| The
Land The
Punjab derives its name from two persian words, panj
(five) and ab (water), meaning five waters. It
stands for the land enclosed by the rivers Sutlej, Beas,
Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum. In the Rigveda this region
has been refered to as the land of Sapta-Sindhavah or seven
rivers. These seven rivers are believed to have been : Sindhu
(Indus), Vitasta (Jhelum), Asikni (Chenab), Parushni (Ravi),
Vipash (Beas), Sutudri (Sutlej) and Sarasvati (Sarsuti).
In the medieval times
the Punjab was generally known as " Lahore Suba "
(Province), after the name of its capital Lahore. When Maharaja
Ranjit Singh and his successors ruled over the Punjab, it
was styled as the Lahore Kingdom. After its annexation to
the British Empire of India in 1849 , it began to be known
as the " Province of the Punjab ". The name and
boundaries of Punjab went on changing from time to time.
In 1947 the Punjab was partitioned : the west Punjab went
to Pakistan and the east Punjab remained with India. Very
recently Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have been detached
from the east Punjab. |
The
People
Due to the geographical
location of the Punjab the people of this region had to
bear the burn brunt of the foreign onslaughts through the
past centuries. From the
very beggining the Punjabis were brought up under the shadows
of swords, which made them active and dynamic, virile and
warlike. The Punjabis have always been the protectors of
the motherland. Even today they are considered to be among
the best soldiers and warriors of India. The Punjabis in
course of the past centuries came into contact with foreign
people of different races and cultures. The Cultureand living
was inevitably |
influenced
by such a close social contact with foreigners. Thus the
Punjab came to develop a composite culture, an amalgam of
native and foreign elements. The people of this region became
more liberal in outlook. Sikhism which took birth in the
Punjab combined the fundamental principles of both Hinduism
and Islam. Another trait developed in the character of Punjabis
was that they became liberal in spending money and began
to have high standards of living. It appears to have become
a genearl maxim of the Punjabis : 'eat, drink and be merry'.
In the days of Ahmad Shah Abdali, it was a popular saying
in the Punjab : khada pita lahe de, rahenda ahmad shahe
da, i.e. eat and drink whatever you can, for whatever
remains will be taken away by Ahmad Shah. |
