Indian hockey was started in Kolkata which took the lead in the early 19th century and gradually the sport spread to princely states and other cities of Bhopal, Gwalior, Jhansi, Indore, Allahabad, Aligarh and Lucknow. But by the mid forties the Punjab province became one of the powerhouses of hockey in the country. The jobs in the Punjab Police and inter-college competition of Panjab University saw the focus of Indian hockey shifting to Punjab.

During the partition, India lost Lahore and some great players to Pakistan.  

Punjab won the national championship in March 1947. It was for the last time Unified Punjab (Punjab on both sides of the Radcliffe Line) defended their title. In the final, they defeated host Mumbai, then Bombay. By the time the victorious Punjab team reached Lahore, the communal violence had already started.

The Punjab team was led by 1936 Olympian AIS Dara, who later represented Pakistan in the next year’s London Olympics.

Siblings Shahzada Sharukh and Shahzada Khurram, who were integral part of the Punjab team and decided to stay back in Lahore, gave shelter to many of their teammates, including Keshav Dutt and Dharam Singh, and made sure they were escorted safely out of Lahore. Both the brothers represented Pakistan in the London Olympics, while Dutt was from the Indian side.

1948 Nationals

When it comes to the combination of the state teams, it was the Punjab team that felt the brunt of partition the most. The last national champion of the undivided India, Punjab, was minus its captain AIS Dara (inside-right), Anwar Beg Moghal (goal-keeper), Mahmoodul Hasan Sheikh (inside-right), Azizur Rehman Khan (inside-left) and brother Shahrukh (left-half) and Khurram (left-extreme).

The 1948 nationals were held in Mumbai and defending champions Punjab lost in the early rounds. Initially in the 39 probable for the London Olympics no player from the Punjab team was considered.

It was only after the intervention of Dickie Carr, who was part of the gold medal winning 1932 Olympics team, Balbir Singh Senior and Tarlochan Singh Bawa got a call after one week of the camp and eventually they made it to the 20-member squad for the London Games. And India, as an independent nation, won its first Olympic gold.