Sind Province (1936–55)

Sind (sometimes called Scinde) 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. Its capital was Karachi. After Pakistan's creation, the province lost the city of Karachi, as it became the capital of the newly created country.

Sind
Province of British India (1936–47)
Province of the Dominion of Pakistan (1947–55)
1936–1955

Sind, highlighted in red on the map
CapitalKarachi (1936-1947)
Hyderabad, Sindh (1947-1955)
Area 
 
123,080 km2 (47,520 sq mi)
History 
 Renaming of Sind Division
1 April 1936
 Province of Pakistan
14 August 1947
 Disestablished
14 October 1955
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Bombay Presidency
Federal Capital Territory (Pakistan)
West Pakistan

Location

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.

History

Sindh was first settled by the Indus Valley Civilization and Mohenjo-daro, as early as 1750 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 1591A.D. 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.

1947–1955

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 Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali.

Demographics

By the time of independence in 1947 Sindh 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.

Government

Map of the province post-partition

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

Tenure Governor of Sindh[1]
1 April 1936 Province of Sindh established
1 April 1936 – 1 August 1938 Sir Lancelot Graham (first time)
1 August 1938 – 1 December 1938 Joseph Garrett (acting)
1 December 1938 – 1 April 1941 Sir Lancelot Graham (2nd time)
1 April 1941 – 15 January 1946 Sir Hugh Dow
15 January 1946 – 14 August 1947 Sir Robert Francis Mudie
14 August 1947 Independence of Pakistan
14 August 1947 – 4 October 1948 Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah
4 October 1948 – 19 November 1952 Sheikh Din Muhammad
19 November 1952 – 1 May 1953 Mian Aminuddin
1 May 1953 – 12 August 1953 George Baxandall Constantine
12 August 1953 – 23 June 1954 Habib Ibrahim Rahmatullah
23 June 1954 – 14 October 1955 Iftikhar Hussain Khan
14 October 1955 Province of Sindh dissolved
Name of Premier (pre-partition) Entered Office Left Office Political Party/Notes
Ghulam Hussain Hidayat Ullah (1st time) 28 April 1937 23 March 1938 Muslim People's Party
Allah Bux Soomro (1st time) 23 March 1938 18 April 1940 Ittehad Party
Mir Bandeh Ali Khan Talpur 18 April 1940 7 March 1941 All-India Muslim League
Allah Bux Soomro (2nd time) 7 March 1941 14 October 1942 Ittehad Party
Ghulam Hussain Hidayat Ullah (2nd time) 14 October 1942 14 August 1947 Muslim People's Party
Tenure Chief Minister of Sind[1] Political party
14 August 1947 – 28 April 1948 Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (1st time)Pakistan Muslim League
3 May 1948 – 4 February 1949 Pir Illahi BakhshPakistan Muslim League
18 February 1949 – 7 May 1950 Yusuf HaroonNon-partisan
8 May 1950 – 24 March 1951 Qazi Fazlullah UbaidullahNon-partisan
25 March 1951 – 29 December 1951 Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (2nd time)Pakistan Muslim League
29 December 1951 – 22 May 1953 Governor's rule
22 May 1953 – 8 November 1954 Pirzada Abdus SattarPakistan Muslim League
9 November 1954 – 14 October 1955 Mohammad Ayub Khuhro (3rd time)Pakistan Muslim League
14 October 1955 Province of Sindh dissolved

Elections

References

  1. Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org. "Pakistan Provinces". Retrieved 3 October 2007.

See also

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