The word Punjab is derived from two Persian words, Punj (five) and ab (water). It refers to the five rivers namely Indus, Jhelum, Chinab, Ravi, and Sutlej. Punjab has a very significant history. It holds the roots of some of the ancient cultures on earth. One of the most enlightened and progressive civilizations of Indus Valley existed in the region of Punjab about 5,000 years before. The geographical location of Punjab was of very significance. The Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Afghans, Mongols, and British Empire have dominated the region in the past.
Today, Punjab lies in the South Asia. It is bounded by the Himalaya range which separates it from China. In 1947, the region was divided between the borders of Eastern Pakistan and Northern India. Around 55% of the total area lies in Pakistan and 45% in India. In spite of the partition, the people of Punjab still share the same customs, language, tradition, dress, music, painting, architecture, manner and food. The people living in Punjab are called Punjabis and their language is called Punjabi. The Punjabi culture is the one of the richest culture in the world. Many great religious movements which found world-wide appeal grew in the fertile plains of Punjab. They include Buddhism, Sikhism, and many schools of Sufi thought in Islam. This ethnic and religious diversity is reflected in the cultural mosaic of today's Punjab.
The Punjab has an abundant supply of water and fertile lands. This gift of the nature is reflected in the life of the people. The Punjabis are generous, fun-loving and jovial. They consider guests as a blessing of God. The different varieties of cuisines and spices are famous all over the world. Celebrations especially marriages are incomplete without dancing. Bhagra (action on land) is the traditional dance of Punjab. It is a mean of having fun and
Sada Na Bagin Bulbulan Bolan, Sada Nan Mauj, Baharan, Bhangra Pao Belio, Punjabiyan Di Shaan Bhangra
Nightingales will not sing forever in the garden, our life and celebrations are not forever, so friends lets let us celebrate life with Bhangra, Bhangra is dignity of the Punjabis.
Punjabis from both India and Pakistan are widely distributed all over the world. In the recent years, the Punjabi bhagra has become quite famous in the Western world because of his uniqueness and inimitability. Some scholars also consider that there has been a significant decrease in the growth of Punjabi art and literature. They allege the Western culture of the huge influence over Punjabi rituals and customs. They claim that the Punjabi culture is gradually losing its historic norms and taking a new contour. Whereas, other scholars believe that this process will strengthen Punjabi roots in the Western world.
Due to vast area of land where Punjabi is spoken, different local variations or dialects have developed.
Majhi: Spoken in the heart of Punjab i.e., Lahore , Sialkot, Gujaranwala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar. Most of the population of Punjab lives in this area and linguists also say that Majhi dialect is the "Tixali boli" i.e., it has been influenced by all other dialects.
Malwi: Spoken in the east Punjab area of Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Maleerkotla Fazilka, Ferozepur. This area (Malwa) is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukhetra etc. (northern parts of Haryana mainly).
Doabi: Land between the rivers of Beas and Satluj is called Doaba. Do Aaba lierally means "the land between two waters" in Persian. It includes Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, and large number of Punjabis from this area have gone out to U.K., USA, Canada or elsewhere.
Pothohari: The area where Pothohari is spoken extends in the north from Kashmir to as far south as Jehlum and Gujar Khan and includes the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. The whole area (i.e. the north-west of Punjab) is beautiful scenic area. It's here that the beautiful hilly resorts of Murree, Ayubia, Nathia-Gali lies. This dialect is similar to some extent to the Hindko dialect of Punjabi which is spoken in Peshawar, Nowshehra, Mansehra all these areas lie in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan where majority language is Pashto, but Hindko speakers area also found in sizable numbers.
Jhangvi: The region where Jhangvi is spoken stretches from Khanewal to Jhang and includes the cities of Faisalabad, Chiniot. Jhangvi dialect is also called the "Jangli" dialect of Punjabi. This is the land of Heer/Ranjha. Their tomb is located in Jhang city. Sultan Bahu is an important saint of this area.
Multani: The dialect spoken in Multan, Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Daira Ghazi Khan, Muzafar Garh i.e., southern deserts of Punjab is called Multani (also Lehndi by some) and perhaps differs from Punjabi more than any other dialect. This is the land of Muslim Sufis, perhaps "Shah Shams Sabazwari" who came to Multan in 1165 AD was the first in a long series of Sufis to base themselves in Multan.
Clothing: Women's clothing normally consists of a piece of colorful cloth that women wear around their necks. Salwar kameez's and duppattas come in a variety of colors and designs. Many stores specialize and sell only these articles of clothing. Men and boys generally wear loose pants or slacks with a collared shirt or t-shirt. Some males also wear the kurta pajama, a shirt and pant outfit, especially the Punjabi farmer. On their head, many Sikhs also wear bhuggs, or turbins. In winter, both women and men generally wear a woolen shawl, a small blanket, around their necks. Many men wear jackets and woolen caps as well.
Music: There are many different varieties of Punjabi music. Traditional Punjabi music includes instruments such as the dhol drum, flute, dholak, and tumbi. Singers such as Pathanay Khan mainly based his music on the dholak and tumbi. Many other artists use dhol drum as their primary instrument. People generally refer to Punjabi music based on the dhol drum as Bhangra. These days, besides using the traditional instruments, some artists use computers and Western instruments to accompany their Bhangra music. Many races of people and religions made up the cultural heritage of the Punjab. Punjab is the land where spiritual aspirations arose. This heroic land bore numerous invasions, and after all its suffering, did not entirely lose its glory and its strength.
Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on Punjab culture.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the URL.
If you are Punjab, your feedback is much appreciated.
Singh, Jaspel
2007 Globalization and the problematic of Punjabi culture. Electronic Document http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/sap15/, accessed March 16, 2009
History of Punjab. Electronic document, http://www.punjabonline.com/servlet/library.history?Action=Page&Param=2, accessed March 16, 2009.
Lancashire, Ian, Culture Gram, 1997. “Introduction to Punjab.”
http://roscoe.bu.edu/~rajwi/punjab/
Written by: Faisal Rafique
Edited by : Salman Hakim, 2009