Islam in Punjab, India

Muslim mosque in Amritsar

Total population
535,489 (2011 census)
(1.93% of the state population)
Regions with significant populations
Malerkotla, Qadian, Ludhiana, Amritsar
Religions
Islam
Languages
Punjabi, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu)

Islam is a minority religion in Punjab, India followed by 535,489 people constituting about 1.93 percent of the state population out of 27.7 million population as of 2011 census report.[1]

Islam has a strong historical presence in Punjab with many mosques, mausoleums and shrines. According to the 1941 census, Punjabi Muslims constituted approximately 38.4 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India.[a] With violence and religious cleansing accompanying the Partition of Punjab in 1947, the vast majority departed the region en masse, migrating westward to the region of Punjab that would fall on the western side of the Radcliffe Line, in the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan.[2]

In the current era, much of the Muslim population of Punjab consists of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Delhi and Bihar etc.[3] The native Punjabi Muslims predominantly resides in Malerkotla district and Qadian town.[4]

## History

[edit]

Muslim Population in Punjab, IndiaYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1881 | 2,440,888| —
1901 | 2,898,114| +0.86%
1911 | 2,515,774| −1.40%
1921 | 2,686,598| +0.66%
1931 | 3,072,619| +1.35%
1941 | 3,748,410| +2.01%
1947 | 90,172| −46.27%
1951 | 110,160| +5.13%
1961 | 181,234| +5.10%
1971 | 252,688| +3.38%
1981 | 321,287| +2.43%
1991 | 390,077| +1.96%
2001 | 382,045| −0.21%
2011 | 535,489| +3.43%
Source: Census of India[b][c][d][e][f][a]
A photo of the Moorish Mosque in Kapurthala, India

Islam first arrived in the Punjab region following the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712. The first permanent Muslim conquest of the Punjab was carried out by Mahmud Ghaznavi who made the whole of the Punjab a province of his empire with the headquarters at Lahore.

When the Ghaznavid Empire began to decline, the region was conquered by Muhammad Ghori. The conquest by Muhammad Ghori inaugurated a period of Muslim rule which lasted until the 18th century. The Mughals made most of East Punjab a part of the governorate of Sirhind.

The founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in Qadian, East Punjab in 1835.

According to the 1941 census, Muslims constituted approximately 38.4 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India, numbering around 3.75 million persons.[a] Following the Partition of Punjab, the population declined to 90,000 or 0.5% due to ethnic cleansing and large-scale mass migration of 3.66 million Muslims to Punjab, Pakistan in the violent events that have occurred during Partition.[14][15]

Today, Muslims are scattered across East Punjab with small concentrations in the cities of Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Malerkotla and Qadian. Malerkotla is the only municipality in Indian Punjab that has a Muslim majority.[16] The migrant Uttar Pradeshi Muslims and Bihari Muslims labourers living in industrial city of Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar forms a large proportion of the Muslim population in the state.[17]

## Geographical distribution

[edit]

### Colonial era

[edit]

Muslims in the administrative divisions that compose the contemporary Punjab State, India region (1881–1941)  District or Princely State | 1881[5][6][7] | 1901[8]: 34 | 1911[9]: 27 [10]: 27 | 1921[11]: 29 | 1931[12]: 277 | 1941[13]: 42

|
|
|
|
|
|

Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | %
Amritsar District | 413,207  | 46.26%  | 474,976  | 46.39%  | 408,882  | 46.43%  | 423,724  | 45.59%  | 524,676  | 46.97%  | 657,695  | 46.52%
Jalandhar District | 358,601  | 45.42%  | 421,011  | 45.88%  | 357,051  | 44.52%  | 366,586  | 44.57%  | 419,556  | 44.46%  | 509,804  | 45.23%
Patiala State | 321,354  | 21.9%  | 357,334  | 22.38%  | 307,384  | 21.84%  | 330,341  | 22.03%  | 363,920  | 22.39%  | 436,539  | 22.55%
Firozpur District | 310,552  | 47.74%  | 447,615  | 46.72%  | 418,553  | 43.61%  | 482,540  | 43.94%  | 515,430  | 44.56%  | 641,448  | 45.07%
Hoshiarpur District | 290,193  | 32.19%  | 312,958  | 31.62%  | 281,805  | 30.68%  | 289,298  | 31.19%  | 328,078  | 31.78%  | 380,759  | 32.53%
Gurdaspur District[g] | 286,224  | 47.37%  | 348,182  | 49.33%  | 304,860  | 48.67%  | 316,709  | 49.54%  | 367,388  | 50.78%  | 440,323  | 51.08%
Ludhiana District | 213,954  | 34.57%  | 235,937  | 35.05%  | 176,043  | 34.04%  | 192,961  | 33.99%  | 235,598  | 35.03%  | 302,482  | 36.95%
Kapurthala State | 142,974  | 56.6%  | 178,326  | 56.73%  | 152,117  | 56.73%  | 160,457  | 56.44%  | 179,251  | 56.59%  | 213,754  | 56.49%
Nabha State | 50,178  | 19.16%  | 58,550  | 19.65%  | 46,032  | 18.5%  | 50,756  | 19.27%  | 57,393  | 19.96%  | 70,373  | 20.45%
Faridkot State | 29,035  | 29.92%  | 35,996  | 28.82%  | 37,105  | 28.48%  | 44,813  | 29.74%  | 49,912  | 30.37%  | 61,352  | 30.79%
Malerkotla State | 24,616  | 34.65%  | 27,229  | 35.13%  | 25,942  | 36.46%  | 28,413  | 35.37%  | 31,417  | 37.82%  | 33,881  | 38.45%
Total Muslims  | 2,440,888  | 36.94%  | 2,898,114  | 37.74%  | 2,515,774  | 36.83%  | 2,686,598  | 36.99%  | 3,072,619  | 37.83%  | 3,748,410  | 38.42%
Total Population  | 6,607,699  | 100%  | 7,679,645  | 100%  | 6,830,507  | 100%  | 7,262,881  | 100%  | 8,123,076  | 100%  | 9,757,161  | 100%

### Modern era

[edit]

#  | District  | Muslim  | Population

|
|
|

1  | Amritsar | 0.50%  | 12,502
2  | Barnala | 2.20%  | 13,100
3  | Bathinda | 1.17%  | 16,299
4  | Faridkot | 0.51%  | 3,125
5  | Fatehgarh Sahib | 2.80%  | 16,808
6  | Firozpur | 0.34%  | 6,844
7  | Gurdaspur | 1.20%  | 958
8  | Hoshiarpur | 1.46%  | 23,089
9  | Jalandhar | 1.38%  | 30,233
10  | Kapurthala | 1.25%  | 10,190
11  | Ludhiana | 2.22%  | 77,713
12  | Mansa | 1.35%  | 10,375
13  | Moga | 0.94%  | 9,388
14  | Muktsar | 0.48%  | 4,333
15  | Patiala | 2.11%  | 40,043
16  | Rupnagar | 2.12%  | 14,492
17  | Mohali | 2.96%  | 29,488
18  | Sangrur | 10.82%  | 179,116
19  | Nawanshehar | 1.12%  | 6,829
20  | Tarn Taran | 0.34%  | 3,855
Punjab (Total)  | 1.93%  | 535,489

## Language

[edit]

Languages spoken among Punjab's Muslims (2011 Census)[18]

Languages |  | Percent
Urdu/Hindi |

| 58.57%
Punjabi |

| 41.43%

Out of 5.35 lakh Muslim population in the state as of 2011 census, only 2.21 lakh Muslims are native and speaks Punjabi as their mother tongue and rest 3.13 lakh speaks Hindustani language mainly Urdu.[19]

## Trends

[edit]

Decadal percentage of Muslims in Punjab, India[c][d][e][f][a][20][21][22] [23]

Year | Percent | Increase

|
|

1901 | 37.74% | N/A
1911 | 36.83% | -0.91%
1921 | 36.99% | +0.16%
1931 | 37.83% | +0.84%
1941 | 38.42% | +0.59%
1947 | 0.5% | -37.92%
1951 | 0.63% | +0.13%
1961 | 0.82% | +0.19%
1971 | 0.93% | +0.11%
1981 | 1% | +0.07%
1991 | 1.18% | +0.18%
2001 | 1.57% | +0.39%
2011 | 1.93% | +0.36%

The Muslim percentage as total population have declined drastically from 38.38% in 1941 to 0.5% in 1947. But after Independence, Muslims have grown slightly from 0.63% in 1951 to 1.93% in 2011 census.[24]

## See also

[edit]

* Demographics of Punjab, India
* Religion in the Punjab
* Sufism in Punjab

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d 1941 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1941 census data here:[13]: 42
2. ^ 1881 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1881 census data here:[5][6][7]
3. ^ a b 1901 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1901 census data here:[8]: 34
4. ^ a b 1911 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1911 census data here:[9]: 27 [10]: 27
5. ^ a b 1921 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1921 census data here:[11]: 29
6. ^ a b 1931 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1931 census data here:[12]: 277
7. ^ Does not include Shakargarh Tehsil, which was awarded to Pakistan as part of the Radcliffe Line.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Punjab Population Sex Ratio in Punjab Literacy rate data 2011 ...
2. ^ "'In Sikh dominated Indian Punjab, communal politics has no takers'".
3. ^ https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla
4. ^ Manish, Sai (24 May 2021). "How Punjab's latest Muslim majority district will encourage Hindutva forces". Business Standard India.
5. ^ a b "Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. I." 1881\. JSTOR saoa.crl.25057656. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
6. ^ a b "Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II". 1881. p. 14\. JSTOR saoa.crl.25057657. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
7. ^ a b "Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. III". 1881. p. 14\. JSTOR saoa.crl.25057658. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
8. ^ a b "Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province". 1901. JSTOR saoa.crl.25363739. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
9. ^ a b "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
10. ^ a b Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". Retrieved 3 March 2024.
11. ^ a b "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. JSTOR saoa.crl.25430165. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
12. ^ a b "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
13. ^ a b India Census Commissioner (1941). "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
14. ^ Krishan, Gopal. "Demography of the Punjab (1849-1947)" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 11 (1). Center of Sikh and Punjab Studies, University of California Santa Barbara: 77–89.
15. ^ "Has Pak's Hindu population dropped sharply?". The Times of India.
16. ^ "A renewed hate campaign". Frontline. 18 (11). 2001.
17. ^ "Punjab Population by Religion | Hindu Population in Punjab | Sikh Population in Punjab".
18. ^ https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla
19. ^ https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla
20. ^ "Muslims are dotting Punjab Landscape once again".
21. ^ "District wise Religious Composition of Population in Punjab in 1981, 1991, 2001". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
22. ^ Gill, Mehar (21 January 2017). "Demographic Dynamism of Punjab, 1971-2011". Economic and Political Weekly. 52 (3): 26–29. eISSN 2349-8846. ISSN 0012-9976 - via ResearchGate.
23. ^ Ranganathan, Anand (9 January 2015). "The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study". Newslaundry.
24. ^ "Muslims are dotting Punjab Landscape once again".

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