The Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was a state of India, uniting eight princely states between 1948 and 1956. The capital and principal city was Patiala. The state covered an area of 26,208 km. Shimla, Kasauli, Kandaghat and Chail also became part of PEPSU.

History

Princely states union

It was created by combining eight princely states, which maintained their native rulers :

Six Salute states

• Patiala, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 17-guns (119-guns local)
• Jind, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13-guns (15-guns personal and local)
• Kapurthala, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13-guns (15-guns personal and local)
• Nabha, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13-guns (15-guns local):
• Faridkot, title Raja, Hereditary salutes of 11-guns
• Malerkotla, title Nawab, Hereditary salute of 11-guns

and two Non-salute states

• Kalsia, title Raja (till 1916 Sardar)
• Nalagarh, title Raja.

The state was inaugurated on 15 July 1948 and formally became a state of India in 1950.

Successor states

On 1 November 1956, PEPSU was merged mostly into Punjab State following the States Reorganisation Act.

A part of the former state of PEPSU, including the present day Jind district and the Narnaul tehsil in north Haryana as well as the Loharu tehsil, Charkhi Dadri district and Mahendragarh district in southwest Haryana, presently lie within the state of Haryana, which was separated from Punjab on 1 November 1966. Some other areas that belonged to PEPSU, notably Solan and Nalagarh, now lie in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Rajpramukh and Uparajpramukh

S. no.	Rajpramukh	Portrait	Tenure			Uparajpramukh	Portrait	Appointed by
1	Yadavindra Singh		15 July 1948	1 November 1956	8 years, 109 days	Jagatjit Singh		C. Rajagopalachari

Chief Ministers

No		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) (Constituency)	Term of office		Time in office	Party (Alliance/ Partner)	Assembly (Election)	Appointed by
				Took office	Left office
Premier (1948–1952)
-			Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) ( – )	15 July 1948	13 January 1949	182 days	IND	Not Yet Created	Yadavindra Singh
1			Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) ( – )	13 January 1949	23 May 1951	2 years, 130 days
2			Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) ( – )	23 May 1951	21 April 1952	1 year, 333 days	Indian National Congress
Chief Minister (1952–1956)
1			Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) (Patiala Sadar)	21 April 1952	22 April 1952	1 day	Indian National Congress	1st (1952)	Yadavindra Singh
2			Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) (Amloh)	22 April 1952	5 March 1953	317 days	IND (UDF)
(i)			Vacant (President's rule)	5 March 1953	8 March 1954	1 year, 3 days	-		Rajendra Prasad
(1)			Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) (Patiala Sadar)	8 March 1954	12 January 1955	310 days	Indian National Congress	2nd (1954)	Yadavindra Singh
3			Brish Bhan (1908-1988) (Kalayat)	12 January 1955	1 November 1956	1 year, 294 days

Deputy Chief Minister

Sr. No.	Name	Portrait	Term of office		Political Party		Chief Minister
1	Brish Bhan		23 May 1951	21 April 1952		Indian National Congress	Raghbir Singh
			8 March 1954	12 January 1955

Institutions

Heads of state and government

When the state was formed, the then-Maharaja of Patiala, Yadavindra Singh, was appointed its Rajpramukh (equivalent to Governor). He remained in office during the entire length of the state's short existence. The then Maharaja of Kapurthala, Jagatjit Singh, served as Uparajpramukh (lieutenant-governor).

Gian Singh Rarewala was sworn in on 13 January 1949 as the first Chief Minister of PEPSU. Col. Raghbir Singh became the next Chief Minister on 23 May 1951, and Brish Bhan the Deputy Chief Minister.

The state elected a 60-member state legislative assembly on 6 January 1952. The Congress Party won 26 seats and the Akali Dal won 19 seats.

On 22 April 1952, Gian Singh Rarewala again became Chief Minister, this time an elected one. He led a coalition government, called the "United Front", formed by the Akali Dal and various independents. On 5 March 1953 his government was dismissed and President's rule was imposed on the state. In the mid-term poll that followed, the Congress party secured a majority and Raghbir Singh became Chief Minister on 8 March 1954. Upon his death, Brish Bhan became the Chief Minister on 12 January 1955 and remained in office as last incumbent.

Subdivisions

Initially, in 1948, the state was divided into the following eight districts:

1. Patiala
2. Nabha
3. Jind
4. Faridkot
5. Kalsian
6. Kapurthala
7. Malerkotla
8. Nalagarh

In 1953, the number of districts was reduced from eight to five. Barnala district became part of Sangrur district and Kohistan and Fatehgarh districts became part of Patiala district.

There were four Lok Sabha constituencies in this state. Three of them were single-seat constituency: Mohindergarh, Sangrur and Patiala. The Kapurthala-Bhatinda Lok Sabha constituency was a double-seat constituency.

Demography

The state had a population of 3,493,685 (1951 census), of which 19% was urban. The population density was 133/km.