Islam in Punjab, India

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 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
Religions
Islam
Languages
Punjabi, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu)

Islam has a strong historical presence in Punjab with many mosques, mausoleums and shrines. According to the 1941 census, Punjabi Muslims constituted approximately 37.6 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India.[lower-alpha 1] With violence and religious cleansing accompanying the Partition of Punjab in 1947, the vast majority numbering around 3.71 million 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
Muslim Population in Punjab, India
YearPop.±%
1941 3,799,382[lower-alpha 1]—    
1947 90,172−97.6%
1951 110,160+22.2%
1961 181,234+64.5%
1971 252,688+39.4%
1981 321,287+27.1%
1991 390,077+21.4%
2001 382,045−2.1%
2011 535,489+40.2%
Source: Census of India
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 37.5 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India, numbering around 3.8 million persons.[lower-alpha 1] Following the Partition of Punjab, the population declined to 90,000 or 0.5% due to ethnic cleansing and large-scale mass migration to West Punjab, Pakistan in the violent events of partition of India.[5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

Languages spoken among Punjab's Muslims (2011 Census)[9]
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.[10]

Demography

1941 census
Muslims in the administrative divisions that compose the contemporary Punjab State, India region (1941)[11]: 42 [lower-alpha 1]
District or Princely State Islam
Population Percentage
Amritsar District 657,695 46.52%
Firozpur District 641,448 45.07%
Jalandhar District 509,804 45.23%
Gurdaspur District[lower-alpha 2] 440,323 51.08%
Patiala State 436,539 22.55%
Hoshiarpur District 380,759 32.53%
Ludhiana District 302,482 36.95%
Kapurthala State 213,754 56.49%
Nabha State 70,373 20.45%
Faridkot State 61,352 30.79%
Jind State 50,972 14.09%
Malerkotla State 33,881 38.45%
Total Muslims 3,799,382 37.55%
Total Population 10,118,973 100%

2011 census
# 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% 27,667
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

Decadal percentage of Muslims in Punjab, India[12][13][14] [15]

Year Percent Increase
1941 37.55%[lower-alpha 1] N/A
1947 0.5% -37.05%
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%

See also

Notes
  1. 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, Jind and Nabha) which are in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India. See 1941 census data here:[11]: 42 
  2. Does not include Shakargarh Tehsil, which was awarded to Pakistan as part of the Radcliffe Line.

References
  1. Punjab Population Sex Ratio in Punjab Literacy rate data 2011 ...
  2. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/-in-sikh-dominated-indian-punjab-communal-politics-has-no-takers-/2507285
  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. Krishan, Gopal. "Demography of the Punjab (1849-1947)" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. Center of Sikh and Punjab Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. 11 (1): 77–89.
  6. https://m.timesofindia.com/india/has-paks-hindu-population-dropped-sharply/amp_articleshow/72686351.cms
  7. "A renewed hate campaign". Frontline. 18 (11). 2001.
  8. "Punjab Population by Religion | Hindu Population in Punjab | Sikh Population in Punjab".
  9. https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla
  10. https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu › ...PDF Punjab's Muslims: The History and Significance of Malerkotla
  11. "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  12. "Muslims are dotting Punjab Landscape once again".
  13. "District wise Religious Composition of Population in Punjab in 1981, 1991, 2001". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  14. 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.
  15. Ranganathan, Anand (9 January 2015). "The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study". Newslaundry.
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