History Of Punjab
Punjab Geography:
Agriculture
Some two-fifths of Punjab’s population is engaged in the agricultural sector, which accounts for a significant segment of the state’s gross product. Punjab produces an important portion of India’s food grain and contributes a major share of the wheat and rice stock held by the Central Pool (a national repository system of surplus food grain).
Much of the state’s agricultural progress and productivity is attributable to the so-called Green Revolution, an international movement launched in the 1960s that introduced not only new agricultural technologies but also high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice.
Farming
Aside from wheat and rice, corn (maize), barley, and pearl millet are important cereal products of Punjab. Although the yield of pulses (legumes) has declined since the late 20th century, there has been a rapid increase in the commercial production of fruit, especially citrus, mangoes, and guavas. Other major crops include cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, chickpeas, peanuts (groundnuts), and vegetables.
With almost the entire cultivated area receiving irrigation, Punjab is among India’s most widely irrigated states. Government-owned canals and wells are the main sources of irrigation; canals are most common in southern and southwestern Punjab, while wells are more typical of the north and the northeast. The Bhakra Dam project in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh provides much of Punjab’s supply of irrigation water.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector (including construction) has expanded notably since the late 20th century. Industries with the largest number of workers include those producing silk, wool, and other textiles; processed foods and beverages; metal products and machinery; transport equipment; and furniture.
Other important manufactures include leather goods, chemicals, rubber and plastics, and hosiery.
Services
Punjab’s services sector includes trade, transportation and storage, financial services, real estate, public administration, and other services.
The sector has grown rapidly since the late 20th century. By the early 21st century it had become the largest component of Punjab’s economy.
Cultural life
Ballads of love and war, fairs and festivals, dancing, music, and Punjabi literature are among the characteristic expressions of the state’s cultural life.
The origins of Punjabi literature trace to the mystical and religious verse of the 13th-century Sufi (mystic) Shaikh Farīd and to the 15th–16th-century founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak; those figures were the first to use Punjabi extensively as a medium of poetic expression.
Festivals
Punjab holds numerous religious and seasonal festivals, such as Dussehra, a Hindu festival celebrating the victory of Prince Rama over the demon king Ravana, as recounted in the epic Ramayana; Diwali, a festival of lights celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs; and
Baisakhi, which for Hindus is a new year’s festival and for Sikhs is both an agricultural festival and a celebration of the birth of the community’s Khalsa order.
The Golden Temple
(Amritsar)
The state’s outstanding architectural monument is the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar, which blends Indian and Muslim styles. Its chief motifs, such as the dome and the geometric design, are repeated in most of the Sikh places of worship.
The Harmandir Sahib is rich in gold filigree work, panels with floral designs, and marble facings inlaid with coloured stones. Other important buildings include the Martyr’s Memorial at Jallianwalla Bagh (a park in Amritsar), the Hindu Temple of Durgiana (also in Amritsar), the so-called Moorish Mosque in Kapurthala (patterned after a Moroccan model), and the old forts of Bathinda and Bahadurgarh.