	86.32%	52,221	12.87%	3,225	0.8%	33	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	405,656	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	412,012	87.45%	57,815	12.27%	1,027	0.22%	152	0.03%	143	0.03%	0	0%	471,149	100%
Bahawalpur State	598,139	82.97%	114,670	15.91%	7,985	1.11%	83	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	720,877	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	23,951	99.44%	136	0.56%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	24,087	100%
Total	3,883,740	79.01%	877,147	17.84%	142,955	2.91%	11,143	0.23%	345	0.01%	54	0.001%	4,915,384	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1911)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Montgomery District	399,723	74.67%	66,803	12.48%	68,175	12.74%	581	0.11%	13	0%	4	0%	535,299	100%
Shahpur District	572,565	83.3%	72,695	10.58%	33,456	4.87%	8,616	1.25%	5	0%	29	0%	687,366	100%
Mianwali District	299,971	87.87%	36,326	10.64%	4,881	1.43%	168	0.05%	31	0.01%	0	0%	341,377	100%
Lyallpur District	524,288	61.13%	154,603	18.03%	146,670	17.1%	32,023	3.73%	125	0.01%	2	0%	857,711	100%
Jhang District	422,468	81.95%	73,426	14.24%	19,427	3.77%	201	0.04%	4	0%	0	0%	515,526	100%
Multan District	665,488	81.67%	126,603	15.54%	19,881	2.44%	2,441	0.3%	394	0.05%	64	0.01%	814,871	100%
Muzaffargarh District	494,915	86.91%	68,158	11.97%	6,322	1.11%	60	0.01%	1	0%	5	0%	569,461	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	442,234	88.47%	56,485	11.3%	1,042	0.21%	76	0.02%	23	0%	0	0%	499,860	100%
Bahawalpur State	654,247	83.81%	109,548	14.03%	16,630	2.13%	199	0.03%	15	0%	2	0%	780,641	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	28,413	99.39%	169	0.59%	5	0.02%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	28,587	100%
Total	4,504,312	80%	764,816	13.58%	316,489	5.62%	44,365	0.79%	611	0.01%	106	0.002%	5,630,699	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1921)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Montgomery District	513,055	71.88%	94,791	13.28%	95,520	13.38%	10,408	1.46%	12	0%	0	0%	713,786	100%
Shahpur District	596,100	82.8%	82,182	11.42%	30,361	4.22%	11,270	1.57%	3	0%	2	0%	719,918	100%
Mianwali District	308,876	86.23%	45,974	12.83%	2,986	0.83%	369	0.1%	0	0%	0	0%	358,205	100%
Lyallpur District	594,917	60.74%	181,488	18.53%	160,821	16.42%	42,004	4.29%	231	0.02%	2	0%	979,463	100%
Jhang District	475,388	83.32%	85,339	14.96%	9,376	1.64%	449	0.08%	7	0%	0	0%	570,559	100%
Multan District	731,605	82.18%	134,013	15.05%	18,562	2.08%	6,006	0.67%	28	0%	50	0.01%	890,264	100%
Muzaffargarh District	493,369	86.79%	69,878	12.29%	4,869	0.86%	356	0.06%	6	0%	0	0%	568,478	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	411,431	87.72%	56,346	12.01%	932	0.2%	47	0.01%	296	0.06%	0	0%	469,052	100%
Bahawalpur State	647,207	82.85%	114,621	14.67%	19,071	2.44%	283	0.04%	1	0%	8	0%	781,191	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	26,578	99.33%	180	0.67%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	26,758	100%
Total	4,798,526	78.95%	864,812	14.23%	342,498	5.64%	71,192	1.17%	584	0.01%	62	0.001%	6,077,674	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1931)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Montgomery District	697,542	69.77%	136,783	13.68%	148,155	14.82%	17,245	1.72%	38	0%	9	0%	999,772	100%
Shahpur District	679,546	82.72%	90,561	11.02%	40,074	4.88%	11,294	1.37%	14	0%	1	0%	821,490	100%
Mianwali District	357,109	86.77%	49,794	12.1%	4,231	1.03%	380	0.09%	20	0%	5	0%	411,539	100%
Lyallpur District	720,996	62.62%	173,344	15.06%	211,391	18.36%	45,518	3.95%	95	0.01%	7	0%	1,151,351	100%
Jhang District	552,853	83.16%	102,990	15.49%	8,476	1.27%	494	0.07%	0	0%	20	0%	664,833	100%
Multan District	942,937	80.26%	182,029	15.49%	39,453	3.36%	9,924	0.84%	440	0.04%	117	0.01%	1,174,900	100%
Muzaffargarh District	513,265	86.79%	72,577	12.27%	5,287	0.89%	246	0.04%	0	0%	0	0%	591,375	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	432,911	88.16%	57,217	11.65%	760	0.15%	31	0.01%	125	0.03%	0	0%	491,044	100%
Bahawalpur State	799,176	81.17%	149,454	15.18%	34,896	3.54%	1,054	0.11%	12	0%	20	0%	984,612	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	29,469	99.42%	173	0.58%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	29,642	100%
Total	5,725,804	78.22%	1,014,922	13.86%	492,723	6.73%	86,186	1.18%	744	0.01%	179	0.002%	7,320,558	100%

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1941)

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Montgomery District	918,564	69.11%	210,966	15.87%	175,064	13.17%	24,432	1.84%	49	0%	28	0%	1,329,103	100%
Shahpur District	835,918	83.68%	102,172	10.23%	48,046	4.81%	12,770	1.28%	13	0%	2	0%	998,921	100%
Mianwali District	436,260	86.16%	62,814	12.41%	6,865	1.36%	358	0.07%	23	0%	1	0%	506,321	100%
Lyallpur District	877,518	62.85%	204,059	14.61%	262,737	18.82%	51,948	3.72%	35	0%	8	0%	1,396,305	100%
Jhang District	678,736	82.61%	129,889	15.81%	12,238	1.49%	763	0.09%	5	0%	0	0%	821,631	100%
Multan District	1,157,911	78.01%	249,872	16.83%	61,628	4.15%	14,290	0.96%	552	0.04%	80	0.01%	1,484,333	100%
Muzaffargarh District	616,074	86.42%	90,643	12.72%	5,882	0.83%	227	0.03%	0	0%	23	0%	712,849	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	512,678	88.19%	67,407	11.59%	1,072	0.18%	87	0.01%	106	0.02%	0	0%	581,350	100%
Bahawalpur State	1,098,814	81.93%	174,408	13%	46,945	3.5%	3,048	0.23%	351	0.03%	17,643	1.32%	1,341,209	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	40,084	99.6%	160	0.4%	2	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	40,246	100%
Total	7,172,557	77.86%	1,292,390	14.03%	620,479	6.74%	107,923	1.17%	1,134	0.01%	17,785	0.19%	9,212,268	100%

Language

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 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 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 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 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 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.

Linguistic Demographics of Punjab Province

Language	Percentage
	1911
Punjabi	75.93%
Western Hindi	15.82%
Western Pahari	4.11%
Rajasthani	3.0%
Balochi	0.29%
Pashto	0.28%
English	0.15%
Other	0.42%

Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division

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.

Linguistic Demographics of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division

Language	Percentage
	1911
Punjabi	64.49%
Western Hindi	29.56%
Rajasthani	6.26%
Western Pahari	0.87%
English	0.11%
Pashto	0.07%
Other	0.13%

Himalayan geographical division

Including Nahan State, Simla district, Simla Hill States, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State.

Linguistic Demographics of the Himalayan geographical division

Language	Percentage
	1911
Western Pahari	50.22%
Punjabi	45.15%
Western Hindi	1.39%
English	0.2%
Rajasthani	0.02%
Pashto	0.01%
Other	3.0%

Sub−Himalayan geographical division

Including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District.

Linguistic Demographics of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division

Language	Percentage
	1911
Punjabi	88.77%
Western Hindi	8.81%
Western Pahari	1.49%
Pashto	0.5%
English	0.3%
Rajasthani	0.01%
Other	0.12%

North–West Dry Area geographical division

Including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, and Dera Ghazi Khan District.

Linguistic Demographics of the North–West Dry Area geographical division

Language	Percentage
	1911
Punjabi	96.45%
Balochi	1.25%
Rajasthani	0.62%
Western Hindi	0.56%
Pashto	0.53%
English	0.05%
Western Pahari	0.01%
Other	0.53%

Tribes

See also: List of Punjabi tribes

Jats in Delhi (1868).

Rajputs in Delhi (1868).

Brahmin in Lahore (c. 1799–1849).

Left to right: Gurkha, Brahmin and Shudra (Chuhra-Chamar) in Shimla (1868).

Arains in Lahore (1868).

Tarkhans in Lahore (c. 1862–72).

Gujjars in Delhi (c. 1859–69).

Arora in Lahore (c. 1862–72).

Kumhars in Lahore (c. 1859–69).

Punjab Province 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, and others.

Tribes of Punjab Province (1881–1931)

Tribe	1881		1891		1901		1911		1921		1931
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Jat	4,223,885	20.31%	4,500,340	19.64%	4,884,285	20.04%	4,891,060	20.56%	5,453,747	21.73%	6,070,032	21.31%
Rajput	1,648,426	7.92%	1,747,989	7.63%	1,784,402	7.32%	1,586,274	6.67%	1,853,025	7.38%	2,351,650	8.25%
Brahman	1,040,771	5%	1,069,132	4.67%	1,077,252	4.42%	985,901	4.14%	994,529	3.96%	1,058,598	3.72%
Chuhra	1,039,039	5%	1,175,504	5.13%	1,175,003	4.82%	912,998	3.84%	750,596	2.99%	681,359	2.39%
Chamar	1,033,727	4.97%	1,147,913	5.01%	1,172,118	4.81%	1,075,941	4.52%	1,134,700	4.52%	1,102,465	3.87%
Arain	795,471	3.82%	890,264	3.88%	1,003,698	4.12%	973,888	4.09%	1,086,455	4.33%	1,329,312	4.67%
Julaha	593,199	2.85%	620,401	2.71%	651,800	2.67%	626,960	2.64%	643,403	2.56%	672,243	2.36%
Tarkhan	564,385	2.71%	621,718	2.71%	675,361	2.77%	637,971	2.68%	614,912	2.45%	654,053	2.3%
Gujjar	539,251	2.59%	600,198	2.62%	611,904	2.51%	595,598	2.5%	627,451	2.5%	696,442	2.44%
Arora	538,465	2.59%	603,131	2.63%	647,945	2.66%	667,943	2.81%	707,495	2.82%	769,694	2.7%
Kumhar	465,676	2.24%	515,331	2.25%	561,298	2.3%	542,906	2.28%	570,158	2.27%	620,402	2.18%
Bania	437,000	2.1%	442,000	1.93%	452,000	1.85%	404,000	1.7%	374,169	1.49%	—	—
Jhinwar	418,499	2.01%	458,702	2%	450,362	1.85%	331,951	1.4%	371,418	1.48%	370,168	1.3%
Khatri	392,413	1.89%	418,517	1.83%	433,579	1.78%	423,704	1.78%	452,902	1.8%	516,207	1.81%
Awan	350,848	1.69%	389,402	1.7%	420,504	1.73%	425,450	1.79%	439,975	1.75%	538,760	1.89%
Kanet	346,000	1.66%	370,000	1.61%	390,000	1.6%	404,000	1.7%	288,159	1.15%	—	—
Mochi	334,034	1.61%	384,179	1.68%	408,314	1.68%	410,977	1.73%	429,242	1.71%	466,832	1.64%
Baloch	331,851	1.6%	383,138	1.67%	466,645	1.92%	530,976	2.23%	531,084	2.12%	624,691	2.19%
Nai	323,703	1.56%	371,144	1.62%	370,019	1.52%	344,845	1.45%	360,653	1.44%	380,657	1.34%
Sheikh	293,606	1.41%	287,778	1.26%	264,656	1.09%	276,687	1.16%	244,800	0.98%	407,576	1.43%
Lohar	291,506	1.4%	323,420	1.41%	347,099	1.42%	319,847	1.34%	322,195	1.28%	333,910	1.17%
Teli	250,544	1.2%	291,513	1.27%	309,433	1.27%	284,505	1.2%	305,122	1.22%	339,124	1.19%
Pathan	210,613	1.01%	221,262	0.97%	246,790	1.01%	272,547	1.15%	261,729	1.04%	345,438	1.21%
Sayyid	200,728	0.96%	217,034	0.95%	230,802	0.95%	239,160	1.01%	247,087	0.98%	293,313	1.03%
Mirasi	192,107	0.92%	230,700	1.01%	244,506	1%	223,093	0.94%	232,280	0.93%	242,685	0.85%
Machhi	167,882	0.81%	196,574	0.86%	236,122	0.97%	239,702	1.01%	280,956	1.12%	314,791	1.1%
Ahir	165,878	0.8%	188,838	0.82%	197,805	0.81%	201,299	0.85%	201,539	0.8%	221,897	0.78%
Kashmiri	149,733	0.72%	141,280	0.62%	189,878	0.78%	175,334	0.74%	166,449	0.66%	200,066	0.7%
Saini	147,183	0.71%	120,507	0.53%	121,722	0.5%	107,759	0.45%	120,376	0.48%	157,301	0.55%
Sunar	145,903	0.7%	164,087	0.72%	174,628	0.72%	155,993	0.66%	127,090	0.51%	159,655	0.56%
Kamboh	129,468	0.62%	150,646	0.66%	173,780	0.71%	171,536	0.72%	180,870	0.72%	239,385	0.84%
Dhobi	123,767	0.6%	139,421	0.61%	142,342	0.58%	151,566	0.64%	163,908	0.65%	174,519	0.61%
Meo	112,566	0.54%	115,916	0.51%	133,300	0.55%	120,752	0.51%	111,564	0.44%	124,821	0.44%
Faqir	111,995	0.54%	300,214	1.31%	362,266	1.49%	262,511	1.1%	270,070	1.08%	283,634	1%
Ghirath	110,507	0.53%	118,631	0.52%	121,718	0.5%	121,107	0.51%	117,949	0.47%	122,785	0.43%
Chhimba	100,448	0.48%	141,819	0.62%	147,152	0.6%	124,090	0.52%	120,695	0.48%	92,491	0.32%
Qassab	92,571	0.45%	109,435	0.48%	114,158	0.47%	117,363	0.49%	120,820	0.48%	127,198	0.45%
Rathi	82,957	0.4%	100,656	0.44%	37,793	0.16%	97,763	0.41%	118,015	0.47%	134,093	0.47%
Dagi & Koli	78,559	0.38%	167,772	0.73%	153,990	0.63%	172,269	0.72%	165,159	0.66%	182,056	0.64%
Mughal	92,000	0.44%	118,000	0.51%	98,000	0.4%	99,000	0.42%	88,951	0.35%	—	—
Jogi-Rawal	90,000	0.43%	91,000	0.4%	76,000	0.31%	83,000	0.35%	80,577	0.32%	—	—
Dumna	66,169	0.32%	64,046	0.28%	53,394	0.22%	72,250	0.3%	36,669	0.15%	32,055	0.11%
Dhanuk	66,000	0.32%	74,000	0.32%	77,000	0.32%	83,000	0.35%	87,278	0.35%	—	—
Dogar	63,000	0.01%	70,000	0.01%	75,000	0.01%	68,000	0.29%	74,369	0.3%	—	—
Khoja	62,000	0.3%	90,000	0.39%	99,000	0.41%	63,000	0.26%	87,461	0.35%	—	—
Mallah	62,000	0.3%	77,000	0.34%	73,000	0.3%	78,000	0.33%	74,233	0.3%	—	—
Mali	58,672	0.28%	95,989	0.42%	105,956	0.43%	96,883	0.41%	92,933	0.37%	72,299	0.25%
Bharai	56,000	0.27%	67,000	0.29%	66,000	0.27%	58,000	0.24%	61,721	0.25%	—	—
Barwala	55,000	0.26%	64,000	0.28%	69,000	0.28%	64,000	0.27%	65,907	0.26%	—	—
Mahtam	50,313	0.24%	56,982	0.25%	82,719	0.34%	81,805	0.34%	94,325	0.38%	64,004	0.22%
Labana	47,000	0.23%	55,000	0.24%	56,000	0.23%	58,000	0.24%	56,316	0.22%	—	—
Megh	37,373	0.18%	41,068	0.18%	44,315	0.18%	39,549	0.17%	30,465	0.12%	22,539	0.08%
Khokhar	36,000	0.17%	130,000	0.57%	108,000	0.44%	60,000	0.25%	69,169	0.28%	—	—
Darzi	30,190	0.15%	36,919	0.16%	39,164	0.16%	35,508	0.15%	38,256	0.15%	45,688	0.16%
Bawaria	22,013	0.11%	26,420	0.12%	29,112	0.12%	32,849	0.14%	34,807	0.14%	32,508	0.11%
Sansi	19,920	0.1%	22,218	0.1%	26,000	0.11%	24,439	0.1%	17,402	0.07%	28,262	0.1%
Od	15,652	0.08%	22,450	0.1%	26,160	0.11%	31,690	0.13%	28,502	0.11%	32,719	0.11%
Sarera	10,792	0.05%	11,366	0.05%	9,587	0.04%	10,743	0.05%	9,873	0.04%	11,230	0.04%
Pakhiwara	3,741	0.02%	3,674	0.02%	3,595	0.01%	3,711	0.02%	2,801	0.01%	3,100	0.01%
Ghosi	2,221	0.01%	2,652	0.01%	3,012	0.01%	2,419	0.01%	502	0%	3,836	0.01%
Harni	1,318	0.01%	4,157	0.02%	3,462	0.01%	3,360	0.01%	2,988	0.01%	3,387	0.01%
Maliar	—	—	—	—	81,000	0.33%	90,000	0.38%	88,755	0.35%	—	—
Mussalli	—	—	—	—	57,367	0.24%	309,543	1.3%	323,549	1.29%	412,295	1.45%
Qureshi	—	—	—	—	53,000	0.22%	71,000	0.3%	97,625	0.39%	—	—
Aggarwal	—	—	—	—	—	—	339,494	1.43%	349,322	1.39%	373,014	1.31%
Bagaria	—	—	—	—	—	—	1,262	0.01%	1,619	0.01%	2,446	0.01%
Total population	20,800,995	100%	22,915,894	100%	24,367,113	100%	23,791,841	100%	25,101,514	100%	28,490,869	100%

Literacy

Literacy Rate by Religious Community in Punjab Province (1941)

Religion	% Total Literacy	% Total Male Literacy	% Total Female Literacy
Jains	41.93%	29.03%	12.90%
Sikhs	17.03%	12.13%	4.90%
Hindus	16.35%	11.89%	4.46%
Christians	7.76%	4.69%	3.07%
Muslims	6.97%	5.52%	1.45%
Others	7.62%	6.85%	0.77%
Total	10.87%	8.13%	2.74%

Administrative divisions

Districts of Punjab with Muslim (green) and non-Muslim (pink) majorities, as per 1941 census

Punjab (British India): British Territory and Princely States

Division	Districts in British Territory / Princely States
Rawalpindi Division	Attock Jhelum Rawalpindi Shahpur
Lahore Division	Amritsar Gujranwala Gujrat Gurdaspur Lahore Lyallpur Montgomery Sheikhupura Sialkot
Multan Division	Dera Ghazi Khan Jhang Mianwali Multan Muzaffargarh
Jullundur Division	Ferozepore Hoshiarpur Jullundur Kangra Ludhiana
Delhi Division	Ambala Delhi Gurgaon Hissar Karnal Rohtak Shimla
Total area, British Territory	97,209 square miles
Native States	Patiala Jind Nabha Bahawalpur Sirmur Loharu Dujana Pataudi Kalsia Simla Hill States Kapurthala Mandi Malerkotla Suket Faridkot Siba Chamba Kahlur (Bilaspur)
Total area, Native States	36,532 square miles
Total area, Punjab	133,741 square miles

Agriculture

Within 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Army

In the immediate aftermath of annexation, the Sikh Khalsa Army was disbanded, and soldiers were required to surrender their weapons and return to agricultural or other pursuits. The Bengal Army, keen to utilise the highly trained ex-Khalsa army troops began to recruit from the Punjab for Bengal infantry units stationed in the province. However opposition to the recruitment of these soldiers spread and resentment emerged from sepoys of the Bengal Army towards the incursion of Punjabis into their ranks. In 1851, the Punjab Irregular Force also known as the 'Piffars' was raised. Initially they consisted of one garrison and four mule batteries, four regiments of cavalry, eleven of infantry and the Corps of Guides, totalling approximately 13,000 men. The gunners and infantry were mostly Punjabi, many from the Khalsa Army, whilst 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 the influence of military groups in rural areas across the province limited the reach of the nationalist movement in the province.

Communications and transport

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 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 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 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.

Education

In 1854, the Punjab education department was instituted with 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 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 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 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 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 the elite classes.

Government

See also: Prime Minister of the Punjab

Early administration

See also: List of Governors of Punjab (British India)

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, 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.

Although The Indian Councils Act, 1861 laid the foundation for the establishment of a local legislature in the Punjab, the first legislature was constituted in 1897. It consisted of a body of nominated officials and non-officials and was presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor. The first council lasted for eleven years until 1909. The Morley-Minto Reforms led to an elected members complementing the nominated officials in subsequent councils.

Punjab Legislative Council and Assembly

The Government of India Act 1919 introduced the system of dyarchy across British India and led to the implementation of the first Punjab Legislative Council in 1921. At the same time the office of lieutenant governor was replaced with that of governor. The initial Council had ninety three members, seventy per cent of which were elected and the rest nominated. A president was elected by the Council to preside over the meetings. Between 1921 and 1936, there were four terms of the Council.

Council	Inaugurated	Dissolved	President(s)
First Council	8 January 1921	27 October 1923	Sir Montagu Butler and Herbert Casson
Second Council	2 January 1924	27 October 1926	Herbert Casson, Sir Abdul Qadir and Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk
Third Council	3 January 1927	26 July 1930	Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk
Fourth Council	24 October 1930	10 November 1936	Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk and Sir Chhotu Ram

In 1935, the Government of India Act 1935 replaced dyarchy with increased provincial autonomy. It introduced direct elections, and enabled elected Indian representatives to form governments in the provincial assemblies. The Punjab Legislative Council was replaced by a Punjab Legislative Assembly, and the role of President with that of a Speaker. Membership of the Assembly was fixed at 175 members, and it was intended to sit for five years.

First Assembly Election

See also: 1937 Punjab Provincial Assembly election

The first election was held in 1937 and was won outright by the Unionist Party. Its leader, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan was asked by the Governor, Sir Herbert Emerson to form a Ministry and he chose a cabinet consisting of three Muslims, two Hindus and a Sikh. Sir Sikandar died in 1942 and was succeeded as Premier by Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana.

Position	Name
Premier	Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan
Revenue Minister	Sir Sundar Singh Majithia
Development Minister	Sir Chhotu Ram
Finance Minister	Manohar Lal
Public Works Minister	Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana
Education Minister	Mian Abdul Haye

Second Assembly Election

See also: 1946 Punjab Provincial Assembly election

The next election was held in 1946. The Muslim League won the most seats, winning 73 out of a total of 175. However a coalition led by the Unionist Party and consisting of the Congress Party and Akali Party were able to secure an overall majority. A campaign of civil disobedience by the Muslim League followed, lasting six weeks, and led to the resignation of Sir Khizar Tiwana and the collapse of the coalition government on 2 March 1947. The Muslim League however were unable to attract the support of other minorities to form a coalition government themselves. Amid this stalemate the Governor Sir Evan Jenkins assumed control of the government and remained in charge until the independence of India and Pakistan.

Coat of arms

Arms of British Punjab

Crescat e Fluviis meaning, Let it grow from the rivers was the Latin motto used in the coat of arms for Punjab Province. As per the book History of the Sikhs written by Khushwant Singh, it means Strength from the Rivers.

See also

• Notable people from Punjab Province, British India
• History of Punjab
• British Raj
• List of misls of the Sikh Confederacy
• Punjab (region)
• Sikh Empire