Portal:Punjab

Punjab map (topographic) with cities

Punjab (/pʌnˈdʒɑːb, -ˈdʒæb, ˈpʌn-/; Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ; Shahmukhi: پنجاب; Punjabi: [pənˈdʒaːb] (listen); also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, on the Indus Plain comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. Punjab's major cities are Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, Chandigarh, Shimla, Jalandhar, 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, and had numerous migrations by the Indo-Aryan peoples. Agriculture has been the major economic feature of the Punjab and has therefore formed the foundation of Punjabi culture, with one's social status being determined by land ownership. 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."

The Punjab is also accredited for the establishment of many major dynasties and empires, for example the Hindu Shahis, accredited for the defeat of the Saffarid dynasty and the Samanid Empire. The Sikh Empire with the defeat of the Kashmiris and the Durrani Empire. The Mauryan empire with conquering South Asia. The Tomara dynasty and Katoch Dynasty who resisted multiple invasion attempts from the Ghaznavids and Ghorids. The Vardhana empire who conquered the Alchon Huns and North India. The Punjab is also responsible for the Tughlaq and Sayyid empires which formed two of the Delhi sultanate dynasties. The Eastern Punjab republics in Ancient Punjab (Yaudheya, Trigarta, Arjunayanas, Audumbaras) are also accredited for the establishment of the Mauryan empire and the defeat of many foreign forces that entered Punjab, for example the Indo-Greek Kingdom and the Kushan Empire.

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 was split into the Lahore Subah which consisted of Punjab up to Jallandhar with jammu in its boundaries and the Delhi subah which comprised the area east of Jallandhar up to western UP(visit: Subah). 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. It bordered the Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa regions to the west, Kashmir to the north, the Hindi Belt to the east, and Rajasthan and Sindh to the south.

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 are Christianity, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Ravidassia. (Full article...)