Punjab Politics, 1936-1939: The Start of Provincial Autonomy: Governors’ Fortnightly Reports and Other Key Documents

This volume produces the texts of 123 fortnightly reports and other documents sent to the Viceroy by the governors of the Punjab or their secretaries between 1936 and 1939. The governors’ descriptions of their many tours throughout the province provide a vivid picture of the Punjab in these last self-confident years of the Raj. There is much discussion of political developments taking place within the various communities. Congress was relatively weak in the Punjab at the start of the volume but is growing importance is evident at the close. The volume is dominated by the personality and activities of the Muslim premier of the ruling Unionist Party, Sir Sikander Hyat Khan. His negotiation of a pact with Jinnah’s Muslim League in October 1937 was to prove a milestone of the pre-independence years. The documents show the problems which arose in the actual working-out of the arrangements then agreed.