Punjab (Pun)

Pun: ਪੰਜਾਬ pan̄jāb

‘Land of Five Rivers’. 

From Skt/Per: pañca(n)/panj, ‘five’; and Skt/Per: ap/ab, ‘water(s).

The five rivers are the Beas, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum. Punjab Province, under British rule, covered a large area encompassing the modern-day Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh; and the Union Territories of  Chandigarh and Delhi.

Following Independence Punjab was brutally partitioned and it lost the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory.

To replace Lahore, which became a part of Pakistan, Nehru commissioned Albert Mayer to design the new city of Chandigarh as a replacement capital. When the Hindi-speaking districts of Punjab were carved out to form Haryana, Chandigarh became the shared capital of the two states.

Punjab is the birthplace of Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the 16thC.

Punjabis have an extraordinary dedication to military service: representing over 50% of the modern Indian Army, 40% of Indian soldiers in WW1 and 60% of the Indian contingent fighting the Japanese in Malaya and Singapore in WW2.

Punjab is also known as the ‘food bowl’ of India. Although it has only 2% of India’s population it produces roughly 17 per cent of its wheat, 20 per cent of its rice,10 per cent of its milk and Punjabi dhabas account for a fair chunk of India’s roadside diners.

Listed below are a selection of Punjab place names representing Punjab’s most important cities, towns and disticts.

For more on Indian place names and history, see Toponymy on the Ashoka Express

For a journey through tribal India and Sri Lanka, see Headhunting with Marguerite

Punjab Region 

PUNJAB PLACE NAMES