West Punjab ‎لہندا پنجاب مغربی پنجاب
Former province of Pakistan
1947–1955
Flag
Province of West Punjab in Pakistan
Capital	Lahore
Demonym	Punjabi
Area
• 1947–1955	159,344 km2 (61,523 sq mi)
Government
• Type	Self-governing province subject to thecentral government
Governor
• 1947–1949	Francis Mudie
• 1949–1951	Abdur Rab Nishtar
• 1951–1953	I. I. Chundrigar
• 1953–1954	Mian Aminuddin
• 1954	Habib Rahimtoola
• 1954–1955	Mian Mushtaq Ahmed
Chief Minister
• 1947–1949	Iftikhar Hussain Khan
• 1951–1953	Mumtaz Daultana
• 1953–1955	Feroz Khan Noon
• 1955	Abdul Hamid Khan
Historical era	Cold War
• Established	14 August 1947
• Disestablished	14 October 1955
Political subdivisions	Lahore Division Sargodha Division Multan Division Rawalpindi Division
Preceded by Succeeded by British Punjab West Pakistan
Today part of	Pakistan Punjab Islamabad Capital Territory
Government of Punjab

This article is part of the series
Former administrative units of Pakistan
Original provinces Baluchistan East Bengal Federal Capital Territory Federally Administered Tribal Areas North-West Frontier Province Sind West Punjab
Princely states Amb Bahawalpur Chitral Dir Hunza Kalat Khairpur Kharan Las Bela Makran Nagar Phulra Swat
One-unit provinces East Pakistan West Pakistan
Other subdivisions Gilgit Agency Trans-Karakoram Tract
v t e

West Punjab (Punjabi:‎لہندا پنجاب‎;Urdu:مغربی پنجاب) was a province in theDominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. It was established from the western-half ofBritish Punjab, following theindependence of Pakistan. The province covered an area of 159,344 km sq (61523 sq mi), including much of the currentPunjab province and theIslamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the formerPrincely state of Bahawalpur. 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 andRawalpindi) and was bordered by thestate of Bahawalpur to the south-east, the province ofBaluchistan to the south-west andSind to the south,North-West Frontier Province to the north-west, andAzad Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It sharedInternational border with Indian state ofEast Punjab to the east andIndian-administered Jammu & Kashmir to the north-east. It was dissolved and merged intoWest Pakistan upon creation ofOne Unit Scheme, in 1955.

The creation of Pakistan in 1947 led to the division of thePunjab Province ofBritish India into two new provinces. The largelySikh andHinduEast Punjab became part of the new nation ofIndia while the largelyMuslim West Punjab became part of the new nation of theDominion of Pakistan. The name of the province was shortened toPunjab in 1950. West Punjab was merged into the province ofWest Pakistan in 1955 under the One Unit policy announced by Prime MinisterChaudhary Muhammad Ali. When that province was dissolved, the area of the former province of West Punjab was combined with the former state ofBahawalpur to form a newPunjab Province.

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 wasSir Francis Mudie withIftikhar 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 firstGovernor of West Pakistan.

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1901)^{[2]: 34 [3]: 62 [b]}

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[a]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Lahore District	717,519	61.74%	276,375	23.78%	159,701	13.74%	7,296	0.63%	1,047	0.09%	171	0.01%	1,162,109	100%
Sialkot District	716,953	66.15%	302,012	27.86%	50,982	4.7%	11,939	1.1%	2,008	0.19%	15	0%	1,083,909	100%
Rawalpindi District	803,283	86.32%	86,269	9.27%	32,234	3.46%	7,614	0.82%	1,068	0.11%	67	0.01%	930,535	100%
Lyallpur District	484,657	61.2%	210,459	26.58%	88,049	11.12%	8,672	1.1%	23	0%	1	0%	791,861	100%
Gujranwala District	531,908	70.28%	169,594	22.41%	51,607	6.82%	2,748	0.36%	932	0.12%	8	0%	756,797	100%
Gujrat District	655,838	87.38%	69,346	9.24%	24,893	3.32%	460	0.06%	11	0%	0	0%	750,548	100%
Bahawalpur State	598,139	82.97%	114,670	15.91%	7,985	1.11%	83	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	720,877	100%
Multan District	570,254	80.25%	133,560	18.79%	4,662	0.66%	1,964	0.28%	134	0.02%	52	0.01%	710,626	100%
Jhelum District	526,725	88.67%	51,801	8.72%	15,070	2.54%	271	0.05%	151	0.03%	0	0%	594,018	100%
Shahpur District	442,921	84.49%	68,489	13.06%	12,756	2.43%	91	0.02%	2	0%	0	0%	524,259	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	412,012	87.45%	57,815	12.27%	1,027	0.22%	152	0.03%	143	0.03%	0	0%	471,149	100%
Montgomery District	334,474	72.15%	109,945	23.72%	19,092	4.12%	66	0.01%	8	0%	1	0%	463,586	100%
Mianwali District	371,674	87.54%	50,202	11.82%	2,633	0.62%	44	0.01%	35	0.01%	0	0%	424,588	100%
Muzaffargarh District	350,177	86.32%	52,221	12.87%	3,225	0.8%	33	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	405,656	100%
Jhang District	295,481	78.03%	79,650	21.03%	3,526	0.93%	38	0.01%	0	0%	0	0%	378,695	100%
Shakargarh Tehsil[c]	115,189	49.13%	111,819	47.69%	6,557	2.8%	900	0.38%	0	0%	0	0%	234,465	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	23,951	99.44%	136	0.56%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	24,087	100%
Total	7,951,155	76.25%	1,944,363	18.65%	483,999	4.64%	42,371	0.41%	5,562	0.05%	315	0.003%	10,427,765	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary state ofPunjab, Pakistan.

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1911)^{[4]: 27 [5]: 27 [d]}

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[a]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Lahore District	626,271	60.44%	217,609	21%	169,008	16.31%	21,781	2.1%	1,139	0.11%	350	0.03%	1,036,158	100%
Sialkot District	604,801	61.74%	242,325	24.74%	81,761	8.35%	48,620	4.96%	2,029	0.21%	17	0%	979,553	100%
Gujranwala District	622,430	67.4%	176,075	19.07%	107,748	11.67%	16,215	1.76%	950	0.1%	1	0%	923,419	100%
Lyallpur District	524,288	61.13%	154,603	18.03%	146,670	17.1%	32,023	3.73%	125	0.01%	2	0%	857,711	100%
Multan District	665,488	81.67%	126,603	15.54%	19,881	2.44%	2,441	0.3%	394	0.05%	64	0.01%	814,871	100%
Bahawalpur State	654,247	83.81%	109,548	14.03%	16,630	2.13%	199	0.03%	15	0%	2	0%	780,641	100%
Gujrat District	650,893	87.29%	49,430	6.63%	44,693	5.99%	570	0.08%	48	0.01%	0	0%	745,634	100%
Shahpur District	572,565	83.3%	72,695	10.58%	33,456	4.87%	8,616	1.25%	5	0%	29	0%	687,366	100%
Muzaffargarh District	494,915	86.91%	68,158	11.97%	6,322	1.11%	60	0.01%	1	0%	5	0%	569,461	100%
Rawalpindi District	458,101	83.62%	48,449	8.84%	31,839	5.81%	8,320	1.52%	1,028	0.19%	90	0.02%	547,827	100%
Montgomery District	399,723	74.67%	66,803	12.48%	68,175	12.74%	581	0.11%	13	0%	4	0%	535,299	100%
Attock District	471,890	90.88%	19,741	3.8%	26,914	5.18%	707	0.14%	9	0%	12	0%	519,273	100%
Jhang District	422,468	81.95%	73,426	14.24%	19,427	3.77%	201	0.04%	4	0%	0	0%	515,526	100%
Jhelum District	452,260	88.41%	34,261	6.7%	24,436	4.78%	450	0.09%	163	0.03%	5	0%	511,575	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	442,234	88.47%	56,485	11.3%	1,042	0.21%	76	0.02%	23	0%	0	0%	499,860	100%
Mianwali District	299,971	87.87%	36,326	10.64%	4,881	1.43%	168	0.05%	31	0.01%	0	0%	341,377	100%
Shakargarh Tehsil[c]	103,356	49.11%	93,052	44.22%	10,553	5.01%	3,486	1.66%	0	0%	0	0%	210,447	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	28,413	99.39%	169	0.59%	5	0.02%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	28,587	100%
Total	8,494,314	76.49%	1,645,758	14.82%	813,441	7.33%	144,514	1.3%	5,977	0.05%	581	0.01%	11,104,585	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary state ofPunjab, Pakistan.

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1921)^{[6]: 29 [e]}

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[a]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Lahore District	647,640	57.25%	255,690	22.6%	179,975	15.91%	46,454	4.11%	1,209	0.11%	368	0.03%	1,131,336	100%
Lyallpur District	594,917	60.74%	181,488	18.53%	160,821	16.42%	42,004	4.29%	231	0.02%	2	0%	979,463	100%
Sialkot District	580,532	61.9%	217,912	23.24%	74,939	7.99%	62,266	6.64%	2,147	0.23%	27	0%	937,823	100%
Multan District	731,605	82.18%	134,013	15.05%	18,562	2.08%	6,006	0.67%	28	0%	50	0.01%	890,264	100%
Gujrat District	709,684	86.12%	62,529	7.59%	49,456	6%	2,373	0.29%	4	0%	0	0%	824,046	100%
Bahawalpur State	647,207	82.85%	114,621	14.67%	19,071	2.44%	283	0.04%	1	0%	8	0%	781,191	100%
Shahpur District	596,100	82.8%	82,182	11.42%	30,361	4.22%	11,270	1.57%	3	0%	2	0%	719,918	100%
Montgomery District	513,055	71.88%	94,791	13.28%	95,520	13.38%	10,408	1.46%	12	0%	0	0%	713,786	100%
Gujranwala District	443,147	71.06%	101,566	16.29%	50,802	8.15%	27,308	4.38%	754	0.12%	4	0%	623,581	100%
Jhang District	475,388	83.32%	85,339	14.96%	9,376	1.64%	449	0.08%	7	0%	0	0%	570,559	100%
Rawalpindi District	470,038	82.58%	57,185	10.05%	31,718	5.57%	9,286	1.63%	954	0.17%	43	0.01%	569,224	100%
Muzaffargarh District	493,369	86.79%	69,878	12.29%	4,869	0.86%	356	0.06%	6	0%	0	0%	568,478	100%
Sheikhupura District	330,880	63.25%	85,781	16.4%	82,965	15.86%	23,431	4.48%	78	0.01%	0	0%	523,135	100%
Attock District	465,694	90.91%	26,184	5.11%	19,809	3.87%	557	0.11%	5	0%	0	0%	512,249	100%
Jhelum District	422,979	88.66%	34,837	7.3%	18,626	3.9%	430	0.09%	195	0.04%	1	0%	477,068	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	411,431	87.72%	56,346	12.01%	932	0.2%	47	0.01%	296	0.06%	0	0%	469,052	100%
Mianwali District	308,876	86.23%	45,974	12.83%	2,986	0.83%	369	0.1%	0	0%	0	0%	358,205	100%
Shakargarh Tehsil[c]	106,168	49.88%	90,645	42.59%	12,303	5.78%	3,733	1.75%	0	0%	0	0%	212,849	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	26,578	99.33%	180	0.67%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	26,758	100%
Total	8,975,288	75.49%	1,797,141	15.12%	863,091	7.26%	247,030	2.08%	5,930	0.05%	505	0.004%	11,888,985	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary state ofPunjab, Pakistan.

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of West Punjab, Pakistan region (1931)^{[7]: 277 [g]}

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism[f]		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[a]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Lahore District	815,820	59.18%	259,725	18.84%	244,304	17.72%	57,097	4.14%	1,450	0.11%	174	0.01%	1,378,570	100%
Multan District	942,937	80.26%	182,029	15.49%	39,453	3.36%	9,924	0.84%	440	0.04%	117	0.01%	1,174,900	100%
Lyallpur District	720,996	62.62%	173,344	15.06%	211,391	18.36%	45,518	3.95%	95	0.01%	7	0%	1,151,351	100%
Montgomery District	697,542	69.77%	136,783	13.68%	148,155	14.82%	17,245	1.72%	38	0%	9	0%	999,772	100%
Bahawalpur State	799,176	81.17%	149,454	15.18%	34,896	3.54%	1,054	0.11%	12	0%	20	0%	984,612	100%
Sialkot District	609,633	62.23%	206,421	21.07%	94,955	9.69%	66,365	6.77%	2,236	0.23%	7	0%	979,617	100%
Gujrat District	786,750	85.29%	73,356	7.95%	59,188	6.42%	3,097	0.34%	32	0%	4	0%	922,427	100%
Shahpur District	679,546	82.72%	90,561	11.02%	40,074	4.88%	11,294	1.37%	14	0%	1	0%	821,490	100%
Gujranwala District	521,343	70.82%	92,764	12.6%	71,595	9.73%	49,364	6.71%	1,071	0.15%	1	0%	736,138	100%
Sheikhupura District	445,996	64.01%	81,887	11.75%	119,477	17.15%	49,266	7.07%	100	0.01%	6	0%	696,732	100%
Jhang District	552,853	83.16%	102,990	15.49%	8,476	1.27%	494	0.07%	0	0%	20	0%	664,833	100%
Rawalpindi District	524,965	82.76%	59,485	9.38%	41,265	6.51%	7,486	1.18%	1,077	0.17%	79	0.01%	634,357	100%
Muzaffargarh District	513,265	86.79%	72,577	12.27%	5,287	0.89%	246	0.04%	0	0%	0	0%	591,375	100%
Attock District	531,793	91.07%	31,932	5.47%	19,522	3.34%	710	0.12%	2	0%	1	0%	583,960	100%
Jhelum District	482,097	89.1%	36,068	6.67%	22,030	4.07%	672	0.12%	209	0.04%	0	0%	541,076	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	432,911	88.16%	57,217	11.65%	760	0.15%	31	0.01%	125	0.03%	0	0%	491,044	100%
Mianwali District	357,109	86.77%	49,794	12.1%	4,231	1.03%	380	0.09%	20	0%	5	0%	411,539	100%
Shakargarh Tehsil[c]	125,828	50.87%	101,318	40.96%	15,730	6.36%	4,487	1.81%	0	0%	0	0%	247,363	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	29,469	99.42%	173	0.58%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	29,642	100%
Total	10,570,029	75.28%	1,957,878	13.94%	1,180,789	8.41%	324,730	2.31%	6,921	0.05%	451	0.003%	14,040,798	100%
Territory comprises the contemporary state ofPunjab, Pakistan.

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)^{[8]: 42 [h]}

District/ Princely State	Islam		Hinduism[f]		Sikhism		Christianity		Jainism		Others[a]		Total
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Lahore District	1,027,772	60.62%	284,689	16.79%	310,646	18.32%	70,147	4.14%	1,951	0.12%	170	0.01%	1,695,375	100%
Multan District	1,157,911	78.01%	249,872	16.83%	61,628	4.15%	14,290	0.96%	552	0.04%	80	0.01%	1,484,333	100%
Lyallpur District	877,518	62.85%	204,059	14.61%	262,737	18.82%	51,948	3.72%	35	0%	8	0%	1,396,305	100%
Bahawalpur State	1,098,814	81.93%	174,408	13%	46,945	3.5%	3,048	0.23%	351	0.03%	17,643	1.32%	1,341,209	100%
Montgomery District	918,564	69.11%	210,966	15.87%	175,064	13.17%	24,432	1.84%	49	0%	28	0%	1,329,103	100%
Sialkot District	739,218	62.09%	231,319	19.43%	139,409	11.71%	75,831	6.37%	3,250	0.27%	1,470	0.12%	1,190,497	100%
Gujrat District	945,609	85.58%	84,643	7.66%	70,233	6.36%	4,449	0.4%	10	0%	8	0%	1,104,952	100%
Shahpur District	835,918	83.68%	102,172	10.23%	48,046	4.81%	12,770	1.28%	13	0%	2	0%	998,921	100%
Gujranwala District	642,706	70.45%	108,115	11.85%	99,139	10.87%	60,829	6.67%	1,445	0.16%	0	0%	912,234	100%
Sheikhupura District	542,344	63.62%	89,182	10.46%	160,706	18.85%	60,054	7.04%	221	0.03%	1	0%	852,508	100%
Jhang District	678,736	82.61%	129,889	15.81%	12,238	1.49%	763	0.09%	5	0%	0	0%	821,631	100%
Rawalpindi District	628,193	80%	82,478	10.5%	64,127	8.17%	9,014	1.15%	1,337	0.17%	82	0.01%	785,231	100%
Muzaffargarh District	616,074	86.42%	90,643	12.72%	5,882	0.83%	227	0.03%	0	0%	23	0%	712,849	100%
Attock District	611,128	90.42%	43,209	6.39%	20,120	2.98%	1,392	0.21%	13	0%	13	0%	675,875	100%
Jhelum District	563,033	89.42%	40,888	6.49%	24,680	3.92%	893	0.14%	159	0.03%	5	0%	629,658	100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District	512,678	88.19%	67,407	11.59%	1,072	0.18%	87	0.01%	106	0.02%	0	0%	581,350	100%
Mianwali District	436,260	86.16%	62,814	12.41%	6,865	1.36%	358	0.07%	23	0%	1	0%	506,321	100%
Shakargarh Tehsil[c]	149,600	51.32%	116,553	39.98%	20,573	7.06%	4,779	1.64%	0	0%	0	0%	291,505	100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract	40,084	99.6%	160	0.4%	2	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	40,246	100%
Total	13,022,160	75.06%	2,373,466	13.68%	1,530,112	8.82%	395,311	2.28%	9,520	0.05%	19,534	0.11%	17,350,103	100%
Note: Territory comprises the contemporary state ofPunjab, Pakistan.

The official language of West Punjab wasUrdu but most of the population spokePunjabi. The linguistGeorge Abraham Grierson in his multi volumeLinguistic Survey of India (1904–1928) considered the various dialects up to then called "Western Punjabi", spoken in North, West, and South of Lahore in what is now Pakistani Punjab, as constituting instead a distinct language from Punjabi. (The local dialect of Lahore is the Majhi dialect of Punjabi, which has long been the basis of standard literary Punjabi.) Grierson proposed to name this putative language "Lahnda", and he dubbed as "Southern Lahnda" the coherent dialect cluster now known as Saraiki spoken inMultanDera Ghazi Khan andBahawalpur division and "North Lahnda" now known asPotwari spoken inRawalpindi division and "Western Lahnda" now known asHindko spoken in the regions bordering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The term is often used to refer to thePakistani Punjab.^[9]

• History of Punjab
• Punjab region
• Punjab (Pakistan)
• Punjab (India)
• Haryana
• Bahawalpur State

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWest Punjab.

• Government of Punjab
• Punjab Provincial Assembly RecordsArchived 10 March 2007 at theWayback Machine
• Population at 1951 census by Statoids.com

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