A map of the distribution of native Punjabi speakers in India and Pakistan
With effect from 1 November 1966, there was yet another Reorganisation, this time on linguistic lines, when the state of Punjab as constituted in 1956 was divided into three: the mostly Hindi-speaking part became the present-day Indian state of Haryana and the mostly Punjabi-speaking part became the present-day Punjab,[4][5] while a new union territory (Chandigarh) was also created, to serve as a capital to both states. At the same time, some parts of the former territory of Patiala and East Punjab States Union, including Solan and Nalagarh, were transferred to Himachal Pradesh.
Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the Radcliffe Line was made into a new province – East Punjab. The area includes the contemporary states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by district and princely state with an overall total as per the 1941 Indian census.
Religion in the Districts & Princely States of East Punjab, India region (1941)[6]:42[a]
Note 1: Territory comprises the contemporary subdivisions of Punjab, India, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Note 2: 186 villages and 2 towns — Khemkaran and Patti — in Kasur Tehsil (Lahore District) fell on the eastern (Indian) side of the Radcliffe Line, but their population numbers are not included here as detailed sub-tehsil religious data did not exist at the time. According to the 1951 census, Kasur Tehsil had a total of 322 villages and 3 towns, roughly half of which fell on the western (Pakistani) side of the Radcliffe Line.[7]
1951 census
Religions in East Punjab, India region (1951)[3][e]
After Partition, East Punjab underwent significant restructuring, particularly in its Punjab States Agency. Several princely states in the region were merged in 1948 to form the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), while a number of hill states in the north were integrated to form Himachal Pradesh. Bilaspur Princely state remained a separate entity as Bilaspur State. In the 1951 census, these regions — Punjab, PEPSU, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur, and Delhi — were grouped together in a single volume titled Census of India, 1951: Punjab, Pepsu, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur & Delhi. Although Delhi was included in this volume, it had become a separate province in 1911 and is not considered part of East Punjab for statistical purposes.[3] Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by district with an overall total as per the 1951 census of India.
In the following tables, 268,602 people from the Jullundur Division were not classified by religion due to missing records caused by a fire in the Jullundur Census Tabulation Office. As a result, their religious affiliation could not be included at the district level. These unclassified populations were distributed across Amritsar district (96,720 persons), Gurdaspur district (89,512 persons), Jullundur district (46,834 persons), Ferozepur district (18,283 persons), Kangra district (9,565 persons), Hoshiarpur district (6,362 persons), and Ludhiana district (1,326 persons). [8] While their district level religious details were omitted, the number was included on the overall provincial tabulation. According to consolidated data, out of the 268,602 individuals, 117,186 persons were Hindus and others, 149,758 persons were Sikhs, and 1,658 persons were Muslims.[9] Therefore, the actual total population of the province/state was not 16,975,754 as shown in the tables below, but 17,244,356 after including these 268,602 individuals.
Religion in the Districts of East Punjab, India region (1951)[3][e]
The 1961 Census data reflects the post-reorganization administrative boundaries. By this time, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) had been fully merged into Punjab on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act. Additionally, the former princely state of Bilaspur, a Part-C state, was merged into Himachal Pradesh in 1954. Therefore, the 1961 census tables include populations from the territories of both Punjab (including the former PEPSU regions) and Himachal Pradesh (including Bilaspur), as per their reorganized state boundaries.
By the time of the 1971 Census, the administrative boundaries of the region had changed significantly following the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966, which came into effect on 1 November 1966. Under this Act, the state of Haryana was created out of the southeastern portion of Punjab, and several hilly regions were transferred to Himachal Pradesh. Additionally, an area comprising the city of Chandigarh Capital Project, Manimajra and 36 villages from Kharar Tehsil was separated from Punjab to form the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The 1971 Census was conducted according to the same administrative boundaries that exist today for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh Union Territory.
East Punjab comprising the states of (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union territory of Chandigarh) had a population of 61,014,852 people as of 2011 census report of India. The Hindus form a majority in East Punjab region with 40,234,605 adherents comprising (65.94%), Sikhs are 17,466,731 comprising (28.62%) of the region, Muslims are 2,518,159 comprising (4.12%) of the region and others are 795,357 including Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and atheists together comprising remaining (1.3%) of the region.
Sikhs are the majority in Punjab, while Hindus form the majority in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh. Muslims survived in districts of Malerkotla and Nuh. Christians have dominance in Punjab while Bhuddhist dominate Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. [17]
As per 2011 census, Punjabi is the most spoken language and is spoken by 28,166,306 people, followed by Hindi which is spoken by 16,259,205 people, Haryanvi by 9,423,138 people and Western Pahari language by 4,599,283 people. While 2,580,928 people speaks other languages like Nepali.[18]
Modern usage
Since it ceased to be the name of a state, "East Punjab" has been used in India to refer to the eastern part of the present Punjab state, while in Pakistan it means the eastern part of Pakistan's Punjab province, although Pakistanis also sometimes refer to the current Indian Punjab as "East Punjab".[19] Terms East and West Punjab are also often used in modern India and Pakistan when making a comparison between the two territories.
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