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Punjab

This article is about the geographical region. For the province of Pakistan, see Punjab, Pakistan. For the state in India, see Punjab, India. For other uses, see Punjab (disambiguation).

Punjab
پنجاب • Panjāb • ਪੰਜਾਬ
Region
Nickname: 
Land of the Five Rivers
Location of Punjab in South Asia
Location of Punjab in South Asia
Coordinates: 31°N 74°E / 31°N 74°E / 31; 74
Countries Pakistan
 India
Largest cityLahore
Area
 • Total458,354.5 km2 (176,971.7 sq mi)
Population
 (2011 India & 2017 Pakistan)
 • Totalc. 190 million[a]
DemonymPunjabi
Demographics
 • Ethnic groupsPunjabis
Minor: Saraikis, Hindkowans, Haryanvis, Pashtuns, Himachalis, Dogras, Muhajirs, Kashmiris, Biharis[1]
 • LanguagesPunjabi, its dialects and varieties and others
 • ReligionsIslam (60%)
Hinduism (29%)
Sikhism (10%)
Christianity (1%)
Others (<1%)
Time zonesUTC+05:30 (IST in India)
UTC+05:00 (PKT in Pakistan)
Demographics based on British Punjab's colonial borders
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Punjab (/pʌnˈdʒɑːb, -ˈdʒæb, ˈpʊn-/; Shahmukhi: پنجاب; Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ; Punjabi: [pə̞ɲˈdʒäːb] ⓘ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb)[b] is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is specifically located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern-Pakistan and northwestern-India. Punjab's major cities are Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, Chandigarh, Shimla, Jalandhar, Patiala, Gurugram, and Bahawalpur.

Punjab grew out of the settlements along the five rivers, which served as an important route to the Near East as early as the ancient Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 3000 BCE,[3] followed by migrations of the Indo-Aryan peoples. Agriculture has been the major economic feature of the Punjab and has therefore formed the foundation of Punjabi culture.[3] The Punjab emerged as an important agricultural region, especially following the Green Revolution during the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, and has been described as the "breadbasket of both India and Pakistan."[3]

Punjab's history is a tapestry of conflict, marked by the rise of indigenous dynasties and empires. Following Alexander the Great's invasion in the 4th century BCE, Chandragupta Maurya allied with Punjabi republics to establish the Maurya Empire.[4] Successive reigns of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Kushan Empire, and Indo-Scythians followed, but were ultimately defeated by Eastern Punjab Janapadas such as the Yaudheya, Trigarta Kingdom, Audumbaras, Arjunayanas, and Kuninda Kingdom.[5][6] In the 5th and 6th centuries CE, Punjab faced devastating Hunnic invasions, yet the Vardhana dynasty emerged triumphant, ruling over Northern India.[7] The 8th century CE witnessed the Hindu Shahis rise, known for defeating the Saffarid dynasty and the Samanid Empire. Concurrently, the Tomara dynasty and Katoch Dynasty controlled eastern Punjab, resisting Ghaznavid invasions.[8] Islam took hold in Western Punjab under Ghaznavid rule. The Delhi Sultanate then succeeded the Ghaznavids in which the Tughlaq dynasty and Sayyid dynasty Sultans are described as Punjabi origin.[9][10] The 15th century saw the emergence of the Langah Sultanate in south Punjab, acclaimed for its victory over the Lodi dynasty.[11] After the Mughal Empire's decline in the 18th century, Punjab experienced a period of anarchy. In 1799 CE, the Sikh Empire established its rule, undertaking conquests into Kashmir and Durrani Empire held territories, shaping the diverse and complex history of Punjab.

The boundaries of the region are ill-defined and focus on historical accounts and thus the geographical definition of the term "Punjab" has changed over time. In the 16th century Mughal Empire the Punjab region was divided into three, with the Lahore Subah in the west, the Delhi Subah in the east and the Multan Subah in the south. In British India, until the Partition of India in 1947, the Punjab Province encompassed the present-day Indian states and union territories of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Delhi, and the Pakistani regions of Punjab, and Islamabad Capital Territory.

The predominant ethnolinguistic group of the Punjab region are the Punjabi people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Punjabi language. Punjabi Muslims are the majority in West Punjab (Pakistan), while Punjabi Sikhs are the majority in East Punjab (India). Other religious groups include Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Ravidassia.


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  1. ^ "Elections in Bihar, Campaigning in Punjab to Woo Bihari Migrants". 4 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024. Punjab, as per official estimates, is home to some two million migrants from Bihar. They are engaged in various jobs and occupations in Punjab. Of this, over 1.3 million are living in and around the industrial hub of Ludhiana.
  2. ^ H K Manmohan Siṅgh. "The Punjab". The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Editor-in-Chief Harbans Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5.
  4. ^ Mookerji, Radhakumud (1 January 2016). Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 22. ISBN 978-81-208-0433-3. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Rhys Davids [Buddhist India p. 267] points out that 'it was from the Panjab that Chandragupta recruited the nucleus of the force with which he besieged and conquered Dhana Nanda'
  5. ^ Tarn, William Woodthorpe (24 June 2010). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-108-00941-6. Audumbaras, Trigartas, Kunindas, Yaudheyas, Arjunayanas - began to coin in the first century BC, which means that they had become independent kingdoms or republics; but the coins do not all tell the same story. Those of the two sounthernmost peoples begin somewhere about 100 BC and bear the legends 'Victory of the Arjunayanas' and (on their copper issue) 'Victory of the Yaudheyas', which point to their having won independence by the sword.
  6. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1986). Vakataka gupta age: circa 200–550. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-208-0026-7. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Alexander (23 February 2023). Archaeological Survey of India: Vol. 1. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 280. ISBN 978-3-382-11929-4. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  8. ^ Hutchison, John; Vogel, Jean Philippe (1994). History of the Panjab Hill States. Asian Educational Services. p. 123. ISBN 978-81-206-0942-6. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  9. ^ Easton, Richard M. (2019). India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765. University of California Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0520325128. The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan...
  10. ^ Fauja Singh (1972). History of the Punjab: A.D. 1000-1526. Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University. p. 152. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023. The Tughlaqs had close links with the Punjab . According to Firishta and Sujan Rai Bhandari, Tughlaq, the founder of the dynasty, was born in the Punjab to a Jat mother
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).