History of Punjab: State of Sikh religion (Situated in north of India and east of Pakistan)

Punjab, state in northwestern India,bordered on the north by Jammu and Kashmir state and Himachal Pradesh state, on the east and south by Haryana state, on the south and southwest by Rajasthan state, and on the west by Pakistan.

Punjab state lies between the great systems of the Indus and Ganges river. Punjab had a population of 20,281,969. Chandоgarh is the state capital. The population of Punjab consists mainly of Punjabis, Jats, and Rajputs. The official language is Punjabi. The majority of the population is Sikh, the largest minority is Hindu, and a very small percentage is Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, or Jain.

59% of Punjab population is literate. Universities located in the state include Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, and Punjabi University in Patiala. More than 80 percent of Punjab is cultivated, and farming is the leading occupation. The major crops are wheat, maize, rice, pulses, sugarcane, and cotton.The industries include the manufacture of textiles, sewing machines, sporting goods, starch, fertilizers, bicycles, scientific instruments, electrical goods, and machine tools, and the processing of sugar and pine oil.

I am proud to be Punjabi because of pure and rich culture of that state. Punjabis' are famous all around the world and can be easily found in any corner of the world.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATION: Punjab is the birth place of Indus Valley Civilization, which is more than 4000 years old. Harappa and Mohenjodaro civilization, along the banks of the Indus in Punjab is also the most ancient and famous civilization in the world history. Punjab is also the birth place of many Saints belong to Sikh and Hindu religion.

Aryan Migration: During ancient Punjab takes small scale migrations by the Aryans from the North-West (1500-100 BC). The next thousand year they live in Punjab, they settled never Indus Basin where the oldest books of human history called the Rig-Vedas are supposed to have been written. The language of Aryans was Sanskrit.

Persian Rule: Punjab shared lot of history with great Persian empires. Punjab came under their control from time to time. Darius the great, the Persian king attacked Punjab and occupied many parts of Punjab. At last the Punjab was full invaded by the Persian King Gustasp in 516 BC. Punjab became the wealthiest Satrapy i.e., the province in the Persian kingdom. Punjab became the heart of the Persian Empire.

Alexander's Rule: In 321 BC Alexander the great defeated Persians very badly and entered their final Satrapy of Punjab. Alexander with his great army from Greek occupied many areas and established two major cities in the area of Punjab, where he settled his army from his multi-national armies which included a majority of Greeks and Macedonians. While Alexander was hurt very badly, made decision to return alone to Greece but unluckily he died on the way to Greece.

Muslim Invasions Following the birth of Islam in Arabia in 6th century AD, Arabs rose to the eastern world to spread their rule all over asia. Their power replaced some Persians major power in many areas of Punjab. In 711-13 AD Arabs advanced to the land of five rivers, occupying Multan. Arab attacks was divided into small kingdoms of Arabians. The occupied all north India (all the way from arab world to india which include: Afghanistan, Pakistan etc.)

Sikhism Rule: The Afghans were forced to retreat and Lahore was occupied by the Sikhs in 1758, Jassa singh Ahluwalia proclaimed Sikh's sovereignty and became its head. He struck coins to commemorate his victory. After the death of the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah in June 1773, his power of Afghans declined in Punjab, than natuarly it punjab finally came under the Sikh rule.

Music: Bhangra dance is related with the ripening of crops, and it is performed by the farmers of the villages. Bhangra is folk dance, celebrated mostly on the good occasion such as marriages and harvesting season of punjab. Giddha is also kind of folk dance and song usually sung by girls/women during special occasion.

Tourism: Amritsar is the home of traditional Punjabi cuisine, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian where each eating-house has a specialty. It is the holiest place of Sikh religion in India. It is well advanced than other cities in Punjab.