People of Punjab come from the lineage of the Aryan tribes who settled in the northwest and the pre-Aryan race, popularly known as Dravidians, highly developed civilization.
Many Invaders including Greeks, Parthans, Kushans and Hunas attacked this region to gain power and control.
Sufi Movement gained momentum among the people of Punjab.
The glorious history of Punjab has great contribution by a military leader, Banda Singh Bahadur and his men, known for their fighting skills.
They were identified as Sikhs who fought with the combined forces of Mughals and Afghans.
By 1764–65 the Sikhs had established their dominance in the area.
This era saw the upsurge of the Punjab region and Sikhs establish thier dominance and power in the provinces surrounding Punjab like provinces of Kashmir, Peshawar and Multan.
In 1849 the Punjab kingdom collapsed to the mighty power of British East India Company and became a province under British.
In the surge for Independence some of the major events that took place to suppress the revolt in Punjab was Massacre of Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.
After independence, on one side the province of Punjab was divided in two major parts.
One part of the province with some of the princely states joining the Indian Union led by Tara Singh and political disciple Sant Fateh Singh.
On the other hand, due to emergence of call for a separate Punjabi speaking state Haryana was created .
The northernmost districts of Punjab merged to establish state of Himachal Pradesh that is a region of scenic wonderland in the western Himalayas.
Chandigarh became the new union territory and capital of two new states of Punjab and Haryana
The stupas and monasteries built by Buddhist disciples were the most outstanding architecture of Punjab.
Well built houses in Punjab are called Punjabi kothi or haveli. The construction materials are bricks, lime, mud, powdered broken brick and timber.
The houses was featured with a central courtyard with all the rooms running all around. Rooms had curved arches, carved wooden doors and fireplaces.
Each haveli is surmounted with double wooden balcony made of remarkable wood carving.
Demographic Location
Agriculture is the mainstay of Punjab's economy.
The Punjab State is divided into three geographical regions:
Majha
Doaba
Malwa
State of Punjab stretches across 3 physiographic regions.
In the Northeast lies the Siwalik Range.
Towards the south, the narrow, foothill region gets branched by closely spaced seasonal torrents, locally known as chos. Many of these land stretch gives way to the plain below without joining any stream.
To the south and west of the foothills lies the broad flat tract, with low-lying floodplains separated by slightly elevated uplands.
This region, with its fertile alluvial soils. The southwestern part of the plains, formerly strewn with sand dunes, has mostly been levelled off due to irrigation projects.
The land is water fed by five mighty rivers. The rivers that flows in Punjab are as follows:
Sutlej
Beas
Ravi
Chenab
Jhelum
Chenab and Jhelum flow in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Rest of the rivers flow in Punjab province in India.
Punjab is surrounded by Haryana in the south, Jammu and Kashmir in Northwest, Himachal Pradesh in Northeast and international borders of Pakistan in the West.
Punjab is known for its fertile land and the freshness due to airt gushing in from the nearby hilly regions.
Season and Climate
Punjab far distance from the sea allows an inland subtropical atmosphere. The climate is continental with semiarid to sub humid effect.
Summers are very hot. Winters are extremely cold with Fog, Mist and dew common in the winters.
Hailstorm occurs every year with the onset of Autumn in the region.
Punjab receives low to moderate rainfall, majority of rainfall here comes from the Southwest monsoon.
The cool breeze that blow downwards from the hills towards the plains do not allow the temperature soar too much.
The semi arid climate allows the dew drops to settle in the summer and frost in the winter night.
Culture and Education
Punjab is well known for their vibrant culture and open thoughts that reflect in their art, culture and livelihood.
The literary languages is made of dialects of this area. They are as follows:
Standard Punjabi from eastern and central region of Punjab
Saraiki in the southwest
Hindko in the northwest
Pahari-Pothwadi in the north
Punjab is the land of love and war, fairs and festivals, dancing, playing musical instrument and Punjabi literature.
The Literature in Punjab is a mirror of the influence Sufi saint Shaikh Farīd and the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak.
The preachings of the Sufi poet Waris Shah greatly enriched Punjabi literature in the 18th century.
20th and 21st Century saw the upsurge of the Punjabi literature in the field of writing with writers like Bhai Vir Singh, poets Puran Singh, Dhani Ram Chatrik, Mohan Singh “Mahir,” and Shiv Kumar Batalvi.
Renowned novelists Jaswant Singh Kanwal, Gurdial Singh, Giani Gurdit Singh, and Sohan Singh Shital, Kulwant Singh Virk are some of the best-known writers of short stories in Punjabi.
Festivals, such as Dussehra and Diwali, a festival of lights celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs.
Baisakhi, is the New Year's celebration and for Sikhs is both an agricultural festival and a mark of festivity on the birth of the community’s Khalsa order.
Dancing is the favorite way of celebrations and festivals with Bhangra, Jhumar and Sammi. Giddha is a native Punjabi combo of song-and-dance performed by women.
Semiclassical Mughal forms, such as the Khyal dance and the Thumri, Ghazal, and Qawwali are popular in Punjab.
People speak Punjabi in Punjab region. They are fluent in English and Hindi too. Many
Education is on high priority amongst the people of Punjab. There are many technical and higher education center in Punjab.
People reach out to the universities from nearby state and cities.
Famous Spots
Though there are several places renowned for historical and religious importance, the most relished places to visit in Punjab are :
Golden Temple
Jallianwala Bagh
Akal Takht
Tara Taran Sahib
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama
Wagah Border
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum
Rambagh Garden
Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Harike Wetland and Bird Sanctuary
Khalsa College
Durgiana Temple
Bathinda Fort
Kaiser Bagh Park
Aqualife, Flora and Fauna
Land in the state can be divided into following landscape:
Forest
Woodland
Scrub
Grassland
Desert
The vegetation type found in the state is Northern Dry Deciduous Mixed Forests.
The farmers of the State grows wheat, rice and paddy. Trees found in Punjab are :
Neem / Margosa Tree
Mango Tree / Aam
Shisham Tree
Banyan Tree / Bargad
Gum Arabic Tree / Babool Tree
Teak Tree / Sagon
Mulberry Tree / Shahtut
Eucalyptus Tree
There are several lakes in Punjab like:
Sukhna Lake - A huge artificial Lake Sukhna on the outer skirts of Chandigarh with the view of Himalayas in the backdrop.
Harike Lake - This triangular shape lake has pointed end in west, a duct on one side, Dussi Bund shape in second side and third side is main road.
Kanjli Lake - This is a man-made Wetland on Bien river.
Major parts of Punjab state is used for cultivation. There are few sanctuaries and wild life reserves here. These include :
The Hari-ke-pattan National Wetland and Wildlife Sanctuary at Amritsar
The Kanjli Wetland
The Kapurtala Sutlej Water Body Wetland
The Ropar Zoological Park, Chhatbir, Bansar Garden, Sangrur.
The Aam Khas Bagh, Sirhind, the Ram Bagh Garden
The Shalimar Garden, Kapurthala
The Baradari Garden at Patiala
Animals found in sanctuaries of Punjab are Black buck, Chital, Hog deer, Blue bull, Wild boar, Jackal, Rhesus Monkeys, Peafowl, Brahminy Myna, Black Grey Partridges and Quails.
Punjab is under aqua farming with six herbivorous varieties : Catla, Rohu, Mrigal, Silver Carp, Grass Carp and Common Carp.
Black Busk is the state animal, Indus river dolphin found in river Beas is state aquatic animal and Northern Goshawk is the state bird of Punjab.
