page_title: Punjab, India
section_title: Independence and its aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Punjab, India / History / Independence and its aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Amritsar
context_page_description: Punjab is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Chandigarh to the east, the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest. It is bordered by Punjab, a province of Pakistan to the west. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres, 1.53% of India's total geographical area. It is the 20th-largest Indian state by area. With 27,704,236 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Punjab is the 16th-largest state by population, comprising 22 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs and Hindus as the dominant religious groups. The state capital is Chandigarh, a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. The five tributary rivers of the Indus River from which the region took its name are the Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and Jhelum rivers; the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas rivers flow through the Indian Punjab.
context_section_description: The undivided Punjab, of which Pakistani Punjab forms a major region today, was home to a large minority population of Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs until 1947, apart from the Muslim majority. In 1947 the Punjab Province of British India was partitioned along religious lines into West Punjab going to Pakistan and East Punjab going to India. Huge numbers of people were displaced, and there was much intercommunal violence. 
  Immediately following independence in 1947, and due to the ensuing communal violence and fear, most Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus who found themselves in Pakistan migrated to India. Following independence, several small Punjabi princely states, including Patiala, acceded to the Union of India and were united into the PEPSU. In 1956 this was integrated with the state of East Punjab to create a new, enlarged Indian state called simply "Punjab". Punjab Day is celebrated across state on 1 November every year marking formation of Punjabi language speaking state under Punjab Reorganisation Act (1966). From 1981 to 1995 the state suffered a 14 year long insurgency which culminated with Operation Blue Star, and the assassination of India's Prime Minister.
caption: Town Hall of Amritsar is the world's only partition museum
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