Lahore Division is an administrative division of Punjab Province, Pakistan. Until the reforms of 2000 abolished the third tier of government. Since divisions were restored back in 2008, the division currently consists on four districts.
- Lahore
- Kasur
- Sheikhupura
- Nankana Sahib
Before the abolition, it also contained Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib Districts.
Lahore Division was originally an administrative division of the Punjab Province of British India. It extended along the right bank of the Sutlej River from the Himalaya to Multan, and comprised the six districts of Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Gujrat. The total area of the division was 44,430 km2 (17,154 sq mi) and the population according to the 1901 census of India was 5,598,463.[5] The commissioner for the division also exercised political control over the hill state of Chamba.
The Commissioner's headquarters were at Lahore and Dalhousie. The total population of the Division increased from 4,696,636 in 1881 to 5,321,535 in 1891, and 5,598,463 in 1901. The total area was 44,430 square kilometres (17,154 sq mi), and the density of population was 326 persons per square mile, compared with 208 for British territory in the Province as a whole. In 1901 Muslims numbered 3,332,175, or 60 percent of the total; while other religions included Hindus, 1,567,402; Sikhs, 661,320; Jains, 5,5,07; Buddhists, 6; Parsis, 228; and Christians, 31,815, of whom 25,248 were natives.
Administrative divisions had formed an integral tier of government from colonial times. The Governor's provinces of British India were subdivided into divisions, which were themselves subdivided into districts. At independence in 1947, the new nation of Pakistan comprised two wings – eastern and western, separated by India. Three of the provinces of Pakistan were subdivided into ten administrative divisions. The single province in the eastern wing, East Bengal, had four divisions – Chittagong, Dacca, Khulna and Rajshahi. The province of West Punjab had four divisions – Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha. The North-West Frontier Province (as it was then called) had two divisions – Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar. Most of the divisions were named after the divisional capitals, with some exceptions.
From 1955 to 1970, the One Unit policy meant that there were only two provinces – East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan had the same divisions as East Bengal had previously, but West Pakistan gradually gained seven new divisions to add to the original six. The Baluchistan States Union became Kalat Division, while the former Baluchistan Chief Commissioner's Province became Quetta Division. Most of the former Sind Province became Hyderabad Division, with some parts joining the princely state of Khairpur to form Khairpur Division. The former princely state of Bahawalpur became Bahawalpur Division, therefore joining West Punjab. The Federal Capital Territory was absorbed into West Pakistan in 1961 and merged with the princely state of Las Bela to form the Karachi-Bela Division. In 1969, the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat were incorporated into West Pakistan as the division of Malakand with Saidu as the divisional headquarters.
New Divisions
When West Pakistan was dissolved, the divisions were regrouped into four new provinces. Gradually over the late 1970s, new divisions were formed; Hazara and Kohat divisions were split from Peshawar Division; Gujranwala Division was formed from parts of Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions; Dera Ghazi Khan Division was split from Multan Division; Faisalabad Division was split from Sargodha Division; Sibi Division was formed from parts of Kalat and Quetta divisions; Lasbela District was transferred from Karachi Division to Kalat Division; Makran Division split from Kalat Division. The name of Khairpur Division was changed to Sukkur Division.
During the rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, the Advisory Council of Islamic Ideology (headed by Justice Tanzilur Rahman) was tasked with finding ways to Islamicise the country. One of its recommendations was that the existing four provinces should be dissolved and the twenty administrative divisions should become new provinces in a federal structure with greater devolution of power, but this proposal was never implemented.
Over the past three decades Naseerabad Division was split from Sibi Division, Zhob Division was split from Quetta Division. Bannu Division was split from Dera Ismail Khan Division, Mardan Division was split from Peshawar Division, Larkana Division and Shaheed Benazirabad Division were split from Sukkur Division while Mirpur Khas Division and Banbhore Division were split from Hyderabad Division.
Restoration
In 2008, after the public elections, the new government decided to restore the divisions of all provinces. Currently Punjab has Nine divisions (and a total of 36 districts) with Sahiwal Division being the newest.