Chickpea (Cicer arietillulIl L.) plants were subjected to three watering regimes in order tornevaluate effects of water stress on growth parameters, water relations, chlorophyll arnfluorescence of PSI! and drought induced gene expression under glasshouse conditions. Arn.total of eight accessions were considered for the growth and physiological studies.rnWater stress result in reductions of plant height branch number, leaf number, biomassrnaccumulation, total leaf area and relative growth rates. Biomass allocation to leaves, stem andrnroot did not differ between well-watered and stressed plants. Biomass partitioning to podsrnshowed an increasing trend with stress level but it was not significant except in one accessionrn(Ac3). Stomatal conductance declined with stress. Leaf water potential reached as low as -2.5rnMPa in severely stressed plants, which had relative water content (RWC) between 50 - 60%.rnAnalysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence showed that maximal photochemical yield (Fv IFm)rnwas not affected by water stress. However, there was a slight decrease in Fv/Fm ratio in therndark. On the other hand, quantum efficiency (Ll.F/Fm') declined substantially under waterrnstress in most accessions. Moreover, diurnal reduction in Fm (maximum fluorescence) wasrnobserved indicating the existence of mechanisms for thermal dissipation of excess energy at .rnhigh irradiance. Water stress reduced seed yield by reducing the number of pods per plant.rnHowever, number of seeds per pod was not affected although smaller seeds were harvestedrnin severely stressed plants. It is concluded that out of the studied physiological attributes,rnstomatal conductances, RWC, quantum efficiency and cell membrane stability tests showedrnintraspecific variations indicating that they could be used for selection of resistant types.