North-West Frontier Province

The North-West Frontier Province ( NWFP), commonly known as Sarhad (), was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955 and from 1970 to 2010; and prior, a province of British India from its establishment in 1901 to Pakistan's independence in 1947. It was established from the north-western districts of British Punjab during the British Raj. Following the referendum in 1947 to join either Pakistan or India, the province voted hugely in favour of joining Pakistan and it acceded accordingly on 14 August 1947. It was dissolved to form a unified province of West Pakistan in 1955 upon promulgation of One Unit Scheme and was restored in 1970. It was known by this name until 9 November 2010, when it was officially redesignated as the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the coming into effect of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, for which the amendment bill was passed on 15 April 2010, signed into law by the President on 19 April 2010, and officially came into effect on 9 November 2010, coinciding with the completion of 110 years of the province and marking the province's renaming.

The province covered an area of , including much of the current Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but excluding the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the former princely states of Amb, Chitral, Dir, Phulra and Swat. Its capital was the city of Peshawar, and the province was composed of six divisions (Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Mardan, and Peshawar Division; Malakand was later added as the seventh division). Until 1947, the province was bordered by five princely states to the north, the minor states of the Gilgit Agency to the northeast, the province of Punjab to the east and the province of Balochistan to the south. The Kingdom of Afghanistan lay to the northwest, with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas forming a buffer zone between the two.

History Formation

The northwestern frontier areas were annexed by the East India Company after the Second Sikh War (1848–49). The territories thenceforth formed a part of Punjab until the province, then known as North West Frontier Province, was created in 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. This region, along with the 'Frontier Tribal Areas', acted as a buffer zone with Afghanistan.

Inside Pakistan Before the Partition of India, the 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum was held in July 1947 to decide the future of NWFP, in which the people of the province decided in favor of joining Pakistan. Chief Minister Dr Khan Sahib, along with his brother Bacha Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars, boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.

As a separate province, the NWFP lasted until 1955 when it was merged into the new province of West Pakistan, under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali. It was recreated after the dissolution of the One Unit system and lasted under its old nomenclature until April 2010, when it was renamed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Government The offices of Governor and Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province lasted until 14 October 1955.

TenureGovernors of the North-West Frontier Province 14 August 1947 – 8 April 1948Sir George Cunningham 8 April 1948 – 16 July 1949Sir Ambrose Dundas Flux Dundas 16 July 1949 – 14 January 1950Sahibzada Mohammad Kursheed 14 January 1950 – 21 February 1950Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Jhagra (acting) 21 February 1950 – 23 November 1951Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar 24 November 1951 – 17 November 1954Khwaja Shahabuddin 17 November 1954 – 14 October 1955Qurban Ali Khan 14 October 1955North-West Frontier Province dissolved

TenureChief Ministers of the North-West Frontier ProvincePolitical party 1 April 1937 – 7 September 1937Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum KhanNon-party government nominee 7 September 1937 – 10 November 1939Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (1st time)Indian National Congress 10 November 1939 – 25 May 1943Governor's rule 25 May 1943 – 16 March 1945Sardar Aurangzeb KhanMuslim League 16 March 1945 – 22 August 1947Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (2nd time)Indian National Congress 14 August 1947Independence of Pakistan 23 August 1947 – 23 April 1953Abdul Qayyum Khan KashmiriPakistan Muslim League 23 April 1953 – 18 July 1955Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan 19 July 1955 – 14 October 1955Sardar Bahadur Khan

Demographics

Population Historical population, language, and religious counts in North-West Frontier Province were enumerated in all districts (Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan), detailed in the population, language, and religious tables above and below. Separate population counts were taken in the Agencies and Tribal Areas, as detailed on the respective article page.

At independence, there was a clear Muslim Pashtun, Hindkowan, and Punjabi majority in the North-West Frontier Province, although there were also significant Hindu and Sikh Pashtun, Hindkowan, and Punjabi minorities scattered across the province.

+ Population of North–West Frontier Province by District (1855–1941)CensusYearPeshawarDistrictDera Ismail KhanDistrictHazaraDistrictBannuDistrictKohatDistrictMardanDistrictNorth-WestFrontier Province 1855 450,099 362,041 296,364 101,232 1,209,736 1868 523,152 394,889 365,320 284,816 145,419 1,713,596 1881 592,674 441,649 407,075 332,577 181,540 1,955,515 1891 703,768 486,201 516,288 372,276 203,175 2,281,708 1901 788,707 252,379 560,288 231,485 217,865 2,050,724 1911 865,009 256,120 603,028 250,086 222,690 2,196,933 1921 907,367 260,767 622,349 246,734 214,123 2,251,340 1931 974,321 274,064 670,117 270,301 236,273 2,425,076 1941 851,833 298,131 796,230 295,930 289,404 506,539 3,038,067

Language The languages of the North-West Frontier Province included Pashto, Punjabi, Kohistani and others, although most of the population spoke either Pashto or Western Punjabi (primarily Hindko and Saraiki). Prior to the arrival of the British, the official language, for governmental uses and such, was Persian. + Language in North–West Frontier Province (1881–1931)MotherTongue188118911901191119211931 Punjabi 1,050,061 1,226,648 876,604 916,365 1,000,255 1,102,905 Pashto 870,816 1,023,021 1,088,606 1,221,859 1,202,326 1,279,471 Hindustani 17,645 15,686 15,598 16,995 8,814 19,221 English 4,554 5,204 4,601 5,720 9,762 7,852 Persian 4,028 3,962 2,851 3,454 2,352 6,030 Kashmiri 3,736 2,218 821 533 343 1,796 Balochi 2,510 554 92 Nepali 1,020 2,655 5,179 4,149 5,140 Dogri 624 336 674 46 Sindhi 204 101 196 7 Bengali 202 106 217 Tibetan 38 Turkish 32 151 16 23 62 Tamil 23 37 68 Gujarati 16 282 97 11 Marathi 1 61 219 1 Arabic 1 17 12 54 24 German 1 10 5 3 French 1 4 4 9 Chinese 0 2 2 1 5 Italian 0 2 Portuguese 0 34 14 Chitrali 7 1 41 Dutch 2 1 Spanish 2 1 Oria 1 Turanian 1 Armenian 0 2 Russian 0 1 Greek 0 2 Gujari 53,021 25,668 22,637 596 Odki 308 95 Purbi 359 98 Kohistani 117 222 377 Marwari 49 Pashayi 16 Danish 2 Irish 1 1 Welsh 19 Scotch 1 Japanese 1 East African Dialects 0 2 Other Indo-Aryan orDravidian languages 0 631 5,886 42 0 1,545 Other Asian languages 0 0 206 Other European languages 0 0 20 Not returned 2 1,239 Total 1,955,515 2,281,708 2,050,724 2,196,933 2,251,340 2,425,076

Districts + Language in the Districts of North–West Frontier Province (1931)DistrictPashtoGreater PunjabiHindustaniEnglishPersianOthersTotal Peshawar District 781,773 167,994 11,798 5,864 3,952 2,940 974,321 Hazara District 29,375 630,704 4,113 257 24 5,644 670,117 Dera Ismail Khan District 53,643 217,561 419 336 1,678 427 274,064 Bannu District 228,381 39,814 1,181 556 13 356 270,301 Kohat District 186,299 46,832 1,710 839 363 230 236,273 Total 1,279,471 1,102,905 19,221 7,852 6,030 9,597 2,425,076 + Language in the Districts of North–West Frontier Province (1921)DistrictPashtoGreater PunjabiGujariEnglishHindustaniOthersTotal Peshawar District 738,325 153,904 0 7,137 6,041 1,960 907,367 Hazara District 31,975 562,298 22,637 355 445 4,639 622,349 Dera Ismail Khan District 59,211 200,035 0 1,237 0 284 260,767 Bannu District 201,592 44,773 0 187 48 134 246,734 Kohat District 171,223 39,245 0 846 2,280 529 214,123 Total 1,202,326 1,000,255 22,637 9,762 8,814 7,546 2,251,340 + Language in the Districts of North–West Frontier Province (1911)DistrictPashtoGreater PunjabiGujariHindustaniEnglishOthersTotal Peshawar District 709,465 134,962 27 11,224 5,028 4,303 865,009 Hazara District 29,151 542,131 25,641 515 144 5,446 603,028 Dera Ismail Khan District 71,015 182,139 0 2,531 247 188 256,120 Bannu District 218,845 29,875 0 1,204 121 41 250,086 Kohat District 193,383 27,258 0 1,521 180 348 222,690 Total 1,221,859 916,365 25,668 16,995 5,720 10,326 2,196,933 + Language in the Districts of North–West Frontier Province (1901)DistrictPashtoGreater PunjabiGujariHindustaniEnglishOthersTotal Peshawar District 619,025 153,637 55 8,620 4,058 3,312 788,707 Hazara District 31,564 471,474 52,966 1,114 89 3,081 560,288 Dera Ismail Khan District 73,132 174,632 0 1,949 159 2,507 252,379 Bannu District 195,820 33,656 0 1,714 124 171 231,485 Kohat District 169,065 43,205 0 2,201 171 3,223 217,865 Total 1,088,606 876,604 53,021 15,598 4,601 12,294 2,050,724

Religion

Religious counts below is for the entirety of NWFP (Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan). The Agencies and Tribal Areas constituted a separate administrative division where religious composition was not enumerated, except at small Trans-Frontier Posts in the region. + Religion in North–West Frontier Province (1855–1941)Religiousgroup18551881189119011911192119311941 Islam 1,099,134 1,787,341 2,088,015 1,890,479 2,039,994 2,062,786 2,227,303 2,788,797 Hinduism 110,602 154,081 166,984 129,306 119,942 149,881 142,977 180,321 Sikhism 9,205 21,110 25,733 30,345 28,040 42,510 57,939 Christianity 4,725 5,437 5,119 6,585 10,610 12,213 10,889 Jainism 106 108 37 4 3 0 1 Zoroastrianism 52 48 46 49 20 60 24 Buddhism 0 0 0 0 0 2 25 Judaism 4 4 14 0 11 71 Others 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 Total Population 1,209,736 1,955,515 2,281,708 2,050,724 2,196,933 2,251,340 2,425,076 3,038,067

Adherents of Islam who were indigenous to frontier regions that continued to have relatively large Hindu populations, and who were also relatively recent converts, were influenced by some traditions of Hinduism; in contrast, Muslims in frontier regions that had been further influenced by orthodox Islam and converted at a much earlier date were noted in their relatively different cultural habits.

Similarly, adherents of Hinduism who belonged to the various castes and tribes who were indigenous to the frontier regions had considerable Islamic influence, owing to their status as a religious minority in the region for centuries, and thus formed religious syncretism that incorporated aspects from both faiths into their cultures and traditions.

Lastly, decadal census reports throughout the colonial era frequently detailed the difficulty of differentiating adherents of Hinduism with adherents of Sikhism, owing to the traditional ability of the former in assimilating and integrating followers of varied thought into Hinduism.

Districts

With rapid population growth occurring across all districts in the province, Mardan District was added to the North–West Frontier Province in 1941. + Religion in the Districts of North–West Frontier Province (1941)DistrictIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity OthersTotal Peshawar District 769,589 51,212 24,030 6,890 112 851,833 Hazara District 756,004 30,267 9,220 737 2 796,230 Mardan District 483,575 10,677 11,838 449 0 506,539 Dera Ismail Khan District 255,757 39,167 2,390 810 7 298,131 Bannu District 257,648 31,471 6,112 699 0 295,930 Kohat District 266,224 17,527 4,349 1,304 0 289,404 Total 2,788,797 180,321 57,939 10,889 121 3,038,067