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The Punjabis (Punjabi language: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Pañjābī) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region, comprising areas of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. They generally speak Majhi dialect or various Punjabi dialects on both sides.
The majority of the overall Punjabi population adheres to Islam with significant minorities practising Sikhism and Hinduism and smaller minorities practising Christianity. However, the religious demographics significantly vary when viewed from Pakistani and Indian sides, respectively, with over 95 per cent of the Punjabi population from Pakistan being Punjabi Muslims, with a small minority of Christians and Punjabi Hindus and an even smaller minority of Punjabi Sikhs. Over 57 per cent of the population of the Indian state of Punjab is Sikh and over 38 per cent Hindu with a small minority of Muslims and Christians.
The ethnonym is derived from the term Punjab (Five rivers) in Persian language to describe the geographic region of the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, where five rivers Beas River, Chenab River, Jhelum River, Ravi River, and Sutlej merge into the Indus River, in addition of the now-vanished Ghaggar.
The coalescence of the various tribes, castes and the inhabitants of the Punjab region into a broader common "Punjabi" identity initiated from the onset of the 18th century CE. (1996). 9781874699057, Association for Punjab Studies (UK). ISBN 9781874699057 Historically, the Punjabi people were a heterogeneous group and were subdivided into a number of clans called biradari (literally meaning "brotherhood") or Punjabi tribes, with each person bound to a clan. With the passage of time, tribal structures became replaced with a more cohesive and holistic society, as community building and group cohesiveness form the new pillars of Punjabi society.
Traditionally, the Punjabi identity is primarily linguistic, geographical and cultural. Its identity is independent of historical origin or religion and refers to those who reside in the Punjab region or associate with its population and those who consider the Punjabi language their mother tongue. Integration and assimilation are important parts of Punjabi culture, since Punjabi identity is not based solely on tribal connections. While Punjabis share a common territory, ethnicity and language, they are likely to be followers of one of several religions, most often Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs, Punjabi Hindus or Christianity.
Religious homogeneity remains elusive as a predominant Sunni population with Shia, Ahmadiyya and Christianity minorities.
Indian Punjab is also home to small groups of Muslims and Christians. Most of the East Punjab's Muslims left for West Punjab in 1947. However, a small community still exists today, mainly in Qadian, and Malerkotla.
While in East Punjab (India), Jats are almost 20 per cent of East Punjab's population. The Scheduled Castes constitute almost 32 per cent of its total population and 4.3 per cent of the SCs nationally, official data show. Of more than 35 designated Scheduled Castes in the state, the Mazhabis, the Ravidasias/Ramdasias, the Ad Dharmis, the Valmikis, and the Bazigars together make up around 87 per cent of East Punjab's total Scheduled Caste population. The Ravidasia Hindus/Ad-Dharmi and the Ramdasia Sikhs together constitute 34.93 per cent of East Punjab's total Scheduled Caste population and 11.15 per cent of Punjab Population. Ramdasia, Ad-Dharmi and Ravidassias are subgroups of the Chamar and are traditionally linked to leather-related occupations.
Later, the spread of Buddhisim and Jainism in the Indian subcontinent saw the growth of Buddhism and Jainism in the Punjab. Islam was introduced via southern Punjab in the 8th century, becoming the majority by the 16th century, via local conversion. 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. The region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dot the landscape of the Punjab region.
The rise of Sikhism in the 1700s saw some Punjabis, both Hindu and Muslim, accepting the new Sikh faith. A number of Punjabis during the colonial India became Christians, with all of these religions characterising the religious diversity now found in the Punjab region.
Due to the partition of 1947, a rapid shift towards religious homogeneity occurred in all districts across the Punjab region owing to the new international border that cut through the province. This rapid demographic shift was primarily due to mass migration and population exchange but also caused by large-scale religious cleansing riots that occurred across the region at the time. South Asia: British India Partitioned Avari, B. (2007). India: The ancient past. 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.
As a result of the population exchanges during partition, both parts of Punjab are now relatively homogeneous, as far as religion is concerned. Today the majority of Pakistani Punjabis follow Islam with a small Christian minority, and less Sikh and Hindu populations, while the majority of Indian Punjabis are either or with a Muslim minority. Punjab is also the birthplace of Sikhism and the movement Ahmadiyya.
Forming the majority of the Punjabi ethnicity in the greater Punjab, Punjabi Muslims write the Punjabi language under the Arabic script known as Shahmukhi. With a population of more than 80 million, they are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan and the world's third-largest Islam-adhering ethnicity after Arab MuslimsMargaret Kleffner Nydell Understanding Arabs: A Guide For Modern Times, Intercultural Press, 2005, , page xxiii, 14 and Bengali Muslims.roughly 152 million Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh and 36.4 million Bengali Muslims in the Republic of India (CIA Factbook 2014 estimates, numbers subject to rapid population growth); about 10 million Bangladeshis in the Middle East, 1 million Bengalis in Pakistan, 5 million British Bangladeshi. The majority of Punjabi Muslims are adherents of Sunni Islam, while a minority adhere to Shia Islam and other , including the Ahmadiyya community which originated in Punjab during the British Raj.
During the 1947 partition, millions of Punjabi Hindus (including Hindkowans Hindus and Saraiki people Hindus) Mass migration from West Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, of which many ultimately settled in Delhi. Determined from 1991 and 2015 estimates, Punjabi Hindus form approximately 24 to 35 per cent of Delhi's population; based on 2011 official census counts, this amounts to between 4,029,106 and 5,875,779 people.
Additionally, in the Indian state of Haryana, Punjabi Hindus form approximately 8 to 10 per cent of the total population; based on 2011 official census counts out of a total population of 25.4 million, this amounts to between 2.03 and 2.54 million people. Similar to Delhi, most Punjabi Hindus in Haryana can trace their ancestry to West Punjab and North-West Frontier Province due to mass migration associated with the 1947 partition. In the contemporary era, Punjabi Hindus are influential in Haryana state politics.
Following the large scale exodus that took place during the 1947 partition, there remains a small Punjabi Hindu community in Pakistan today. According to the 2017 Census, there are about 200,000 Hindus in Punjab province, forming approximately 0.2% of the total population. Much of the community resides in the primarily rural South Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur where they form 3.12% and 1.12% of the population respectively, while the rest are concentrated in urban centres such as Lahore.
The Sikhs form a majority of close to 58% in the modern day Punjab, India.
Gurmukhi is the writing script used by Sikhs and for scriptures of Sikhism. It is used in official documents in parts of India and elsewhere. The tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh (1666 – 1708) established the Khalsa Brotherhood, and set for them a code of conduct.
Punjabi is the most popular first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers as per the 2017 census, and the 11th most popular in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, as per the 2011 census.
The language is spoken among a Punjabi diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet, based on the Persian alphabet; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi, based on the Brahmic scripts. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone. (1999). 9783110143881, Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110143881 Other tonal Indo-Aryan languages include Hindko, Dogri language, Western Pahari, Sylheti language and some Dardic languages.
Punjabi developed from Prakrit languages and later (, 'deviated' or 'non-grammatical speech') From 600 BCE, Sanskrit was advocated as official language and Prakrit gave birth to many regional languages in different parts of India. All these languages are called Prakrit (Sanskrit: ) collectively. Paishachi, Shauraseni and Gandhari were Prakrit languages, which were spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi developed from one of these Prakrits. Later in northern India, these Prakrits gave rise to their own Apabhraṃśa, a descendant of Prakrit. Punjabi emerged as an Apabhraṃśa, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century CE and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to Nath era from 9th to 14th century CE. The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa, though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore. The Arabic and modern Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent. Many Persian language and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi. So Punjabi relies heavily on Persian and Arabic words which are used with a liberal approach to language. After the fall of the Sikh empire, Urdu was made the official language of Punjab (in Pakistani Punjab, it is still the primary official language), and influenced the language as well.
Punjabis also speak several languages and dialects related to Punjabi, such as the Pahari-Pothwari and Chachhi dialect dialects spoken in the Pothohar Plateau region of Northern Pakistani Punjab
'''Kaintha'''
The Kaintha, a traditional necklace which is usually made out of gold or steel, is an integral element of Punjabi clothing. It is adorned with a pendant that stands out from the rest of the necklace, which is accompanied by matching color schemes as well as yarn in the back to hold the piece together. It is worn with the Shalwar Kameez alongside a shawl, chunni, or vest. Men and women alike traditionally wear the Kaintha to the Mayian and Jaggo ceremonies. It is also commonly worn while performing the traditional Bhangra and Giddha dances
Phulkari
A traditional element of Punjabi clothing has been the
/ref>Malhotra, A., & Mir, F. (2012). Punjab Reconsidered: History, culture, and Practice. Oxford University Press.Snehi, Y. (2013). Book review: Punjab reconsidered: History, culture and practice. Studies in History, 29(1), 155–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0257643013496694Szivak, J. (2022). The changing landscape of Punjab in Bollywood film songs. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 45(6), 1112–1127. https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2022.2114061
A Dastar is an item of headgear associated with Sikhism and is an important part of the Punjabi and Sikh culture. Among the Sikhs, the dastār is an article of faith that represents equality, honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality, and piety. The Khalsa Sikh men and women, who keep the Five Ks, wear the turban to cover their long, uncut hair ( kesh). The Sikhs regard the dastār as an important part of the unique Sikh identity. After the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was sentenced to death by the Mughal Empire emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru created the Khalsa and gave five articles of faith, one of which is unshorn hair, which the dastār covers. “Importance of turban in Sikhism”, earlytimes.in. 29 May 2018. Prior to Sikhism, only kings, royalty, and those of high stature wore turbans, but Sikh Gurus adopted the practice to assert equality and sovereignty among people.
A Punjabi suit that features two items - a qameez (top), salwar (bottom) is the traditional attire of the Punjabi people. (2007). 9789814022330, Select Publishing. ISBN 9789814022330 Shalwars are trousers which are atypically wide at the waist but which narrow to a cuffed bottom. They are held up by a drawstring or elastic belt, which causes them to become pleated around the waist. The trousers can be wide and baggy, or they can be cut quite narrow, on the bias. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams are left open below the waist-line (the opening known as the chaak), which gives the wearer greater freedom of movement. The kameez is usually cut straight and flat; older kameez use traditional cuts; modern kameez are more likely to have European-inspired set-in sleeves. The combination garment is sometimes called salwar kurta, salwar suit, or Punjabi suit. The shalwar-kameez is a widely-worn, and national dress, of Pakistan. When women wear the shalwar-kameez in some regions, they usually wear a long scarf or shawl called a dupatta around the head or neck. (2005). 9781858563534, Trentham Book. ISBN 9781858563534 The dupatta is also employed as a form of modesty—although it is made of delicate material, it obscures the upper body's contours by passing over the shoulders. For Muslim women, the dupatta is a less stringent alternative to the chador or burqa (see hijab and purdah); for Sikh and Hindu women, the dupatta is useful when the head must be covered, as in a temple or the presence of elders. Everywhere in South Asia, modern versions of the attire have evolved; the shalwars are worn lower down on the waist, the kameez have shorter length, with higher splits, lower necklines and backlines, and with cropped sleeves or without sleeves.
Eid ul-Fitar, Ramzan Id/Eid-ul-Fitar in India, Festival Dates
The Hindu and Sikh Punjabi seasonal festivals are set on specific dates of the luni-solar Bikrami calendar or Punjabi calendar and the date of the festival also typically varies in the Gregorian calendar but stays within the same two Gregorian months.Some Punjabi Muslims participate in the traditional, seasonal festivals of the Punjab region: Baisakhi, Basant and to a minor scale Lohri, but this is controversial. Islamic clerics and some politicians have attempted to ban this participation because of the religious basis of the Punjabi festivals, The ban on fun, IRFAN HUSAIN, Dawn, 18 February 2017 and they being declared haram (forbidden in Islam). The barricaded Muslim mind , Saba Naqvi (28 August 2016), Quote: "Earlier, Muslim villagers would participate in Hindu festivals; now they think that would be haraam, so stay away. Visiting dargahs is also haraam"
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