Includes bibliographical references and index.

"In 1947, the Punjab border was created that defined the boundary of the newly independent states of India and Pakistan. This book seeks to provide the first rounded social history of this international border, which was a result of the end of the British colonial rule. It divided a population that spoke the same language and shared similar cultural traditions. Over the years, anxieties over security and sovereignty triggered, and the border was surveyed, demarcated and marked with pillars. The book looks at the making of the boundary on the ground and explores the process of demarcation and its implications for the cities of Lahore and Amritsar and the local people who experienced it most directly in their everyday lives. It probes into the development of vast informal economies across the new Punjab border, and reveals that they were inextricably linked with the process of border formation, compelling the state to exert considerable efforts to control its border"-- Provided by publisher.