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Punjabi people

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The Punjabi people (also Panjabi people) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from South Asia. Their region, the Punjab has been host to some of the oldest civilizations in the world. The Punjabi identity is primarily linguistic, with Punjabis being those whose first language is Punjabi, an Indo-Aryan tongue. In recent times, however, the definition has been broadened to include also emigrants of Punjabi descent who maintain Punjabi cultural traditions, even when they no longer speak the language.

Punjabis are found primarily in the Punjab region of Pakistan and Northern India. In Pakistan, Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group at roughly 44% of the total population and reside predominantly in the province of Punjab. In India, ethnic Punjabis can be found across the greater Punjab region which now comprises the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Besides these, large communities are also found in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.

There are also a number of Punjabi emigrant communities scattered around the world, especially in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Persian Gulf countries, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Punjabis are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the other Indo-Aryan peoples of South Asia. There are an estimated 120 million Punjabis around the world.

Contents

Etymology

The name Punjab, comes from the Persian words 'Punj پنج' meaning five and 'aab آب' meaning water. Punjab means 'the land of five rivers.' The five rivers are the Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas and the Satluj. The word "Punjab" appears for the first time in the book called "Tarikh e Sher Shah" ("The history/biography of Sher Shah", an Afghan conqueror of the 16th century: Sher Shah Suri) (1580). Again the name is mentioned in "Ain e Akbari" part 1 by Abul Fazal ("The Codes of Akbar", a detailed gazzetter of the Mughal emperor Akbar's empire (1556-1605). The book also mentions that the territory of Punjab was divided into two provinces; Lahore and Multan. In addition, the Mughal emperor Jahangir mentions the word "Punjab" on page 183 of his book "Tuzuk e Jahangiri" ("The autobiography of Jahangir") (1569-1609). The courtly language of all the afore mentioned rulers was primarily or included Persian. The historical references to the region now referred to as "Punjab" beginning 16th century in the annals of Persian speaking rulers, give a valuable temporal clue to the emergence of the region as a distinct geographical entity as well as the ethnogenesis of the Punjabis.

History

The exact point at which the Punjabis formed a distinct ethnic group remains speculative. The region having been the site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization centered at Harappa became a center of early civilization from around 3300 BCE. Numerous invaders including the Indo-Aryans, Persians, Greeks, various Central Asians, Arabs, Afghans, and the British have all invaded and ruled the region, giving the Punjab a unique culture as the gateway to South Asia. An early Indo-Aryan-speaking people conquered the region and imparted their language and merged with the local population that some speculate as having been either an Elamo-Dravidian (a hypothesized parent family) or Dravidian-speaking group, but this also remains speculative since the Indus script remains undeciphered. The Indo-Aryans are believed to have arrived in the region between 2000 and 1250 BCE and eventually disseminated their languages throughout South Asia. An early Vedic civilization is believed to have emerged in the region and helped shape many aspects of northern Indian culture. Over time, the Greater Punjab region fragmented as various Eurasian invaders conquered sections of the region with the west (in modern Pakistan) bearing the brunt of most invasions.

Various religious influences shaped the region and people as Buddhism emerged as an important faith in the region, due to the efforts of Ashoka, along with early Hinduism. Ultimately, two later religions largely supplanted both of these earlier faiths, Islam in the west (mainly in modern Pakistan) and Sikhism in the east (while Hinduism remains prominent for many Indian Punjabis, there has been a significant linguistic shift by Hindu Punjabis towards the usage of Hindi). [Religion and Nationalism in India: The Case of the Punjab] While many believe that certain aspects of early Hinduism and Buddhism were formed in the Punjab region, the only entirely indigenous Punjabi faith has been Sikhism founded in the 16th century CE. Muslim invaders converted much of the western regions to Islam following the conquests of Arabs in 711 CE (see Muhammad bin Qasim) and Turkic tribes in the 11th century. Muslim Punjabis comprise the largest group and are largely found in modern Pakistan. These religious cleavages have subsequently shaped much of the orientation of the various Punjabi peoples in the region.

Following the partition of British India into the states of India and Pakistan, a process of population exchange and ethnic cleansing took place in 1947 as significant minorities of Muslims either left or were forced out of East Punjab and Hindus and Sikhs either left or were driven out of West Punjab(and the princely state of Bahawalpur). [South Asia: British India Partitioned] As a result of these population exchanges, both regions are largely religiously homogenous.

Diversity

The Punjab region, due to its location near Central Asia and the Middle East has been prone to numerous invasions that have left imprints upon the local Punjabi population that remain present in the numerous sub-groups. The Punjabi people are a heterogeneous group and can be subdivided into a number of tribal groups in Pakistan called qaums while they adhere to caste identities in India, each having their own subtle differences.

In terms of ancestry, the majority of Punjabis share many similar genes with other South Asian populations, but also show a significant relationship with West Eurasian groups. In a 2004 Stanford study conducted with a wide sampling from India, including 112 Punjabis, and selected other countries, displayed the following:

Results show that Indian tribal and caste populations derive largely from the same genetic heritage of Pleistocene southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene. [The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations]
This study also found that roughly 20% of genetic markers in the Punjab were of West Asian origin, the highest amongst the sampled group of South Asians. Another study also showed that there has been limited gene flow in and out of South Asia, but the highest amount of genetic inflow from the west showed up in the Punjab region:

Broadly, the average proportion of mtDNAs from West Eurasia among Indian caste populations is 17% (Table 2). In the western States of India and in Pakistan their share is greater, reaching over 30% in Kashmir and Gujarat, nearly 40% in Indian Punjab, and peaking, expectedly, at approximately 50% in Pakistan. [Most of the extant mtDNA boundaries in South and Southwest Asia were likely shaped during the initial settlement of Eurasia by anatomically modern humans]
Major Ethnic Groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, 1980. The Punjabis are shown in brown.
Enlarge
Major Ethnic Groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, 1980. The Punjabis are shown in brown.

Some preliminary conclusions from these varying tests support a largely South Asian genetic base for most Punjabis accompanied by some of the highest degrees of West Asian admixture found in South Asia.

Related peoples

Further studies show that the regions inhabited by the so-called Hindkowan Pathans, living in close proximity to Afghanistan, display a high degree of admixture with West Eurasian groups that correspond to a general genetic variation between populations east of the Indus from those west and north of the river valley. [Most of the extant mtDNA boundaries in South and Southwest Asia were likely shaped during the initial settlement of Eurasia by anatomically modern humans]

Lastly, it has been surmised through the analysis of the Romani language as well as genetic studies that many of the Roma people's ancestors (popularly known as Gypsies a term that is seen as pejorative) originated in the Pothohar region of what is today northern Pakistan as the Roma language shows strong similarities with Pothohari, itself a dialect of the Punjabi language.

Geographic distribution

Punjabis in Pakistan

Muslim Punjabis in Salwar kameez
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Muslim Punjabis in Salwar kameez

The Punjabis found in Pakistan are composed of clans and tribes (the aforementioned qaums) often with a correspondance with traditional occupations. Pre-Islamic Kambohs, Gujjars, Jats and Rajputs (such as the Janjuas), predominate with the Gakhars, Awans, and Arains, comprising the main tribes in the north, while Gilanis, Gardezis, Quraishis, and Abbasis are found in the south. [Country Studies - Pakistan]

Punjabis have been traditionally farmers and warriors which has transferred into modern times with a dominance of agriculture and the military in Pakistan. In addition, Punjabis in Pakistan have been quite prominent politically having had many elected Members of Parliament. As the most ardent supporters of a Pakistani state, the Punjabis in Pakistan have shown a strong pre-dilection towards the adoption of Urdu, while still identifying themselves as ethnic Punjabis for the most part. Religious homogeniety remains elusive as a Sunni-Shia divide and a Christian minority have not completely wiped out diversity since the partition of British India.A variety of related sub-groups exist in Pakistan and are often considered by many Pakistani Punjabis to be simply regional Punjabis including the Seraikis (who overlap and are often considered transitional with the Sindhis) and Punjabi Pashtuns (which publications like Encyclopedia Britannica consider a transitional group between Punjabis and Pashtuns). These groups often display a predilection towards either independence or autonomy (see Seraikistan) from the main Punjabi groups.

Punjabis in India

Indian Punjabis tend to correspond to various caste criteria with the Sikhs showing more unity overall, while Hindu Punjabis sometimes remain stratified along caste lines. Some of the major subgroups of the Punjabis in India include: Ahirs, Aroras, Banias, Bhatias, Brahmins, Dalits, Gujjars, Jats, Kalals, Kambojs, Khatris, Labanas, Rajputs, Sainis, Sansis, Soods, and Tarkhans. Most of these subgroups can be further sub-divided into clans and family groups.

The Punjabi Sikh community remains the most prominent proponents of a Punjabi ethnic identity in India, while many Hindu Punjabis have shown a similar linguistic and cultural shift that corresponds with the Punjabis in Pakistan, as the identification of Hindi as a mother tongue rather than Punjabi has become more pronounced following political conflict between Sikhs and Hindus (see Khalistan movement for further details) that devolved into serious violence in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Most of East Punjab's (today's Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh) Muslims left for West Punjab in 1947. However, a small community still survives today, mainly in Malerkotla, the only Muslim princely state among the seven that formed the erstwhile Patiala and East Punjab States Union(PEPSU). The other six (mostly Sikh) states were: Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Faridkot, Kapurthala and Kalsia.

The Punjabi Diaspora

The Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers to many parts of the world. The United Kingdom has a significant number of Punjabis from both India and Pakistan as does Canada and the United States. The Middle East has a large immigrant community of Punjabis, in places such as the UAE and Kuwait. There are large communities in East Africa including the countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Punjabis have also emigrated to Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Culture and society

Religion

Religion has played an important role in shaping Punjabi ethnic identity and it is not uncommon for Punjabis to generally treat their religious identity as synonymous with their ethnic identity or at least a combined identity that differentiates them from others. Punjabis belong largely to three major religions, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. The majority of Punjabis are Muslims, followed by Hindus and Sikhs, although a large number of Punjabis in Pakistan are also Christian. A small number in India are Jains. Although the Punjabi Sikhs are smaller in number than the Punjabi Muslims and Punjabi Hindus they are often thought of as the strongest supporters of a Punjabi identity due to their more frequent and visible use/display of the Punjabi language and traditional, non-religious aspects of the Punjabi culture. In addition, the Sikh community that has sought an independent course largely to preserve their religion and thus has resisted assimilation that Hindu Punjabis have readily adapted to.

Language

Cuisine

Music

Prominent Punjabis

See also

Notes

References and further reading

[Pakistan], [India]

External Links

 

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