Punjab region

From Freepedia

This article details the geographical region of Punjab. For other meanings see Punjab (disambiguation)

Image:Punjab 1903.gifImage:Punjab 1909.jpg The Punjab (meaning: "Land of five Rivers"; also Panjab, Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, Shahmukhi: پنجاب) is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan.

Punjab, a region in Northern India and the east side of Pakistan, has a long history and rich cultural heritage. The people of the Punjab are called Punjabis and they speak a language called Punjabi. The three main religions in the area are Sikhism, Hinduism, and Islam. The region has been invaded and ruled by many different empires and races, including the Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Afghans, and Mongols. Around the time of the 15th Century, Guru Nanak Dev founded the Sikh religion, which quickly came to prominence in the region, and shortly afterwards, Maharaja Ranjit Singh reformed the Punjab into a secular and powerful state. The 19th Century saw the beginning of British rule, which led to the emergence of several heroic Punjabi freedom fighters. In 1947, at the end of British rule, the Punjab was split between Pakistan and India.

A historical region of the northwest Indian subcontinent bounded by the Indus and Yamuna rivers. It was a center of the prehistoric Indus Valley civilization and after c. 1500 B.C. the site of early Aryan settlements. Muslims occupied the western part of the region by the 8th century, introducing Islam, and although they later conquered the eastern part, Hinduism remained entrenched there. The Moguls brought the region to cultural eminence until their empire declined in the 18th century. The Punjab was controlled by Sikhs from 1799 to 1849, when it was annexed by Great Britain. It was partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947.

Once a single entity, it is now split between two nations: Pakistan's Punjab Province and India's Punjab state. The Indian states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were also parts of the former Punjab province of British India. Punjab, India covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles). Punjab, Pakistan is 205,344 square kilometres, (79,284 square miles). Population: 24,289,296 (2000) in India: 72,585,000 (1998) in Pakistan. Roughly half of Pakistan's population lives in Pakistani Punjab. Punjabi is spoken by (approx) 90% of population in Pakistani Punjab and 65% in Indian Punjab. The capital city of the Indian Punjab is Chandigarh. The capital city of the Pakistani Punjab is Lahore.

Contents

History

Main article: History of the Punjab
This article needs to be wikified. Please format this article according to the guidelines laid out at Wikipedia:Guide to layout. Please remove this template after wikifying.

Many races of people and religions made up the cultural heritage of the Punjab. Punjab is the land where spiritual aspirations arose. This heroic land bore numerous invasions, and after all its suffering, did not entirely lose its glory and its strength. Here it was that the gentle Nanak preached his marvellous love for the world. Here it was that his broad heart opened and his arms outstretched to embrace the whole world.

One of the earliest stone age cultures of South Asia nourished in the Punjab. People generally accept that about eight centuries before Christ, the Punjab was the most enlightened and the prosperous region in the world. The Harappa civilization developed in Punjab and its culture spread to Iran, Afghanistan, Balochistan, and north-western parts of South Asia.

The Vedic and Epic period of the Punjab was socially and culturally very prolific as during this glorious period, the people accelerated in the fields of philosophy and culture. Here the people composed the Rig Veda and the Upanishads. Further, tradition maintains that Valmiki composed the Ramayana near the present Amritsar city and Kaikyee belonged to this region. Lord Krishna gave the divine message of the Gita at Kurukshetra. It was here that people wrote eighteen principal Puranas. The authors of Vishnu Purana and the Shiv Purana belonged to the central Punjab.

Right from the invasion of Alexander in 326 B.C., the Punjab bore the brunt of incursions and the aggressive assaults of the hordes from the north. During the gruesome period great kings like Porus, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka and host of other heroes emerged to defend Punjab from the onslaughts.

During Mughal rule, there was lots of conflict, chaos, and political upheavals in the Punjab. Appearance of Guru Nanak (1469-1538) was an event significant not only for the region but for the whole country. He was the founder of a powerful popular movement which has left a lasting impression on the history and culture of all of South Asia. Born in the district of Sheikhupura, he rejected the division of mankind into rigid compartments of orthodox religions and preached the oneness of humanity, and oneness of God, thus aiming at creating a new order which embraced the all pervasive spirit in man. He condemned and ridiculed the false and unnatural notions of high and low in society, He denounced idolatory and laid stress on meditation for the realization of the Universal self.

British intrution had political, cultural, philosophical and literary consequences in the Punjab. The opening of a new system of education introduced a new spirit in the life of the Punjabis. More people realized the greatness of Punjabi culture. During the freedom movement, Punjab played a role worthy of its name. Many heroes emerged from the Punjab such as Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh, Bhagat Singh, Uddham Singh, Bhal Parmanand and a host of others.

Since independence, life in the Punjab proves to be tragic and traumatic. The partition resulted in riots and terror which tore up millions of homes and destroyed many lives. The massive exodus resulting from the newly formed state of Pakistan created problems of uncontrollable dimensions. The Punjabis trekked in blood and shreds.

However, the Punjabi spirit of tenacity and toughness sustained the uprooted people. The disillusioned people set to work with no self pity to plough fresh fields. They built new industries and became prominent in sports. Punjabis attained an eminent place in cultural, aesthetic, and literary work, and revived folk art, song, dance and drama. All of this has created a sense of pride and climate of involvement in the heritage of the Punjab.

Religion

Sikhism is the main religion of the Indian Punjab. About 65% of the population is Sikh, 33% is Hindu, and the remaining 2% is mostly Muslim, although there are some Christians. Indian Punjab contains the holy Sikh city of Amritsar. The city is regarded with the same importance by Sikhs as Catholics regard Vatican city. Islam is the religion of about 97% of the population of the Punjab in Pakistan. The language of the region is Punjabi.

Geography

Most of the Punjab is an alluvial plain, bounded by mountains to the North. Despite its dry conditions, it is a rich agricultural area due to the extensive irrigation made possible by the great river system traversing it. The Indian Punjab is the wealthiest state in the country per capita, with most of the revenue generated from agriculture. Punjab region Summer temperatures can reach 47° C (116.6° F). Punjab region temperature range: -10 to 50° C (MIN/MAX).

Agricultural region

This region, historical Punjab, is considered to be one of the most fertile regions on Earth. Both east and west Punjab produce a relatively high proportion of India and Pakistan's food output, respectively. The agricultural output of the Punjab region in Pakistan contributes significantly to Pakistan's GDP. The region is important for wheat growing. In addition, rice, sugar cane, fruit and vegetables are also major crops. Both Indian and Pakistani Punjab are considered to have the best infrastructure of their respective countries. In addition, the Punjabi people, in both of their respective countries are, statistically, on average the wealthiest.

Called "The Granary of India", Indian Punjab produces 1% of the world's rice, 2% of its wheat, and 2% of its cotton.

Timeline

  • 2500 - 1500 B.C.: Harappa Culture
  • 2500 - 700 B.C.: Rigvedic Aryan Civilization
  • 599 B.C.: Jainism
  • 567 - 487 B.C.: Buddha
  • 550 B.C - 600 A.D.: Buddhism remained prevalent
  • 550 - 515 B.C.: Persian Invasion to west of Indus River
  • 326 B.C.: Alexander's Invasion
  • 322 - 298 B.C.: Chandragupta I Maurya Period
  • 273 - 232 B.C.: Ashoka's Period
  • 125 - 160 B.C.: Rise of the Sakas (Scythians known as Jat ancestors)
  • 2 B.C.: Beginning of Rule of the Sakas.
  • 45 - 180 A.D.: Rule of the Kushanas
  • 320 - 550 A.D.: Gupta Empire
  • 500 A.D.: Huns Invasion
  • 510 - 650 A.D.: Vardhanas Era
  • 647 - 1192 A.D.: Rajput Period
  • 713 - 1300 A.D.: Muslim Invaders (Turks and Arabs) famous invaders like Mahmud Gori and Mahmud Ghazni
  • 8th Century A.D.: Arabs capture Sind and Multan
  • 1450 - 1700 A.D.: Mughal Rulers
  • 1469 - 1539 A.D.: Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1st Sikh Guru)
  • 1539 - 1675 A.D.: Period of 8 Sikh Gurus from Guru Angad Dev Ji to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  • 1675 - 1708 A.D.: Guru Gobind Singh Ji (10th Sikh Guru)
  • 1699 A.D.: Birth of the Khalsa
  • 1708 - 1715 A.D.: Conquests of Banda Bahadur
  • 1716 - 1759 A.D.: Sikh struggle against Moghul Governors
  • 1739 A.D.: Invasion of Nadir Shah
  • 1748 -1769 A.D.: Ahmed Shah Abdali's nine invasions
  • 1762 A.D.: 2nd Holocaust (Ghalughara) from Ahmed Shah's 6th invasion
  • 1764 - 1799 A.D.: Rule of the Sikh Misls
  • 1799 - 1839 A.D.: Rule by Maharaja Ranjit Singh
  • 1849 A.D.: Annexation of Punjab
  • 1849 - 1947 A.D.: British Rule
  • 1947 A.D.: Partition of India thus Punjab into 2 parts the Eastern part became the Indian Punjab and the Western part the Pakistan Punjab
  • 1966 A.D.: Punjab in India divided into 3 parts on Linguistic basis (Haryana, Himachal and Punjabi suba the present Punjab)
  • 1984 A.D.: Operation Blue Star and its aftermath

Etymology

The name "Punjab" (pŭn'jăb', pŭn-jäb') means "land of five rivers" and derives from the Persian words 'panj' (پنج) meaning five, and 'āb' (اب) meaning water. The rivers, tributaries of the Indus River, are the Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, and Sutlej. The five rivers, now divided between India and Pakistan, merge to form the Panjnad, which joins the Indus.

Punjab comes through Hindi from Persian panj-āb, “five rivers,” referring to tributaries of the Indus. Persian panj is closely related to Hindi pañc, pronounced (pŭnch), “five,” the source of our punch, a drink that originally contained five ingredients. The Persian and Hindi words are descended from Indo-European *penkwe, which appears in Greek as pente, as in pentagon, and in English as five. The āb in panj-āb comes from the Indo-European root *ap–, “water, river,” and is also found in our word julep, which comes ultimately from Persian gulāb, “rose water.”

See also

Further reading

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Punjab_region.html"


Views
Personal tools
In other languages
Similar Links