Friday 3 October 2014

Partition Of Punjab in 1947


There are some events in history that always have fascinated me. One of them is the independence and partition of India in 1947. Besides two world wars, it can be counted among the most important events of the twentieth century. This event gave independence to India and eventually three independent countries emerged.

Independence of India was not a simple affair, because it also involved partition of the country. When it came to partition it was actually the partition of two provinces Bengal and Punjab. I first developed my interest in this subject in late 1980s when I was in school and studied in the books of social studies and Pakistan studies about this issue. It was claimed that during the partition in 1947, the last viceroy Mountbatten conspired against Pakistan and influenced Radcliffe to award an unfair decision against Pakistan. But there were no details that exactly how much area according to this claim, was awarded to India unfairly. In the coming years I tried to find the answers but that proved to be a difficult task. First of all there were no maps to be found, and there was no census data as well. However, I kept on searching for more than two decades and finally found most of the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle.

My aim is not to stir a controversy or to forward a claim on any "lost" territory. It is just an academic exercise of a student of history. That is why I have tried to stick to just facts, whether census figures or geographical. I do not claim that these are perfect maps, by a trained cartographer. I made them with the help of dozens of maps I found on internet and books, with the simple tools of MS Paint. But they give a reasonably fair idea and picture of the demographics of Punjab in 1947. All the readers are most welcome to point out inaccuracies or suggest improvements.

Before moving to my subject I would like to give a historical background of the modern political boundaries of Punjab. After the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Sikh power rapidly rose in central and eastern Punjab in late 1750s. By 1763 they even captured Lahore the capital and the most important city of Punjab. For the next four decades chaos reigned supreme as the whole province became divided among dozens of petty Sikh and Muslim warlords and chieftains. Out of this situation Ranjit Singh of Gujranwala rose rapidly and captured Lahore in 1799. And by the time he died in 1839, he had conquered the whole of Punjab west of Sutlej River, which included the Bist Doab, all of present day Pakistani Punjab (except Bahawalpur division), most of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Kashmir valley. 



The above map show the boundaries of the State of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in dark and light green colours. The areas marked with dark green lie in Pakistan, while areas in light green lie in present day India. 

At the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh the Sikh state of Punjab became politically unstable. The British were as usual waiting for such an opportunity and after many hard fought battles in two wars, finally conquered Punjab in 1849, the last independent state in India.From 1849 onward Punjab became a province of British India. In 1857 a mutiny break out in native regiments of the army of East India Company and soon spread over a large area. It was suppressed with great difficulty and much bloodshed. After the end of the mutiny, the British government assumed the direct control of India and annexed Delhi city and other districts between Jamuna and Sutlej to Punjab. This situation remained until 1901, when districts west of Indus river were carved out of Punjab to make a new province, which was named as North Western Frontier Province or NWFP.  
The above map shows the boundaries of Punjab, after the annexation of Delhi and surrounding districts until the establishment of NWFP as a separate province in 1901.

After the establishment of NWFP in 1901, the next change in the boundaries of Punjab came in 1911, when the government of the British India, decided to move the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. After the shift of capital, former district of Delhi was separated from Punjab. Since then Delhi has remained a federally administered area.

As mentioned above after the mutiny a large area west of Jamuna river was annexed to Punjab. But most of this area was not inhabited by Punjabis. In fact most of this area was inhabited by people who speak a dialect of Hindi, called Haryanvi. Almost 80% of the people living in the province of Punjab spoke different dialects of Punjabi, while rest of them a dialect of Hindi, called Haryanvi.

The above match shows the linguistic division of Punjab. The red area is New Delhi, separated from Punjab in 1911 and declared as the new capital of British India.

India during the British Raj, administratively was a very complicated place. Besides 11 clumsily formed provinces, it had about 565 princely states. Some of them were quite large, but many were so small that it was difficult to represent them even on a very large scale map. Biggest of these was Hyderabad with an area of 214,187 sq. km. But almost 200 states had an area of less than 25 sq. Km. Together these states covered approximately one third of the total area of India and housed one fourth of the total population. If that was not enough many of these were divided into several non contiguous tracts of lands. British Raj controlled these states as the Paramount Power, through its officers called residents.
The above map shows the provinces of British India and also the areas covered by the Princely States. In addition to that it also shows the religious demographics of India. 

Punjab province was no exception in this regard. It also contained 34 princely states, besides the areas directly administered by the British. 
The above map shows the location of British Administered districts and the Princely States, also depicting the religion of the rulers of the states.

This map shows the five administrative divisions of Punjab and respective religious composition, according to the census of 1941. 







The population of Punjab rose rapidly during the fifty years between 1891 - 1941. But this growth in western Punjab was much faster as compare to the eastern Punjab. Reason for this can be explained by the fact that great projects of irrigation were completed in western Punjab and hence a great progress was made in agricultural field in this region, and  "canal colonies" were established.

The above map shows the population growth in Punjab from 1891 - 1941.

British administration had been undertaking census since 1881 regularly in India. The last census in the British Raj was conducted in 1941.
The above map shows the population density of tehsils of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The census of 1941 was very important, because this was the last census of united India and on the basis of this census Punjab and Bengal were partitioned between India and Pakistan. In the following set of maps you can see the distribution of population according to their religions. I do not claim these maps to be 100% correct, as boundaries of some princely states are not clear, but these give you a fairly accurate picture.

The above map shows the percentage of Muslim population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the simple distribution of Muslim population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the percentage of Hindu population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941. 


The above map shows the simple distribution of Hindu population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941. 

 The above map shows the percentage of Sikh population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the simple distribution of Sikh population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the distribution of Christian population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The last map shows that most of the Christian population of Punjab was concentrated in western Punjab. So when the question of the partition arose, they decided to opt for Pakistan. They were just 1.44 % of the total population and were insignificant in the total equation of Muslim and Hindu/Sikh population. But there was one tehsil, that was Dasuya, where if they joined Muslims, the balance turned in the favour of Muslims. In Dasuya Muslims were 48.35% and Christians were 1.73%, so together they formed a majority of 50.08%. 

In the above map you can see the claims of two parties. Red line shows the extent of Hindu/Sikh claim and green line shows the extent of Muslim/Christian claim.

 In the map given above, I have further compared the territorial claims of both the parties

Both parties presented some maps to support their respective claims. The above map was presented by the Muslim League to show some parts of tehsils where the Muslims were in majority.  

When it came clear that the partition was inevitable, the viceroy presented a Partition Plan on June 3, 1947. According to this plan, Punjab was was divided in two provinces of East Punjab and West Punjab. This partition was based on simple district majorities of Muslims and non Muslims. The final partition was to be dependent on the Radcliffe Award, so this division was called Notional Division. 

The above map shows the Notional Division of Punjab based to district majorities of Muslims and non Muslims.

Sir Cyril Radcliffe was an English lawyer and was selected to head the boundary commission to decide the border of Pakistan. The commission was set up on 30 July and was given a deadline of 15 August, 1947, to announce its decision. Muslims league nominated two Punjab High Court judges, Justice Din Muhammad and Justice Muhammad Munir as the two members of this commission to fight its case. While Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan and Justice Teja Singh represented Congress and Sikhs, in this commission. Its terms of reference were defined as thus:

"The Boundary Commission is instructed to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of the Muslims and the non Muslims. In doing so it will take into account other factors."

The commission had a very difficult and complicated task to accomplish in a very limited time and that’s too in a very charged atmosphere. It failed to satisfy anyone. The whole process was kept secret and the award was not published until 17th August, 1947. The map given below will help you in making an opinion of your own.

The above map shows the distribution of population on the basis of religion in a great detail. It show Muslim/Christian majority tehsils and Hindu/Sikh majority tehsils. It also shows the 34 princely states of Punjab. Note that Muslims were in majority in just two states, ie. Bahawalpur and Kapurthala which was ruled by a Sikh Maharaja. The yellow line represents the final decision of the boundary commission. Click the map for a larger view.  

The above map show that eventually how much area and population both the parties got. 

The above map shows the tehisl of Kausr, in Lahore district. It was the only tehsil which was divided and the larger part was given to India, despite having a clear Muslim/Christian majority. Now that part forms tehsil of Patti of district Taran Taran (ترن تارن)in Indian Punjab. 


The table below gives the religious demographic details of the cities and towns with the population of more than 9 thousands, according to the census of 1941. 


City
Total
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikh
%
Christians
%
001
Hissar
28,618
11116
38.84
15,921
55.63
390
1.36
166
0.58
002
Hansi
22,590
10166
45.00
10,752
47.60
80
0.35
36
0.16
003
Bhiwani
43,921
9316
21.21
33,774
76.90
360
0.82
160
0.36
004
Sirsa
20,718
6368
30.74
13,083
63.15
831
4.01
72
0.35
005
Rohtak
48,148
25129
52.19
20,458
42.49
315
0.65
63
0.13
006
Jhajhar
13,919
7188
51.64
6,576
47.24
80
0.57
2
0.01
007
Meham
11,145
6170
55.36
4,920
44.15
8
0.07
0
0.00
008
Sonipat
17,781
8933
50.24
7,706
43.34
226
1.27
13
0.07
009
Hidayatpur 
9,945
3758
37.79
5,434
54.64
144
1.45
296
2.98
010
Palwal
13,606
4404
32.37
8,831
64.91
30
0.22
244
1.79
011
Rewari
30,673
15605
50.88
14,058
45.83
46
0.15
101
0.33
012
Karnal
37,444
15844
42.31
20,462
54.65
647
1.73
125
0.33
013
Panipat
37,837
28371
74.98
8,584
22.69
90
0.24
12
0.03
014
Kaithal
22,325
10263
45.97
11,593
51.93
261
1.17
49
0.22
015
Shahabad
14,745
10096
68.47
4,000
27.13
643
4.36
2
0.01
016
Ambala
44,964
25913
57.63
16,040
35.67
1581
3.52
348
0.77
017
Ambala C
29,191
10431
35.73
14,768
50.59
2456
8.41
617
2.11
018
Kalka
9,766
3129
32.04
5,766
59.04
660
6.76
71
0.73
019
Jagadhri
16,422
4958
30.19
10,906
66.41
208
1.27
180
1.10
020
Rupar
10,385
5300
51.04
3,354
32.30
1262
12.15
158
1.52
021
Simla
18,348
5651
30.80
11,173
60.89
751
4.09
349
1.90
022
Dharmsala
9,653
1294
13.41
8,024
83.12
229
2.37
62
0.64
023
Hoshiarpur
35,345
16834
47.63
15,478
43.79
2242
6.34
252
0.71
024
Dasuya
9,206
6595
71.64
2,400
26.07
163
1.77
44
0.48
025
Urmar Tanda
12,734
8,037
63.11
3,687
28.95
797
6.26
51
0.40
026
Jullundur
135,283
80,242
59.31
48375
35.76
4,676
3.46
977
0.72
027
Kartarpur
12,150
4,522
37.22
6362
52.36
1,250
10.29
16
0.13
028
Nawanshahr
10,275
2,950
28.71
6552
63.77
689
6.71
1
0.01
029
Banga
9,112
1,976
21.69
4832
53.03
1,949
21.39
4
0.04
030
Phillaur
9,011
4,918
54.58
3574
39.66
479
5.32
34
0.38
031
Nakodar
10,981
5,322
48.47
4385
39.93
358
3.26
 -  
0.00
032
Ludhiana
11,639
70,182
62.87
34704
31.09
5,273
4.72
596
0.53
033
Jagraon
26,704
14,004
52.44
9341
34.98
3,096
11.59
72
0.27
034
Raikot
13,777
9,344
67.82
3063
22.23
892
6.47
 -  
0.00
035
Ferozepore
82,502
38,390
46.53
34543
41.87
6,457
7.83
900
1.09
036
Moga
27,785
7,016
25.25
11,790
42.43
8,477
30.51
490
1.76
037
Muktsar
20,651
5,340
25.86
10,015
48.50
5,121
24.80
31
0.15
038
Fazilka
28,262
8,246
29.18
18,771
66.42
1,107
3.92
25
0.09
039
Abohar
21,222
5216
24.58
14,980
70.59
846
3.99
   59
0.28
040
Lahore
671,659
433,170
64.49
179,422
26.71
34,021
5.07
21,495
3.20
041
Chunian
10,093
5,292
52.43
4,329
42.89
472
4.68
-  
0.00
042
Mandi Pattoki
1,114
2,641
23.76
6,227
56.03
2,083
18.74
163
1.47
043
Kasur
53,101
39,295
74.00
10,752
20.25
2,034
3.83
562
1.06
044
Patti
17,595
12,879
73.20
2,823
16.04
1,495
8.50
37
0.21
045
Amritsar
391,010
184,055
47.07
44,522
36.96
58,769
15.03
2,611
0.67
046
Jandiala
11,520
6,893
59.84
2,691
23.36
1,004
8.72
75
0.65
047
Majitha
9,004
5,200
57.75
2,061
22.89
1,655
18.38
38
0.42
048
Tarn Taran
16,607
7,006
42.19
3,796
22.86
5,520
33.24
279
1.68
049
Gurdaspur
6,641
8,263
49.65
5,920
35.57
1,711
10.28
721
4.33
050
Batala
44,458
29,859
67.16
12,043
27.09
2,109
4.74
446
1.00
051
Pathankot
12,354
6,716
54.36
4,833
39.12
406
3.29
379
3.07
052
Sialkot
 138,708
90,706
65.39
29,662
21.38
8,431
6.08
5,157
3.72
053
Pasrur
10,523
7,586
72.09
1,937
18.41
205
1.95
689
6.55
054
Narowal
12,021
6,759
56.23
2,863
23.82
1,301
10.82
854
7.10
055
Daska
13,719
7,394
53.90
3,279
23.90
2,249
16.39
719
5.24
056
Gujranwala
84,545
45,904
54.30
24,378
28.83
11016
13.03
1,893
2.24
057
Kamonki
11,602
3,575
  30.81
5,177
44.62
2445
21.07
405
3.49
058
Wazirabad
27,079
19,132
  70.65
5,739
21.19
1359
5.02
845
3.12
059
Hafizabad
17,093
9,727
  56.91
5,660
33.11
1080
6.32
610
3.57
060
Sheikhupura
22,272
10,755
  48.29
7,070
31.74
3609
16.20
829
3.72
061
Nankana Sahib
12,981
2,900
22.34
4,440
34.20
5427
41.81
206
1.59
062
Gujrat
30,899
24,681
79.88
5,011
16.22
630
2.04
553
1.79
063
Jalalpur Jattan
16,663
12,779
76.69
3,524
21.15
149
0.89
211
1.27
064
Lala Musa
12,163
6,484
53.31
3,615
29.72
1833
15.07
231
1.90
065
M. Bahauddin
12,752
2,269
17.79
6,146
48.20
4277
33.54
61
0.48
066
Khushab
17,141
13,609
79.39
3,044
17.76
479
2.79
7
0.04
067
Bhera
20,219
15,489
76.61
4,388
21.70
335
1.66
6
0.03
068
Sargodha
36,420
12,060
33.11
7,405
47.79
5920
16.25
998
2.74
069
Jhelum
33,191
19,416
58.50
8,936
26.92
3950
11.90
619
1.86
070
P. Dadan Khan
11,445
7,803
68.18
3,318
28.99
305
2.66
6
0.05
071
Chakwal
11,835
6,684
56.48
2,799
23.65
2388
20.18
40
0.34
072
Rawalpindi
185,042
81,038
43.79
62,393
33.72
32054
17.32
3,668
1.98
073
Cambellpur
13,999
7,408
52.92
4,312
30.80
2031
14.51
223
1.59
074
Hazro
11,186
7,411
66.25
2,752
24.60
1013
9.06
10
0.09
075
Pindigheb
12,641
8,708
68.89
3,007
23.79
924
7.31
2
0.02
076
Mianwali
22,825
13,041
57.13
8,940
39.17
633
2.77
210
0.92
077
Bhakkar
9,006
4,060
45.08
2,712
30.11
173
1.92
18
0.20
078
Montgomery
38,345
14,860
38.75
17,435
45.47
5,254
13.70
746
1.95
079
Okara
19,315
5,216
27.00
10,378
53.73
3,113
16.12
601
3.11
080
Pakpattan
17,852
9,516
53.30
7,432
41.63
839
4.70
55
0.31
081
Lyallpur
69,930
23,003
32.89
32,896
47.04
10,897
15.58
3,027
4.33
082
Gojra
12,964
3,253
25.09
6,891
53.15
1,302
10.04
1,167
9.00
083
Kamalia
14,295
6,011
42.05
6,906
48.31
1,459
10.21
75
0.52
084
Jaranwala
9,833
2,534
25.77
 5,693
57.90
2,215
22.53
67
0.68
085
Jhang
50,051
24,506
48.96
23,246
46.44
217
0.43
39
0.08
086
Chiniot
34,437
23,050
66.93
11,158
32.40
58
0.17
12
0.03
087
Multan
142,768
81,393
57.01
56,477
39.56
2,665
1.87
680
0.48
088
Kahror
11,348
4,620
40.71
6,701
59.05
26
0.23
 -  
0.00
089
Khanewal
17,036
5,710
33.52
 9,283
54.49
1,664
9.77
278
1.63
090
Leiah
13,087
7,372
56.33
5,683
43.42
28
0.21
4
0.03
091
D. Ghazi Khan
32,139
18,810
58.53
12,989
40.42
157
0.49
37
0.12
092
Jampur
11,862
7,975
67.23
2,260
19.05
24
0.20
 3
0.03
093
Mandi
9,033
333
3.69
8,218
90.98
141
1.56
   -  
0.00
094
Kapurthala
26,067
15,093
57.90
8,968
34.40
1,594
6.12
20
0.08
095
Sultanpur
10,168
6,203
61.01
3,394
33.38
470
4.62
 -  
0.00
096
Phagwara
16,194
4,724
29.17
8,256
50.98
2,355
14.54
11
0.07
097
Maler Kotla
29,321
22,296
76.04
6,270
21.38
456
1.56
39
0.13
098
Faridkot
20,375
10,228
50.20
4,742
23.27
4,608
22.62
50
0.25
099
Kot Kapura
20,584
8,107
39.38
7,280
35.37
5,154
25.04
35
0.17
100
Patiala
69,850
26,116
37.39
27,361
39.17
5,894
22.75
   -  
0.00
101
Bassi
14,400
9,742
67.65
3,978
27.63
680
4.72
  -  
0.00
102
Samana
14,912
11,037
74.01
3,701
24.82
130
0.87
3
0.02
103
Sunam
14,187
5,329
37.56
5,166
36.41
3,439
24.24
17
0.12
104
Barnala
12,341
2,848
23.08
4,734
38.36
4,688
37.99
6
0.05
105
Bhatinda
24,833
8,431
33.95
9,828
39.58
5,645
22.73
    -  
0.00
106
Narnaul
23,063
9,750
42.28
8,080
35.03
81
0.35
2
0.01
107
Mohindargarh
9,771
4,492
45.97
5,180
53.01
98
1.00
1
0.01
108
Sangur
17,132
3,182
18.57
8,211
47.93
3,198
18.67
59
0.34
109
Jind
14,909
4,934
33.09
9,326
62.55
256
1.72
22
0.15
110
Nabha
22,625
8,942
39.52
9,735
43.03
2,307
10.20
12
0.05
111
Phul
9,515
1,480
15.55
5,854
61.52
1,324
13.91
7
0.07
112
Jaitu
11,435
2,450
21.43
5,776
50.51
3,174
27.76
      
0.00
113
Dhanaula
9,560
3,244
33.93
2,356
24.64
3,960
41.42
 -  
0.00
114
Bahwalpur
40,015
28,946
72.34
10,836
27.08
208
0.52
25
0.06
115
Ahmadpur East
12,255
6,920
56.47
5,303
43.27
32
0.26
 -  
0.00


While doing my research I noted many points that startled me, and I felt that the allegations of unfair award of the boundary commission and favouring India on this account, have solid grounds.

1.      Eight Muslim/Christian majority tehsils that were contiguous to Pakistan were given to India, on the pretext of "other factors".

2.      Not a single non Muslim majority tehsil was given to Pakistan.

3.   A large part of Kausr tehsil was awarded to India on the flimsy ground of protecting Amritsar city.

4. Due to the above mentioned reasons, state of Kapurthala, with clear Muslim majority and surrounded by Muslim majority tehsils, fell into India.

Tehsil
ArKm2
Population
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Dasuya
1,298
273,246
132,105
48.35
95,572
34.98
40,509
14.83
4,729
1.7
 Jullundur
1,008
443,010
226,623
51.16
123,718
27.93
86,996
19.64
4,656
1.05
 Nakodar
945
228,783
135,918
59.41
39,766
17.38
52,037
22.75
929
0.41
 Ferozepore
1,761
290,286
160,371
55.25
53,520
18.44
70,782
24.38
3,847
1.33
 Zira
1,279
210,819
137,586
65.26
18,863
8.95
50,209
23.82
3,801
1.80
 Ajnala
1,083
237,049
140,939
59.46
15,415
6.50
67,986
28.68
12,708
5.36
 Gurdaspur
1,287
328,819
171,498
52.16
57,281
17.42
76,695
23.32
22,506
6.84
 Batala
1,235
380,053
209,277
55.07
33,610
8.84
116,413
30.63
20,670
5.44
 Kapurthala
1,712
378,380
213,754
56.49
61,546
16.27
88,350
23.35
1,643
0.43











 Total
11,608
2,770,445
1,528,071
55.16
499,291
18.02
649,977
23.46
75,489
2.72

The above table clearly shows that the in these 9 units, Muslims/Christians had a clear majority of 57.88%, against Hindus/Sikhs population of 41.5%. But the question arises that in case all these tehsils were awarded to Pakistan, two non Muslim majority tehsils of Amritsar and Taran Taran would have formed an enclave inside Pakistan. First, these two tehsils were not contiguous to other non Muslim areas. Second even if they have fallen in Pakistan, the Muslim population was so large, that the whole block (consider the above area as Block A) would have still retained Muslim majority. As the table below shows:

Tehsil
ArKm2
Population
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Block A
11,608
2,770,380
1,528,071
55.16
499,291
18.02
649,977
23.46
75,489
2.72
Amritsar
1,414
789,159
359,025
45.49
175,771
22.27
243,297
30.83
8,948
1.14
Taran Taran
1,546
387,668
157,731
40.69
26,245
6.77
199,562
51.48
3,654
0.94
Total
14,658
3,947,207
2,044,827
51.80
701,307
17.77
1,092,836
27.69
88,091
2.23

There is one more point worth noting that tehsil Ferozepore consisted of two non contiguous part. It had an enclave of Nathana, which was a considerable area, in 1959 it was transferred to district Bathinda. Nathana and surrounding areas were predominantly non Muslims. I don't have figures for these two parts (Ferozepore & Nathana) separately, but I am sure that if we take the figures of Ferozepore proper only, the Muslim majority in this area must had been greater than 55.25%, which is for the whole tehsil, like neighbouring Zira (65.26%), or even more. 



There as another point which caught my attention is that Sikhs tried to  to portray themselves as the worst victims of this partition which cut their community into two halves. They still stress upon this point. But that is not the truth. Here too Muslims were the worst effected, as the figures given below show:


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Falling in Pakistan
12,600,912
69.71
2,307,435
22.39
1,365,288
26.90
  340,860
72.54
Falling in India
5,474,625
30.29
7,995,952
77.61
3,709,518
73.10
  129,053
27.46

So of all the communities Muslims had the highest percentage to fall on the wrong side of the new border. Actually this misunderstanding on part of Sikhs is probably due to the fact that while calculating their population they take figures of population falling only in British administered areas and ignore the population living in the princely states, where a large proportion of Sikhs lived.


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
The whole Punjab
18,259,744
53.22
10,336,549
30.13
5,115,185
14.91
 493,081
1.44 
British Punjab
16,217,242
57.07
7,894,087
27.78
3,757,401,
13.22
486,038
1.71
Princely States
2,042,744
34.67
2,442,942
41.46
1,358,784
23.07
7,043
0.12

As I mentioned above a large part in the eastern Punjab and Himalayan mountains was populated by Hindi/Urdu speaking people. Which were about 20 per cent of the total population of Punjab. The following table shows the religious composition based on language spoken by the people.


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
The whole Punjab
18,259,744
53.22
10,336,549
30.13
5,115,185
14.91
493,083
1.44
Punjabi Speaking 
16,827,041
61.97
4,841,874
17.83
4,916,950
18.11
485,292
1.79
Hindi/Urdu Speak.
1,432,708
20.00
5,490,353
76.63
199,234
2.78
8,789
0.12

The above given table shows a very interesting fact that the of the Punjabi nation 62% were Muslim according to the census of 1941, while Sikhs and Hindus were almost equal, with Sikhs slightly bigger percentage. 

After doing all this research, collecting data and making maps, I kept on thinking that what should have been a more just and fair award? Or what would have been my decision? So I came up with the following map:

If I were to decide the partition, I would have allocated some additional areas, shaded in light blue.

The basic rationale behind this proposal is to give Amritsar, being the holiest place for Sikhs, to India. While giving most of the Muslim majority areas to Pakistan, including some other areas in lieu of Muslim majority areas in Bist Doab. This additional territory I have marked with light blue colour. 

You are most welcome to send me you own suggestions, of course with reasons and arguments. I shall put them on this blog with your name and place. Sure this invitation is to my friends on the "other side" of the Radcliffe Line as well. Similarly I shall appreciate your suggestions to improve this article further or pointing out any inaccuracies. 

 Tariq Amir

23 October, 2014.
Doha - Qatar