Patiala and East Punjab States Union
Former State of India
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Through India, Princely state and States Reorganisation Act, 1956
History
PEPSU was inaugurated on 15 July 1948. It was created by combining eight princely states (7 Punjab States & 1 Punjab Hill State), which maintained their native rulers :
Six salute states:
- Patiala, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 17 guns (19-guns local)
- Jind, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13 guns (15-guns personal and local)
- Kapurthala, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13 guns (15-guns personal and local)
- Nabha, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13 guns (15-guns local):
- Faridkot, title Raja, Hereditary salutes of 11 guns
- Malerkotla, title Nawab, Hereditary salute of 11 guns
Two non-salute states:
- Kalsia, title Raja (till 1916 Sardar)
- Nalagarh, title Raja.
PEPSU formally became a state of India in 1950.
Successor states
On 1 November 1956, PEPSU was merged mostly into Punjab State under the States Reorganisation Act.
A part of the former state of PEPSU, including the present day Jind district (Jind & Narwana), area of Pinjore in north Haryana, as well as the Charkhi Dadri, Bawal and Mahendragarh Narnaul in south-west Haryana, presently lie within the state of Haryana, which was separated from Punjab on 1 November 1966. Some other areas that belonged to PEPSU, notably (Kandaghat etc.) Solan and Nalagarh, now lie in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
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Rajpramukh and Uparajpramukh
Chief Ministers
Color key
- Indian National Congress (2)
- Independent (1)
Other keys
- d Died in Office
- pd Position Dissolved
- R Resigned
- Acting Chief Minister
Institutions
Heads of state and government
When the state was formed, the then-Maharaja of Patiala, Yadavindra Singh, was appointed its Rajpramukh (equivalent to Governor). He remained in office during the entire length of the state's short existence. The then Maharaja of Kapurthala, Jagatjit Singh, served as Uparajpramukh (lieutenant-governor).
Gian Singh Rarewala was sworn in on 13 January 1949 as the first Chief Minister of PEPSU. Col. Raghbir Singh became the next Chief Minister on 23 May 1951, and Brish Bhan the Deputy Chief Minister.
The state elected a 60-member state legislative assembly on 6 January 1952. The Congress Party won 26 seats and the Akali Dal won 19 seats.
On 22 April 1952, Gian Singh Rarewala again became Chief Minister, this time an elected one. He led a coalition government, called the "United Front", formed by the Akali Dal and various independents. On 5 March 1953 his government was dismissed and President's rule was imposed on the state. In the mid-term poll that followed, the Congress party secured a majority and Raghbir Singh became Chief Minister on 8 March 1954. Upon his death, Brish Bhan became the Chief Minister on 12 January 1955 and remained in office as last incumbent.
Administration
Initially, in 1948, the state was divided into the following 8 districts & 25 sub-districts (tehsils):
- Patiala - Patiala, Nabha, Rajpura
- Kapurthala - Kapurthala, Phagwara
- Bathinda - Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot
- Fatehgarh Sahib - Sirhand, Payal, Amloh
- Barnala - Barnala, Phul, Dhuri, Malerkotla
- Sangrur - Sangrur, Sunam, Narwana, Jind
- Kohistan - Kandaghat, Nalagarth, Dera Bassi
- Mohindergarh - Mohindergarh, Narnaul, Dadri
In 1953, the number of districts in PEPSU was reduced from eight to five. Fatehgarh Sahib and Kohistan districts were dissolved and merged with Patiala district. Amloh and Payal tehsils of Fatehgarh Sahib were merged with Sirhind tehsil, while Dera Bassi tehsil of Kohistan district was merged with Rajpura tehsil. Barnala district was also abolished. It had four tehsils: Phul, Dhuri, Malerkotla, and Barnala. Dhuri, Malerkotla, Barnala, and part of Phul tehsil were transferred to Sangrur district, while the remaining portion of Phul tehsil was merged with Bhatinda district.
There were four Lok Sabha constituencies in this state. Three of them were single-seat constituency: Mohindergarh, Sangrur and Patiala. The Kapurthala-Bhatinda Lok Sabha constituency was a double-seat constituency.
Demography
The state had a population of 3,493,685 (1951 census), of which 19% was urban. The population density was 133/km2. The state had 64 towns and 5,708 villages.