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 WIKIਪੰਜਾਬپنجابStruggles
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Englishਪੰਜਾਬੀپنجابی

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 WikiStruggles & Partitions
1914 – 1945

Soldiers of the empire

Unknown · Wikimedia

The Punjab gave the Indian Army more soldiers than any other province. In the First World War Punjabis fought at Ypres, Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia and East Africa; Khudadad Khan of Chakwal won the first Victoria Cross awarded to an Indian. In the Second they fought in North Africa, Italy and Burma.

Some turned against the empire they served. In 1942 Captain Mohan Singh, a Sikh from Sialkot, formed the first Indian National Army from prisoners of war in Malaya; in 1945 the British tried three of its officers together at the Red Fort, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh, and India rose in their defence.

Khudadad Khan, the first Indian VC →

← 1913 – 19151919 →
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