The land of five waters gave the world its first cities, its saints and its songs. Broken by every empire that crossed it, it is still ours to remember, and to make whole again.

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PUNJAB WIKIਪੰਜਾਬپنجابPeople
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Land & Ages

The LandRivers, doabs, Harappa and the first cities, seasons, numbersAgesEight ages of the Punjab, from the Soan to todayTimelineEvery dated event on one lineAtlasEvery place on one map, age by agePlacesCities, ancient sites, temples, mosques and gurdwaras, battlefieldsLanguage & scriptsPunjabi, its dialects, Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi

People & Faiths

PeopleSaints and teachers, poets and singers, rulers, rebels, the people of both PunjabsPeople of the landJats, Rajputs, Arains, Khatris, Dalit communities and more, across every faithFaithsHindu traditions, Islam and the Sufis, Sikhi, and the Punjab's other faiths

Kingdoms & Struggles

Kingdoms & WarsWho ruled the Punjab, the Kingdom of Lahore, and the battles fought over itWho ruled the PunjabEvery ruling power, 518 BCE to todayWars & BattlesFrom the Hydaspes to BasantarStruggles & Partitions1849, 1919, 1947, 1966, 1984, 2020

Culture & Museum

CulturePoets, qisse, songs, music, dance, festivals, foodMuseumSculpture, coins, manuscripts, painting, arms, buildings, and where to see themChronicles & ProphecyThe poetry of the old chroniclesAboutWhat this atlas is, its sources, and every word explainedHelp maintain this siteCorrections, pictures, sources and new entries
Punjab WikiPeopleReformers and politicians
Zia-ul-Haq
Unknown · Wikimedia
Leader

Zia-ul-Haq

ਜ਼ਿਆ-ਉਲ-ਹੱਕمحمد ضیاء الحق

Army chief born in Jalandhar who seized power in Pakistan in 1977, hanged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and ruled for eleven years.

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was born in Jalandhar, studied at St Stephen's College in Delhi and was commissioned into the British Indian Army. At Partition his family moved to Pakistan.

As army chief he overthrew the elected government in July 1977, had the former Prime Minister Bhutto hanged in 1979, and ruled under martial law, bringing in Islamic laws and backing the war against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. He died when his plane crashed near Bahawalpur in August 1988.

Places linked to Zia-ul-Haq, numbered in order

On the timeline

5 July 1977 · Zia-ul-Haq seizes power
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