Punjab

The name Punjab is of Persian origin, with its two parts ({{Langx|fa|پنج|translit=panj|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|fa|آب|translit=āb|label=none|lit=water}}) being cognates of the Sanskrit words {{Langx|sa|पञ्‍च|translit=pañca|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|sa|अप्|translit=áp|label=none|lit=water}}, of the same meaning.{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten|publisher=Aleph Book Company|year=2013|isbn=978-93-83064-41-0|location=New Delhi, India, Urbana, Illinois|page=1 ("Introduction")}} The word pañjāb is thus calque of Indo-Aryan "pañca-áp" and means "The Land of Five Waters", referring to the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas."Punjab." Pp. 107 in Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.), vol. 20. All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Sutlej being the largest. References to a land of five rivers may be found in the Mahabharata, in which one of the regions is named as Panchanada ({{Langx|sa|पञ्चनद|translit=pañca-nada|lit=five rivers}}).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdKcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA199|title=The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-1-61530-202-4|editor=Kenneth Pletcher|page=199|quote=The word's origin can perhaps be traced to panca nada, Sanskrit for "five rivers" and the name of a region mentioned in the ancient epic the Mahabharata.}}{{cite book|author=Rajesh Bala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzduAAAAMAAJ|title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18–20, 2005: Proceedings|publisher=Punjabi University|year=2005|isbn=978-81-7380-990-3|editor=Sukhdial Singh|page=80|chapter=Foreign Invasions and their Effect on Punjab|quote="The word Punjab is a compound of two words-Panj (Five) and aab (Water), thus signifying the land of five waters or rivers. This origin can perhaps be traced to panch nada, Sanskrit for "Five rivers" the word used before the advent of Muslims with a knowledge of Persian to describe the meeting point of the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers, before they joined the Indus."}} Earlier, the Punjab was known as Sapta Sindhu in the Rigveda or Hapta Hendu in Avesta, translating into "The Land of Seven Rivers", with the other two being Indus and Kabul.{{cite book|last=Grenet|first=Frantz |editor-last1=Curtis|editor-first1=Vesta Sarkhosh|editor-last2=Stewart|editor-first2=Sarah |title=Birth of the Persian Empire Volume I|chapter=An Archaeologist's Approach to Avestan Geography |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2005|isbn=978-0-7556-2459-1|page=34}} The ancient Greeks referred to the region as Pentapotamía ({{langx|el|Πενταποταμία}}), which has the same meaning as that of Punjab.Lassen, Christian. 1827. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3 Commentatio Geographica atque Historica de Pentapotamia Indica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182901/https://books.google.ca/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3&redir_esc=y |date=18 November 2022 }} [A Geographical and Historical Commentary on Indian Pentapotamia]. Weber. p. 4:

"That part of India which today we call by the Persian name Penjab is named Panchanada in the sacred language of the Indians; either of which names may be rendered in Greek by Πενταποταμια. The Persian origin of the former name is not at all in doubt, although the words of which it is composed are both Indian and Persian.... But, in truth, that final word is never, to my knowledge, used by the Indians in proper names compounded in this way; on the other hand, there exist multiple Persian names which end with that word, e.g., Doab and Nilab. Therefore, it is probable that the name Penjab, which is today found in all geographical books, is of more recent origin and is to be attributed to the Muslim kings of India, among whom the Persian language was mostly in use. That the Indian name Panchanada is ancient and genuine is evident from the fact that it is already seen in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the most ancient Indian poems, and that no other exists in addition to it among the Indians; for Panchála, which English translations of the Ramayana render with Penjab...is the name of another region, entirely distinct from Pentapotamia...."{{whose translation|reason=has several mistakes – looks like Google translation|date=August 2022}}{{cite book|author1-last=Latif|author-link=Syad Muhammad Latif |author1-first=Syad Muhammad|title=History of the Panjáb from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Time|year=1891|publisher=Calcultta Central Press Company|page=1|quote=The Panjáb, the Pentapotamia of the Greek historians, the north-western region of the empire of Hindostán, derives its name from two Persian words, panj (five), an áb (water), having reference to the five rivers which confer on the country its distinguishing features." |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1}}{{cite journal|author1-last=Khalid|author1-first=Kanwal|title=Lahore of Pre Historic Era|journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan|volume=52|issue=2|page=73|year=2015|quote=The earliest mention of five rivers in the collective sense was found in Yajurveda and a word Panchananda was used, which is a Sanskrit word to describe a land where five rivers meet. [...] In the later period, the word Pentapotamia was used by the Greeks to identify this land. (Penta means 5 and potamia, water ___ the land of five rivers) Muslim Historians implied the word "Punjab" for this region. Again, it was not a new word because in Persian-speaking areas, there are references of this name given to any particular place where five rivers or lakes meet.|url=http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811210654/http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|url-status=live}}

File:Taxila Pakistan juillet 2004.jpg in Pakistan is a World Heritage Site.]]

{{Main|History of Punjab}}

The Punjab region is noted as the site of one of the earliest urban societies, the Indus Valley Civilization which flourished from about {{BCE|3000|link=y}} and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the Indo-Aryan migrations that overran the region in waves between {{BCE|1500}} and {{BCE|500}}.{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |pages=257–259 |language=en |access-date=21 August 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082336/https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live }} Frequent intertribal wars stimulated the growth of larger groupings ruled by chieftains and kings, who ruled local kingdoms known as Mahajanapadas. The rise of kingdoms and dynasties in the Punjab is chronicled in the ancient Hindu epics, particularly the Mahabharata. The epic battles described in the Mahabharata are chronicled 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.Buddha Parkash, Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, p 36. According to Fauja Singh and L.{{nbsp}}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."Joshi, L. M., and Fauja Singh. History of Panjab, Vol I. p. 4.

File:Surrender of Porus to the Emperor Alexander.jpg, fought against Alexander the Great. His surrender is depicted in this 1865 engraving by Alonzo Chappel.]]

The earliest known notable local king of this region was known as King Porus, who fought the famous Battle of the Hydaspes against Alexander the Great. His kingdom spanned between rivers Hydaspes (Jhelum) and Acesines (Chenab); Strabo had held the territory to contain almost 300 cities.{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |pages=125–130 |chapter=The campaign of the Hydaspes}} He (alongside Abisares) had a hostile relationship with the Kingdom of Taxila which was ruled by his extended family. When the armies of Alexander crossed the Indus in its eastward migration, probably in Udabhandapura, he was greeted by the ruler of Taxila, Omphis. Omphis had hoped to force both Porus and Abisares into submission leveraging the might of Alexander's forces and diplomatic missions were mounted, but while Abisares accepted the submission, Porus refused. This led Alexander to seek for a face-off with Porus. Thus began the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BCE; the exact site remains unknown. The battle is thought to be resulted in a decisive Greek victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources that were exaggerated.

Alexander later founded two cities—Nicaea at the site of victory and Bucephalous at the battle-ground, in memory of his horse, who died soon after the battle.{{Efn|Craterus supervised the construction. These cities are yet to be identified.}} Later, tetradrachms would be minted depicting Alexander on horseback, armed with a sarissa and attacking a pair of Indians on an elephant.{{Cite book |last=Holt |first=Frank Lee |title=Alexander the Great and the mystery of the elephant medallions |publisher=University of California Press |year=2003}} Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied "Treat me as a king would treat another king".Rogers, p.200 Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |chapter=From the Hydaspes to the Southern Ocean}}{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Edward M. |title=Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2013 |isbn=9781441193797 |page=151}}{{sfn|Roy|2004|pp=23–28}} Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled to the northeast of Porus' kingdom.

After Alexander's death in {{BCE|323}}, Perdiccas became the regent of his empire, and after Perdiccas's murder in {{BCE|321}}, Antipater became the new regent.{{Cite book |last=Heckel |first=Waldemar |title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire |publisher=Wiley |year=2006 |isbn=9781405112109}} According to Diodorus, Antipater recognized Porus's authority over the territories along the Indus River. However, Eudemus, who had served as Alexander's satrap in the Punjab region, treacherously killed Porus.{{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |title=Mauryan India |author2=Vivekanand Jha |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / Tulika Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 |series=A People's History of India |page=16 |author1-link=Irfan Habib}}

Chandragupta Maurya, with the aid of Kautilya, had established his empire around {{BCE|320}}. The early life of Chandragupta Maurya is not clear. Kautilya enrolled the young Chandragupta in the university at Taxila to educate him in the arts, sciences, logic, mathematics, warfare, and administration. Megasthenes' account, as it has survived in Greek texts that quote him, states that Alexander the Great and Chandragupta met, which if true would mean his rule started earlier than {{BCE|321}}. As Alexander never crossed the Beas River, so his territory probably lay in the Punjab region.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} With the help of the small Janapadas of Punjab, he had gone on to conquer much of the North West Indian subcontinent.{{Cite book |last=Mookerji |first=Radhakumud |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5g2EAAAQBAJ&dq=yaudheyas+chandragupta&pg=PA22 |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0433-3 |page=22 |language=en |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314141224/https://books.google.com/books?id=t5g2EAAAQBAJ&dq=yaudheyas+chandragupta&pg=PA22 |url-status=live }} He then defeated the Nanda rulers in Pataliputra to capture the throne. Chandragupta Maurya fought Alexander's successor in the east, Seleucus when the latter invaded. In a peace treaty, Seleucus ceded all territories west of the Indus and offered a marriage, including a portion of Bactria, while Chandragupta granted Seleucus 500 elephants.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} The chief of the Mauryan military was also always a Yaudheyan warrior according to the Bijaygadh Pillar inscription, which states that the Yaudheyas elected their own chief who also served as the general for the Mauryans.{{Cite book |last=Gupta |first=Gyan Swarup |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbjT9GG__nEC&dq=chief+of+the+mauryan+military+yaudheyas&pg=PA194 |title=India: From Indus Valley Civilisation to Mauryas |date=1999 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-763-2 |language=en |page=194 |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165611/https://books.google.com/books?id=jbjT9GG__nEC&dq=chief+of+the+mauryan+military+yaudheyas&pg=PA194 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Ramesh Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJQ6AAAAIAAJ&q=bijaygadh+pillar+inscription+yaudheyas |title=Corporate Life in Ancient India |date=1969 |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |page=222 |language=en |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314141256/https://books.google.com/books?id=VJQ6AAAAIAAJ&q=bijaygadh+pillar+inscription+yaudheyas |url-status=live }} The Mauryan military was also made up vastly of men from the Punjab Janapadas.{{Cite book |last=Mookerji |first=Radhakumud |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5g2EAAAQBAJ&dq=mauryan+military+mostly+Punjabi&pg=PA27 |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0433-3 |language=en |page=27 |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165613/https://books.google.com/books?id=t5g2EAAAQBAJ&dq=mauryan+military+mostly+Punjabi&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}

Chandragupta's rule was very well organised. The Mauryans had an autocratic and centralised administration system, aided by a council of ministers, and also a well-established espionage system. Much of Chandragupta's success is attributed to Chanakya, the author of the Arthashastra. Much of the Mauryan rule had a strong bureaucracy that had regulated tax collection, trade and commerce, industrial activities, mining, statistics and data, maintenance of public places, and upkeep of temples.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

In the 9th century, the Hindu Shahi dynasty originating from the region of Oddiyana,{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Abdul |date=2002 |title=New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XV |pages=37–42 |quote=The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty. |access-date=11 January 2023 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426060455/http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=2005 |title=The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XVI |pages=41–48 |quote=Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis". |access-date=11 January 2023 |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201184532/http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Rehman|1976}} replaced the Taank kingdom, ruling Western Punjab along with eastern Afghanistan. The tribe of the Gakhars/Khokhars, formed a large part of the Hindu Shahi army according to the Persian historian Firishta.{{sfn|Rehman|1976|pp=48-50}} The most notable rulers of the empire were Lalliya, Bhimadeva and Jayapala who were accredited for military victories.

Lalliya had reclaimed the territory at and around Kabul between 879 and 901 CE after it had been lost under his predecessor to the Saffarid dynasty.{{sfn|Rehman|1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}} He was described as a fearsome Shahi. Two of his ministers reconstructed by Rahman as Toramana and Asata are said to of have taken advantage of Amr al-Layth's preoccupation with rebellions in Khorasan, by successfully raiding Ghazna around 900 CE.{{sfn|Rehman|1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}}

After a defeat in Eastern Afghanistan suffered on the Shahi ally Lawik, Bhimadeva mounted a combined attack around 963 CE.{{sfn|Rehman|1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}} Abu Ishaq Ibrahim was expelled from Ghazna and Shahi-Lawik strongholds were restored in Kabul and adjacent areas.{{sfn|Rehman|1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}} This victory appears to have been commemorated in the Hund Slab Inscription (HSI).{{sfn|Rehman|1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}}

File:Khizr Khan (4).jpg, founder of the Sayyid dynasty{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117 |publisher=University of California Press |language=en |quote=The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan...}}]]

The Turkic Ghaznavids in the tenth century overthrew the Hindu Shahis and consequently ruled for 157 years in Western Punjab, gradually declining as a power until the Ghurid conquest of Lahore by Muhammad of Ghor in 1186, deposing the last Ghaznavid ruler Khusrau Malik.{{Cite book |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA76 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |date=1979 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |page=76 |language=en |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082342/https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA76#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} Following the death of Muhammad of Ghor in 1206 by Punjabi assassins near the Jhelum river, the Ghurid state fragmented and was replaced in northern India by the Delhi Sultanate.

The Tughlaq dynasty's reign formally started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq after defeating Khusrau Khan at the Battle of Lahrawat.

During Ghazi Malik's reign, in 1321 he sent his eldest son Jauna Khan, later known as Muhammad bin Tughlaq, to Deogir to plunder the Hindu kingdoms of Arangal and Tilang (now part of Telangana). His first attempt was a failure.William Lowe (Translator), {{Google books|RFNOAAAAYAAJ|Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh|page=296}}, Volume 1, pages 296-301 Four months later, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq sent large army reinforcements for his son asking him to attempt plundering Arangal and Tilang again.[https://archive.org/stream/historyindiaast06elligoog#page/n240/mode/2up Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi] Ziauddin Barni, The History of India by its own Historians - The Muhammadan Period, Volume 3, Trubner London, pages 233-234 This time Jauna Khan succeeded and Arangal fell, it was renamed to Sultanpur, and all plundered wealth, state treasury and captives were transferred from the captured kingdom to the Delhi Sultanate.The Muslim aristocracy in Lukhnauti (Bengal) invited Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq to extend his coup and expand eastwards into Bengal by attacking Shamsuddin Firoz Shah, which he did over 1324–1325 CE, after placing Delhi under control of his son Ulugh Khan, and then leading his army to Lukhnauti. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq succeeded in this campaign.

After his father's death in 1325 CE, Muhammad bin Tughlaq assumed power and his rule saw the empire expand to most of the Indian subcontinent, its peak in terms of geographical reach.[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq Muḥammad ibn Tughluq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427052630/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq |date=27 April 2015 }} Encyclopædia Britannica He attacked and plundered Malwa, Gujarat, Lakhnauti, Chittagong, Mithila and many other regions in India.[https://archive.org/stream/historyindiaast06elligoog#page/n242/mode/2up Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi] Ziauddin Barni, The History of India by its own Historians - The Muhammadan Period, Volume 3, Trubner London, pp. 236–237 His distant campaigns were expensive, although each raid and attack on non-Muslim kingdoms brought new looted wealth and ransom payments from captured people. The extended empire was difficult to retain, and rebellions became commonplace all over the Indian subcontinent.[https://archive.org/stream/historyindiaast06elligoog#page/n242/mode/2up Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi] Ziauddin Barni, The History of India by its own Historians - The Muhammadan Period, Volume 3, Trubner London, pp. 235–240 Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in March 1351{{sfn|Jackson|2003|p=162}} while trying to chase and punish people for rebellion and their refusal to pay taxes in Sindh and Gujarat.Vincent A Smith, {{Google books|p2gxAQAAMAAJ|The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911|page=217}}, Chapter 2, pp. 242–248, Oxford University Press

After Muhammad bin Tughlaq's death, the Tughlaq empire was in a state of disarray with many regions assuming independence; it was at this point that Firuz Shah Tughlaq, Ghazi Malik's nephew, took reign. His father's name was Rajab (the younger brother of Ghazi Malik) who had the title Sipahsalar. His mother Naila was a Punjabi Bhatti princess (daughter of Rana Mal) from Dipalpur and Abohar according to the historian William Crooke.{{Cite book |last=Crooke |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCc-AAAAYAAJ&dq=firoz+shah+tughlaq+mother&pg=PA144 |title=An Ethnographical Hand-book for the N.-W. Provinces and Oudh |date=1890 |publisher=North-Western provinces and Oudh government Press |page=144 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165612/https://books.google.com/books?id=tCc-AAAAYAAJ&dq=firoz+shah+tughlaq+mother&pg=PA144 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WhFDAAAAYAAJ&q=bibi+naila+punjabi |title=Proceedings - Punjab History Conference |date=1966 |publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjab University |page=82 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165612/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhFDAAAAYAAJ&q=bibi+naila+punjabi |url-status=live }} The southern states had drifted away from the Sultanate and there were rebellions in Gujarat and Sindh, while "Bengal asserted its independence." He led expeditions against Bengal in 1353 and 1358. He captured Cuttack, desecrated the Jagannath Temple, Puri, and forced Raja Gajpati of Jajnagar in Orissa to pay tribute.{{Cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPVq3ykHyH4C&dq=firoz+shah+orissa&pg=PA184 |title=A History of India |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |date=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-32919-4 |page=184 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165612/https://books.google.com/books?id=TPVq3ykHyH4C&dq=firoz+shah+orissa&pg=PA184 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Haque |first=Mohammed Anwarul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co8eAAAAMAAJ&q=firoz+shah+cuttack |title=Muslim Administration in Orissa, 1568-1751 A.D. |date=1980 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |page=20 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165610/https://books.google.com/books?id=Co8eAAAAMAAJ&q=firoz+shah+cuttack |url-status=live }} He also laid siege to the Kangra Fort and forced Nagarkot to pay tribute.{{Cite book |last=Jauhri |first=R. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToRHAAAAMAAJ&q=firoz+shah+tughluq+kangra |title=Firoz Tughluq, 1351-1388 A.D. |date=1990 |publisher=ABS Publications |isbn=978-81-7072-029-4 |page=74 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165613/https://books.google.com/books?id=ToRHAAAAMAAJ&q=firoz+shah+tughluq+kangra |url-status=live }} During this time, Tatar Khan of Greater Khorasan attacked Punjab, but he was defeated and his face slashed by the sword given by Feroz Shah Tughlaq to Raja Kailas Pal who ruled the Nagarkot region in Punjab.{{Cite book |last1=Hutchison |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3btDw4S2FmYC&dq=kailas+pal&pg=PA221 |title=History of the Panjab Hill States |last2=Vogel |first2=Jean Philippe |date=1994 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0942-6 |page=221 |language=en |access-date=14 March 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708165611/https://books.google.com/books?id=3btDw4S2FmYC&dq=kailas+pal&pg=PA221 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Sayyid dynasty}}

Khizr Khan established the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate after the fall of the Tughlaqs.{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117|publisher=University of California Press }}

Following Timur's 1398 sack of Delhi,{{sfn|Jackson|2003|p=103}} he appointed Khizr Khan as deputy of Multan (Punjab).{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} He held Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and Upper Sindh.{{cite book |author=Kenneth Pletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=PA132 |title=The History of India |date=2010 |page=132 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=9781615301225 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112659/https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=PA132 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=RA1-PA229 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |page=229 |publisher=S. Chand |isbn=9788121903646 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112707/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=RA1-PA229 |url-status=live }} Khizr Khan captured Delhi on 28 May 1414 thereby establishing the Sayyid dynasty.{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} Khizr Khan did not take up the title of sultan, but continued the fiction of his allegiance to Timur as Rayat-i-Ala(vassal) of the Timurids - initially that of Timur, and later his son Shah Rukh.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OghDAAAAYAAJ&q=It+is+generally+acknowledged+that+Khizr+Khan+continued+to+recognise+Timur+and+his+successors+,+Shah+Rukh+,+as+his+nominal+overlords+.+But+later+on+under+his+succesor+,+Mubarak+Khan+,+this+%27+fiction+%27+of+allegiance+to+the+Timurid+rulers |title=Proceedings:Volume 55 |year=1995 |publisher=Indian History Congress |page=216 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404004957/https://books.google.com/books?id=OghDAAAAYAAJ&q=It+is+generally+acknowledged+that+Khizr+Khan+continued+to+recognise+Timur+and+his+successors+%2C+Shah+Rukh+%2C+as+his+nominal+overlords+.+But+later+on+under+his+succesor+%2C+Mubarak+Khan+%2C+this+%27+fiction+%27+of+allegiance+to+the+Timurid+rulers |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Mahajan|2007|page=237}} After the accession of Khizr Khan, the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Sindh were reunited under the Delhi Sultanate, where he spent his time subduing rebellions.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3QbAAAAIAAJ&q=khizr+khan+sindh |title=Rajasthan [district Gazetteers] Bharatpur |date=1971 |publisher=Printed at Government Central Press |page=52 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112704/https://books.google.com/books?id=F3QbAAAAIAAJ&q=khizr+khan+sindh |url-status=live }} Punjab was the powerbase of Khizr Khan and his successors as the bulk of the Delhi army during their reigns came from Multan and Dipalpur.{{Cite book |last=Lal |first=Kishori Saran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |title=Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion of Timur to the Conquest of Babur 1398-1526 |date=1980 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0227-6 |language=en |quote=This considerably depleted Iqbal's strength and encouraged Khizr Khan to collect his forces of Multan, Deopalpur and the Punjab |access-date=9 March 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309205559/https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |url-status=live }}

Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Mubarak Shah after his death on 20 May 1421. Mubarak Shah referred to himself as Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah on his coins, removing the Timurid name with the name of the Caliph, and declared himself a Shah.{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah+timur++caliph&pg=RA1-PA240 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |page=240 |publisher=S. Chand | isbn=978-81-219-0364-6 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112700/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah+timur++caliph&pg=RA1-PA240 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |author=Iqtidar Alam Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah&pg=PA103 |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India |date=2008 |page=103 | publisher=Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-5503-8 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404005001/https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah&pg=PA103 |url-status=live }} He defeated the advancing Hoshang Shah Ghori, ruler of Malwa Sultanate and forced him to pay heavy tribute early in his reign.{{Cite book |last=Lal |first=Kishori Saran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |title=Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion of Timur to the Conquest of Babur 1398-1526 |date=1980 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0227-6 |language=en |quote=Hoshang tried his luck against Sultan of Delhi but he was beaten back by Mubarak Shah Saiyyad to whom he had to pay a handsome tribute |access-date=9 March 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309205559/https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |url-status=live }} Mubarak Shah also put down the rebellion of Jasrath Khokhar and managed to fend off multiple invasions by the Timurids of Kabul.{{Cite book |last=Lal |first=Kishori Saran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |title=Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion of Timur to the Conquest of Babur 1398-1526 |date=1980 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0227-6 |page=109 |language=en |access-date=9 March 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309205559/https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |url-status=live }}

The last ruler of the Sayyids, Ala-ud-Din, voluntarily abdicated the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in favour of Bahlul Khan Lodi on 19 April 1451, and left for Badaun, where he died in 1478.{{sfn|Mahajan|2007|page=244}}

In 1445, Sultan Qutbudin, chief of Langah (a Jat Zamindar tribe),{{cite journal |last=Ahmed |first=Iftikhar |year=1984 |title=Territorial Distribution of Jatt Castes in Punjab c. 1595 – c. 1881 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44140224 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |publisher=Indian History Congress |volume=45 |pages=429, 432 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140224 |access-date=28 July 2022 |archive-date=28 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728212635/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140224 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Mubārak |first1=A.F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8IXAAAAYAAJ |title=The Ain I Akbari |last2=Blochmann |first2=H. |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal |year=1891 |series=Bibliotheca Indica |page=321 |access-date=28 July 2022 |issue=v. 2}}{{cite book |last=Lambrick |first=H. T. |title=Sind : a general introduction |date=1975 |publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board |isbn=0-19-577220-2 |publication-place=Hyderabad |page=212 |oclc=2404471}}{{cite book |last=Roseberry |first=J.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAMNAAAAIAAJ |title=Imperial Rule in Punjab: The Conquest and Administration of Multan, 1818–1881 |publisher=Manohar |year=1987 |isbn=978-81-85054-28-5 |page=177 |access-date=28 July 2022}} established the Langah Sultanate in Multan after the fall of the Sayyid dynasty. Husseyn Langah I (reigned 1456–1502) was the second ruler of Langah Sultanate. He undertook military campaigns in Punjab and captured Chiniot and Shorkot from the Lodis. Shah Husayn successfully repulsed attempted invasion by the Lodis led by Tatar Khan and Barbak Shah, as well as his daughter Zeerak Rumman.{{Cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Age of Achievement, 750 AD to the End of the 15th Century |editor1=M. S. Asimov |editor2=C. E. Bosworth |editor2-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |contribution=Chapter 15. The Regions Of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan And Kashmir: The Historical, Social And Economic Setting |contribution-url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20regions%20of%20sind%2C%20baluchistan%2C%20multan%20and%20kashmir.pdf |page=305 |author1=N. A. Baloch |author2=A. Q. Rafiqi |publisher=UNESCO |year=1998 |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |access-date=22 January 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306193338/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20regions%20of%20sind%2C%20baluchistan%2C%20multan%20and%20kashmir.pdf |url-status=live }}

The Mughals came to power in the early 16th century and gradually expanded to control all of the Punjab from their capital at Lahore. During the Mughal era, Saadullah Khan, born into a family of Punjabi agriculturalists{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml5xAAAAMAAJ |title=Journal of Central Asia |publisher=Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, Quaid-i-Azam University |year=1992 |page=84 |quote=Sadullah Khan was the son of Amir Bakhsh a cultivator of Chiniot . He belongs to Jat family. He was born on Thursday, the 10th Safar 1000 A.H./1591 A.C. |access-date=2022-07-30 |issue=v. 15}} belonging to the Thaheem tribe{{cite book |last=Quddus |first=S.A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4y9zAAAAMAAJ |title=Punjab, the Land of Beauty, Love, and Mysticism |publisher=Royal Book Company |year=1992 |isbn=978-969-407-130-5 |page=402 |access-date=2022-07-29}} from Chiniot{{Cite journal |last=Siddiqui |first=Shabbir A. |title=Relations Between Dara Shukoh and Sa'adullah Khan |date=1986 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141552 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=47 |pages=273–276 |jstor=44141552 |issn=2249-1937 |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422052225/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141552 |url-status=live }} remained grand vizier (or Prime Minister) of the Mughal Empire in the period 1645–1656. Other prominent Muslims from Punjab who rose to nobility during the Mughal Era include Wazir Khan,{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=Ebba |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/69022179 |title=The complete Taj Mahal : and the riverfront gardens of Agra |date=2006 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |others=Richard André. Barraud |isbn=978-0-500-34209-1 |location=London |page=45 |oclc=69022179 |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118183419/https://www.worldcat.org/title/69022179 |url-status=live }} Adina Beg Arain,{{Cite book |first=G.S. |last=Chhabra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UkDi6rVbckoC&dq=adina+beg+punjab&pg=PA38 |title=Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707–1803) |date=2005 |publisher=Lotus Press |isbn=978-81-89093-06-8 |page=38 |language=en}} and Shahbaz Khan Kamboh.{{cite Banglapedia|article=Shahbaz Khan|author=Chisti, AA Sheikh Md Asrarul Hoque}} The Mughal Empire ruled the region until it was severely weakened in the eighteenth century. As Mughal power weakened, Afghan rulers took control of the region. Contested by the Marathas and Afghans, the region was the center of the growing influence of the misls, who expanded and established the Sikh Confederacy as the Mughals and Afghans weakened, ultimately ruling the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and territories north into the Himalayas.

{{See also|Sikh Empire}}

In the 19th century, Maharajah Ranjit Singh established the Sikh Empire based in the Punjab.{{cite web |date=3 September 2015 |title=Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign by K.S. Duggal. (Date:1989. ISBN 8170172446) |url=http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/ |access-date=2009-08-09 |publisher=Exoticindiaart.com |archive-date=17 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617232755/http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/ |url-status=live }} The empire existed from 1799, when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous Sikh misls.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ranjit Singh |volume=22 |page=892}}{{cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-521-63764-3 |series=The New Cambridge History of India |access-date=29 October 2019 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082839/https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC |url-status=live }} At its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north. It was divided into four provinces: Lahore, in Punjab, which became the Sikh capital; Multan, also in Punjab; Peshawar; and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 3.5 million in 1831 (making it the 19th most populous country at the time),Amarinder Singh's The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.

{{see also|Punjab Province (British India)}}

File:Maharaj Ranjit Singh.jpg, founder of the Sikh Empire]]

The Sikh Empire ruled the Punjab until the British annexed it in 1849 following the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars.{{cite book |last1=Grewal |first1=J. S. |series=The New Cambridge History of India |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-63764-3 |pages=126–128 |edition=Revised |chapter=The Sikh empire (1799–1849) - Chapter 6}} Most of the Punjabi homeland formed a province of British India, though a number of small princely states retained local rulers who recognized British authority. The Punjab with its rich farmlands became one of the most important colonial assets. Lahore was a noted center of learning and culture, and Rawalpindi became an important military installation. Most Punjabis supported the British during World War I, providing men and resources to the war effort even though the Punjab remained a source of anti colonial activities.{{rp|163}} Disturbances in the region increased as the war continued. At the end of the war, high casualty rates, heavy taxation, inflation, and a widespread influenza epidemic disrupted Punjabi society. In 1919, Colonel Reginald Dyer ordered troops under command to fire on a crowd of demonstrators, mostly Sikhs in Amritsar. The Jallianwala massacre fueled the Indian independence movement. Nationalists declared the independence of India from Lahore in 1930 but were quickly suppressed. When the Second World War broke out, nationalism in British India had already divided into religious movements. Many Sikhs and other minorities supported the Hindus, who promised a secular multicultural and multireligious society, and Muslim leaders in Lahore passed a resolution to work for a Muslim Pakistan, making the Punjab region a center of growing conflict between Indian and Pakistani nationalists. At the end of the war, the British granted separate independence to India and Pakistan, setting off massive communal violence as Muslims fled to Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh Punjabis fled east to India.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |title=Pakistan Geotagging: Partition of Punjab in 1947 |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208221714/http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |archive-date=8 February 2016|date=3 October 2014 }}. Daily Times (10 May 2012). Retrieved 12 July 2013. The Punjab bore the brunt of the civil unrest following partition, with casualties estimated to be in the millions.{{cite journal|last1=Talbot|first1=Ian|title=Partition of India: The Human Dimension|journal=Cultural and Social History|year=2009|volume=6|issue=4|pages=403–410|quote=The number of casualties remains a matter of dispute, with figures being claimed that range from 200,000 to 2 million victims.|doi=10.2752/147800409X466254|s2cid=147110854 | issn=1478-0038 }}{{Cite book|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|last=D'Costa|first=Bina|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0415565660|page=53}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/butalia-silence.html|title=The Other Side of Silence: Voices From the Partition of India|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2000|access-date=1 September 2021|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325043612/https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/butalia-silence.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|title=Muslims in India Since 1947: Islamic Perspectives on Inter-Faith Relations|last=Sikand|first=Yoginder|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-1134378258|page=5}}

Another major consequence of partition was the sudden shift towards religious homogeneity occurred in all districts across Punjab owing to the new international border that cut through the province. This rapid demographic shift was primarily due to wide scale migration but also caused by large-scale religious cleansing riots which were witnessed across the region at the time. According to historical demographer Tim Dyson, in the eastern regions of Punjab that ultimately became Indian Punjab following independence, districts that were 66% Hindu in 1941 became 80% Hindu in 1951; those that were 20% Sikh became 50% Sikh in 1951. Conversely, in the western regions of Punjab that ultimately became Pakistani Punjab, all districts became almost exclusively Muslim by 1951.{{sfn|Dyson|2018|pp=188–189}}

The geographical definition of the term "Punjab" has changed over time. In the 16th century Mughal Empire it referred to a relatively smaller area between the Indus and the Sutlej rivers.{{cite book |author=J. S. Grewal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |edition=Revised |series=The New Cambridge History of India |page=1 |access-date=29 October 2019 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082839/https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9x5FX2RROZgC&pg=PA202 |title=Different Types of History |date=2009 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1818-6 |language=en |page=202}}

File:Map of India 1823.jpg

At its height in the first half of the 19th century, the Sikh Empire spanned a total of over {{cvt|200,000|sqmi}}.{{cite book |last=Manning |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNveDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Bayonet to Barrage Weaponry on the Victorian Battlefield |date=30 September 2020 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited |page=9 |isbn=9781526777249 |quote="The Sikh kingdom expanded from Tibet in the east to Kashmir in the west and from Sind in the south to the Khyber Pass in the north, an area of 200,000 square miles" |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=sNveDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Barczewski |first=Stephanie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixd8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 |title=Heroic Failure and the British |date=22 March 2016 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300186819 |page=89 |quote="..the Sikh state encompassed over 200,000 square miles (518,000 sq km)" |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=ixd8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Khilani |first=N. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGEDAAAAMAAJ&q=punjab+of+over+200,000+square+miles+khilnani |title=British power in the Punjab, 1839–1858 |date=1972 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |isbn=9780210271872 |page=251 |quote="..into existence a kingdom of the Punjab of over 200,000 square miles" |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041653/https://books.google.com/books?id=fGEDAAAAMAAJ&q=punjab+of+over+200,000+square+miles+khilnani |url-status=live }}

The Punjab was a region straddling India and the Afghan Durrani Empire. The following modern-day political divisions made up the historical Punjab region during the Sikh Empire:

• Punjab region, to Mithankot in the south
• Punjab, Pakistan, excluding Bahawalpur State
• Punjab, India, south to areas just across the Sutlej river
• Himachal Pradesh, India, south to areas just across the Sutlej river
• Jammu Division, Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan (1808–1846)
• Kashmir region, Pakistan/China{{cite book|title=The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge |last=Johnson |first=K. Paul |author-link=K. Paul Johnson |year=1994 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-2063-8 |edition=1st |page=128}}{{cite book|title=Britain and Tibet 1765–1947 |last=Marshall |first=Julie G. |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-59997-9 |edition=1st |page=116}}
• Kashmir Valley, India (1819–1846)
• Gilgit, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan (1842–1846){{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
• Ladakh, India (1834–1846){{cite book |author1=Pandey, Dr. Hemant Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nn5IDwAAQBAJ&q=ladakh+1834+sikh&pg=PA57 |title=India's Major Military and Rescue Operations |author2=Singh, Manish Raj |publisher=Horizon Books |year=2017 |isbn=9789386369390 |page=57}}{{cite web |last1=Deng |first1=Jonathan M. |date=2010 |title=Frontier: The Making of the Northern and Eastern Border in Ladakh From 1834 to the Present |url=https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1923&context=isp_collection |publisher=SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 920. |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=18 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218164514/https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1923&context=isp_collection |url-status=live }}
• Khyber Pass, Pakistan/AfghanistanThe Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty, p. 187)
• Peshawar, PakistanThe Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty, pp. 185–187) (taken in 1818, retaken in 1834)
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan (documented from Hazara, taken in 1818, again in 1836 to Bannu){{cite book|title=Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway|author=Sarina Singh|display-authors=etal|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2008|edition=7th|isbn=978-1-74104542-0|page=199}}
• Parts of Western Tibet,{{cite book|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|author=Fakir Syed Waheeduddin|year=1981|publisher=Punjabi University|oclc=221246072|page=vii}} China (briefly in 1841, to Taklakot){{cite book |author1=Kartar Singh Duggal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&q=tibet |title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=2001 |isbn=9788170174103 |page=131}}

After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the empire was severely weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. This opportunity was used by the East India Company to launch the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars. The country was finally annexed and dissolved at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate princely states and the province of Punjab. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was formed in Lahore as a direct representative of the Crown.{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The great mutiny: India 1857 |date=1980 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-004752-3 |location=Harmondsworth}}{{rp|221}}

{{See also|Punjab Province (British India)}}

In British India, until the Partition of India in 1947, the Punjab Province was geographically a triangular tract of country of which the Indus River and its tributary the Sutlej formed the two sides up to their confluence, the base of the triangle in the north being the Lower Himalayan Range between those two rivers. Moreover, the province as constituted under British rule also included a large tract outside these boundaries. Along the northern border, Himalayan ranges divided it from Kashmir and Tibet. On the west it was separated from the North-West Frontier Province by the Indus, until it reached the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District, which was divided from Baluchistan by the Sulaiman Range. To the south lay Sindh and Rajputana, while on the east the rivers Jumna and Tons separated it from the United Provinces.{{cite EB1911|Volume 22|wstitle=Punjab|page=653}} In total Punjab had an area of approximately 357 000 km square about the same size as modern day Germany, being one of the largest provinces of the British Raj.

File:Punjab 1909.jpg

It encompassed the present day Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and some parts of Himachal Pradesh which were merged with Punjab by the British for administrative purposes (but excluding the former princely states which were later combined into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union) and the Pakistani regions of the Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In 1901 the frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province: the North-West Frontier Province. Subsequently, Punjab was divided into four natural geographical divisions by colonial officials on the decadal census data:{{cite web |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 1, Report. |url=https://www.jstor.org/site/SAOA/SouthAsiaOpenArchivesSAOA/CensusReports-1911-26575903/ |access-date=21 July 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007223437/https://www.jstor.org/site/SAOA/SouthAsiaOpenArchivesSAOA/CensusReports-1911-26575903/ |url-status=live }}{{rp|2}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/site/south-asia-open-archives/saoa/censusofindia1941-28216851/|title=CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB|access-date=19 August 2022|archive-date=11 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011130147/https://www.jstor.org/site/south-asia-open-archives/saoa/censusofindia1941-28216851/|url-status=live}}{{rp|4}}

1. Indo-Gangetic Plain West geographical division (including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura district);
2. Himalayan geographical division (including Nahan State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State);
3. Sub-Himalayan geographical division (including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District;
4. North-West Dry Area geographical division (including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, and Dera Ghazi Khan District).

The struggle for Indian independence witnessed competing and conflicting interests in the Punjab. The landed elites of the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities had loyally collaborated with the British since annexation, supported the Unionist Party and were hostile to the Congress party–led independence movement.Pritam Singh, Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy, Routledge, 19 February 2008, p.54 Amongst the peasantry and urban middle classes, the Hindus were the most active National Congress supporters, the Sikhs flocked to the Akali movement whilst the Muslims eventually supported the Muslim League.

Since the partition of the sub-continent had been decided, special meetings of the Western and Eastern Section of the Legislative Assembly were held on 23 June 1947 to decide whether or not the Province of the Punjab be partitioned. After voting on both sides, partition was decided and the existing Punjab Legislative Assembly was also divided into West Punjab Legislative Assembly and the East Punjab Legislative Assembly. This last Assembly before independence, held its last sitting on 4 July 1947.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pap.gov.pk/uploads/previous_members/S-1946-1947.htm |title=Provincial Assembly of the Punjab |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207162416/http://www.pap.gov.pk/uploads/previous_members/S-1946-1947.htm |url-status=live }}

{{main|List of cities in the Punjab region by population}}

Historically, Lahore has been the capital of the Punjab region and continues to be the most populous city in the region, with a population of 11 million for the city proper. Faisalabad is the 2nd most populous city and largest industrial hub in this region. Other major cities are Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Chandigarh are the other cities in Punjab with a city-proper population of over a million.

File:Himalayas, Punjab region.pngThe climate has significant impact on the economy of Punjab, particularly for agriculture in the region. Climate is not uniform over the whole region, as the areas adjacent to the Himalayas generally receive heavier rainfall than those at a distance.{{cite web|website=MapsofIndia.com |url=https://www.mapsofindia.com/punjab/geography-and-history/climate.html |title=Climate of Punjab |date=7 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030101212/http://www.mapsofindia.com/punjab/geography-and-history/climate.html |archive-date=30 October 2012 |url-status=live}}

There are three main seasons and two transitional periods. During the hot season, from mid-April to the end of June, the temperature may reach {{convert|49|C}}. The monsoon season, from July to September, is a period of heavy rainfall, providing water for crops in addition to the supply from canals and irrigation systems. The transitional period after the monsoon season is cool and mild, leading to the winter season, when the temperature in January falls to {{convert|5|C}} at night and {{convert|12|C}} by day. During the transitional period from winter to the hot season, sudden hailstorms and heavy showers may occur, causing damage to crops.{{cite web|work=Royal Geographical Society |url=http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/5F44251D-8FD1-4102-BCDB-240A4E9EA1B8/0/F3ClimateandLandscapeFactsheet.pdf |title=The Climate & Landscape of the Punjab – Fact Sheet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430034607/http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/5F44251D-8FD1-4102-BCDB-240A4E9EA1B8/0/F3ClimateandLandscapeFactsheet.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}

{{Islamabad weatherbox}}

{{Lahore weatherbox}}

{{Chandigarh weatherbox}}

{{Main|Punjabis}}

{{See also|Punjab, Pakistan#Languages|Punjabi dialects and languages}}

[[File:Mother Tongue by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|

The major language is Punjabi, which is written in India with the Gurmukhi script, and in Pakistan using the Shahmukhi script.{{Cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/punjabi.htm|title=Punjabi language, alphabets and pronunciation|access-date=13 April 2020|archive-date=1 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101213732/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punjabi.htm|url-status=live}} The Punjabi language has official status and is widely used in education and administration in Indian Punjab, whereas in Pakistani Punjab these roles are instead fulfilled by the Urdu language.

Several languages closely related to Punjabi are spoken in the various parts of the region. Dogri,{{Cite web |title=Dogri |url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Dogri/Dogri.html |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=lisindia.ciil.org |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326023902/http://lisindia.ciil.org/Dogri/Dogri.html |url-status=live }} Kangri,{{Cite web |title=Language {{!}} District Kangra, Government of Himachal Pradesh {{!}} India |url=https://hpkangra.nic.in/language/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |language=en-US |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816202002/https://hpkangra.nic.in/language/ |url-status=live }} and other western Pahari dialects are spoken in the north-central and northeastern parts of the region, while Bagri{{Cite web |date=28 January 2013 |title=Bagri of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana: A Sociolinguistic Survey |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/43105 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=SIL International |language=en |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606040411/https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/43105 |url-status=live }} is spoken in south-central and southeastern sections. Meanwhile, Saraiki is generally spoken across a wide belt covering the southwest, while in the northwest there are large pockets containing speakers of Hindko and Pothwari.{{sfn|Shackle|1979|p=198}}

{{Main|Religion in the Punjab}}

File:1500-1200 BCE Rigveda, manuscript page sample i, Mandala 1, Hymn 1 (Sukta 1), Adhyaya 1, lines 1.1.1 to 1.1.9, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg, the oldest known Hindu text, originated in the Punjab region.]]

Hinduism is the oldest of the religions practised by Punjabi people, however, the term Hindu was also applied over a vast territory with much regional diversity.{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kamala Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7pO-IZY218C&pg=PA7 |title=The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism |date=2012 |page=7 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-4070-5 |language=en}} The historical Vedic religion constituted the religious ideas and practices in the Punjab during the Vedic period ({{BCE|1500–500}}), centered primarily in the worship of Indra.{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=James Talboys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSFGIqjWG14C&q=punjab |title=The History of India from the Earliest Ages: Hindu Buddhist Brahmanical revival |date=1874 |publisher=N. Trübner |page=330 |language=en |quote=The Punjab, to say the least, was less Brahmanical. It was an ancient centre of the worship of Indra, who was always regarded as an enemy by the Bráhmans; and it was also a stronghold of Buddhism. |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003135341/https://books.google.com/books?id=xSFGIqjWG14C&q=punjab |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=W. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vdv7AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |title=The Indian Empire: Its People, History and Products |date=2013-11-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-38301-4 |page=80 |language=en |quote=In the settlements of the Punjab, Indra thus advanced to the first place among the Vedic divinities. |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128002436/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vdv7AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Virdee |first=Pippa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYJIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=From the Ashes of 1947 |date=February 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-42811-8 |page=24 |language=en |quote=The Rig Veda and the Upanishads, which belonged to the Vedic religion, were a precursor of Hinduism, both of which were composed in Punjab. |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164803/https://books.google.com/books?id=WYJIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |url-status=live }}{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=38}}: "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (karma), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana); the idea of the world as illusion (maya) must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (asrama), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions."
{{cite web |first1=Stephanie |last1=Jamison |first2=Michael |last2=Witzel |year=1992 |title=Vedic Hinduism |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf |publisher=Harvard University |page=3 |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=13 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413055150/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf |url-status=live }}: "... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a contradictio in terminis since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism."
See also {{harvnb|Halbfass|1991|pp=1–2}} The bulk of the Rigveda was composed in the Punjab region between circa 1500 and 1200 BCE,{{Cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |url=https://archive.org/details/anintroductiontohinduismgavinfloodd.oupseeotherbooks_355_z/page/37/mode/2up |title=An Introduction to Hinduism |date=13 July 1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-43878-0}} while later Vedic scriptures were composed more eastwards, between the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. An ancient Indian law book called the Manusmriti, developed by Brahmin Hindu priests, shaped Punjabi religious life from 200 BCE onward.{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kamala Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7pO-IZY218C&pg=PA7 |title=The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism |date=2012 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-4070-5 |pages=7–8 |language=en}}

Later, the spread of Buddhisim and Jainism in the Indian subcontinent saw the growth of Buddhism and Jainism in the Punjab.{{Cite web |date=2019-05-03 |title=In ancient Punjab, religion was fluid, not watertight, says Romila Thapar |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/in-ancient-punjab-religion-was-fluid-not-watertight-says-romila-thapar-5709145/ |access-date= |website=The Indian Express |language=en |quote=Thapar said Buddhism was very popular in Punjab during the Mauryan and post-Mauryan period. Bookended between Gandhara in Taxila on the one side where Buddhism was practised on a large scale and Mathura on another side where Buddhism, Jainism and Puranic religions were practised, this religion flourished in the state. But after the Gupta period, Buddhism began to decline. |archive-date=3 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503143856/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/in-ancient-punjab-religion-was-fluid-not-watertight-says-romila-thapar-5709145/ |url-status=live }} Islam was introduced via southern Punjab in the 8th century, becoming the majority by the 16th century, via local conversion.{{Cite book |last1=Rambo |first1=Lewis R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion |last2=Farhadian |first2=Charles E. |date=2014-03-06 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971354-7 |pages=489–491 |language=en |quote=First, Islam was introduced into the southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the sixteenth century, Muslims were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of mosques and mausoleums marked the landscape. Local converts constituted the majority of this Muslim community, and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the Islamic confession of faith (shahada), the performance of the circumsicion (indri vaddani), and the ingestion of cow-meat (bhas khana). |access-date=23 November 2021 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082337/https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Chhabra |first=G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vF9DAAAAYAAJ |title=Advanced History of the Punjab: Guru and post-Guru period upto Ranjit Singh |date=1968 |publisher=New Academic Publishing Company |page=37 |language=en |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082337/https://books.google.com/books?id=vF9DAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }} There was a small Jain community left in Punjab by the 16th century, while the Buddhist community had largely disappeared by the turn of the 10th century.{{Cite book |last1=Rambo |first1=Lewis R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion |last2=Farhadian |first2=Charles E. |date=2014-03-06 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971354-7 |page=490 |language=en |quote=While Punjabi Hindu society was relatively well established, there was also a small but vibrant Jain community in the Punjab. Buddhist communities, however, had largely disappeared by the turn of the tenth century. |access-date=23 November 2021 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082337/https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of the Punjab region.{{Cite book |last1=Nicholls |first1=Ruth J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdz0DwAAQBAJ&q=islam+punjab+sufi |title=Insights into Sufism: Voices from the Heart |last2=Riddell |first2=Peter G. |date=2020-07-31 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-5748-2 |language=en |quote=With the Muslim conquest of Punjab there was a flow of Sufis and other preachers who came to spread Islam. Much of the advance of Islam was due to these preachers.}}

The rise of Sikhism in the 1700s saw some Punjabis, both Hindu and Muslim, accepting the new Sikh faith.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pritam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQpswqcdDLIC&pg=PA25 |title=Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy |date=2008-02-19 |page=25 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-04946-2 |language=en}} A number of Punjabis during the colonial period of India became Christians, with all of these religions characterizing the religious diversity now found in the Punjab region.

{{Main|Religion in the Punjab#Subregions}}

A number of Punjabis during the colonial period of India became Christians, with all of these religions characterizing the religious diversity now found in the Punjab region.{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kamala Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7pO-IZY218C&pg=PA7 |title=The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism |date=2012 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-4070-5 |pages=7–8 |language=en}} Additionally during the colonial era, the practice of religious syncretism among Punjabi Muslims and Punjabi Hindus was noted and documented by officials in census reports:

{{blockquote|{{smaller|"In other parts of the Province, too, traces of Hindu festivals are noticeable among the Muhammadans. In the western Punjab, Baisakhi, the new year's day of the Hindus, is celebrated as an agricultural festival, by all Muhammadans, by racing bullocks yoked to the well gear, with the beat of tom-toms, and large crowds gather to witness the show, The race is called Baisakhi and is a favourite pastime in the well-irrigated tracts. Then the processions of Tazias, in Muharram, with the accompaniment of tom-toms, fencing parties and bands playing on flutes and other musical instruments (which is disapproved by the orthodox Muhammadans) and the establishment of Sabils (shelters where water and sharbat are served out) are clearly influenced by similar practices at Hindu festivals, while the illuminations on occasions like the Chiraghan fair of Shalamar (Lahore) are no doubt practices answering to the holiday-making instinct of the converted Hindus."{{rp|174}}
"Besides actual conversion, Islam has had a considerable influence on the Hindu religion. The sects of reformers based on a revolt from the orthodoxy of Varnashrama Dharma were obviously the outcome of the knowledge that a different religion could produce equally pious and right thinking men. Laxity in social restrictions also appeared simultaneously in various degrees and certain customs were assimilated to those of the Muhammadans. On the other hand the miraculous powers of Muhammadan saints were enough to attract the saint worshiping Hindus, to allegiance, if not to a total change of faith... The Shamsis are believers in Shah Shamas Tabrez of Multan, and follow the Imam, for the time being, of the Ismailia sect of Shias... they belong mostly to the Sunar caste and their connection with the sect is kept a secret, like Freemasonry. They pass as ordinary Hindus, but their devotion to the Imam is very strong."{{rp|130}}}}

|Excerpts from the Census of India (Punjab Province)|1911}}

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The Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division included Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura District.{{rp|2}}{{rp|4}}

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The Himalayan geographical division included Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State.{{rp|2}}{{rp|4}}

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The Sub−Himalayan geographical division included Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District.{{rp|2}}{{rp|4}}

{{clear}}

The North−West Dry Area geographical division included Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract.{{rp|2}}{{rp|4}}

In the present-day, the vast majority of Pakistani Punjabis are Sunni Muslim by faith, but also include significant minority faiths, such as Shia Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians.

Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak is the main religion practised in the post-1966 Indian Punjab state. About 57.7% of the population of Punjab state is Sikh, 38.5% is Hindu, with the remaining population including Muslims, Christians, and Jains.{{cite web| url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm| title=Census Reference Tables, C-Series Population by religious communities| publisher=Census of India| year=2001| access-date=25 July 2010| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701214405/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm| archive-date=1 July 2010}} Punjab state contains the holy Sikh cities of Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Tarn Taran Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib.

The Punjab was home to several Sufi saints, and Sufism is well established in the region.{{cite web |url=http://www.punjabics.com/SufiSaintsOfPunjab/ |title=Sufi Saints of the Punjab |website=Punjabics.com |access-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230010342/http://punjabics.com/SufiSaintsOfPunjab/ |archive-date=30 December 2013}} Also, Kirpal Singh revered the Sikh Gurus as saints.{{cite web |url=http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/indian/sant_kirpal_singh_history/punjab_home_of_master_saints.htm |title=The Punjab – Home of Master Saints |last1=Kirpal Singh |first1=Sant |access-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092640/http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/indian/sant_kirpal_singh_history/punjab_home_of_master_saints.htm |archive-date=24 September 2015|author1-link=Kirpal Singh }}

{{See also|List of Punjabi tribes}}

File:JatsAroundDelhi1868.jpg

File:Charles Shepherd and Arthur Robertson01.jpg

File:Grey-scale scan of a painting of a Hindu official or courtier (possibly identifiable as Misr Diwan Chand) of the court of the Sikh Empire.jpg

File:From left to right- A Gurkha, a Brahmin and a Sood.jpg

File:Arain men in Lahore.jpg

File:Portrait of three unidentified Lahore carpenters (likely Tarkhan) with tools, ca.1862–72.png

File:Two Gurjar (also transliterated as Gujjar, Gujar, Gurjara, & Gujjer) Men on a Pavement and a Woman in a Doorway in Delhi, Shepherd & Robertson (possibly), ca.1859–69.png

File:Portrait of an unidentified Arora Storekeeper from Lahore with coins in hand and in front of him, ca.1862–72.png

File:Portrait of two unknown Kumhar potters from Lahore, ca.1859–69.png

The Punjab region is diverse. Historic census reports taken in the colonial era details the main castes are represented, alongside numerous subcastes and tribes (also known as Jāti or Barādarī), formed parts of the various ethnic groups in the region, contemporarily known as Punjabis, Saraikis, Haryanvis, Hindkowans, Dogras, Paharis, and more.

{{main|Economy of Punjab, Pakistan|Economy of Punjab, India}}

The historical region of Punjab produces a relatively high proportion of the food output from India and Pakistan.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} The region has been used for extensive wheat farming. In addition, rice, cotton, sugarcane, fruit, and vegetables are also grown.

The agricultural output of the Punjab region in Pakistan contributes significantly to Pakistan's GDP. Both Indian and Pakistani Punjab is considered to have the best infrastructure of their respective countries. The Indian state of Punjab is currently the 16th richest state or the eighth richest large state of India. Pakistani Punjab produces 68% of Pakistan's foodgrain production.{{cite web|url=http://www.infopak.gov.pk/punjab.aspx |title=Pakistani government statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308122328/http://www.infopak.gov.pk/punjab.aspx |archive-date=8 March 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 April 2007 |website=infopak.gov.pk}} Its share of Pakistan's GDP has historically ranged from 51.8% to 54.7%.{{Cite web |url=http://www.spdc.org.pk/Data/Publication/PDF/WP5.pdf |title=Provincial Accounts of Pakistan: Methodology and Estimates 1973–2000 |access-date=26 December 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226234709/http://www.spdc.org.pk/Data/Publication/PDF/WP5.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Called "The Granary of India" or "The Bread Basket of India", Indian Punjab produces 1% of the world's rice, 2% of its wheat, and 2% of its cotton.{{cite web |url=http://agropedia.iitk.ac.in/content/punjab-leader-agricultural-sector |title=Punjab – The Leader in Agricultural Sector, Agriculture Today, 2013 |last=Yadav |first=Kiran |date=11 February 2013 |website=Agropedia |access-date=15 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306042334/http://agropedia.iitk.ac.in/content/punjab-leader-agricultural-sector |archive-date=6 March 2014}} In 2001, it was recorded that farmers made up 39% of Indian Punjab's workforce.{{Cite journal|last=Ghuman|first=Ranjit Singh|date=2005|title=Rural Non-Farm Employment Scenario: Reflections from Recent Data in Punjab|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4417268|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=40|issue=41|pages=4473–4480|jstor=4417268|issn=0012-9976|access-date=25 March 2021|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929123841/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4417268|url-status=live}} In the Punjab region of Pakistan, 42.3% of the labour force is engaged in the agriculture sector.{{cite web | url=http://www.agripunjab.gov.pk/overview | title=Agriculture Department, Overview | date=20 March 2014 | website=agripunjab.gov.pk |url-status=live |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623161017/http://www.agripunjab.gov.pk/overview}}

Alternatively, Punjab is also adding to the economy with the increase in employment of Punjab youth in the private sector. Government schemes such as 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission' have brought enhanced employability in the private sector. {{as of|2019|10}}, more than 32,000 youths have been placed in different jobs and 12,000 have been skill-trained.{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/punjab-govt-to-identify-poorest-among-unemployed-in-villages-amarinder-singh-1606817-2019-10-07|title=Punjab govt to identify poorest among unemployed in villages: Amarinder Singh|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=7 October 2019|date=7 October 2019|url-status=live|archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810105500/https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/punjab-govt-to-identify-poorest-among-unemployed-in-villages-amarinder-singh-1606817-2019-10-07}}

{{Portal|Punjab}}

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• Chak (village)
• Dhani (settlement type)
• Jallianwala Bagh
• Music of Punjab
• Panjab Digital Library
• Punjabi cuisine
• Punjabi dance
• Sattagydia

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{{notelist}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Dyson|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8}}
• {{cite book |chapter=The Delhi Sultanate as Empire |first=Sunil |last=Kumar |title=The Oxford World History of Empire |volume=2 |editor-first1=Peter Fibiger |editor-last1=Bang |editor-first2=C. A. |editor-last2=Bayly |editor-first3=Walter |editor-last3=Scheidel |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-19-753276-8}}
• {{citation |last=Halbfass |first=Wilhelm | author-link = Wilhelm Halbfass |date=1991 |title=Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=0-7914-0362-9}}
• {{cite book |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |first=Peter |last=Jackson |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-521-40477-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Mahajan|first=Vidya Dhar|author-link=Vidya Dhar Mahajan|orig-year=1991|year=2007|title=History of Medieval India, Sultanate Period And Mughal Period|location=New Delhi|publisher=S. Chand|isbn=978-8-1-219-0364-6}}
• {{citation |last=Michaels |first=Alex |date=2004 |orig-date=1998 |title=Hinduism: Past and Present |translator=Barbara Harshaw |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691089523}}
• {{Cite thesis|title=The Last Two Dynasties of the Sahis: An analysis of their history, archaeology, coinage and palaeography |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/11229 |publisher=Australian National University |date=January 1976 |language=en|first=Abdur|last=Rehman}}
• {{cite book | last=Roy |first=Kaushik |title=India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil |publisher=Permanent Black, India |pages=80–1 |isbn=978-81-7824-109-8|year=2004 }}
• {{cite journal| last = Shackle| first = Christopher| author-link = Christopher Shackle| title = Problems of classification in Pakistan Panjab| journal = Transactions of the Philological Society| date = 1979| doi = 10.1111/j.1467-968X.1979.tb00857.x| issn = 0079-1636| volume = 77| issue = 1| pages = 191–210}}

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• Condos, Mark. The Insecurity State: Punjab and the Making of Colonial Power in British India (2020) [https://www.amazon.com/Insecurity-State-Punjab-Colonial-British/dp/1108407013/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118183411/https://www.amazon.com/Insecurity-State-Punjab-Colonial-British/dp/1108407013/ |date=18 November 2022 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Narang |first1=K.S. |last2=Gupta |first2=Dr H.R. |date=1969 |title=History of the Punjab 1500–1858 |url=http://www.apnaorg.com/books/english/history-punjab-narang/history-punjab-narang.pdf |publisher=U. C. Kapur & Sons, Delhi |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525030051/http://www.apnaorg.com/books/english/history-punjab-narang/history-punjab-narang.pdf |url-status=live }}
• [Quraishee 73] Punjabi Adab De Kahani, Abdul Hafeez Quaraihee, Azeez Book Depot, Lahore, 1973.
• [Chopra 77] Punjab as a Sovereign State, Gulshan Lal Chopra, Al-Biruni, Lahore, 1977.
• Patwant Singh. 1999. The Sikhs. New York: Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-50206-0}}.
• The Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, 1971, Buddha Parkash.
• Social and Political Movements in ancient Panjab, Delhi, 1962, Buddha Parkash.
• History of Porus, Patiala, Buddha Parkash.
• History of the Panjab, Patiala, 1976, Fauja Singh, L.{{nbsp}}M. Joshi (Ed).
• The Legacy of the Punjab, 1997, R.{{nbsp}}M. Chopra.
• The Rise Growth and Decline of Indo-Persian Literature, R.{{nbsp}}M. Chopra, 2012, Iran Culture House, New Delhi. 2nd revised edition, published in 2013.
• Sims, Holly. "The State and Agricultural Productivity: Continuity versus Change in the Indian and Pakistani Punjabs." Asian Survey, 1 April 1986, Vol. 26(4), pp. 483–500.

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{{Commons category}}

{{EB1911 poster|Punjab}}

• {{Official website|http://punjabgovt.gov.in|name=Official website of Punjab, India}}
• {{Official website|http://www.punjab.gov.pk|name=Official website of Punjab, Pakistan}}

{{Punjab, India}}

{{Punjab, Pakistan topics}}

{{PunjabGeography}}

{{Historical regions of North India}}

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