Delhi's ethnic groups are diverse. The Yamuna river's flood plains provide fertile alluvial soil suitable for agriculture but are prone to recurrent floods. The Yamuna, a sacred river in Hinduism, is the only major river flowing through Delhi. The original natives of Delhi are those whose ancestors lived in the Yamuna basin, a region which spreads radially from the capital up to a distance of approximately 200 kilometres.[1] This province was not ethnically homogeneous and large amounts of Hindi-speakers resided in the southeast, now Haryana, eastern side, now West Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi's Yamuna Basin. Today the migrant population consists largely of Punjabis, Haryanavis, Bengalis and recently, Biharis and Uttar Pradeshis etc.[2]
During the time of British Raj, Delhi was made a district city of the Punjab Province of British India.[3]
Caste and politics
- According to a 2013 The Hindu article, surveys by the political parties indicate that the dominant voter caste / community groups in Delhi include the Jats (10%), Punjabis (9%), Vaish (8%), Gujjars (7% ) and Sikhs (4%).[4]
- A 2013 The Pioneer report estimates Jats to be only 5.5% of the total electorate.[5]
- According to another 2013 The Pioneer report, the Brahmins comprise 12-14% of Delhi's population.[6]
- According to a 2015 India TV article, the major voter social groups include Punjabis (different castes and religions) (35%), Purvanchalis (24%), Muslims (12%), Jats (8%), Vaish (8%), Gujjars (7%), Sikhs (5%) and around 3.5 million Uttarakhandis.[7]
- In the 2015 Legislative Assembly election, 12 out of Delhi's 70 constituencies were reserved for scheduled caste (Dalit) candidates because of dominant Dalit population.[8]
- According to a 2015 report by The Tribune, Delhi has 81% Hindus and 11.7% Muslims. 35% Punjabi population controls 15-20% vote share in at least 20 constituencies. Purvanchalis, as per the report, were at 4 million.[9]
- A 2017 article by the Indian Express reported a total of 1.2 to 1.4 million voters who have roots in Uttarakhand.[10]
- As per 2020 report by ThePrint, Migrants from UP and Bihar almost dominate Delhi's population. Two out of every three migrants in Delhi were born in either state.[11]
- A 2022 article by Times of India, have reported that "People from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who comprise Purvanchalis, are believed to be numerically superior to other ethnicities in 16 of the 70 assembly seats in the city, accounting 30% of the population.[12]
- Jats, Punjabi Khatris and Brahmins dominated politics in Delhi for many decades.[13]
- Numerically high, the ethnic Punjabis of all dialects and castes are believed to account for at least 35% to 40% of Delhi's total population,[14] and are predominantly Hindi-speaking Punjabi Hindus with significant population being Punjabi-speaking Sikhs.[15][16][14]
Migrants
The Indian censuses record the native languages, but not the descent of the citizens. Linguistic data cannot accurately predict ethnicity: for example, many descendants of the Punjabi Hindu and Sikh refugees who came to Delhi following the partition of India now speak Hindi natively. Thus, there is no concrete official data on the ethnic makeup of Delhi.[14]: 8–10
Delhi is an ancient city, and the people residing in the Yamuna River basin were the original natives of the city.[14]: 12 However, being a historical capital and prominent city, Delhi has always attracted a large number of immigrants. When the capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, a substantial number of government personnel, especially from the Bengal, migrated to Delhi.[14]: 19 Before 1947, Delhi was primarily a city dominated by Urdu-speaking Muslims, Hindu Rajputs and Baniyas.[17]
Following the partition of India in 1947, a large number of people migrated to Delhi. In a few months, its demography changed. Punjabi (including Hindkowan and Saraiki) migrants and refugees, who arrived in hordes from West Punjab and North-West Frontier Province after the Partition, suddenly came to form nearly one-third of the city's population.[18] The large number of Punjabis (with a relatively small number of Sindhis and Bengalis), led to the characterisation of Delhi as a "Punjabi city". Delhi was an absolute de facto Punjabi-speaking majority city from 1947 to till late 1980s.[19] South East Delhi's Chittaranjan Park locality hosts the largest Bengali population in the city, the majority of its residents have settled here just after Partition.[20] According to the first census of 1951 census, Delhi had a total population of 1,744,072 people which included:[14]: 20 [21]
| Place of birth | 1951 census[21] | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Percentage | |
| Delhi | 717,310 | 41.13% |
| Pakistan (mainly West Punjab and North-West Frontier Province)[22] | 479,744 | 27.51% |
| Uttar Pradesh (including contemporary Uttarakhand) | 262,098 | 15.03% |
| East Punjab (including contemporary Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab) | 190,586 | 10.93% |
| Rajasthan | 48,592 | 2.79% |
| Bombay | 8,956 | 0.51% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 8,082 | 0.46% |
| West Bengal | 5,675 | 0.33% |
| Kashmir | 4,444 | 0.25% |
| Madras | 3,920 | 0.22% |
| Madhya Bharat | 1,914 | 0.11% |
| Hyderabad | 1,870 | 0.11% |
| Travancore Cochin | 1,695 | 0.1% |
| Ajmer | 1,499 | 0.09% |
| Bihar | 1,303 | 0.07% |
| Nepal | 1,073 | 0.06% |
| Ireland | 1,010 | 0.06% |
| Malaya | 855 | 0.05% |
| Assam | 674 | 0.04% |
| Burma | 635 | 0.04% |
| Saurashtra | 575 | 0.03% |
| Mysore | 492 | 0.03% |
| Kutch | 266 | 0.02% |
| Bhopal | 211 | 0.01% |
| Africa | 115 | 0.01% |
| Orissa | 83 | 0.005% |
| China | 69 | 0.004% |
| Tripura | 34 | 0.002% |
| Ceylon | 20 | 0.001% |
| Russia | 18 | 0.001% |
| Afghanistan | 16 | 0.001% |
| Vindhya Pradesh | 3 | 0% |
| Other places | 235 | 0.01% |
| Total population | 1,744,072 | 100% |
By 1991, the number of those born outside Delhi was 3.7 million (out of a total population of 9.4 million). Most of these included immigrants from Uttar Pradesh (1.75 million) and Rajasthan (0.23 million). However, these neighbouring states are themselves ethnically diverse, so it is hard to use this data for determining the ethnic make-up of Delhi.[14]: 19 There are also a large number of immigrants from the East Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal. The number of South Indians is relatively less, with most of them coming from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are also several immigrants from the North-East India, who have migrated to Delhi because of the conflicts and bad economy in their native states.[23] Today Hindi and Punjabi are still the most widely spoken languages in Delhi and have become the lingua franca.[24] English is the principal written language of the city and the most commonly used language in government work and in Delhi's huge financial sector. In addition to Hindi, Punjabi and English, Urdu also has official language status in Delhi.[25][26]