Punjabi Sikhs
Punjabi Sikhs are adherents of Sikhism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. Sikhs are the third-largest religious group of the Punjabi ethnic community, after the Muslims and Hindus, and they form the largest religious community in the Indian state of Punjab. Sikhism is an indigenous religion that originated in the Punjab region of South Asia during the 15th century. Almost 97% of the world's Sikh population are Punjabis.[5]
 A painting of a Sikh family, circa late 19th century | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 24,000,000-29,000,000 approx. (Worldwide)[1][2][3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Punjab, India | 16,004,754 (2011 census)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Haryana | 1,243,752 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Rajasthan | 872,930 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Uttar Pradesh | 643,500 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Delhi | 570,581 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Uttarakhand | 236,340 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Maharashtra | 223,247 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Madhya Pradesh | 151,412 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Chandigarh | 138,329 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Himachal Pradesh | 79,896 (2011)[4][lower-alpha 1] |
| Languages | |
| Sacred language Sant Bhasha Ethnic language Hindi, English | |
| Religion | |
| Sikhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Part of a series on |
| Sikhism |
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| Part of a series on |
| Punjabis |
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_with_cities.png.webp) Punjab portal |
Punjabi Sikhs are primarily found in the Indian state of Punjab, the only Sikh-majority administrative division on Earth. Punjabi Sikhs make up roughly 60 percent of the state’s population.[6] Many have ancestry from the greater Punjab region, an area that was partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947. In the contemporary era, apart from Indian Punjab, Punjabi Sikhs are found in large numbers across the Indian states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Large numbers are also found in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain, as various immigration waves over the centuries better prospects and career.[7]
History
The Sikh religion founder, Guru Nanak (1469–1539), was roughly a contemporary of the founder of Mughal Empire Babur in India. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family, which was initially a community of scribes and traders.[8] In Un-divided Punjab region, the eldest son of every Punjabi Hindu families was nominated and was represented as Sardars and had protected their family and Indic communities from the tyrannies of Mughal rulers and their torture.[9][10][11] A huge number of peasants from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds in Punjab have converted to Sikhism for various motives (such as conviction, fear, or economic) since the starting of new faith.[12]
Martial race
Origin as a Martial race
Unofficially the militarization of Punjabi Sikhs have just started after The Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (5th Guru in Sikhism). He was looked at as a sacrifice for the truth, and it became un-Sikh like to stand oppression. The guru's death became a watershed moment as from then onwards there began the militarisation of Sikhs in Punjab to take up arms against Mughal tyrannies. This conflict that started between the Mughals and Sikhs with the execution of Arjan Dev continued till the last guru, Gobind Singh who finally established the official Militarised order, the Khalsa, in 1699.[13] Punjabi Sikhs have been regarded as one of the toughest and fiercest Martial race warriors by British when they were ruling Indian Subcontinent between (1858–1947) AD respectively. Initially, Punjabi Sikh soldiers constituted a major chunk of the British Indian Army as they were most trusted by British officers due to their hard work, dedication, loyalty and valuable service.[14][15] People of Punjab have played a big role in the India's freedom struggle. About 120 people from Punjab were hanged and many more were imprisoned during the Independence movement.[16][17] In fact, despite being 2% of India's population, Punjabi Sikhs constitute around 20% of the Indian Armed Force. Punjab is the 2nd Largest Army contributor after Uttar Pradesh respectively.[18][19]
Language
Punjabi Sikhs speaks the Punjabi language as their mother tongue. Various dialects of Punjabi language such as Bagri, Bilaspuri, Bhateali, Majhi, Doabi, Malwai, and Puadhi etc are spoken by Punjabi Sikhs across India and abroad as their mother tongue. In Indian Punjab, Punjabi is written in Gurmukhi script, While in Pakistan's Punjab, Shahmukhi script is used respectively.[20] Gurmukhi is written from left to right, while Shahmukhi is written from right to left.[21][22] The use of Gurmukhi script generally started and developed during the time of 2nd Sikh guru, Guru Angad Dev (1504–1552) who have standardized it.[23] It is commonly regarded as Sikh Script. While Shahmukhi script have been used by Punjabi Muslims since from the time of the 12th century, when Punjabi Sufi Poets have used it to write Punjabi. Shahmukhi is a Perso-Arabic alphabet script.[24]
Culture
Festivals
The Punjabi Sikhs observe historic festivals such as Lohri, Basant and Vaisakhi as seasonal and cultural festivals in Punjab and outside of it. Other seasonal Punjabi festivals in India include Maghi and Teeyan respectively. Teeyan is also known as festival of females, as women enjoy it with their close friends. On the day of maghi, people fly kites and eat their traditional dish Punjabi dish khichdi.[25] Other festivals observed by Punjabi Sikhs includes the festivals of Sikhism like- Gurupurab, Bandi Chhor Divas, etc.
Notes
- Figure is total Sikh population on census.
References
- "Who are Sikhs and what do they believe?". 5 August 2012.
- "Indianapolis Shootout: The US Has Long Lacked Understanding on Who Sikh People Are".
- "Behind the decline". frontline.thehindu.com. 16 September 2015.
- "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- "Sikhism | History, Doctrines, Practice, & Literature | Britannica".
- "Census 2011: %age of Sikhs drops in Punjab; migration to blame?". The Times of India. 27 August 2015.
- George, Usha, and Ferzana Chaze. "Punjabis/Sikhs in Canada." Mobility and Multiple Affiliations (2016): 91-104.
- "India - the Sikhs in the Punjab | Britannica".
- "From Guru Hargobind to Guru Gobind Singh: How the Sikh community militarised to take on the Mughals".
- Why was the first son made a Sikh
- "Sikhism | History, Doctrines, Practice, & Literature | Britannica".
-
Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. ISBN 9781134049455.
A lot of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).
- https://theprint.in/feature/guru-arjan-dev-the-martyr-whose-death-changed-the-course-of-sikhism/401897/
- https://scroll.in/article/1045152/how-punjab-came-to-dominate-the-british-indian-army
- https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/how-british-idolised-the-loyal-sikh-soldier-and-inspired-conflict-in-indian-army/1559249/
- https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ludhiana/punjabis-were-at-forefront-of-freedom-struggle-bhagaten/
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/punjabis-played-a-key-role-in-independence-struggle-dhindsa/story-cxLaraDNRWiYOLADcpLv5K.html
- https://m.timesofindia.com/city/chandigarh/gallant-and-patriotic-how-sikhs-shaped-armed-forces/articleshow/99028321.cms
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-second-among-all-states-in-contributing-to-armys-rank-and-file-225565
- "Shahmukhi: The window to Punjabi culture". The Times of India.
- Sharma, Saurabh; Gupta, Vishal (May 2013). "Punjabi Documents Clustering System" (PDF). Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence. 5 (2): 174. doi:10.4304/JETWI.5.2.171-187. S2CID 55699784. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography. Springer. 2019. p. 142. ISBN 978-3030059774.
- "Guru Angad | Second Sikh Guru, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica".
- "Punjabi language | Britannica".
- Punjab Tourism https://punjabtourism.punjab.gov.in › ...PDF FESTIVALS IN PUNJAB 2021-22
Further reading
- Benson, Heather Lené. "In Place/Out of Place: Punjabi-Sikhs in Reno, Nevada" (PhD dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno, 2022) online.
- Bhachu, Parminder. "Culture, ethnicity and class among Punjabi Sikh women in 1990s Britain." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 17.3 (1991): 401-412.
- Banerjee, Himadri. "The Other Sikhs: Punjabi-Sikhs of Kolkata." Studies in History 28.2 (2012): 271-300.
- Grewal, Jagtar Singh. The Sikhs of the Punjab (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
- Usha, George, and Ferzana Chaze. "Punjabis/Sikhs in Canada." in Mobility and Multiple Affiliations (2016): 91-104.
