The Punjab (Shahmukhi: پنجاب: 
Punjab.ogg (help·info)) is the most populous province of Pakistan, with about 56% of the country’s total population.[3] The neighbouring areas are Azad Kashmir to the north, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the south, the province of Balochistan to the southwest, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and the Islamabad Capital Territory to the north. The Punjab is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. The main languages are Punjabi and Saraiki[4] and the dialects of Mewati and Potowari. The name Punjab derives from the Persian words Panj (پنج) (Five), and Āb (آب) (Water), i.e. (the) Five Waters – referring to the Indus River and its four primary tributaries of Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej, that flow through Punjab.
The word Punjab is a combination of the Indo-Iranian words panj (five) and āb (water), thus the (land of) five rivers.The five rivers are the Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej. Sometimes, in English, there can be a definite article before the name i.e. the Punjab. The name is also sometimes spelt as Panjab or Panjaab or Punjaab.
Punjab is Pakistan’s second largest province at 205,344 km2 (79,284 sq mi) after Balochistan and is located at the northwestern edge of the geologic Indian plate in South Asia. The capital and largest city is Lahore which was the historical capital of the wider Punjab region. Other important cities include Multan, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Jhelum and Rawalpindi. Undivided punjab is home to six rivers, of which five flow through Pakistani Punjab. From west to east, these are: the Indus, Jhelum, Beas, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. Nearly 60% of Pakistan’s population lives in the Punjab. It is the nation’s only province that touches every other province; it also surrounds the federal enclave of the national capital city at Islamabad.This geographical position and a large multi-ethnic population strongly influence Punjab’s outlook on National affairs and induces in Punjab a keen awareness of the problems of the Pakistan’s other important provinces and territories. In the acronym P-A-K-I-S-T-A-N, the P is for PUNJAB.
The province is a mainly a fertile region along the river valleys, while sparse deserts can be found near the border with Rajasthan and the Sulaiman Range. The region contains the Thar and Cholistan deserts. The Indus River and its many tributaries traverse the Punjab from north to south. The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. Weather extremes are notable from the hot and barren south to the cool hills of the north. The foothills of the Himalayas are found in the extreme north as well.
Most areas in Punjab experience fairly cool winters, often accompanied by rain. By mid-February the temperature begins to rise; springtime weather continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in.
The onset of the southwest monsoon is anticipated to reach Punjab by May, but since the early 1970s the weather pattern has been irregular. The spring monsoon has either skipped over the area or has caused it to rain so hard that floods have resulted. June and July are oppressively hot. Although official estimates rarely place the temperature above 46°C, newspaper sources claim that it reaches 51°C and regularly carry reports about people who have succumbed to the heat. Heat records were broken in Multan in June 1993, when the mercury was reported to have risen to 54°C. In August the oppressive heat is punctuated by the rainy season, referred to as barsat, which brings relief in its wake. The hardest part of the summer is then over, but cooler weather does not come until late October.
Recently the province experienced one of the coldest winters in the last 70 years. Experts are suggesting that this is due to global climate change
Punjab region temperature range from -2° to 40°C (MIN/MAX), but can reach 47°C (117°F) in summer and can touch down to -5°C in winter.
Climatically, Punjab has three major seasons as under
- Hot weather (April to June) when temperature rises as high as 110F.
- Rainy season (July to September). Average rainfall annual ranges between 96 cms sub-mountain region and 46 cms in the plains.
- Cold weather (October to March). Temperature goes down as low as 40F.
The population of the province is estimated to be 81,330,531[1] in 2010 and is home to over half the population of Pakistan. The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi (which is written in a Shahmukhi script in Pakistan) and Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group in country. Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab. The language is not given any official recognition in the Constitution of Pakistan at National level. Punjabis themselves are a heterogeneous group comprising different tribes, clans (Qaum (Urdu: قوم )) and communities. In Pakistani Punjab these Qaums have more to do with traditional occupations such as blacksmiths or artisans as opposed to rigid social stratifications.[10]
The biradari, which literally means brotherhood is an important unit of Punjabi society, and includes people claiming descent from a common ancestor. The biradaris collectively form larger units known as quoms or tribes. Historically, these quoms were endogamous, but latterly, especially in the large cities, there is considerable intermarriage between members of different quoms, and differences are getting blurred. Important quoms within Punjab include the Gondal, Arain, Niazi, Paracha, Aheer, Awan, Dogar, Gakhars, Gujjars, Jat, Kamboh, Khokhar, Khattar, Mughal, Rajputs, Sheikh and Syeds. Other smaller tribes are the Khateek, Maliar, Rawns, Pashtuns, Baloch, Rehmanis ( Muslim Labana) and the Maliks.[11]
In addition to the Punjabis, the province is also home to other smaller ethnic groups in the province include the Siraiki, Hindkowan, Kashmiris, Sindhis, and Muhajirs. The Muhajirs are Urdu speaking Muslim migrants from India and settled in Pakistan after independence in 1947. Three decades of bloodshed in neighbouring Afghanistan have also brought a large number of Afghan refugees (Tajik, Hazara and Turkmen) to the province.
As per the census of Pakistan 1998, linguistic distribution of the Punjab province is: Punjabi (75.23%), Saraiki (17.36%), Urdu (4.51%), Pashto (1.16%), Balochi (0.66%), Sindhi (0.13%) others (0.95%). The population of Punjab (Pakistan) is estimated to be between 97.21% Muslim with a Sunni Hanafi majority and Shia Ithna ‘ashariyah minority. The largest non-Muslim minority is Christians and make up 2.31% of the poulation. The Other minorites include Ahmedi, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and Bahá’í[12].
The dialects spoken in different regions of the land have a common vocabulary and a shared heritage. The people of Punjab have also a shared spiritual experience, which has been disseminated by Tasawwaf and can be witnessed on the occasion of the remembrance-fairs held on the Urs of Sufi Saints.
The main site of the Indus Valley Civilization in Punjab was the city of Harrapa. The Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of what is today Pakistan and eventually evolved into Indo-Aryan civilization. The arrival of the Indo-Aryans led to the flourishing of the Vedic Civilization along the length of the Indus River. This civilization shaped subsequent cultures in South Asia and Afghanistan. Although the archaeological site at Harappa was partially damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artifacts have nevertheless been found. Punjab was part of the great ancient empires including the Gandhara Mahajanapadas, Mauryas, Kushans and Hindu Shahi. Agriculture flourished and trading cities (such as Multan and Lahore) grew in wealth.
Due to its location, the Punjab region came under constant attack and influence from the west. Invaded by the Persians, Greeks, Kushans, Scythians, Turks, and Afghans, Punjab witnessed centuries of bitter bloodshed. Its legacy is a unique culture that combines Zorastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Persian, Central Asian, Islamic, Afghan, Sikh, and British elements. The city of Taxila, founded by son of Taksh the son Bharat who was the brother of Ram. It was reputed to house the oldest university in the world, Takshashila University, one of the teachers was the great Vedic thinker and politician Chanakya. Taxila was a great centre of learning and intellectual discussion during the Maurya Empire. It is a UN World Heritage site, and revered for its archaeological and religious history
Unique to Pakistani Punjab was that this area was repeatedly conquered into various Persian, Central Asian, and Greek empires, such as those of Tamerlane, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Of particular importance were the periods of contact between Punjab and various Persian Empires when the region either became a part of the empire itself, or was an autonomous region which paid taxes to the Persian King. In later centuries, when Persian was the language of the Mughal government, Persian architecture, poetry, art and music was an integral part of the region’s culture. The official language of Punjab remained Persian until the arrival of the British in the mid 19th century, where it was finally abolished and the administrative language was changed over to English. After 1947, Urdu, which has Persian and Sanskrit roots, became Pakistan’s national language (Zaban-e-Qaum).
The Punjabis followed a diverse plethora of faiths mainly Hindus but with large minorities of Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Pagans and Shamans when the Umayyad Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Punjab and Sindh in 712. During the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, The province became an important centre and Lahore was made into a second capital of the Ghaznavid Empire based out of Afghanistan.
The Mughals controlled the region from 1524 until 1739 and would also lavish the province with building projects such as the Shalimar Gardens and the Badshahi Mosque, both situated in Lahore. Muslim soldiers, traders, architects, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate in South Asia and some may have settled in the Punjab. Following the decline of the Mughals, the Shah of Iran and founder of the Afsharid dynasty in Persia, Nader Shah crossed the Indus and sacked the province in 1739. Later, the Afghan conqueror Ahmad Shah Durrani, incidentally born in Panjab, in the city of Multan made the Punjab a part of his Durrani Empire lasting until 1762.
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