ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PA&#7788I&#256L&#256 AND EAST PUNJAB STATES UNION</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="PAlIL,AND,EAST,PUNJAB,STATES,UNION"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279PA&#7788I&#256L&#256 AND EAST PUNJAB STATES UNION, popularly known as PEPSU, formed on 5 May 1948 by merging together of eight East Punjab princely states of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, J&#299nd, N&#257bh&#257, Kap&#363rthal&#257, Far&#299dko&#7789, Kals&#299&#257, Malerko&#7789l&#257 and Nal&#257g&#257&#7771h, was formally inaugurated on 15 July 1948 by Sard&#257r Vallabhbh&#257&#299 Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of India. The government of the Union started functioning on 20 August 1948 when Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 took over as R&#257jpramukh or governor. The process of consolidation of the Princely states brought to completion by Sard&#257r Patel had its origin in the integration schemes drawn up by the political department under the British during the War days. But after Independence events took a more drastic turn. Administrative integration envisaged by the British paved the way for political consolidation by the Indian Government of about six hundred odd princely states into bigger and more viable political units, and PEPSU was one of them. The Union was divided into eight districts of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, Barn&#257l&#257, Ba&#7789hi&#7751&#7693&#257, Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib, Sa&#7749gr&#363r, Kap&#363rthal&#257, Mohinderga&#7771h and Kohist&#257n. The first five districts were contiguous to one another and lay mainly in the M&#257lv&#257 tract south of the Sutlej, while Kap&#363rthal&#257 was located to the north of the river; Mohinderga&#7771h was in the southeast on the R&#257jasth&#257n border, and Kohist&#257n was to the northeast near Him&#257chal Pradesh. Having a population of 3,493,685 according to the 1951 census, PEPSU was the smallest in that category of the seven Part B States which were former princely states or unions of them, but with an area of 10,119 square miles, it was slightly larger in extent than the smallest Part B state of &#7788r&#257vancore-Cochin. Its population was spread over 64 towns and 5,708 villages and was divided in the ratio of nineteen per cent urban population (665,510) to eighty-one per cent rural population (2,828,175). PEPSU had a density of 347 per square mile which was higher than that of the East Punjab at 338 and the overall Indian average of 296.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of the eight princely states constituting the Union, the R&#257jp&#363t state of Nal&#257g&#257&#7771h was the oldest which was founded around AD 1100. The Muslim state of M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 came into existence about the middle of the fifteenth century, its rulers being the scions of Sherv&#257n&#299 tribe of the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns. The Sikh states of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, J&#299nd, N&#257bh&#257, Kap&#363rthal&#257, Far&#299dko&#7789 and Kals&#299&#257 took birth in the middle of the eighteenth century when Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299's repeated invasions had weakened the Mu<u>gh</u>al authority. The Sikhs then had the opportunity of extending their influence and assuming power as successors to Muslim rule in northern India. However, different in their origin, size and early history, all these states had come under the protection of the British over a period of time.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Originally it was contemplated to constitute a union of the Punjab states leaving out Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 which was considered large enough to stay as a separate unit, but without it the new state would not have been administratively viable. From the point of view of territorial integrity, administrative efficiency and development of agricultural and other resources, the formation of the union inclusive of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 was essential. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 volunteered to work for the formation of a common union. When the covenant forming the Union was signed, he was named R&#257jpramukh, the equivalent of governor, for life while Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Jagatj&#299t Si&#7749gh of Kap&#363rthal&#257 was made Upar&#257jpramukh or deputy governor for life. Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 city was chosen to be the capital of the Union and Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 was the only state specifically included in the name of the new Union.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the Union had been established, the formation of a cabinet to run the administration proved to be a problem that was never adequately solved. The major claimants to power were the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al (soon to be the PEPSU Pradesh Congress), the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal championing Sikh interests and the Iok Sevak Sabh&#257 organized by Colonel Raghb&#299r Si&#7749gh, a former police inspector-general and revenue minister in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state. An attempt to form a coalition ministry of four Congress, two Lok Sevak Sabh&#257 and two Ak&#257l&#299 members with a neutral Sikh as premier failed to secure the necessary agreement from the various components. Eventually a caretaker government was installed on 20 August 1948 under Sard&#257r Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ew&#257l&#257, a former Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 official and, maternal uncle of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh. Negotiations to form a representative ministry for PEPSU continued throughout 1948. Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ew&#257l&#257 was sworn in as chief minister on 13 January 1949, with colleagues from the Lok Sevak Sabh&#257 and Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al. The new ministry, however, did not last long and was replaced by another caretaker government with Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh Ra&#7771ew&#257l&#257 again as chief minister and Mr Bhide, of the Indian Civil Service, as minister. The first general elections were scheduled for 1952 and the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al had in the meanwhile been transformed into PEPSU Pradesh Congress. Colonel Raghb&#299r Si&#7749gh and his Lok Sevak Sabh&#257 merged with it and he, as a Congressman, became chief minister on 23 May 1951 with old Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al leader, Brish Bh&#257n, as deputy chief minister. In the 1952 elections, the Congress won 26 out of 60 seats, with 29.22% of the votes while the Ak&#257l&#299s took 19 out of 41 seats contested with 23.45% of the votes, the communists, smaller parties, and independents dividing the remaining seats. The PEPSU legislative Assembly met for the first time on 16 April 1952 and with it the state embarked on its parliamentary career. The Congress government formed with the aid of independents however lasted only one day and was replaced on 21 April 1952 by a United Front ministry of Ak&#257l&#299s and independents led by Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ew&#257l&#257. This United Front ministry fell in March 1953, giving place to President's rule. In the 1954 mid-term poll the Congress carried the majority, and Colonel Raghb&#299r Si&#7749gh once again became chief minister. Upon the death of Raghb&#299r Si&#7749gh in 1955, Brish Bh&#257n took over as chief minister.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On 1 November 1956, PEPSU ceased to be a separate entity as it was merged with the larger state of the Punjab which came into being as a result of the Partition of 1947 and recommendations of the States Reorganization Commission set up by the Government of India in 1953. The new Punjab again came to be subdivided on linguistic basis ten years later with the state of Hary&#257&#7751&#257 carved out of it, in addition to K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257 district and some areas of Hoshi&#257rpur district transferred to Him&#257chal Pradesh. PEPSU has been largely subsumed into the post-1956 Punjab and constitutes a major portion of its territory. Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 city is no longer a capital, but it has remained an important educational and cultural centre. Some PEPSU political leaders continued to be prominent in post-1956 Punjab politics. They included Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh Ra&#7771ew&#257l&#257, who served as a minister in Part&#257p Si&#7749gh K&#257iro&#7749's ministry from 1956 to 1962, and Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh, who made a brief foray into electoral politics by winning a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly as an independent candidate in the 1967 elections. His son, Captain Amarinder Si&#7749gh, is also a political leader of note. The most conspicuous figure, however, was Gi&#257n&#299 Zail Si&#7749gh (1916-94) of Far&#299dko&#7789 who acted as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee for a number of years before becoming chief minister of the Punjab (1972-77). In 1980 he became Home Minister of India; in 1982 he was elected President of India.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ganda Singh,<i>The Patiala and the East Panjab States Union : Historical Background</i>. Patiala,1951<BR> <li class="C1"> Gursharan Si&#7749gh. <i>History of Pepsu</i>. Delhi, 1991<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. II. Delhi, 1977<BR> <li class="C1"> Iqbal Narain, ed., <i>State Politics in India</i>. Meerut, n.d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Barbara Ramusack<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>