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Historical Punjab

Punjab - the land of five rivers - lies in North West India. In the Vedic Era, Punjab was called ‘Sapat Sindu’. Sapat Sindu means the land of seven rivers - the Sindu, Jehlum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas, Satluj and Yamuna. The Mughals persianised its name by calling it ‘Panj – Aab’ or 'the land of five rivers' excluding Sindhu and Yamuna. Punj means five and aab means water, so Punjab means 'the land of five rivers'. These five rivers that run through Punjab, originate from the various small lakes in Himalayas. If one were to go across the Punjab starting from Delhi and to Afghanistan, the rivers are in this order - Beas, Satluj, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum. Beas, and Satluj merge into one river retaining the name Satluj at Harike near Ferozepur in Punjab, just before crossing the border into West Punjab (Pakistan) and eventually merging into river Indus.

The history of Punjab goes back to the times of Indus Valley civilization or the arrival of the Aryans. Lord Rama is also said to have been born at a place called Ghuram, now in Patiala district. Lord Sri Krishna delivered the immortal message of the Gita at Kurukshetra, which was well within the boundary of Punjab till very recently.

Taxilla University, a great institution of learning in the past, with scholars like Charak, one of the founder of the Ayurvedic branch of medicine, Kautilya, the author of Arth-Shastra to name a few hailed from this place. Taxilla University is believed to have been situated to the east of the Indus in the modern district of Rawalpindi now in Pakistan.

The rich fertile land of Punjab lured many invaders to come galloping on horse backs, loot, plunder and go back. The Punjab, which then extended from Attock to Delhi, from Shimla hills to the borders of Rajasthan and Sind, faced these intruders bravely .The Punajbis developed into strong and strudy people who coined an appropriate phrase for themselves- ‘Eat, Drink and be Merry’, the rest Ahmed Shah Abdali will carry!

Punjabi civilization is one of the oldest on earth, with its distinguished language, culture, food, attire, script, folklore, people, etc. Punjabi langauge has its originating source in Sanskrit, i.e. the family of Indo-European group of langauges which includes Persian and Latin. Punjab has always been the land of great saints and warriors. In 450 BC (2450 years ago), Alexander invaded Punjab and conquered the mighty Punjabi king named Porus whose kingdom was on the banks of river Chenab. He did not accept defeat and asked Greek king to show him the same respect as is due to the royal kings. He was restored back to his throne by Alexander. Alexander returned to Greece right before crossing the river Beas, as his forces refused to fight. In his terrain we have a reliable resource that tells us about Punjab 2450 years ago. Not much different from today!!!

ANCIENT CIVILISATION

Think of Punjab and images flare-up in mind. The land where the first civilised man trod to earth. "Historically the most important province of India". Originally known as Sapt-Sindhu it was intersected by seven perennial rivers joined by innumerable tributaries, which spread juicy carpets of alluvial soil on its vast plains.

Destruction, occupation, assimilation and then sphinx like rebirth with enriched Punjabi ethos, such were the strands which got dexterously woven in the wrap and woof of the fabric which eventually evolved into a cosmic culture and gave birth to ever new civilisations.

Early man seems to have been nomadic for no habitations of the Paleolithic period have been traced so far. He was unfamiliar with agriculture and domestication of animals. He lived on fruits and roots as well as flesh of animals. He lived under shady trees and in thick bushes, terraces of rivers and caves of the mountains. Punjab was the cradle of Proto-historic culture as well. The man had progressed. They were no more hunting and fishing communities. They knew agriculture and they had fairly developed ceramic industries. Besides stone, they used copper and bronze to manufacture tools.

Thanks to its rigorous past the best of the Punjab’s historical treasure seems to lie underground. The oldest evidence of life in Punjab was found in the digs made in Soan river valley located in west Punjab. Surface finds from Soan valley (Rawalpindi district) between the Indus and the JheIum and stone tools made of quartzite, pebbles, flint and flakes of the same time that were found in the Soan valley testify to the existence of man who fashioned stone implements. According to the experts this valley pertains to the end of the first ice age and the beginning of second ice age indicative of the fact that it is almost five to six lakh years old. Similar evidence has also been found in the Shiwalik regions of Una and Hamirpur Districts of Himachal Pradesh. Some implements of early Soan culture have also been found in the vicinity of Pinjore and Chandigarh. These tools are a good indication of the human existence on the one hand and the area of their influence on the other. In fact it appears that age-old culture which emerged in this land was fairly wide spread in northern India.

The Iron Age ushered in the historical period. With the passage of time a sufficiently advanced urban civilisation had developed. Another important archeological discovery was made at Mohenjodaro in the Sind, Harrapa in West Punjab and recently at several location at Ropar district which show evidence of what has come to be know as Indus Valley Civilization. Excavation at these places gave a new insight to our ancient past and pushed back the history of Punjab to at least 3000 to 4000 B.C. if not to still earlier period. With these finds it becomes possible to be in line with the other ancient civilisations of the world.

The well planned brick buildings, the simple but utilitarian architecture, the elaborate drainage system, adequate water supply, the street lights, public baths, furniture besides cultivation, dresses, arts & crafts and toys etc. are, a few examples of the knowledge available at this stage to develop urban civilisation. These cities seem to have flourished between 2500 to 1500 B.C.

The most remarkable building at Harappa is the great Granary measuring 169 ft. by 135 ft., which comprises two similar blocks with an aisle 23-ft. wide, between them. Each block has six halls, alternating regularly with five corridors; each hall is further partitioned into four narrow divisions.

Another remarkable find, the Great Bath, is "swimming bath" on a scale, which would do credit to a modern seaside hotel. The over all dimensions of the building housing it are 180 ft by 108 ft. The actual bathing pool measures 39 ft. by 23 ft. and is situated in middle of a quadrangle having verandahs on all sides. The Harappan people had also developed an art of writing which has not been possible to decipher so far.

THE ARYANS

The early Aryans first came in contact with these people known as Dravidians in Punjab and Iaid the foundation of what came to be known as the Hindu civilization. The Aryans did not come all at one time and it was not easy for them to establish themselves. It took centuries, before the Aryans could have a foothold in this country.

The Aryans poured into Punjab in search for food for themselves and better pastures for their cattle. They found the country congenial and able to meet their needs. Thus they stayed on and spread themselves to further south and made India as their home.

After the Aryans had finally become masters and settled peacefully, the scholarly class among them, the Brahmans devoted their time to learning and literary pursuits. This was only possible after they had crossed the Sutlej around 2000-1500 B.C. and were in the plains of Malwa with the Yamuna on the east. They established hermitages and ashrams on the bank of the Sarswati river. Thanesar (Kurukshetra) and adjoining areas became places of pilgrimage. Sanskrit literature and Rig-Veda is reported to have been written here. The area between the Sarswati and Driswati rivers was known as Brahmavarta. These rivers were considered sacred and have been mentioned in the Rig-Veda, Puranic literature, the Mahabharata and in the Manu's Dharmashashastra.

Punjab became the seat of learning. Besides the facilities available in Brahmavarta, there was in Gandharvadesa (Jehlum - Peshawartract), the famous University of Taxila (Takhsh - Shila) which attracted students from far and wide. Speakers of knowledge from all parts of the world flocked here which included high ranking scholars like Prasenajit and Jivika from the East. Chark, one of the founder of the Ayurvedic branch of medicine, Kautilya, the author of famous Arth-Shastra and preceptor Chandergupta Maurya the great, Paninni the renowned Sanskrit Scholar were all associated with Taxila University. Mahabhrata was first recited in the halls of this university.
Panini, the great grammarian and his precursors Rishi Pingal, the author of Treatise on Prosody, the writer of the Natya Shastra, Sage Bharati, the inventor of dramatic entertainment, Chark, founder of Ayurvedic system of medicines, all belonged to Punjab.

In the field of politics as well, the early Aryans established their kingdom in Punjab before spreading out to other parts of India. It was also here in the land of five rivers that two historic battles were fought. The first battle took place between Raja Sudes of North Panchaldesa and number of other Rajas. The second battle, which is more important and widely known is Mahabharata fought in about 1400 BC at Kurukshetra between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The second one in a way was the extension of the first battle.

The Aryans by and large, as already mentioned earlier, were nomadic people. They however, gradually began to organize themselves which lead to the establishment of state and administrative machinery. Aryan society was patriarchal. Father was the head of the family and the family was the basic social unit. Caste system had become narrow, as was the case in the later years.

Both polygamy and polyandry was practiced in a limited fashion. Child marriages were not known. Custom of dowry was uncommon. Women participated in social life and enjoyed certain amount of freedom but they were not treated at par with men.

Other races followed the Aryans. The Parsians under Darius (522-486 BC) conquered Northwest Punjab and for many years his successors ruled over the area comprising Indus Valley and Northwest Punjab. These areas were constituted into 20th Satrapy, which was the richest part of his empire. Darius, who faced a formidable enemy in King of Gandharvadesa, came to the conclusion that secret of his strength laid in the concentration of power and resources. He therefore decided to divide the conquered territory into small administrative units. He created political system, which endured for well over a century.

In other areas also the Persian influence was of a considerable nature. The system of taxation, centralized control salaried secretariat, the Ashokan column, the edicts inscribed on them, the style of communication adopted, the use of Arabic script and the Kharosthi script derived from it in their inscription are pointer to the Achaemanican impact.

The Indian possessions slipped out of the hands of the Iranians after the death of Xerxes (486-465 B.C). The 'Purus' or Pauravas came down from their highlands and created a strong kingdom by incorporating these territories.

The excavations at Dholbaha, the ancient temple town near Hoshiarpur take back its antiquity to the Pleistocene period of the stone age man and show evidence of continued development of civilization right down to the 7th and 8th century AD.

Ruins in the vicinity of the village Ghuram now situated in Patiala district on the old high road connecting Shiwalik to the Arawali ranges show that once it was a great entrepot during the ancient time. It remained the first seat of the Muslim Empire in India during the last decades of the 12th century before the capital was shifted to Delhi. Ghuram is reputed to be the home of Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Raja Ram Chander Ji of Ayodhya.

Clues of great historical importance of Punjab have also been unearthed at village Sanghol, commonly known as Uccha Pind in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

The words of Guru Rabindranath Tagore calling Punjab the home of first civilized man ring true and from ice age to the modern times Punjab has been the cradle of the world’s greatest civilizations, the Vedic age, the epic ages of Ramayana and Mahabharata being the ones which reaffirm Punjab’s standing as Brahmavarta in Aryavarta.