PUNJAB


The Punjab is a semiarid plains region of northwestern India and north-eastern Pakistan covering about 777,000 sq km and roughly corresponding to the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Pakistani province of Punjab. The Pakistani Punjab has a population of about 53.8 million (1985 est.)
The name is derived from panca nada ("five rivers") and refers to the Sutlej, the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, and the Beas, all of which flow through the region and are tributaries of the Indus.
Lahore is the capital of Pakistani Punjab. The Punjab is hot in summer, and temperatures usually remain above freezing in winter. Precipitation is generally low but increases northward and may reach 1,200 mm (48 in) in the Himalayan foothills. Principal crops include wheat, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, maize, and rice. Small-scale manufacturing is also important. 
Excavations in the Punjab at Harappa (2500 BC) on the Sutlej River have revealed an advanced Indus Civilization. Aryans (1500 BC), Greeks (326 BC), Scythians (1st century AD), and Muslims (11th century AD and after) crisscrossed the region as migrants, invaders, and rulers. Ranjit Singh, a leader of the SIKHS, ruled a Punjabi kingdom from 1801 to 1839. The British occupied Punjab in 1849 and later designated it a province.
In 1947, Punjab was divided between India and Pakistan. Communal riots caused an exodus of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistani Punjab and Muslims from Indian Punjab. Punjabi dress

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