Punjab

Former state of British India, now divided between India and Pakistan. Punjab was annexed by Britain in 1849 after the Sikh Wars (1845–46 and 1848–49), and formed into a province with its capital at Lahore. Under the British, West Punjab was extensively irrigated, and land was granted to Indians who had served in the British army.

Punjab

State of northwest India, bordering Pakistan; area 50,362 sq km/19,445 sq mi; population (2001 est) 24,289,300. The capital is Chandigarh, which is also the capital of Hindi-speaking state of Haryana. Both industry and agriculture are very productive and support a population which has the highest standard of living and longest life expectancy in India. Textiles, hosiery, bicycles, and sewing machines are produced; wheat, rice, sugar, maize, millet, barley, and cotton are grown.

Geography The rivers Sutlej and Beas, tributaries of the Indus, flow through the gently sloping alluvial plain that makes up most of the state.

Features The region is mainly agricultural, with crops chiefly grown under irrigation through schemes such as the Bhakra Nangal dam on the Sutlej. There are ruins from the Indus Valley civilization (2500 to 1600 BC). Towns and cities include Amritsar, Jalandhar, Faridkot, and Ludhiana.

Language and religion The main language is Punjabi. Religions are Sikh (60%) and Hindu (30%); there is friction between the two groups.

History In 1919 unrest led to the Punjab riots (known as the Amritsar Massacre). The present state was formed at the partition of India in 1947 (see Punjab massacres). The Indian Punjab was further divided into three areas: Himachal Pradesh, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union, and the state of East Punjab. In 1956 the latter two were merged to form Punjab (India), which was again divided in 1966 along linguistic lines to create three states: the predominantly Hindu states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana (which shares the capital Chandigarh with Punjab); and the remaining Punjab state, 60% of which are Punjabi-speaking Sikhs.

Punjab

The mausoleum of Asif Khan, brother of the 16th-century Indian emperor Jahangir, who is buried in another part of the same complex. Jahangir's tomb is tiled and marbled, but this lesser tomb has been stripped almost bare by invading forces and flooding from the nearby river.

Street traffic in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore has been the capital of the province of Punjab for nearly a thousand years, and was also the main city of the Moghul Empire. Situated on the River Ravi, Lahore is now the second city of Pakistan and a busy commercial and industrial centre.

State of northeast Pakistan; area 205,344 sq km/79,263 sq mi; population (1998 est) 72,585,400. The capital is Lahore. Wheat is cultivated (by irrigation). The state contains a semi-arid alluvial plain, drained by the Indus River and its tributaries, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers. To the north are the Himalayan foothills, and the Salt Range mountains (containing oil) are between the Indus and Jhelum valleys. There are ruins from the Indus Valley civilization (2500 to 1600 BC). The main languages are Punjabi and Urdu; the principal religion is Islam. The state was formed as West Punjab in 1947 upon partition of India and the formation of Pakistan.

Indus Waters Treaty After partition in 1947, many Pakistani canals lost their headwaters; in 1960 the Treaty gave India control over the waters of the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, and Pakistan the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, which feed a system of irrigation canals.