West Punjab was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. It was established from the western-half of British Punjab, following the independence of Pakistan. The province covered an area of , including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, including the former Princely state of Bahawalpur, which was an autonomous region until 1955, though it remained subordinate to the province. Lahore, being the largest city and the cultural centre, served as the capital of the province. The province was composed of four divisions (Lahore, Sargodha, Multan and Rawalpindi) and was bordered by the state of Bahawalpur to the south-east, the province of Baluchistan to the south-west and Sind to the south, North-West Frontier Province to the north-west, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It shared International border with Indian state of East Punjab to the east and Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir to the north-east. It was dissolved and merged into West Pakistan upon creation of One Unit Scheme, in 1955.
History The creation of Pakistan in 1947 led to the division of the Punjab Province of British India into two new provinces. The largely Sikh and Hindu East Punjab became part of the new nation of India while the largely Muslim West Punjab became part of the new nation of the Dominion of Pakistan. The name of the province was shortened to Punjab in 1950. West Punjab was merged into the province of West Pakistan in 1955 under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhary Muhammad Ali. When that province was dissolved, the area of the former province of West Punjab was combined with the former state of Bahawalpur to form a new Punjab Province.
Bahawalpur State was the only state of the Punjab States Agency, which was subordinate to the Punjab Province, to accede to Pakistan.
Government The offices of Governor of West Punjab and Chief Minister of West Punjab lasted from 15 August 1947, until 14 October 1955. The first Governor was Sir Francis Mudie with Iftikhar Hussain Khan as the first Chief Minister. Both offices were abolished in 1955, when the province of West Pakistan was created. The last Governor of West Punjab, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani, became the first Governor of West Pakistan.
TenureGovernor of West Punjab15 August 1947 – 2 August 1949Sir Francis Mudie2 August 1949 – 24 November 1951Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar24 November 1951 – 2 May 1953Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar2 May 1953 – 24 June 1954Mian Aminuddin26 September 1954 – 26 November 1954Habib Ibrahim Rahmatullah27 November 1954 – 14 October 1955Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani14 October 1955Province of West Punjab dissolved
TenureChief Minister of West PunjabPolitical Party15 August 1947 – 25 January 1949Iftikhar Hussain Khan25 January 1949 – 5 April 1952Governor's Rule5 April 1952 – 3 April 1953Mian Mumtaz DaultanaPakistan Muslim League3 April 1953 – 21 May 1955Malik Firoz Khan NunPakistan Muslim League21 May 1955 – 14 October 1955Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti14 October 1955Province of West Punjab dissolved
Demographics Population
Religion 1901 census
+ Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1901)District/Princely StateIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Lahore District 717,519 276,375 159,701 7,296 1,047 171 1,162,109 Sialkot District 716,953 302,012 50,982 11,939 2,008 15 1,083,909 Rawalpindi District 803,283 86,269 32,234 7,614 1,068 67 930,535 Lyallpur District 484,657 210,459 88,049 8,672 23 1 791,861 Gujranwala District 531,908 169,594 51,607 2,748 932 8 756,797 Gujrat District 655,838 69,346 24,893 460 11 0 750,548 Bahawalpur State 598,139 114,670 7,985 83 0 0 720,877 Multan District 570,254 133,560 4,662 1,964 134 52 710,626 Jhelum District 526,725 51,801 15,070 271 151 0 594,018 Shahpur District 442,921 68,489 12,756 91 2 0 524,259 Dera Ghazi Khan District 412,012 57,815 1,027 152 143 0 471,149 Montgomery District 334,474 109,945 19,092 66 8 1 463,586 Mianwali District 371,674 50,202 2,633 44 35 0 424,588 Muzaffargarh District 350,177 52,221 3,225 33 0 0 405,656 Jhang District 295,481 79,650 3,526 38 0 0 378,695 Shakargarh Tehsil 115,189 111,819 6,557 900 0 0 234,465 Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 23,951 136 0 0 0 0 24,087 Total7,951,1551,944,363483,99942,3715,56231510,427,765
1911 census
+ Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1911)District/Princely StateIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Lahore District 626,271 217,609 169,008 21,781 1,139 350 1,036,158 Sialkot District 604,801 242,325 81,761 48,620 2,029 17 979,553 Gujranwala District 622,430 176,075 107,748 16,215 950 1 923,419 Lyallpur District 524,288 154,603 146,670 32,023 125 2 857,711 Multan District 665,488 126,603 19,881 2,441 394 64 814,871 Bahawalpur State 654,247 109,548 16,630 199 15 2 780,641 Gujrat District 650,893 49,430 44,693 570 48 0 745,634 Shahpur District 572,565 72,695 33,456 8,616 5 29 687,366 Muzaffargarh District 494,915 68,158 6,322 60 1 5 569,461 Rawalpindi District 458,101 48,449 31,839 8,320 1,028 90 547,827 Montgomery District 399,723 66,803 68,175 581 13 4 535,299 Attock District 471,890 19,741 26,914 707 9 12 519,273 Jhang District 422,468 73,426 19,427 201 4 0 515,526 Jhelum District 452,260 34,261 24,436 450 163 5 511,575 Dera Ghazi Khan District 442,234 56,485 1,042 76 23 0 499,860 Mianwali District 299,971 36,326 4,881 168 31 0 341,377 Shakargarh Tehsil 103,356 93,052 10,553 3,486 0 0 210,447 Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 28,413 169 5 0 0 0 28,587 Total8,494,3141,645,758813,441144,5145,97758111,104,585
1921 census
+ Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1921)District/Princely StateIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Lahore District 647,640 255,690 179,975 46,454 1,209 368 1,131,336 Lyallpur District 594,917 181,488 160,821 42,004 231 2 979,463 Sialkot District 580,532 217,912 74,939 62,266 2,147 27 937,823 Multan District 731,605 134,013 18,562 6,006 28 50 890,264 Gujrat District 709,684 62,529 49,456 2,373 4 0 824,046 Bahawalpur State 647,207 114,621 19,071 283 1 8 781,191 Shahpur District 596,100 82,182 30,361 11,270 3 2 719,918 Montgomery District 513,055 94,791 95,520 10,408 12 0 713,786 Gujranwala District 443,147 101,566 50,802 27,308 754 4 623,581 Jhang District 475,388 85,339 9,376 449 7 0 570,559 Rawalpindi District 470,038 57,185 31,718 9,286 954 43 569,224 Muzaffargarh District 493,369 69,878 4,869 356 6 0 568,478 Sheikhupura District 330,880 85,781 82,965 23,431 78 0 523,135 Attock District 465,694 26,184 19,809 557 5 0 512,249 Jhelum District 422,979 34,837 18,626 430 195 1 477,068 Dera Ghazi Khan District 411,431 56,346 932 47 296 0 469,052 Mianwali District 308,876 45,974 2,986 369 0 0 358,205 Shakargarh Tehsil 106,168 90,645 12,303 3,733 0 0 212,849 Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 26,578 180 0 0 0 0 26,758 Total8,975,2881,797,141863,091247,0305,93050511,888,985
1931 census
+ Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1931)District/Princely StateIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Lahore District 815,820 259,725 244,304 57,097 1,450 174 1,378,570 Multan District 942,937 182,029 39,453 9,924 440 117 1,174,900 Lyallpur District 720,996 173,344 211,391 45,518 95 7 1,151,351 Montgomery District 697,542 136,783 148,155 17,245 38 9 999,772 Bahawalpur State 799,176 149,454 34,896 1,054 12 20 984,612 Sialkot District 609,633 206,421 94,955 66,365 2,236 7 979,617 Gujrat District 786,750 73,356 59,188 3,097 32 4 922,427 Shahpur District 679,546 90,561 40,074 11,294 14 1 821,490 Gujranwala District 521,343 92,764 71,595 49,364 1,071 1 736,138 Sheikhupura District 445,996 81,887 119,477 49,266 100 6 696,732 Jhang District 552,853 102,990 8,476 494 0 20 664,833 Rawalpindi District 524,965 59,485 41,265 7,486 1,077 79 634,357 Muzaffargarh District 513,265 72,577 5,287 246 0 0 591,375 Attock District 531,793 31,932 19,522 710 2 1 583,960 Jhelum District 482,097 36,068 22,030 672 209 0 541,076 Dera Ghazi Khan District 432,911 57,217 760 31 125 0 491,044 Mianwali District 357,109 49,794 4,231 380 20 5 411,539 Shakargarh Tehsil 125,828 101,318 15,730 4,487 0 0 247,363 Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 29,469 173 0 0 0 0 29,642 Total10,570,0291,957,8781,180,789324,7306,92145114,040,798
1941 census
At Independence there was a Muslim majority in West Punjab with a significant Hindu and Sikh minority. Nearly all of these minorities left West Punjab for India, to be replaced by large numbers of Muslims fleeing from the opposite direction. + Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1941)District/Princely StateIslam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Lahore District 1,027,772 284,689 310,646 70,147 1,951 170 1,695,375 Multan District 1,157,911 249,872 61,628 14,290 552 80 1,484,333 Lyallpur District 877,518 204,059 262,737 51,948 35 8 1,396,305 Bahawalpur State 1,098,814 174,408 46,945 3,048 351 17,643 1,341,209 Montgomery District 918,564 210,966 175,064 24,432 49 28 1,329,103 Sialkot District 739,218 231,319 139,409 75,831 3,250 1,470 1,190,497 Gujrat District 945,609 84,643 70,233 4,449 10 8 1,104,952 Shahpur District 835,918 102,172 48,046 12,770 13 2 998,921 Gujranwala District 642,706 108,115 99,139 60,829 1,445 0 912,234 Sheikhupura District 542,344 89,182 160,706 60,054 221 1 852,508 Jhang District 678,736 129,889 12,238 763 5 0 821,631 Rawalpindi District 628,193 82,478 64,127 9,014 1,337 82 785,231 Muzaffargarh District 616,074 90,643 5,882 227 0 23 712,849 Attock District 611,128 43,209 20,120 1,392 13 13 675,875 Jhelum District 563,033 40,888 24,680 893 159 5 629,658 Dera Ghazi Khan District 512,678 67,407 1,072 87 106 0 581,350 Mianwali District 436,260 62,814 6,865 358 23 1 506,321 Shakargarh Tehsil 149,600 116,553 20,573 4,779 0 0 291,505 Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 40,084 160 2 0 0 0 40,246 Total13,022,1602,373,4661,530,112395,3119,52019,53417,350,103
1951 census
+ Religion in the Districts of West Punjab, Pakistan (1951)DistrictIslam Christianity Hinduism Zoroastrianism Buddhism OthersTotal Lyallpur District 2,087,905 63,608 888 0 0 0 2,152,401 Multan District 2,092,624 14,453 151 13 0 0 2,107,241 Lahore District 1,794,331 98,107 2,433 173 8 9 1,895,061 Montgomery District 1,788,930 26,864 90 4 0 0 1,815,888 Sialkot District 1,382,922 76,873 14,397 4 0 0 1,474,196 Shahpur District 1,152,345 8,984 58 0 0 0 1,161,387 Gujrat District 1,156,251 1,392 99 0 0 0 1,157,742 Gujranwala District 987,292 58,419 1,211 0 0 11 1,046,933 Bahawalpur District 967,085 1,301 1,916 0 0 0 970,302 Sheikhupura District 877,190 45,417 461 0 0 13 923,081 Jhang District 874,588 874 69 0 0 0 875,531 Rawalpindi District 871,736 3,119 114 1 1 0 874,971 Rahim Yar Khan District 840,671 773 10,755 0 0 0 852,199 Muzaffargarh District 751,206 19 24 0 0 0 751,249 Campbellpur District 721,666 568 308 0 0 0 722,542 Jhelum District 677,693 1,133 72 0 0 2 678,900 Dera Ghazi Khan District 627,458 65 6 0 0 0 627,529 Mianwali District 548,901 648 0 0 0 0 549,549 Total responses20,200,794402,61733,05219593520,636,702Total population14,43820,651,140
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