Deprivation of Southern Punjab

«The British Lion of the Land of the Five Rivers: Policy of Great Britain in the Punjab in XIX century» is a book by Kirill Demichev that is devoted to the process of socio-economic and political development of the Punjab in the period of rule of the British East India Company. It was time of establishment of the British government on this territory. A wide range of historical sources was used by the author. A whole range of insufficiently known questions was analyzed. They are concerned to the Punjab’s development after coming to rule of the East India Company and then the Crown. Problem of studying of laws governing of development of the Eastern countries and their separate regions has a special urgency now. Retrospective researches allow considering the socio-economic and political processes occurring in the East today. Chronological frameworks of this paper cover the period from 1806 to 1901 year. The bottom chronological border is caused by an establishment of official relations between the East Indian Company and the Sikh Empire. It was as a result of the conclusion of the first intergovernmental agreement. Top border is a division of a province into two subjects of administrative governing. Actually, it was the Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province. In the introduction the author substantiates the urgency and scientific novelty of research, also he states main objectives and goals. Historiography and original sources of the issue are characterized. In chapter one the author considers Anglo-Sikh relation at the stage of formation and development in the period of existence of the independent Sikh Empire. Much attention is given to evolution of the policy of the East Indian Company concerning the Punjab in the period of ruling of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and the successors to him. For the first time there are fully analyzed not only political treaties, but also Anglo-Sikh subagency contracts. The author has come to the conclusion, that trading expansion of the East Indian Company had developed into the political expansion ended with the Annexation of the Punjab State. The next stage of the British policy concerning the Punjab is analyzed in the second chapter. It is connected with the establishment of administration of the East India Company and transformation of the Sikh State in a province of the British India. In the frameworks of this stage the periodization is formed and substantiated. Evolution of a state legal system of the Punjab is served as a criterion for periodization. Great importance has an author’s conclusion about origin of symbiosis of the British and the Punjab judicial traditions. That was as a result of an inclusion of local judicial institutes in state legal system of the Punjab. Analyzing socio-economic development of the Punjab, special attention is given to the North-West frontier districts. They had taken the central place in system of defense of the British India. On the basis of analyzes of separate districts data, a conclusion is that the English had to consider not only their fiscal interests, but also a special status of a province to realize socio-economic policy. It was caused by its position on the frontier of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Despite some negative moments, socio-economic development of the Punjab in the period of administration of the East Indian Company had positive character on the whole. This fact is attributed to overcoming the first Land Settlement and development of an infrastructure of the province. This fact, and also well-reasoned point about integration of the province into trading-making system of the East Indian Company, changes a little that developed idea of consequences of the British policy in the Punjab after annexation. Third chapter is considered to a development of the state legal and socio-economic system of the Punjab in the period of a direct administration of the British Crown. Analyzing the state legal system, a conclusion is made that it had an evolutional character of development and continuity in relation to previous period. The author comes to a conclusion that the basis of this development is made by the process of separation of branches of powers. First of all, the Judicial branch is separated from the Executive branch. That was reflected in formation of the Chief Court, Session Court, District Court and Subordinate Court. Great interest had well-argued conclusion that development of judicial, executive, municipal, educational, etc. systems had a positive character and corresponded to requirements of time. It is according to the period after a transition of India under a direct administration of the British Crown. On the basis of the northwestern districts material, which is mainly occupied by the Moslems, the author comes to a conclusion that the British policy had a continuity tradition on these territories. It is reflected in the special administrating territorial system and preservation of Councils of Elders and a number of other activities. Speaking about socio-economic development of the Punjab, the author concludes that negative tendencies increase gradually. Firstly, it is connected with private ownership introduction of land, conversion a land tax from natural form to a fixed monetary form, and also unavailability of a great bulk of a country people to a new system of economic relations. The beginning of the process of washing out and transformation of a social base of the British dominion connected, on the one hand, with ruining of agricultural tribes, and, on the other hand, with strengthening of the status of the representatives of moneyed classes, which have been included not only in trading-making system of the province, but also in its administrating system.

Ever since its accession in 1849, Punjab had been received explicit attention in the colonial policies on account of its strategic and political importance to the British Empire. The colonial rule had brought a slew of transformations in the diverse fields such as education, agriculture, transport and communication and social institutions. The building of military infrastructure in Punjab was one of them, which got the primary position in the military calculus of British empire. It had played very crucial role in the maintaining, sustaining and escalating the colonial rule at various places. After the 1857 revolt, Punjab had acquired a significant place in the British geostrategic calculus and became a gargantuan recruitment ground for the British Indian Army. Thus, geostrategic importance and impending attack from the Russian Empire, so called the Great Game obligated the British Empire to focus on the military infrastructure with allied institutions in the region. Thus, Punjab had not only been as a major center of recruitment of British Indian Army; rather it became the network hub of several military cantonments and Firozpur is one of them. Firozpur had a pivotal role not only in strengthening the empire; rather it played a foundational role in turning Firozpur into a modern city, transforming its social-economic perspective. The aim of the present work is to investigate the multiple, and complex transformations took place in Firozpur city due to its cantonmentization, particularly during the colonial rule.

Abstract British rule in Punjab is commonly perceived as an ideal in the domain of revolutionary reforms in the institution-building and good governance. Sir Robert Fulton considers ‘justice’ as the strong foundation of the British Empire in the Subcontinent as he says, ‘England retains its supremacy in India mainly by justice. Without justice we could not hold India for a moment.’ The Punjab had experienced no tradition of ‘rule of law’ before the advent of the British. Therefore its environment presented compatibility with the ‘Authoritarian Paternalism’ as enunciated by eminent historian David Gilmartin. The oral history accounts testify an effective working of the British government institutions and apparatus in the Punjab but the region underwent injustice in several domains during the British rule. Today, the political culture of Pakistan dominated by the Punjab has ramified in numerous ills that root in the Colonial period as many injustices occurred in Punjab by the British imperialists. The British imperialism was modern in nature but not a new phenomenon in the Punjab because more than twenty dynasties had already ruled over this region before them which entrenched a sense of apathy, deprivation and lacking in the political wisdom among masses. The absence of proper education, genuine leadership, economic prosperity and technological development added further problems. The agriculture in modern times became outdated financial means in the absence of technical and technological advancement. Pakistan lacks scientific capacity to utilize the natural resources in different areas of the country. A creative leadership needs to cope with the situation although it seems next to impossible in the near future to counter the continuity of this doom and devastation. How this paradox started and who to be held responsible for the locus of problems are the major questions to be dealt with in this article. The British introduced reforms gradually although did not dare to promulgate them in a pure sense. Therefore, a major portion of the problems experienced by Pakistan have a direct link with the British imperialism in the Punjab. The British possessed a quality of prowess, intellectual potential and infrastructure to change the entire scenario although, they left a legacy in the form of weak institutions and traditions which still exist and debar every positive change because all these existing arrangements suit the political and economic tycoons. Redressing the group interests by the ruling magnets and ignoring the stakeholders away from the power corridors are traditions practised and legalised by the British colonialism. Still the common people in Pakistan have been passing through the same ordeals.

________________________________________________________________ When Punjab was annexed in 1849, the British had already created well-established systems of political governance, financed by its efficient land revenue administration. Experience in Madras and Bengal afforded the British insight and expertise to gauge Punjab's potential as the 'model agricultural province' from 1860s onwards. Peace and prosperity in the province made service in the Punjab Commission of the Indian Civil Service extremely coveted. Hence special rules had to be devised so that creaming off the ablest officers could be precluded. For the British, Punjab was important because of the loyalty and prosperity of the cultivators. Therefore the 'troublesome' nationalist agitators were not given free reins. However ensuring political stability along with the agricultural development was a daunting task. The author investigates the threefold process of (i) ownership and transfer of land, (ii) agrarian development and social engineering and (iii) customary law that formed the cornerstone of the British policy of political control. ________________________________________________________________ When the British annexed the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab in 1849, they already ruled most of the subcontinent. From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, the East India Company had transformed itself from a trading monopoly to a territorial ruler. It had created well-established systems of political control which were financed by its efficient land revenue administration. In Madras this was based on the encouragement of peasant proprietors, in Bengal on the protection of the zamindars. Yet within a few years, the Punjab was regarded as India's model agricultural province. 1 Service in the Punjab Commission of the Indian Civil Service was so attractive that special rules had to be introduced to prevent it creaming off the ablest administrators. The Punjab's esteem in the colonial authorities' eyes rested on the loyalty and prosperity of its cultivators. The former characteristic ensured that 'troublesome' nationalist agitators were kept at bay; the latter was an eloquent testament to the British ability to do good to their Indian subjects. The requirements of political stability and agricultural development were not, however, as easily reconciled as the self-congratulatory official colonist discourse allowed. This paper examines the contradictions between order and transformation which lay at the heart of the imperial enterprise in Punjab with respect firstly, to ownership and transfer of land, secondly, to agrarian development and social engineering, and thirdly, to customary law. Before turning to these areas, it is necessary to examine the background to the conflicting claims of order and transformation in the Punjab's colonial discourse.

Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 2021

The article looks at the Chenab Colony Project launched in 1892 in Colonial Punjab and discusses the divisive colonial policies that projected caste categories on to the landscape of an irrigation scheme. It explains how the spatial plan was closely linked with the canal design but also with administrative control and efficiency. The purpose was to manage Chenab Colony by making it a navigable and controllable space. The intersection of uneven water distribution with discriminatory land allotments were part of a contradictory colonial space that fragmented the lived experience of the colonized population isolating them from their natural space to take control of their relationship with their environment.

The economic exploitation of East Pakistan started right from the outset after the partition of India in 1947. The economic marginalization of east Bengal (later East Pakistan) began in 17 th century by the British and it continued in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper discusses that the state of Pakistan especially under Ayub's did not make serious efforts for the economic uplift of East Pakistan and the economic disparities between East and West Pakistan in terms of international trade, inter-wing trade, foreign exchange earnings, aid flow and developmental expenditures. In pre-colonial period things in East Bengal looked promising. It had sufficient water supply for double or even triple cropping; its higher literacy rate, and absence of land tenure after the exodus of Hindu landlords pointed to east Bengal great potential for agricultural development. 2 The part of Bengal which became East Pakistan in 1947 was neglected under British: a dormant economy except for jute; a lack of infrastructure; an under governed territory; a severe shortage of modern elites, especially among the Muslims. Bengal which used to be the most flourishing provinces in the subcontinent for the last two thousand years, it became repository of extreme poverty. 3 Colonial Legacy Under the British Raj, not only the agricultural resources, industries, and trade of Bengal were severely exploited and damaged, but, it also received less consideration in the allocation of resources. The main reason behind this unfair attitude was that the British found the bloodiest and aggressive opposition to British coming from Bengal during the 'Battle of Plassey' 1757. Geographical anomalies, uneven economic development and an imbalance in the representation of regions in the state apparatus army and bureaucracy-were, therefore, the legacies of the colonial period. 4 West Pakistan's experience of regional imbalance was not historically unique. The colonial legacy and the existing market forces in the economy affected the development process in a way which intensifies the social and economic disparities between the two regions. There can be traced four important implications of colonial legacy: firstly, considerable economic inequalities had already arisen which ultimately determined the future course of regional development. Secondly, the countries had been left in a state of chaos and impoverishment so that the new born states did not have enough resources to reconstruct infrastructures in economically depressed regions. Thirdly, the geographical boundaries of new born states were not always drawn with consideration to the principles of economic and cultural commonness. Fourthly, the state apparatus inherited by the underdeveloped countries did not truly reflect regional interests. As a result, several regions did not

Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 2021

This article discusses the British system of political and administrative control, based on collaboration and its fallout on rural agricultural society of SouthWest Punjab. Using archival documents, the article brings forward an elaborate plan of colonial administrative policy under which Punjab was sliced from North West Frontier and Mianwali's incorporation in the Punjab despite being part of Bannu district of North West Frontier with a predominantly Pathan population. The focus is on how with the support of local elite as colonial intermediaries created a social structure which led to the growth of parasitic class that became instrumental for the extraction and exploitation at the cost of rural poor. These collaborating elite assisted the British in maintaining stability and peace, helped in recruitment in army with pro-British political orientations. British considered it crucial to sustain indigenous institutions and tribal structure, manipulated and controlled by colonial hierarchy to work for colonial interests. The nexus of state and colonial elite precluded all prospects of development.

Even though large number of anthropologists have paid attention to the process of urbanisation very few of them have entertained the idea that high urban primacy or lack thereof, is a social pattern which influences the cultural values, politics and social behaviour of a region in the wider context. While analysing the process of urbanization one usually notes the existence of three types of city size distribution. These are central place, rank size and primate city distributions. This paper is primarily concerned with the last two. Rank size distribution is important as it is indicative of political unity and an integrated urban system while primate city – size distribution indicates if there is any imbalance in the distribution of cities. Moreover it is a useful tool for the analysis of the decline and growth of individual cities, of a class of cities and of the entire group of cities in a given region. In the above background, the present paper addresses the question of city-size distribution in colonial Punjab from 1901 to 1941. Due to the paucity of data the area of study is restricted to the state of Punjab after Independence. Although an overview of the province of Punjab will be sited. In the first section the paper discusses the theoretical bases of the paper followed by the methodology. In the second section the temporal analysis of the city-size distribution in Punjab will be analysed and in the third section the rank-size distribution and urban primacy will be analysed. The last section will critically analyse the urban system that evolved in Punjab under the last phase of British rule with conclusions drawn from the study.

Post Lahore Resolution (1940) events rapidly went in favour of theMuslims of the Indian Subcontinent. Progressing on the road to freedom, the homeland they aspired and demanded for; claiming parts of the subcontinent which not only comprised their majority but also possessed historical and geographical significance to them. However; the gloomy side of the last episode of this melodrama was the decisions made by the Indian Boundary Commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe who was forced to include Muslim majority areas of Punjab and Bengal into Indian territories which provedfatal and fateful for the Muslims. The research paper in hand is an illustrative study of the decisions made by the Punjab Boundary Commission in 1947 which, in turn, created severalproblems to the nascent state of Pakistan and unfortunately after aroundseventy years these problems are still a hurdle in the way of progress and are the prime cause of contention between Pakistan and Bharat.