North-West Frontier Province

The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Following the referendum in 1947 to join either Pakistan or India, the province voted hugely in favour of joining Pakistan and it acceded accordingly on 14th August, 1947. It was dissolved to form a unified province of West Pakistan in 1955 upon creation of One Unit Scheme and was re-established in 1970. It was known by this name until 19 April 2010, when it was redesignated as the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan by erstwhile President Asif Ali Zardari.

The province covered an area of , including much of the current Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but excluding the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the former princely states of Amb, Chitral, Dir, Phulra and Swat. Its capital was the city of Peshawar, and the province was composed of six divisions ( Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Mardan, and Peshawar Division; Malakand was later added as the seventh division). Until 1947, the province was bordered by five princely states to the north, the minor states of the Gilgit Agency to the northeast, the province of West Punjab to the east and the province of Balochistan to the south. The Kingdom of Afghanistan lay to the northwest, with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas forming a buffer zone between the two.

History

Formation

The northwestern frontier areas were annexed by the East India Company after the Second Sikh War (1848–49). The territories thenceforth formed a part of Punjab until the province, then known as North-West Frontier Province, was created in 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province.
This region, along with the 'Frontier Tribal Areas', acted as a buffer zone with Afghanistan.

Pope1880Panjab3.jpg, The Punjab in 1880 (included areas of the later North-West Frontier Province)
Map of the North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir from The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1907-1909).jpg, Map of the North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir from The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1907-1909)
File:North-Western India in 1946 map of India by National Geographic.jpg, Mao of the North-West Frontier Province and neighbouring regions (National Geographic, 1946)

Inside Pakistan

Before the Partition of India, the 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum was held in July 1947 to decide the future of NWFP, in which the people of the province decided in favor of joining Pakistan. However, the then Chief Minister Dr Khan Sahib, along with his brother Bacha Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars, boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.

As a separate province, the NWFP lasted until 1955 when it was merged into the new province of West Pakistan, under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali. It was recreated after the dissolution of the One Unit system and lasted under its old nomenclature until April 2010, when it was renamed as the 'Khyber Pakhtunkhwa' province.

Government

The offices of Governor and Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province lasted until 14 October 1955.

Demographics

Historical population and religious counts in North-West Frontier Province were taken in all districts ( Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan), and also included small Trans-Frontier Posts in the Agencies and Tribal Areas.

At independence, there was a clear Muslim Pashtun majority in the North-West Frontier Province, although there were also Hindu and Sikh Pashtun, Hindkowan and Punjabi minorities scattered across the province.

Language

The languages of the North-West Frontier Province included Pashto, Hindko, Kohistani and others, although most of the population spoke Pashto. Prior to the arrival of the British, the ''official language'', for governmental uses and such, was Persian.

Religion

See also

* Frontier Regions
* Federally Administered Tribal Areas
* Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

Notes

References

References

* ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' (26 vol, 1908–31), a highly detailed description of all of India in 1901
online edition

External links

Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

{{DEFAULTSORT:North-West Frontier Province (1901-1955)

Provinces of British India
Former subdivisions of Pakistan
History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
1901 establishments in British India
2010 disestablishments in Pakistan