Ancient period The Punjab region is noted as the site of one of the earliest urban societies, the
Indus Valley Civilisation that flourished from about 3000 B.C. and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the
Indo-Aryan migrations that overran the region in waves between 1500 and 500 B.C. Frequent intertribal wars stimulated the growth of larger groupings ruled by chieftains and kings, who ruled local kingdoms known as
Mahajanapadas. According to DrFauja Singh and Dr.L.M. Joshi: "There is no doubt that the Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas, Andhra, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas, Saindhavas, and Kurus had jointly contributed to the heroic tradition and composite culture of ancient Punjab." The bulk of the
Rigveda was composed in the Punjab region between circa 1500 and 1200 BC, while later Vedic scriptures were composed more eastwards, between the
Yamuna and
Ganges rivers. The
historical Vedic religion constituted the religious ideas and practices in Punjab during the
Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), centred primarily in the worship of
Indra. ''is the oldest Hindu text that originated in the Punjab region. The earliest known notable local king of this region was known as
King Porus, who fought the famous
Battle of the Hydaspes against
Alexander the Great. His kingdom spanned between rivers
Hydaspes (
Jhelum) and
Acesines (
Chenab);
Strabo had held the territory to contain almost 300 cities. He (alongside
Abisares) had a hostile relationship with the Kingdom of
Taxila which was ruled by his extended family. Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed. Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him. Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled the area northeast of Porus' kingdom. According to
Diodorus, Antipater recognised Porus's authority over the territories along the
Indus River. However,
Eudemus, who had served as Alexander's
satrap in the Punjab region, treacherously killed Porus. The battle is historically significant because it resulted in the
syncretism of ancient Greek political and cultural influences to the Indian subcontinent, yielding works such as
Greco-Buddhist art, which continued to have an impact for the ensuing centuries. The region was then divided between the
Maurya Empire and the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in 302 B.C.E.
Menander I Soter conquered Punjab and made
Sagala (present-day
Sialkot) the capital of the
Indo-Greek Kingdom. Menander is noted for having become a patron and convert to
Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings. Greek influence in the region ended around 12 B.C.E. when the Punjab fell under the
Sasanians.
Medieval period Following the
Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent at the beginning of the 8th century,
Arab armies of the
Umayyad Caliphate penetrated into South Asia introducing
Islam into Punjab. In the ninth century, the
Hindu Shahi dynasty emerged in the Punjab, ruling much of Punjab and eastern Afghanistan. Following the death of
Muhammad of Ghor in 1206, the Ghurid state fragmented and was replaced in northern India by the
Delhi Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate ruled the Punjab for the next three hundred years, led by five unrelated dynasties, the
Mamluks,
Khalajis,
Tughlaqs,
Sayyids and
Lodis. A significant event in the late 15th century Punjab was the formation of
Sikhism by
Guru Nanak. The history of the Sikh faith is closely associated with the history of Punjab and the socio-political situation in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent in the 17th century. listening to
Guru Granth Sahib being recited near the
Akal Takht and
Golden Temple, Amritsar. Painting by
August Schoefft (1850) The hymns composed by
Guru Nanak were later collected in the
Guru Granth Sahib, the central religious scripture of the Sikhs. The religion developed and evolved in times of
religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam.
Mughal rulers of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—
Guru Arjan (1563–1605) and
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)—after
they refused to convert to Islam. The persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the
Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as an order to protect the
freedom of conscience and
religion, with members expressing the qualities of a
Sant-Sipāhī ('saint-soldier'). The lifetime of Guru Nanak coincided with the conquest of northern India by
Babur and establishment of the
Mughal Empire. Jahangir ordered the execution of
Guru Arjun Dev, while in Mughal custody, for supporting his son
Khusrau Mirza's rival claim to the throne. Guru Arjan Dev's death led to the sixth Guru
Guru Hargobind to declare sovereignty in the creation of the
Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend
Amritsar. Jahangir then jailed Guru Hargobind at
Gwalior, but released him after a number of years when he no longer felt threatened. The succeeding son of Jahangir,
Shah Jahan, took offence at Guru Hargobind's declaration and after a series of assaults on Amritsar, forced the Sikhs to retreat to the
Sivalik Hills. The ninth Guru,
Guru Tegh Bahadur, moved the Sikh community to
Anandpur and travelled extensively to visit and preach in defiance of
Aurangzeb, who attempted to install
Ram Rai as new guru.
Modern period The Mughals came to power in the early sixteenth century and gradually expanded to control all of the Punjab from their capital at
Lahore. As Mughal power weakened, Afghan rulers took control of the region. The
Cis-Sutlej states were a group of states in modern Punjab and
Haryana states lying between the Sutlej River on the north, the Himalayas on the east, the Yamuna River and
Delhi District on the south, and
Sirsa district on the west. These states were ruled by the
Sikh Confederacy. The empire existed from 1799, when
Ranjit Singh captured
Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered in the
Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the
Khalsa from a collection of autonomous
Sikh misls. At its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from the
Khyber Pass in the west to western
Tibet in the east, and from
Mithankot in the south to
Kashmir in the north. It was divided into four provinces:
Lahore, in Punjab, which became the Sikh capital;
Multan, also in Punjab;
Peshawar; and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 3.5million in 1831 (making it the
19th most populous country at the time), it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to
be annexed by the
British Empire. The Sikh Empire spanned a total of over at its zenith. After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the empire was severely weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. This opportunity was used by the
East India Company to launch the
First and
Second Anglo-Sikh Wars. The country was finally annexed and dissolved at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate
princely states and the
province of Punjab. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was established in Lahore as a direct representative of
the Crown.
Colonial era , before 1947 The Punjab was annexed by the
East India Company in 1849. Although nominally part of the
Bengal Presidency it was administratively independent. During the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, apart from
Revolt led by Ahmed Khan Kharal and
Murree rebellion of 1857, the Punjab remained relatively peaceful. In 1858, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by
Queen Victoria, the Punjab came under the direct rule of Britain. Colonial rule had a profound impact on all areas of Punjabi life. Economically it transformed the Punjab into the richest farming area of India, socially it sustained the power of large landowners and politically it encouraged cross-communal co-operation among land owning groups. The Punjab also became the major centre of recruitment into the
Indian Army. By patronising influential local allies and focusing administrative, economic and constitutional policies on the rural population, the British ensured the loyalty of its large rural population. Among the peasantry and urban middle classes, the Hindus were the most active
National Congress supporters, the Sikhs flocked to the
Akali movement while the Muslims eventually supported the
Muslim League. After the partition of the subcontinent had been decided, special meetings of the Western and Eastern Section of the Legislative Assembly were held on 23 June 1947 to decide whether or not the Province of the Punjab be partitioned. After voting on both sides, partition was decided and the existing Punjab Legislative Assembly was also divided into
West Punjab Legislative Assembly and the
East Punjab Legislative Assembly. This last Assembly before independence, held its last sitting on 4 July 1947. During this period, the British granted separate independence to India and Pakistan, setting off massive communal violence as Punjabi Muslims fled to Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh Punjabis fled east to India. In 1966, following Hindu and Sikh Punjabi demands, the Indian government divided Punjab into the state of Punjab and the Hindi majority-speaking states of
Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh. Although Punjab had these waterways running across its lands, it was by law granted only a quarter of the water, precisely 24%, as per the
Inter-State Water Disputes Act. The remaining 76% was assigned to Rajasthan and Haryana. To many Punjabis, especially the farming community who heavily depended on these waters for irrigation, this allocation seemed inequitable. The water distribution was a significant contributing factor to the growing sense of disgruntlement against the central government. The majority of the gains were hoarded by landowners, who typically owned large plots and were best positioned to exploit the emerging technologies and farming practices. The working class and economically underprivileged segments of society, who often toiled as labourers on these farms, were left with only minor benefits. This uneven distribution of wealth conflicted sharply with Sikh religious customs, which preached economic justice and fair wealth distribution. The Green Revolution dealt a severe blow to Punjab's small farmers. The larger landowners, with their access to abundant resources and capital, were well-suited to adopt the agricultural innovations brought by the Revolution. This situation sparked further resentment among small farmers, many of whom were forced to relinquish their lands, unable to compete, thereby intensifying the economic chasm. == Geography ==