Political Transformation in Colonial Punjab: The Role of the All-India Muslim League in Montgomery District

Abstract

This article examines the political transformation of colonial Punjab through a microhistorical study of Montgomery District (present-day Sahiwal) between 1930 and 1947, focusing on the rise and consolidation of the All-India Muslim League. While Punjab has often been characterized as a stronghold of the Unionist Party and agrarian conservatism, this study challenges that narrative by demonstrating how the Muslim League successfully penetrated rural political structures in the late colonial period. Drawing upon electoral data, colonial administrative reports, and secondary scholarship, the paper highlights the League’s strategic mobilization through religious networks, particularly Sajjada Nashins (hereditary custodians of shrines), biradari (kinship) structures, and agrarian elites. The transformation of shrine-based authority into a political instrument, especially in Pakpattan and Shergarh, played a decisive role in shaping rural political loyalties. The 1937 elections marked the League’s marginal presence, but by 1946 it had emerged as a dominant political force, reflecting a broader shift from localized patronage politics to ideological mobilization centered on Muslim nationalism. This study contributes to debates on colonial governance, rural politics, and the sociology of nationalism by illustrating how local dynamics intersected with all-India political developments to produce a decisive transformation in political allegiance in Punjab.

Keywords: Muslim League, Montgomery District, Colonial Punjab, Shrine Politics, Biradari, Elections 1937–1946, Pakistan Movement