Punjab under the British Rule: Historicising the Local Transformations

This article is a preliminary attempt to map the changes and transformations of Punjab, which had undergone during the British rule. It had remained the model province for benefits of the British colonial rule. Ever since its accession in 1849, Punjab received particular attention in the colonial policies due to its strategic and political importance to the empire. The colonial rule unleashed a slew of transformations in diverse fields including education, agriculture, irrigation, transport and communication and social institutions. This article particularly focusses on the transformations that took place in the modernisation of agriculture, canals colonisation and Punjabisation of the British Indian army during the colonial rule in Punjab. Behind the plotting of modernisations, the study will dig out the imperial designs and motives of the Raj.