Sind Province (1936–55)

Sind Province (1936–55)

For the modern province, see Sindh.

Sind was a province of British India from 1936 to 1947 and Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. Under the British, it encompassed the current territorial limits excluding the princely state of Khairpur with the capital at Karachi. After Pakistan's creation, the province lost the city of Karachi, as it became the capital of the newly created country.

SindProvince of British India (1936–47)
Province of Pakistan (1947–55)← 
1936–1955→

Flag

Map of Pakistan highlighting Sind's borders, unchanging during 1936-1955CapitalKarachiHistory • Renaming of Sind Division1 April 1936 • Province of Pakistan14 August 1947 • Disestablished14 October 1955Area123,080 km²(47,521 sq mi)Government of Sindh

LocationEdit

The province was bordered by Karachi (within The Federal Capital Territory after 1948) and the princely states of Las Bela and Kalat on the west. To the north were the provinces of Baluchistan and West Punjab. The province bordered the princely state of Bahawalpur on the northeast and it enclosed on three sides the princely state of Khairpur. The nation of India's states of Rajasthan and Gujarat bordered to the east and south. On the southwest lay the Arabian Sea, with the Sind's coastline consisting entirely of river deltas, including the Indus River Delta up to Sind's border with the city of Karachi, now the capital of modern Sindh.

HistoryEdit

Main article: History of Sindh

Sindh was first settled by the Indus Valley Civilization and Mohenjo-daro, as early as 7000 BC. It had Greek influence during its history after the expansion of the Macedonian Empire, and developed trade with surrounding regions. Several Sunni Muslim and Rajput kingdoms were set up there, beginning with the Rai Dynasty and ending with the Arghun dynasty. The Mughal Empire conquered Sindh under the rule of Akbar in 1509. Soon after the coming of European companies, namely the British East Indian Company, the Mughal hold on the area loosened, and Sindh became part of the Bombay Presidency in 1843. Soon, it became the Sind Province.

1936–1947Edit

After conquest by the British in 1843 Sindh had been part of the Bombay Presidency, however on 1 April 1936 Sindh Division was separated from the Bombay Presidency and made into a province of British India.

1947–1955Edit

The independence and passage of the resolution joining Pakistan in the Sindh Assembly, Sindh becoming part of Pakistan in 1947. The province was merged into the province of West Pakistan in 1955 under the One Unit policy announced by Prime MinisterChaudhry Mohammad Ali.

DemographicsEdit

By the time of independence in 1947 Sindh had had a Muslim majority for centuries but there were significant minorities of Hindus throughout the province. In 1947 due to communal tensions and the influx of two million Muslim refugees from India many Hindus were forced to flee to India.

The refugees from India were mostly Urdu speakers, and although the official language of Sindh was Sindhi, many schools in big cities of Sindh and switched to Urdu schools.

GovernmentEdit

The offices of Governor of Sindh and Chief Minister of Sindh were established in 1936 when Sindh became a province. This system continued until 1955 when Sindh was dissolved.

TenureGovernor of Sindh^[1]1 April 1936Province of Sindh established1 April 1936 – 1 August 1938Sir Lancelot Graham (first time)1 August 1938 – 1 December 1938Joseph Garrett (acting)1 December 1938 – 1 April 1941Sir Lancelot Graham (2nd time)1 April 1941 – 15 January 1946Sir Hugh Dow15 January 1946 – 14 August 1947Sir Robert Francis Mudie14 August 1947Independence of Pakistan14 August 1947 – 4 October 1948Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah4 October 1948 – 19 November 1952Sheikh Din Muhammad19 November 1952 – 1 May 1953Mian Aminuddin1 May 1953 – 12 August 1953George Baxandall Constantine12 August 1953 – 23 June 1954Habib Ibrahim Rahmatullah23 June 1954 – 14 October 1955Iftikhar Hussain Khan14 October 1955Province of Sindh dissolvedTenureChief Minister of Sind^[1]Political party24 April 1937 – 23 March 1938Sir Ghulam Hussain HidayatullahMuslim Political Party23 March 1938 – 18 March 1940Allah Bux Soomro (1st time)Sind United Party18 March 1940 – 7 March 1941Mir Band-e-Ali Khan TalpurMuslim League7 March 1941 – 14 October 1942Allah Bux Soomro (2nd time)Sind United Party14 October 1942 – 14 August 1947Sir Ghulam Hussain HidayatullahMuslim Political Party14 August 1947Independence of Pakistan14 August 1947 – 28 April 1948Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (1st time)Pakistan Muslim League3 May 1948 – 4 February 1949Pir Illahi BakhshPakistan Muslim League18 February 1949 – 7 May 1950Yusuf HaroonNon-partisan8 May 1950 – 24 March 1951Qazi Fazlullah UbaidullahNon-partisan25 March 1951 – 29 December 1951Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (2nd time)Pakistan Muslim League29 December 1951 – 22 May 1953Governor's rule22 May 1953 – 8 November 1954Pirzada Abdus SattarPakistan Muslim League9 November 1954 – 14 October 1955Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (3rd time)Pakistan Muslim League14 October 1955Province of Sindh dissolved

ReferencesEdit

^ ^a b Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org. "Pakistan Provinces". Retrieved 2007-10-03.

See alsoEdit

SindhKhairpurKarachi