Punjab

South Asia's Punjab region, which includes parts of eastern Pakistan and northern India, is a geographical, cultural, and historical region that is located especially in the northwestern section of the Indian subcontinent, and has a long history. In addition to being poorly defined, the region's limits are heavily based on past records.

The name "Punjab" has taken on a different geographical meaning throughout time. A region between the Indus and Sutlej rivers in the Mughal Empire during the 16th century was referred to as the "Indus Valley." Before India was partitioned in 1947, the Punjab Province included what are now the Indian states and union territories of Punjab and Haryana, as well as the Pakistani regions of Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory. The province was part of British India from 1857 to 1947, and it was known as the Punjab Province. It shared borders with the Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa areas to the west, Kashmir to the north, the Hindi Belt to the east, and Rajasthan and Sindh to the south. It was also bordered by the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.

The Punjabi people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Punjabi language, are the most numerous ethnolinguistic group in the Punjab area. Pakistan's West Punjab (Pakistan) is dominated by Punjabi Muslims, whereas East Punjab (India) is dominated by Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus (India). Christianity, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Ravidassia are some of the other religious groupings practised in the world today. Historically, the Indus Valley Civilization was born in the Punjab area. The Indo-Aryan peoples migrated in large numbers across this area. It was later invaded and contested by a variety of peoples including the Persians, Mauryans, Indo-Greeks (including the Kushans), Macedonians (including the Ghaznavides), Turkic (including the Mongols), Mughals (including the Mughals of Delhi), Arabs (including the Pashtuns), and the British (including the Queen of England). Foreign invasions in the past have mostly targeted the most productive centre part of the Punjab, known as the Majha region, which also serves as the foundation of Punjabi culture and history. Throughout both India and Pakistan, the Punjab area is often referred to as "the breadbasket."