Grassroots and Provincial Perspectives on Social Changes and Development in Colonial Punjab

The aim of this paper is to describe the primary changes and development that outlined the history of Colonial Punjab and to narrate grassroots and provincial perspectives on the changes. I examine with a blend of grassroots and provincial perspectives by contextualizing actual historical events in Colonial Punjab. On the basis of major trends in the existing literate, a variety of view on the impact of the British rule will be surveyed. To seek for a clearer insight on the effect and influence of British colonial rule on the Punjab, I have divided them into four themes. Inceptively, political control and socio-economic transformation will be addressed with investigating relevant literatures. Main arguments here will be which policy of British rule led social and economic changes in Colonial Punjab, how it transformed the society, and what elements were involved in putting it into practice in such an effective way. Subsequently, the British rule in aspects from military recruitment in Colonial Punjab will be focused on. Central questions will be what patterns of collaboration were implemented and how the British rule influenced recruitment process in Colonial Punjab, and what were the causes and key drivers that brought them into play possible. In the last place, communalism will be surveyed briefly showing the historical origin of communalism within the Punjab and the impact on societies extracted from some case studies. In every discussion about each theme, as suggested above, Provincial and grassroots perspectives will be drawn