Punjabi World-Scientific thinking-(Rationalist Society)

been host to some of the oldest civilizations in the world including one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization. The Punjabi identity was primarily cultural and linguistic, with Punjabis being those who considered the Punjabi Language their first language. However, in recent times, the definition has been broadened to include emigrants of Punjabi descent who maintain Punjabi cultural traditions, even when they no longer speak the language. It also refers to people of non-Punjabi descent but have adopted Punjabi language and culture such as people of Rajesthani descent. Punjabi Punjabi Punjabis are primarily found in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, which forms the present Indian state of Punjab and Pakistan province of Punjab. In the times that followed after gaining independence from Britain, the Punjab region was divided between the two nations. In Pakistan, Punjabis are the largest ethnic group, comprising roughly 44% of the total population of the country. They reside predominantly in the province of Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The majority of Punjabi-speaking people in India can be found across the greater Punjab region, which comprises the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Moreover, large communities of Punjabis are also found in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Punjabi is the dominant language spoken in Pakistan, and 11th most spoken language in India. According to the Ethnologue 2005 estimate, there are 88 million native speakers of the Punjabi language, which makes it approximately the 12th most widely spoken language in the world. According to the 2008 Census of Pakistan, there are approximately 76,335,300 native speakers of Punjabi in Pakistan, and according to the Census of India, there are over 29,102,477 Punjabi speakers in India. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United Kingdom (where it is the second most commonly used language) and Canada, in which Punjabi has now become the fourth most spoken language after English, French and Chinese, due to the rapid growth of immigrants from Pakistan and India. There are also sizable communities in United States, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Persian Gulf countries, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Punjabis are linguistically and culturally related to the other Indo-Aryan peoples of South Asia. There are an estimated 120 million Punjabis around the world. Punjabi Punjabi Prehistory The exact point at which the Punjabis formed a distinct ethnic group remains speculative. The region having been the site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization centered at Harappa became a centre of early civilization from around 3300 BC. Numerous settlers including the Proto-Indo-Aryans, Persians, Scythians, Greeks, various Central Asians, Arabs, Afghans, and the British have all invaded and ruled the region, giving the Punjab a unique culture as the gateway to South Asia but this has not had a genetic impact on the region as the host population has always been far larger than the migrating or invading populations.Historically attested events, such as invasions by Huns, Greeks, Kushans, Moghuls, Muslims, and modern Europeans, have had negligible genetic impact. Despite centuries of Greek rule in Northwest India, for example, no trace of either the M170 or the M35 genetic markers associated with Greeks and Macedonians have been found. Ancient History Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Realms or tribes are labelled black, Foreign tribes mentioned in early Vedic texts purple, Vedic shakhas in green. Rivers are labelled blue. The Thar desert is marked orange. The original Punjab region is now divided into several units: West Punjab (now in Pakistan) including the Gandhara region, the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh. The regions of Azad Kashmir and Jammu have also been historically associated with the Punjab. The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are: Saraswati (thought to be the present day Ghaggar), Satadru/Shutadri (Sutlej), Vipasa (Beas), Asikani, Chandrabhaga (Chenab), Iravati (Ravi), Vitasta/Vet (Jhelum) and Sindhu (Indus).The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata. The region came to be known as Punjab only in the Mughal period.It was one of the cradles of Indian civilization and Hinduism¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶_________【PUNJABI WORLD™】.