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96-509: Sikhs (singular Sikh : / s ɪ k / SIK or / s iː k / SEEK ; Punjabi : ਸਿੱਖ , romanized:  sikkh , IPA: [sɪkkʰ] ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism , a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent , based on the revelation of Guru Nanak . The term Sikh has its origin in

192-623: A clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice. The later years of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee . At

288-439: A high-degree of similarity in nearly all manuscriptural versions of the work, barring a few variations and discrepancies. Some Sikhs have rejected the authenticity of the 10th or 40th vars of the work specifically, the former based on religious doctrine and the latter based upon linguistic style inconsistency. A notable and outspoken critic of the 10th var was Giani Lal Singh of Sangrur. Often times, another additional Vaar, with

384-589: A liberal approach. Through Persian, Punjabi also absorbed many Arabic-derived words like dukān , ġazal and more, as well as Turkic words like qēncī , sōġāt , etc. After the fall of the Sikh empire , Urdu was made the official language of Punjab under the British (in Pakistani Punjab , it is still the primary official language) and influenced the language as well. In the second millennium , Punjabi

480-604: A minor cultural phenomenon that can be described as "political Sikh" has arisen. The art of diaspora Sikhs like Amarjeet Kaur Nandhra and Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh ( The Singh Twins ) is influenced by their Sikhism and current affairs in Punjab. Bhangra and Giddha are two forms of Punjabi folk dancing which have been adapted and pioneered by Sikhs. Punjabi Sikhs have championed these forms of expression worldwide, resulting in Sikh culture becoming linked to Bhangra (although "Bhangra

576-580: A resolution ( gurmattā ) favouring the creation of Khalistan. Subsequently, a number of rebel militant groups in favour of Khalistan waged a major insurgency against the government of India. Indian security forces suppressed the insurgency in the early 1990s, but Sikh political groups such as the Khalsa Raj Party and SAD (A) continued to pursue an independent Khalistan through non-violent means. Pro-Khalistan organisations such as Dal Khalsa (International) are also active outside India, supported by

672-572: A section of the Sikh diaspora. In the 1990s, the insurgency abated, and the movement failed to reach its objective due to multiple reasons including a heavy police crackdown on separatists, divisions among the Sikhs and loss of support from the Sikh population. However, various pro-Khalistan groups, both political and militant, remain committed to the separatist movement. There are claims of funding from Sikhs outside India to attract young people into militant groups. There have also been multiple claims that

768-706: A word will be pronounced, and vice versa. Tone is often reduced or rarely deleted when words are said with emphasis or on their own as a form of more exact identification. Sequences with the consonant h have some additional gimmicks: The consonant h on its own is now silent or very weakly pronounced except word-initially. However, certain dialects which exert stronger tone, particularly more northern Punjabi varieties and Dogri , pronounce h as very faint (thus tonal) in all cases. E.g. hatth > àtth . The Jhangvi and Shahpuri dialects of Punjabi (as they transition into Saraiki ) show comparatively less realisation of tone than other Punjabi varieties, and do not induce

864-766: Is Harmandir Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple) in Amritsar . Sikh culture is influenced by militaristic motifs (with the Khanda the most obvious) and most Sikh artifacts—except for the relics of the Gurus—have a military theme. This theme is evident in the Sikh festivals of Hola Mohalla and Vaisakhi , which feature marching and displays of valor. Although the art and culture of the Sikh diaspora have merged with that of other Indo-immigrant groups into categories like "British Asian," "Indo-Canadian" and "Desi-Culture,"

960-482: Is a tendency with speakers to insert /ɪ̯/ between adjacent "a"-vowels as a separator. This usually changes to /ʊ̯/ if either vowel is nasalised. Note: for the tonal stops, refer to the next section about Tone. The three retroflex consonants /ɳ, ɽ, ɭ/ do not occur initially, and the nasals [ŋ, ɲ] most commonly occur as allophones of /n/ in clusters with velars and palatals (there are few exceptions). The well-established phoneme /ʃ/ may be realised allophonically as

1056-436: Is always written as نگ . Like Hindustani , the diphthongs /əɪ/ and /əʊ/ have mostly disappeared, but are still retained in some dialects. Phonotactically , long vowels /aː, iː, uː/ are treated as doubles of their short vowel counterparts /ə, ɪ, ʊ/ rather than separate phonemes. Hence, diphthongs like ai and au get monophthongised into /eː/ and /oː/, and āi and āu into /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ respectively. The phoneme /j/

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1152-486: Is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India . It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world with approximately 150 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 88.9 million native speakers according to the 2023 Pakistani census , and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, according to

1248-740: Is an old Sikh shrine called 'Prachin Guru Nanak Math', which lies at a small hill, just next to Bishnumati bridge at Balaju. Guru Nanak is said to have visited Nepal during his third Udasi while returning from Mount Kailash in Tibet. Nanak is said to have stayed at Balaju and Thapathali in Kathmandu . The Nanak Math shrine at Balaju is managed by the Guru-Ji and the Udasin Akardha, a sect developed by Guru Nanak's son, Sri Chandra. From

1344-535: Is highly important and Sikh communities continue to push for census inclusion in many countries where they are still not counted. Sikh migration from British India began in earnest during the second half of the 19th century, when the British completed their annexation of the Punjab, which led to Sikh migration throughout India and the British Empire . During the Raj, semiskilled Sikh artisans were transported from

1440-493: Is home to the largest national Sikh proportion (2.1 percent of the total population) in the world. A substantial community of Sikhs exist in the western province of British Columbia , numbering nearly 300,000 persons and forming approximately 5.9 percent of the total population. This represents the third-largest Sikh proportion amongst all global administrative divisions , behind only Punjab and Chandigarh in India. Furthermore, British Columbia, Manitoba and Yukon hold

1536-570: Is identical to the Urdu alphabet , however various attempts have been made to create certain, distinct characters from a modification of the Persian Nastaʿlīq characters to represent Punjabi phonology , not already found in the Urdu alphabet . In Pakistan, Punjabi loans technical words from Persian and Arabic , just like Urdu does. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan ,

1632-473: Is not a Sikh institution but a Punjabi one"). Sikh painting is a direct offshoot of the Kangra school of painting. In 1810, Ranjeet Singh (1780–1839) occupied Kangra Fort and appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia his governor of the Punjab hills. In 1813, the Sikh army occupied Guler State and Raja Bhup Singh became a vassal of the Sikhs. With the Sikh kingdom of Lahore becoming the paramount power, some of

1728-455: Is termed 'Old Punjabi', whilst the stage between the 16th and 19th centuries is termed as 'Medieval Punjabi'. The Arabic and Modern Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent . Since then, many Persian words have been incorporated into Punjabi (such as zamīn , śahir etc.) and are used with

1824-413: Is titled simply as: Bani Bhai Gurdas Bhalley ji ki. Varan . The words Gian Ratnavali as part of a title may have once only applied to the first of forty vars rather than being part of a title to describe the entirety of the work of literature. Originally, the entirety of the work was simply entitled as Varan . The SGPC officially named its publication of the work as Varan Gyan Ratnavali . Each of

1920-507: Is very fluid in Punjabi. /j/ is only truly pronounced word-initially (even then it often becomes /d͡ʒ/), where it is otherwise /ɪ/ or /i/. Unusually for an Indo-Aryan language, Punjabi distinguishes lexical tones . Three tones are distinguished in Punjabi (some sources have described these as tone contours, given in parentheses): low (high-falling), high (low-rising), and level (neutral or middle). The transcriptions and tone annotations in

2016-629: Is widely used in the TV and entertainment industry of Pakistan, which is mainly produced in Lahore . The Standard Punjabi used in India and Pakistan have slight differences. In India, it discludes many of the dialect-specific features of Majhi. In Pakistan, the standard is closer to the Majhi spoken in the urban parts of Lahore. "Eastern Punjabi" refers to the varieties of Punjabi spoken in Pakistani Punjab (specifically Northern Punjabi), most of Indian Punjab ,

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2112-926: The 2011 census . It is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora , particularly in Canada , the United Kingdom , the United States , Australia , and the Gulf states . In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet , based on the Perso-Arabic script ; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet , based on the Indic scripts . Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and

2208-457: The Akal Takht and Golden Temple , volunteer protestors and even cooks of the temple's langar . The Guru Ram Das Serai and Shiromani Akali Dal offices were also raided and batons used and tear gas and shells were fired to disperse the protestors gathered on the periphery of the temple, damaging the periphery and Sarovar, or pool, of the temple. The government stopped volunteers on the way to

2304-539: The Akali Dal in partnership with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale , with its stated aim being the fulfillment of a set of devolutionary objectives based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution . Indian police responded to protestors with high-handed police methods creating state repression affecting a very large segment of Punjab's population. Police brutality resulted in retaliatory violence from a section of

2400-621: The Anti-Sikh Pogroms . As proponents were able to generate funding from a grieving diaspora. In June 1985, Air India Flight 182 was bombed by Babbar Khalsa , a pro-Khalistani terrorist organization. In January 1986, the Golden Temple was occupied by militants belonging to All India Sikh Students Federation and Damdami Taksal . On January 26, 1986, a gathering known as the Sarbat Khalsa (a de facto parliament) passed

2496-757: The Guru Granth Sahib : One who calls themself a Sikh of the Guru, the True Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Lord's Name. Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar (metaphor for "Naam Jaap"). Following the Instructions of the Guru, he is to chant the Name of the Lord. All sins, misdeeds, and negativity shall be then erased. Then, at

2592-465: The Hazara region , most of Azad Kashmir and small parts of Indian Punjab such as Fazilka . These include groups of dialects like Saraiki , Pahari-Pothwari , Hindko and the extinct Inku ; common dialects like Jhangvi , Shahpuri , Dhanni and Thali which are usually grouped under the term Jatki Punjabi; and the mixed variety of Punjabi and Sindhi called Khetrani . Depending on context,

2688-454: The Khalsa ' ) in the Punjab state of India to serve as a homeland for Sikhs. The territorial definition of the proposed country Khalistan consists of the Punjab, India and includes Haryana , Himachal Pradesh , Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan . Khalistan movement began as an expatriate venture. In 1971, the first explicit call for Khalistan was made in an advertisement published in

2784-705: The Majha region of the Punjab. In India , Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhī script in offices, schools, and media. Gurmukhi is the official standard script for Punjabi, though it is often unofficially written in the Latin scripts due to influence from English , one of India's two primary official languages at the Union -level. In Pakistan, Punjabi is generally written using the Shahmukhī script, which in literary standards,

2880-462: The Nath Yogi -era from 9th to 14th century. The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa , though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore. Writing in 1317–1318, Amir Khusrau referred to the language spoken by locals around the area of Lahore as Lahauri . The precursor stage of Punjabi between the 10th and 16th centuries

2976-558: The New York Times by an expat ( Jagjit Singh Chohan ). By proclaiming the formation of Khalistan, he was able to collect millions of dollars from the Sikh diaspora . On April 12, 1980, he declared the formation of the "National Council of Khalistan," at Anandpur Sahib . He declared himself as the President of the council and named Balbir Singh Sandhu as its Secretary General. In May 1980, Chohan traveled to London and announced

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3072-667: The Sanskrit word śiṣya , meaning 'seeker', ' disciple ' or ' student ' . According to Article I of Chapter 1 of the Sikh Rehat Maryada ( ' code of conduct ' ), the definition of Sikh is: Any human being who faithfully believes in Male Sikhs generally have Singh ( ' lion ' ) as their last name, though not all Singhs are necessarily Sikhs; likewise, female Sikhs have Kaur ( ' princess ' ) as their last name. These unique last names were given by

3168-524: The U.S. census as well, arguing that Sikhs "self-identify as an ethnic minority" and believe "that they are more than just a religion." During the Mughal and Afghan persecution of the Sikhs during the 17th and 18th centuries, the latter were concerned with preserving their religion and gave little thought to art and culture. With the rise of Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Raj in Lahore and Delhi , there

3264-450: The ambrosial hours of the morning (three hours before the dawn) before eating. In his 52 Hukams , Guru Gobind Singh orders his followers to arise during Amritvela (about 3 hours before sunrise) and to recite the late evening prayer " Sohila " and the verse "Pavan guru pani pita..." before sleeping. The five Ks ( panj kakaar ) are five articles of faith which all initiated ( Amritdhari ) Sikhs are obliged to wear. The symbols represent

3360-413: The h consonant itself and any voiced consonants appended with [h] (Gurmukhi: ੍ਹ "perī̃ hāhā" , Shahmukhi: ھ "dō-caśmī hē" ); usually ṛh , mh , nh , rh and lh . The five tonal plosives also become voiceless word-initially. E.g. ghar > kàr "house", ḍhōl > ṭṑl "drum" etc. Tonogenesis in Punjabi forfeits the sound of [h] for tone. Thus, the more [h] is realised, the less "tonal"

3456-503: The voiceless retroflex fricative [ʂ] in learned clusters with retroflexes. Due to its foreign origin, it is often also realised as [s] , in e.g. shalwār /salᵊ.ʋaːɾᵊ/ . The phonemic status of the consonants /f, z, x, ɣ, q/ varies with familiarity with Hindustani norms, more so with the Gurmukhi script, with the pairs /f, pʰ/ , /z, d͡ʒ/ , /x, kʰ/ , /ɣ, g/ , and /q, k/ systematically distinguished in educated speech, /q/ being

3552-726: The 1981 and 2017 censuses respectively, speakers of the Western Punjabi 's Saraiki and Hindko varieties were no longer included in the total numbers for Punjabi, which explains the apparent decrease. Pothwari speakers however are included in the total numbers for Punjabi. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab , and has the status of an additional official language in Haryana and Delhi. Some of its major urban centres in northern India are Amritsar , Ludhiana , Chandigarh , Jalandhar , Ambala , Patiala , Bathinda , Hoshiarpur , Firozpur and Delhi . In

3648-475: The 19th century from the Medieval Punjabi stage. Modern Punjabi has two main varieties, Western Punjabi and Eastern Punjabi , which have many dialects and forms, altogether spoken by over 150 million people. The Majhi dialect , which is transitional between the two main varieties, has been adopted as standard Punjabi in India and Pakistan for education and mass media. The Majhi dialect originated in

3744-684: The 2011 census of India, 31.14 million reported their language as Punjabi. The census publications group this with speakers of related "mother tongues" like Bagri and Bhateali to arrive at the figure of 33.12 million. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. There were 670,000 native Punjabi speakers in Canada in 2021, 300,000 in

3840-530: The 40 chapters of Varan Bhai Gurdas consists of a differing number of Pauris (sections, paragraphs). The composition is a collection of detailed commentary and explanation of theology and the ethics of Sikh beliefs as outlined by the Gurus. It explains the Sikh terms like sangat , haumai , "Gun", Gurmukh and Manmukh , Sat , Naam , etc. Many of the principles of Sikhism are explained in simple terms by Bhai Gurdas and at times in many ways. The 40 vars maintain

3936-547: The Central to state governments. The Anandpur Resolution was rejected by the government as a secessionist document. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands such as a larger share of water for irrigation and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab. After unsuccessful negotiations the Dharam Yuddh Morcha ( ' righteous campaign ' ) was launched on August 4, 1982, by

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4032-483: The Congress Government arresting as many as 21,000 people. Attempted negotiations with Congress-led the agitation to be adjourned twice, though Jawaharlal Nehru continued to reject the demand. On July 4, 1955, government police forces, led by DIG Ashwini Kumar, forced entry into the Golden Temple premises and heavy-handedly arrested protestors and took them into custody, along with the head granthis of

4128-569: The Five Rivers'. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca ( पञ्च ), Greek pénte ( πέντε ), and Lithuanian Penki , all of which meaning 'five'; āb is cognate with Sanskrit áp ( अप् ) and with the Av- of Avon . The historical Punjab region , now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries . One of

4224-550: The Golden Temple and troops were ordered to flag-march through the bazaars and streets surrounding the site. Over 200 protestors were killed, thousands arrested, and thousands, including women and children, were injured. The Congress government agreed to the Punjab Suba in 1966 after protests and recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission. The state of East Punjab was later split into

4320-491: The Government of India. While, Green Revolution in Punjab had several positive impacts, the introduction of the mechanised agricultural techniques led to uneven distribution of wealth. The industrial development was not done at the same pace as agricultural development, the Indian government had been reluctant to set up heavy industries in Punjab due to its status as a high-risk border state with Pakistan. The rapid increase in

4416-537: The Grain Roko morcha in order to remove Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple . This subsequently led to Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. Her assassination was followed by government-sponsored pogroms against Sikh communities across India and the killing of thousands of Sikhs throughout India. These events triggered an Insurgency in Punjab which would consume Punjab until the early 1990s. During

4512-551: The Guru initiated five people from a variety of social backgrounds known as the Panj Piare ( ' beloved five ' ), to form a collective body of initiated Sikhs known as the Khalsa ( ' pure ' ). The early followers of Guru Nanak were Khatris , but later a large number of Jats joined the faith. Khatris and Brahmins opposed "the demand that the Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including

4608-492: The Gurus to allow Sikhs to stand out and also as an act of defiance to India's caste system , which the Gurus were always against. Sikhs strongly believe in the idea of sarbat da bhala ( ' welfare of all ' ) and are often seen on the frontline to provide humanitarian aid across the world. Sikhs who have undergone the Amrit Sanchar ( ' initiation by Khanda ' ), an initiation ceremony, are known as Khalsa from

4704-431: The Indian states or union territories of Haryana , where they number around 1.2 million and form 4.9 percent of the population, Rajasthan (872,000 or 1.3 percent of the population), Uttar Pradesh (643,000, 0.3 percent), Delhi (570,000, 3.4 percent), Uttarakhand (236,000, 2.3 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (234,000, 1.9 percent), Chandigarh (138,000, 13.1 percent) and Himachal Pradesh (86,000, 1.2 percent). Canada

4800-514: The Pahari painters from Guler migrated to Lahore for the patronage of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and his Sardars. The Sikh school adapted Kangra painting to Sikh needs and ideals. Its main subjects are the ten Sikh gurus and stories from Guru Nanak's Janamsakhis . The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, left a deep impression on the followers of the new faith because of his courage and sacrifices. Hunting scenes and portraits are also common in Sikh painting. There

4896-574: The Punjab to British East Africa to help build railroads. Sikhs emigrated from India after World War II, most going to the United Kingdom but many also to North America. Some Sikhs who had settled in eastern Africa were expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972. Economics is a major factor in Sikh migration and significant communities exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia , East Africa , Australia , Singapore and Thailand . Punjabi language Europe North America Oceania Punjabi , sometimes spelled Panjabi ,

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4992-533: The Punjabi-speaking areas based on pre-1947 census figures. Moreover, the 1966 reorganization left Sikhs highly dissatisfied, with the capital Chandigarh being made into a shared a union territory and the capital of Punjab and Haryana. In the late 1960s, the Green Revolution in India was first introduced in Punjab as part of a development program issued by international donor agencies and

5088-504: The Sikh State Resolution in 1946. The Sikhs therefore strongly fought against the partition of Punjab . The months leading up to the 1947 partition of Punjab were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims . This caused the religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab to the east (modern India), mirroring a simultaneous religious migration of Punjabi Muslims from East Punjab to

5184-477: The Sikh population, widening the scope of the conflict by the use of violence of the state on its own people. A "state of chaos and repressive police methods" combined to create "a mood of overwhelming anger and resentment in the Sikh masses against the authorities." Leading to Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale gaining prominence and demands of independence gain currency, even amongst moderates and Sikh intellectuals. In 1982 and early 1983, extrajudicial killings by

5280-557: The Sikhs would play a Ranjit nagara ( ' victory drum ' ) to boost morale. Nagaras (usually two to three feet in diameter, although some were up to five feet in diameter) are played with two sticks. The beat of the large drums and the raising of the Nishan Sahib , meant that the Singhs were on their way. The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement, which seeks to create a separate country called Khalistān ( ' The Land of

5376-463: The United Kingdom in 2011, 280,000 in the United States and smaller numbers in other countries. Standard Punjabi (sometimes referred to as Majhi) is the standard form of Punjabi used commonly in education and news broadcasting , and is based on the Majhi dialect . Such as the variety used on Google Translate , Standard Punjabi is also often used in official online services that employ Punjabi. It

5472-570: The United States found no evidence of a separate falling tone following a medial consonant. It is considered that these tones arose when voiced aspirated consonants ( gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh ) lost their aspiration. In Punjabi, tone is induced by the loss of [h] in tonal consonants. Tonal consonants are any voiced aspirates /ʱ/ and the voiced glottal fricative /ɦ/ . These include the five voiced aspirated plosives bh , dh , ḍh , jh and gh (which are represented by their own letters in Gurmukhi),

5568-501: The broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone . The word Punjabi (sometimes spelled Panjabi ) has been derived from the word Panj-āb , Persian for 'Five Waters', referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River . The name of the region was introduced by the Turko-Persian conquerors of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name, Panchanada , which means 'Land of

5664-430: The census or official statistics in the following territories: Note: Official statistics do not count unregistered arrivals or those who have not completed the census or surveys. However, they do provide for a much more accurate depiction of Sikh communities as opposed to estimates from various Sikh organisations whose estimates can vary vastly with no statistically valuable source. Thus, official statistics and census data

5760-411: The commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North-West Frontier , expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass . After the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the British Army began recruiting significant numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis . During the 1857 Indian mutiny , the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British, resulting in heavy recruitment from Punjab to the British Indian Army for

5856-436: The confluence of invading cultures from the rivers from which the region gets its name. Sikh culture is therefore a synthesis of cultures. Sikhism has forged a unique architecture , which S. S. Bhatti described as "inspired by Guru Nanak 's creative mysticism" and "is a mute harbinger of holistic humanism based on pragmatic spirituality." The American non-profit organization United Sikhs has fought to have Sikh included on

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5952-539: The day of Vaisakhi in 1999, Sikhs worldwide celebrated the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa . Canada Post honoured Sikh Canadians with a commemorative stamp in conjunction with the anniversary. Likewise, on April 9, 1999, Indian president K. R. Narayanan issued a stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa as well. Sikh art and culture are nearly synonymous with that of Punjab and Sikhs are easily recognised by their distinctive turban ( Dastar ). Punjab has been called India's melting pot, due to

6048-470: The day of their initiation and they must at all times have on their bodies the five Ks : The Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent has been the historic homeland of the Sikhs , having even been ruled by the Sikhs for significant parts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, Canada has the largest national Sikh proportion (2.1%) in the world, while the Punjab state in India has the largest Sikh proportion (58%) amongst all administrative divisions in

6144-594: The devoicing of the main five tonal consonants ( bh , dh , ḍh , jh , gh ). The Gurmukhi script which was developed in the 16th century has separate letters for voiced aspirated sounds, so it is thought that the change in pronunciation of the consonants and development of tones may have taken place since that time. Some other languages in Pakistan have also been found to have tonal distinctions, including Burushaski , Gujari , Hindko , Kalami , Shina , and Torwali , though these (besides Hindko) seem to be independent of Punjabi. Varan Bhai Gurdas Bhai Gurdas

6240-451: The distinction of being three of the only four administrative divisions in the world with Sikhism as the second most followed religion among the population. As a religious minority, Sikhs have fought long and hard to get official status and to be counted in many countries across the world. Through the efforts of Sikh organisations and communities in their respective countries, there is now readily available population data on Sikhs as part of

6336-430: The dust of the feet of that GurSikh, who himself chants the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. The Sikh Rahit Maryada (Code of Conduct) clearly states that initiated Amritdhari Khalsa Sikhs must recite or listen to the recitation of Japji Sahib , Jaap Sahib , the 10 Sawayyas , Sodar Rehraas and Sohila . Every Sikh is also supposed take the Hukam (divine order) from the Guru Granth Sahib after awakening in

6432-415: The eleventh-most widely spoken in India , and also present in the Punjabi diaspora in various countries. Approximate distribution of native Punjabi speakers (inc. Lahndic dialects ) (assuming a rounded total of 157 million) worldwide. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan , being the native language of 88.9 million people, or approximately 37% of the country's population. Beginning with

6528-420: The examples below are based on those provided in Punjabi University, Patiala 's Punjabi-English Dictionary . Level tone is found in about 75% of words and is described by some as absence of tone. There are also some words which are said to have rising tone in the first syllable and falling in the second. (Some writers describe this as a fourth tone.) However, a recent acoustic study of six Punjabi speakers in

6624-418: The far-north of Rajasthan and on the northwestern border of Haryana . It includes the dialects of Majhi , Malwai , Doabi , Puadhi and the extinct Lubanki . Sometimes, Dogri and Kangri are grouped into this category. "Western Punjabi" or "Lahnda" ( لہندا , lit.   ' western ' ) is the name given to the diverse group of Punjabi varieties spoken in the majority of Pakistani Punjab ,

6720-506: The five, the Beas River , is a tributary of another, the Sutlej . Punjabi developed from Prakrit languages and later Apabhraṃśa ( Sanskrit : अपभ्रंश , 'deviated' or 'non-grammatical speech') From 600 BC, Sanskrit developed as the standard literary and administrative language and Prakrit languages evolved into many regional languages in different parts of India. All these languages are called Prakrit languages (Sanskrit: प्राकृत , prākṛta ) collectively. Paishachi Prakrit

6816-454: The formation of Khalistan. A similar announcement was made by Balbir Singh Sandhu in Amritsar , where he began releasing stamps and currency of Khalistan. The inaction of the authorities in Amritsar and elsewhere was decried as a political stunt by the Congress(I) party of Indira Gandhi by the Akali Dal, headed by the Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal . The movement flourished in the Indian state of Punjab following Operation Blue Star and

6912-441: The founder of Sikhism , was born in a Khatri family to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta in the village of Talwandi , present-day Nankana Sahib , near Lahore . Throughout his life, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin in 1606, with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev . Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on March 30, 1699, when

7008-426: The higher education opportunities without an adequate rise in the jobs resulted in the increase in the unemployment of educated youth. In 1973 as a result, of unaddressed grievances and increasing inequality the Akali Dal put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution . The resolution included both religious and political issues. It asked for recognising Sikhism as a religion, it also demanded the devolution of power from

7104-499: The ideals of Sikhism: honesty, equality, fidelity, meditating on Waheguru and never bowing to tyranny. The five symbols are: The Sikhs have a number of musical instruments, including the rebab , dilruba , taus , jori and sarinda . Playing the sarangi was encouraged by Guru Hargobind . The rebab was played by Bhai Mardana as he accompanied Guru Nanak on his journeys. The jori and sarinda were introduced to Sikh devotional music by Guru Arjan . The taus (Persian for "peacock")

7200-574: The latter three arise natively. Later, the letters ਜ਼ / ز , ਸ਼ / ش and ਫ਼ / ف began being used in English borrowings, with ਸ਼ / ش also used in Sanskrit borrowings . Punjabi has also had minor influence from and on neighbouring languages such as Sindhi , Haryanvi , Pashto and Hindustani . Note: In more formal contexts, hypercorrect Sanskritized versions of these words (ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ pradhān for ਪਰਧਾਨ pardhān and ਪਰਿਵਾਰ parivār for ਪਰਵਾਰ parvār ) may be used. Modern Punjabi emerged in

7296-551: The life of Guru Nanak . Guru Arjan ordered me To compose 40 Vars So that peace may descend upon me. Bhai Gurdas authored the work in the late 16th century. He did not consult the knowledge of Baba Buddha (whom had been alive when Guru Nanak was around) when he compiled the work. The full title of the work given in one manuscript dated to 1782 is: Varan Gian Ratnavali Bhai Gurdas Bhalley ka Bolana , meaning "Vars [captioned] Gian Ratnavali. Thus spake Bhai Gurdas Bhalla." Another manuscript (dated to at-least 1732 or earlier)

7392-602: The most rarely pronounced. The retroflex lateral is most commonly analysed as an approximant as opposed to a flap . Some speakers soften the voiceless aspirates /t͡ʃʰ, pʰ, kʰ/ into fricatives /ɕ, f, x/ respectively. In rare cases, the /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ phonemes in Shahmukhi may be represented with letters from Sindhi . The /ɲ/ phoneme, which is more common than /ŋ/, is written as نی or نج depending on its phonetic preservation, e.g. نیاݨا /ɲaːɳaː/ (preserved ñ ) as opposed to کنج /kiɲd͡ʒ/ (assimilated into nj ). /ŋ/

7488-522: The movement is motivated and supported by the Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the ISI. Sikhs number about 26–30 million worldwide, of whom 24–28 million live in India, which thus represents around 90 percent of the total Sikh population. About 76 percent of all Indian Sikhs live in the northern Indian state of Punjab , forming a majority of about 58 per cent of the state's population, roughly around 16 million. Substantial communities of Sikhs live in

7584-666: The next 90 years of the British Raj in colonial India . The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army. The British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India, including Punjab, such as the formation of the First and Second Singh Sabha in 1873 and 1879 respectively. The Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer

7680-722: The older rituals." Pashaura Singh analyzed references made within the 11th ballad of the Varan of Bhai Gurdas to form a picture of the caste-makeup of the early Sikh community. At the time of the writing the Vaar, the early Sikh community was composed of various castes and backgrounds, such as: The early Sikhs varied widely in their occupations and position in society's hierarchy: some were rich merchants ( Seths and Sarrafs ), others were heads of villages ( Chowdhury ), some were labourers, others were enslaved, whilst others still were artisans, craftsmen, shopkeepers or simple peasants. During

7776-621: The only languages not considered for statehood were Punjabi , Sindhi and Urdu . Leading to the launch of the Punjabi Suba movement and the presentation for a Punjabi Suba as a policy in April 1948 by Master Tara Singh . Also, on January 26, 1950, Sikh representatives refused to sign the Indian constitution. As Sikhs were recognized as Hindus and Sikhs were not provided with scheduled castes concessions given to Hindu scheduled castes. The Punjab Suba experienced heavy government crackdown with

7872-541: The police of orthodox Sikh youth in rural areas in Punjab provoked reprisals. Over 190 Sikhs had been killed in the first 19 months of the protest movement. In May 1984, a Grain Roko morcha was planned and to be initiated on June   3 with protestors practising civil disobedience by refusing to pay land revenue, water or electricity bills and blocking the flow of grain out of Punjab. Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star on June   1 prior to

7968-452: The rising of the sun, he is to sing Gurbani; whether sitting down or standing up (meaning at all times), he is to meditate on the Lord's Naam. One who meditates on my Lord, Har, Har, with every breath and every morsel of food (meaning at all times) and – that GurSikh becomes pleasing to the Guru's Mind. That person, unto whom my Lord and Master is kind and compassionate – upon that GurSikh, the Guru's Teachings are bestowed. Servant Nanak begs for

8064-666: The rule of the Mughal Empire in India, two Sikh gurus were martyred. ( Guru Arjan was martyred on suspicion of helping in betrayal of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ) As the Sikh faith grew, the Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule. After defeating the Afghans and Mughals , sovereign states called Misls were formed under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia . The Confederacy of these states

8160-447: The states of Himachal Pradesh , the new state Haryana and current day Punjab . However, there was a growing alienation between Punjabi Sikh and Hindu populations. The latter of which reported Hindi rather than Punjabi as their primary language. The result was that Punjabi-speaking areas were left out of the new state and given to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh resulting in the state of Punjab to be roughly 35,000 square miles smaller than

8256-539: The terms Eastern and Western Punjabi can simply refer to all the Punjabi varieties spoken in India and Pakistan respectively, whether or not they are linguistically Eastern/Western. While a vowel length distinction between short and long vowels exists, reflected in modern Gurmukhi orthographical conventions, it is secondary to the vowel quality contrast between centralised vowels /ɪ ə ʊ/ and peripheral vowels /iː eː ɛː aː ɔː oː uː/ in terms of phonetic significance. The peripheral vowels have nasal analogues . There

8352-720: The time of the Indian independence movement , the Sikh ruler of the Kapurthala State fought to oppose the partition of India and advocated for a united, secular country. Sikh organizations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh , condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as inviting possible persecution, with Akali Dal instead favouring an undivided Azad Punjab as an independent Sikh State or Khalistan , having passed

8448-496: The title of Vaar Sri Bhagaut Ji Ki Patshahi Dasvin Ki, is included in the work at a 41st Vaar. This Vaar was authored by another, later Bhai Gurdas who was contemporary with Guru Gobind Singh. The 41st Vaar eulogizes Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa . According to Bhai Mani Singh , the first Var of the work is the only genuine and attestable janamsakhi tradition covering the life of Guru Nanak. Bhai Mani Singh would author

8544-401: The west (modern Pakistan). Following partition, the Government of India had begun to redraw states corresponding to demographic and linguistic boundaries. However, this was not effective in the northern part of the country, as the government reconsidered redrawing states in the north. While states across the country were extensively redrawn on linguistic lines at the behest of linguistic groups,

8640-509: The world. With 25–30 millions, Sikhs represent less than 0.3% of the total world population in 2021. Many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, recognize Sikhs as a designated religion on their censuses and, as of 2020, Sikhs are considered as a separate ethnic group in the United States. The UK also considers Sikhs to be an ethno-religious people, as a direct result of the Mandla v Dowell-Lee case in 1982. Guru Nanak (1469–1539),

8736-514: Was lexically influenced by Portuguese (words like almārī ), Greek (words like dām ), Japanese (words like rikśā ), Chinese (words like cāh , līcī , lukāṭh ) and English (words like jajj , apīl , māsṭar ), though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. In fact, the sounds / z / (ਜ਼ / ز ژ ذ ض ظ ), / ɣ / (ਗ਼ / غ ), / q / (ਕ਼ / ق ), / ʃ / (ਸ਼ / ش ), / x / (ਖ਼ / خ ) and / f / (ਫ਼ / ف ) are all borrowed from Persian, but in some instances

8832-490: Was a change in the landscape of art and culture in Punjab; Hindus and Sikhs could build decorated shrines without the fear of destruction or looting. The Sikh Confederacy was the catalyst for a uniquely Sikh form of expression, with Ranjit Singh commissioning forts, palaces, bungas (residential places) and colleges in a Sikh style. Sikh architecture is characterised by gilded fluted domes, cupolas, kiosks, stone lanterns, ornate balusters and square roofs. A pinnacle of Sikh style

8928-447: Was a first cousin of Mata Bhani , mother of Guru Arjan Dev . He was the first scribe of Guru Granth Sahib and a scholar of great repute. From his work it is clear that he had mastery of various Indian languages and had studied many ancient Indian religious scriptures. It is said that the motivation for Gurdas to write the first var was due to Guru Arjan requesting him to complete an authentic work of literature documenting and detailing

9024-433: Was designed by Guru Hargobind, who supposedly heard a peacock singing and wanted to create an instrument mimicking its sounds. The dilruba was designed by Guru Gobind Singh at the request of his followers, who wanted a smaller instrument than the taus. After Japji Sahib , all of the shabad in the Guru Granth Sahib were composed as raags . This type of singing is known as Gurmat Sangeet . When they marched into battle,

9120-402: Was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Paishachi Prakrit gave rise to Paishachi Apabhraṃśa , a descendant of Prakrit. Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century AD and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to

9216-485: Was unified and transformed into the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh . This era was characterised by religious tolerance and pluralism , including Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism, encompassing Kashmir , Ladakh and Peshawar . Hari Singh Nalwa ,

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