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Province of eastern Pakistan. It is bordered by the Indian state of
Jammu and Kashmir to the northeast, the Indian states of Punjab and
Rajasthan to the east, Sindh province to the south, Balochistan and
North-West Frontier provinces to the west, and Islamabad federal
capital area and Azad Kashmir to the north. Punjab is Pakistan's
second largest province, after Balochistan, and the most densely
populated. The name Punjab means “five waters,” or “five rivers,”
and signifies the land drained by the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas,
and Sutlej rivers, which are tributaries of the Indus River.
Urban civilization existed in the Indus River valley from about
2500 to 1500 BC, when, it is believed, Aryan incursions brought it
to an end. The area entered recorded history with the annexation of
Punjab and Sindh to the Persian Empire by Darius I (c. 518 BC).
The founder of the Maurya dynasty, Candra Gupta, incorporated the
region into his Indian empire about 322 BC. The first Muslims to
penetrate northern India were the Arabs, who in AD 712 conquered
the lower Punjab. The rest of the Punjab was conquered (1007–27)
by Mahmud of Ghazna. The area subsequently came under various other
Muslim rulers until the victorious entry of the Mughals in 1526.
Under the Mughals the province enjoyed peace and prosperity for more
than 200 years. Their power declined after 1738, however, and in 1747
Lahore fell under weak Afghan rule marked by lawlessness and disorder. The religious sect called the Sikhs rose to power in the latter part of the 18th century. The Punjab came under British occupation in 1849, after the British victory over the Sikhs in the battles of Chilianwala and Gujrat. When the Indian subcontinent received its independence in 1947, Punjab was split between Pakistan and India, with the larger western portion becoming part of Pakistan. The present provincial boundaries were established in 1970. The capital, Lahore, is located in the east-central region, near the border with India.
Punjab's area consists of an alluvial plain formed by the
southward-flowing Indus River and its four major tributaries in
Pakistan, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers. The general
slope of the land is from northeast to southwest, but it rises in
the areas between rivers. The alluvial plain has a diversity of
landforms: its active floodplains are flooded every rainy season
and contain changing river channels, while meander floodplains
lying adjacent to the active floodplain are marked by relict
and abandoned channels. In the northern parts of the province
are the Murree and Rawalpindi and the Pabbi hills, part of the
Sub-Himalayas, and in the far north is the Potwar Plateau.
Punjab lies on the margin of the monsoon climate. The temperature
is generally hot, with marked variations between summer and winter.
In the plain the mean June temperature is 95° F (35° C), while the
mean January temperature is 55° F (12° C). The average annual
rainfall is low, except in the sub-Himalayan and northern areas,
and decreases markedly from north to south or southwest, from 23
inches (580 mm) at Lahore in east-central Punjab to just 7 inches
(180 mm) at Multan in the southwest. Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, containing more
than half the nation's total population as well as several of its
major cities: Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Gujranwala. There is considerable rural-to-urban migration in the province, especially to the larger cities. In religion, the province is almost entirely Muslim, with a small Christian minority. Punjabi is the mother tongue of 90 percent of the population. The main written language is Urdu, followed by English. The major ethnic groups are the Jat, Rajput, Arain, Gujar, and Awan. The caste system is gradually becoming blurred as a result of increasing social mobility, intercaste marriages, and changing public opinion.
Agriculture is the chief source of income and employment in Punjab.
Much of the province once consisted of desert wastes that were
unfavourable for settlement, but its character changed after an
extensive network of irrigation canals was built in the early 20th
century using the waters of the Indus tributaries. The area of
settlement, which had formerly been limited to the north and
northeast, was enlarged to include the whole province, and now about
three-quarters of the province's cultivable land is irrigated.
Wheat and cotton are the principal crops. Other crops grown include
rice, sugarcane, millet, corn (maize), oilseeds, pulses, fruits,
and vegetables. Livestock and poultry are also raised in large numbers.
The Punjab is one of the more industrialized provinces in Pakistan;
its manufacturing industries produce textiles, machinery, electrical
appliances, surgical instruments, metals, bicycles and rickshas, floor
coverings, and processed foods. Pakistan's main north-south road and
railway connect Lahore with Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to the
north and with the ocean port of Karachi to the south. Punjab is
connected by road or railway to India, China, and Afghanistan, and
its major cities are linked by road. Lahore's airport provides
domestic service.
The University of the Punjab and the University of Engineering and
Technology are located in Lahore, as well as other colleges, museums,
libraries, and cultural centres. Area 79,284 square miles
(205,344 square km). Pop. (1983 est.) 50,460,000.
