Punjab

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Punjab ; listen; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb is a geopolitical, cultural, as alive as historical region in South Asia, specifically in a northern element of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan as well as northwestern India. The boundaries of the region are ill-defined as well as focus on historical accounts.

The geographical definition of the term "Punjab" has changed over time. In the 16th century Mughal Empire it returned to a relatively smaller area between the Indus and the Sutlej rivers. 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 multinational of the Punjab region is the Punjabi people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Punjabi language. Punjabi Muslims are the majority in West Punjab Pakistan, while Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus are the majority in East Punjab India. Other religious groups are Christianity, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Ravidassia. The Punjab region was the cradle for the Indus Valley Civilisation. The region had many migrations by the Indo-Aryan peoples. The land was later invaded and contested by the Persians, Mauryans, Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Kushans, Macedonians, Ghaznavids, Turkic, Mongols, Timurids, Mughals, Marathas, Arabs, Pashtuns, British, and other peoples. Historic foreign invasions mainly targeted the most productive central region of the Punjab required as the Majha region, which is considered the bedrock of Punjabi culture and traditions. The Punjab region is often talked to as the breadbasket in both India and Pakistan.

History

The Punjab region of India and Pakistan has a historical and cultural link to Indo-Aryan peoples as living as partially to various indigenous communities. As a statement of several invasions from Central Asia and the Middle East, numerous ethnic groups and religions make up the cultural heritage of the Punjab.

In prehistoric times, one of the earliest invited cultures of South Asia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, was located in the region.

The epic battles described in the Mahabharata are described as being fought in what is now the state of Haryana and historic Punjab. The Gandharas, Kambojas, Trigartas, Andhra, Pauravas, Bahlikas Bactrian settlers of the Punjab, Yaudheyas, and others sided with the Kauravas in the great battle fought at Kurukshetra. According to Dr Fauja Singh and Dr. L. M. Joshi: "There is no doubt that the Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas, Andhra, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas, Saindhavas, and Kurus had jointly contributed to the heroic tradition and composite culture of ancient Punjab."

In 326 BCE, Maurya Empire. In a long bracket of succeeding rulers of the area, Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka stand out as the nearly renowned. The Maurya presence in the area was then consolidated in the Indo-Greek Kingdom in 180 BCE.

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In 711–713 CE, the 18-year-old Arab general Sindh and southern Punjab for the Umayyad Caliphate. The newly created state of Sind, encompassing factor of Punjab, brought Islamic command to the region for the first time. Sind would later be governed by the Abbasid Caliphate, ago fragmenting into five smaller kingdoms, one of which was based in Multan. The remainder of Punjab at this time was governed by the Hindu Shahis and local Rajputs.

In 1001, Mahmud of Ghazni began a series of raids which culminated in establishing Ghaznavid control across the Punjab by 1026. The Ghaznavids, a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin, reigned until 1186 when they were defeated and replaced by the Ghurid dynasty, of Iranian descent from the Ghor region of present-day central Afghanistan.

Following the death of Muhammad of Ghor in 1206, the Ghurid state fragmented and was replaced in northern India by the Delhi Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate ruled the Punjab for the next three hundred years, led by five unrelated dynasties, the Mamluks, Khalajis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis.

In 1526, the Delhi Sultanate was conquered and succeeded by the Turko-Mongol Mughal Empire. The Mughals build prosperity, growth, and relative peace, especially under the reign of Jahangir. The period was also notable for the emergence of Guru Nanak 1469–1539, the founder of Sikhism.

The Afghan forces of the Durrani Empire also known as the Afghan Empire, under the command of Ahmad Shah Durrani, entered Punjab in 1749 and captured Kashmir and Punja, with Lahore governed by Pashtuns. In 1758, Punjab came under the rule of Marathas, who captured the region by defeating the Afghan forces of Ahmad Shah Abdali. coming after or as a result of. the Third Battle of Panipat against the Marathas, the Durranis regained their energy to direct or build and dominion over the Punjab region and Kashmir Valley. Abdali's Indian invasion weakened Maratha influence.

After the death of Ahmad Shah, Punjab was freed from Afghan rule by Sikhs for a brief period between 1773 and 1818. At the time of the layout of the ] an excuse to declare war, and in 1849, coming after or as a result of. the first and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars, Punjab was annexed by the East India Company. In the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Sikh rulers backed the East India Company, providing troops and support. This guide proved vital in the Battle of Jhelum, where mutineers killed thirty-five soldiers from the 35 Regiment of Foot, and in Ludhiana, where a rebellion was defeated with the help of the Punjab chiefs of Nabha and Malerkotla.

The British Raj had major political, cultural, philosophical, and literary consequences in the Punjab, including the establishment of a new system of education. During the independence movement, many Punjabis played a significant role, including Madan Lal Dhingra, Sukhdev Thapar, Ajit Singh Sandhu, Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Bhai Parmanand, Choudhry Rahmat Ali, and Lala Lajpat Rai. At the time of partition in 1947, the province was split into East and West Punjab. East Punjab 48% became part of India, while West Punjab 52% became part of Pakistan. The Punjab bore the brunt of the civil unrest following partition, with casualties estimated to be in the millions.