Colonial Punjab and its Partition: Looking back at the events in the Punjab during British Administration from 1849 to 1947

Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lahore Kingdom stretched from Sutlej in the east to the Khyber Pass in the west.

The British annexed Punjab, a full 92 years after the fall of Plassey.

After the Mutiny of 1857, Delhi and Hissar were was added to the Punjab Province. From the Punjab, the areas to the west beyond the Indus were separated in 1901 and a separate province NWFP (presently KPK) was formed.

Great development of Punjab took place under the British, particularly the building of canals and extension of Irrigation facilities.

Under the viceroy Lord Curzon and in 1912, the capital Delhi was separated from the Punjab. Under the British rule, it came to be called 'the Province of the Punjab.

When the call for Swadeshi was made, Punjabi youth abroad got involved in the Ghadar movement and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre further distanced the Punjabis from the British. But the Communal Award was used by the British to divide the communities and already minority quota during elections had been enforced.

The very high voltage assembly elections of 1946 resulted in Muslim League emerging on the top and it alienated the Muslims and the Non-Muslims. Sikh-Muslim relations had deteriorated already after the Shaheedgunj Mosque/gurdwara controversy.

The March riots of Rawalpindi and Northern Punjab saw an exodus of the Non-Muslims towards East and 500,000 left West Punjab before 15th August. The Post-partition months saw savage killings of minorities on both sides of the Punjab and by 1948, the ethnic cleansing of Punjab was over.