Understanding Electoral Behavior in 1937 and 1946 Elections: A Case Study of Pakpattan Tehsil, Montgomery District (1936–1947)

Abstract

This article analyses the change of the electoral behavior of Pakpattan Tehsil, the Montgomery District under British rule in 1937 and 1946 in provincial elections. It holds that there was a structural transformation in rural Punjab of agrarian-based patronage politics to ideologically mediated by religious mobilization, which resulted in the concentration of backing of Muslim League in 1946. Drawing on colonial district gazetteers, settlement reports, canal colony records, intelligence summaries, and Punjab Legislative Assembly documents, the study demonstrates how electoral behavior was shaped by overlapping systems of landownership, shrine authority, and kinship organization. The shrine of Baba Farid in Pakpattan and associated Sajjada Nashin networks are analyzed as key intermediaries in political mobilization, particularly in the 1946 elections. The article also adds to the South Asian history of politics by providing a micro-historical account of how the structures of colonial governance and local socio-religious institutions worked together to give rise to the circumstances that led to the rise of Pakistan.

Keywords: Pakpattan; Montgomery, District; Electoral Behavior; Unionist Party; Muslim League; Sajjada Nashin; Canal Colonies; Punjab Politics; Colonial Elections; Shrine Politics, Elections