Islam is a minority religion in Punjab, India followed by 535,489 people constituting about 1.93 percent of the state population out of 27.7 million population as of 2011 census report.Punjab Population Sex Ratio in Punjab Literacy rate data 2011 ...

Islam has a strong historical presence in Punjab with many mosques, mausoleums and shrines. According to the 1941 census, Punjabi Muslims constituted approximately 38.4 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. With violence and religious cleansing accompanying the Partition of Punjab in 1947, the vast majority departed the region en masse, migrating westward to the region of Punjab that would fall on the western side of the Radcliffe Line, in the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan.

In the current era, much of the Muslim population of Punjab consists of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Delhi and Bihar etc.https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla The native Punjabi Muslims predominantly resides in Malerkotla district and Qadian town.

History

Islam first arrived in the Punjab region following the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712. The first permanent Muslim conquest of the Punjab was carried out by Mahmud Ghaznavi who made the whole of the Punjab a province of his empire with the headquarters at Lahore.

When the Ghaznavid Empire began to decline, the region was conquered by Muhammad Ghori. The conquest by Muhammad Ghori inaugurated a period of Muslim rule which lasted until the 18th century. The Mughals made most of East Punjab a part of the governorate of Sirhind.

The founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Qadian, East Punjab in 1835.

According to the 1941 census, Muslims constituted approximately 38.4 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India, numbering around 3.75 million persons. Following the Partition of Punjab, the population declined to 90,000 or 0.5% due to ethnic cleansing and large-scale mass migration of 3.66 million Muslims to Punjab, Pakistan in the violent events that have occurred during Partition.

Today, Muslims are scattered across East Punjab with small concentrations in the cities of Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Malerkotla and Qadian. Malerkotla is the only municipality in Indian Punjab that has a Muslim majority. The migrant Uttar Pradeshi Muslims and Bihari Muslims labourers living in industrial city of Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar forms a large proportion of the Muslim population in the state.

Geographical distribution Colonial era

+ Muslims in the administrative divisions that compose the contemporary Punjab State, India region (1881–1941)District or Princely State188119011911192119311941 Amritsar district 413,207 474,976 408,882 423,724 524,676 657,695 Jalandhar district 358,601 421,011 357,051 366,586 419,556 509,804 Patiala State 321,354 357,334 307,384 330,341 363,920 436,539 Firozpur district 310,552 447,615 418,553 482,540 515,430 641,448 Hoshiarpur district 290,193 312,958 281,805 289,298 328,078 380,759 Gurdaspur district 286,224 348,182 304,860 316,709 367,388 440,323 Ludhiana district 213,954 235,937 176,043 192,961 235,598 302,482 Kapurthala State 142,974 178,326 152,117 160,457 179,251 213,754 Nabha State 50,178 58,550 46,032 50,756 57,393 70,373 Faridkot State 29,035 35,996 37,105 44,813 49,912 61,352 Malerkotla State 24,616 27,229 25,942 28,413 31,417 33,881 Total Muslims 2,440,888 2,898,114 2,515,774 2,686,598 3,072,619 3,748,410 Total Population 6,607,699 7,679,645 6,830,507 7,262,881 8,123,076 9,757,161

Modern era 1951AreaMuslimMuslim %Punjab A229,0801.85%Punjab B55,9131.6%Punjab C15,2531.37%Total East Punjab300,2461.77% + Muslims in the districts of the contemporary Punjab State, India region (1951–2011)District1951196119712011 Barnala district 41,673 13,100 Gurdaspur district 9,370 5,566 6,868 27,667 Firozpur district 4,805 3,369 6,340 6,844 Amritsar district 4,237 2,401 3,044 12,502 Sangrur district 3,741 55,738 64,448 179,116 Ludhiana district 3,360 4,686 5,620 77,713 Patiala district 2,893 11,714 13,644 40,043 Jalandhar district 2,569 3,184 3,362 30,233 Fatehgarh Sahib district 2,269 16,808 Hoshiarpur district 1,353 7,050 3,456 23,089 Kapurthala district 854 856 858 10,190 Bathinda district 416 3,340 3,829 16,299 Rupnagar district 2,978 14,492 Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district 29,488 Mansa district 10,375 Moga district 9,388 Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district 6,829 Sri Muktsar Sahib district 4,333 Tarn Taran district 3,855 Faridkot district 3,125 Total Muslims 77,540 97,904 114,447 535,489 Total Population 9,144,716 11,497,826 13,551,060 27,743,338

Demographics

Language

Out of 5.35 lakh Muslim population in the state as of 2011 census, only 2.21 lakh Muslims are native and speaks Punjabi as their mother tongue and rest 3.13 lakh speaks Hindustani language mainly Urdu.https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla

Culture Sufism

Sufism has also played a major role in the history of Punjab. Many prominent Sufi saints were born in Punjab, including Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Waris Shah and Bulleh Shah.

Language Punjabi Muslims had a major contribution in the development of Punjabi language. Fariduddin Ganjshakar (1179–1266) is recognised as the first major poet of the Punjabi language.Shiv Kumar Batalvi sikh-heritage.co.uk. Roughly from the 12th century to the 19th century, many great Sufi saints and poets preached in the Punjabi language, the most prominent being Bulleh Shah. Punjabi Sufi poetry also developed under Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1630–1691), Shah Sharaf (1640–1724), Ali Haider (1690–1785), Waris Shah (1722–1798), Saleh Muhammad Safoori (1747–1826), Mian Muhammad Baksh (1830–1907) and Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845–1901).

Literature The Punjabi language is famous for its rich literature of qisse, most of which are about love, passion, betrayal, sacrifice, social values and a common man's revolt against a larger system. The qissa of Heer Ranjha by Waris Shah (1706–1798) is among the most popular of Punjabi qissas. Other popular stories include Sohni Mahiwal by Fazal Shah, Mirza Sahiban by Hafiz Barkhudar (1658–1707), Sassui Punnhun by Hashim Shah (c. 1735–c. 1843), and Qissa Puran Bhagat by Qadaryar (1802–1892). In contrast to Persian poets, who had preferred the ghazal for poetic expression, Punjabi Sufi poets tended to compose in the Kafi.

Music

Punjabi music is used by western musicians in many ways, such as mixing with other compositions. Sufi music and Qawali, commonly practiced in Punjab, Pakistan; are other important genres in the Punjab region.

Folk music of Punjab is the traditional music of Punjab produced using traditional musical instruments like Tumba, Algoza, Dhadd, Sarangi, Chimta and more. There is a wide range of folk songs for every occasion from birth to death including marriage, festivals, fairs and religious ceremonies.

Trends Decadal percentage of Muslims in Punjab, India Year Percent Increase 1901 37.74% N/A 1911 36.83% -0.91% 1921 36.99% +0.16% 1931 37.83% +0.84% 1941 38.42% +0.59% 1947 0.5% -37.92% 1951 0.63% +0.13% 1961 0.82% +0.19% 1971 0.93% +0.11% 1981 1% +0.07% 1991 1.18% +0.18% 2001 1.57% +0.39% 2011 1.93% +0.36%

The Muslim percentage as total population have declined drastically from 38.38% in 1941 to 0.5% in 1947. But after Independence, Muslims have grown slightly from 0.63% in 1951 to 1.93% in 2011 census.

See also Demographics of Punjab, India Religion in the Punjab Sufism in Punjab

Notes

References