State of Patiala
1763–1947
Coat of arms of Patiala
Coat of arms
CapitalPatiala
Common languagesPunjabi (official)
Religion
Sikh
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy
Maharaja 
• 1707 - 1765
Ala Singh
• 1938 - 1947
Yadavindra Singh
History 
• Established
1763
• Disestablished
1947
Area
• Total
15,389 km2 (5,942 sq mi)
Population
• 1881[1]
1,467,433
• 1891[1]
1,583,521
• 1901[1]
1,596,692
CurrencyRupee And Paisa
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mughal Empire
Durrani Empire
Phulkian Misl
East India Company
Sikh Empire
PEPSU
Republic of India
Today part ofIndia
Pakistan

Patiala State was a self-governing princely state of the Empire of India, and one of the Phulkian States, that acceded to the Union of India upon Indian dominionship and partition. Patiala Kingdom/State was founded by Sidhu Jat Sikhs.

Early proposals of a Sikh nation of ‘Sikhistan’ led by Maharaja of Patiala were published by Dr VS Bhatti in 1940 for a “Khalistan led by the Maharaja of Patiala with the aid of a cabinet consisting of representative federating units”.[2][3][4][5] These would consist of the central districts of Punjab province then directly administered by the British, including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Ambala, Ferozpur, Amritsar and Lahore; the 'princely states' of the Cis-Sutlej, including Patiala, Nabha, Faridkot and Malerkolta; and the 'Shimla Group' of states. After partition of India in 1947, The Liberator, a Sikh publication advocated for Khalistan which would include East Punjab merged with PEPSU led by Maharaja of Patiala as its monarch.[6]

Etymology

The state's name came from the name of its principal city and capital, Patiala, which itself comes from the roots patti and ala. The word patti means "strip of land" in Punjabi, and 'ala' comes from the name of the founder of the city and Patiala state, Ala Singh, thus meaning ‘the land of Ala Singh’ [7]

1946 map of India showing the various states; Patiala is found in the middle of eastern Punjab

Brief history

In 1763, the Sikh confederation captured the fortress of Sirhind

Rulers

Main article: Maharaja of Patiala

The rulers of Patiala bore the title 'Maharaja-e Rajgan' from 1810 onward.[citation needed]

Maharajas

Raja-e Rajgan

Maharaja-e Rajgan

Demographics

Religious groups in Patiala State (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group
1901[8] 1911[9][10] 1921[11] 1931[12] 1941[13]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Hinduism [a] 880,490 55.14% 563,940 40.06% 642,055 42.81% 623,597 38.36% 597,488 30.86%
Islam 357,334 22.38% 307,384 21.84% 330,341 22.03% 363,920 22.39% 436,539 22.55%
Sikhism 355,649 22.27% 532,292 37.81% 522,675 34.85% 632,972 38.94% 896,021 46.28%
Jainism 2,877 0.18% 3,282 0.23% 3,249 0.22% 3,578 0.22% 3,101 0.16%
Christianity 316 0.02% 739 0.05% 1,395 0.09% 1,449 0.09% 1,592 0.08%
Zoroastrianism 26 0% 22 0% 21 0% 2 0% 21 0%
Buddhism 0 0% 0 0% 3 0% 2 0% 3 0%
Judaism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 12 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 1,482 0.08%
Total population 1,596,692 100% 1,407,659 100% 1,499,739 100% 1,625,520 100% 1,936,259 100%
Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis

References

  1. ^ a b c Imperial gazetteer of India. Vol. XX Pardi to Pusad. 1908. pp. 40, 42.
  2. ^ Shani, Giorgio (2007). Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age. doi:10.4324/9780203937211. ISBN 9781134101894.
  3. ^ Shani, Giorgio (6 December 2007). Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-10188-7.
  4. ^ Archives, The National. "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. ^ Pathak, Ritika (12 December 2020). "Khalistan movement: Origin and the two different narratives". Newshour Press. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  6. ^ Singh, Amar. "Let Patiala Lead The Panth To Glory". National Achieves UK.
  7. ^ Kaur, Roopam Jasmeet; Idris, Mohammad (2011). "The Development of Education in Patiala District (1948-2001): A Gendered Analysis". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 72: 1460–1470. JSTOR 44145757.
  8. ^ "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. p. 34. JSTOR saoa.crl.25363739. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ^ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. p. 29. JSTOR saoa.crl.25430165. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". 1941. p. 42. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 30 March 2024.


Further reading

31°07′N 77°38′E / 31.117°N 77.633°E / 31.117; 77.633