Punjab

Railways.—The Punjab is well supplied with railways, and La, hore, the headquarters of the North-Western Railway system has a very large railway population. One main line of the North Western runs from Umballa through Lahore and Rawalpindi towards Peshawar; another main line runs from Lahore to Mul tan, and thence to the sea at Karachi ; while a third runs along the left bank of the Indus, from Attock southwards. From Delhi to Umballa there are two lines, one of the North-Western through Meerut and Saharanpur in the United Provinces, and a more direct one, which is continued to Kalka and Simla. The south east of the province is served by three branches of the Rajputana system, which have their termini at Delhi Hissar and Ferozepore ; and also by the Southern Punjab, from Delhi to Bahawalpur. Population and Administration.—The total population of the Punjab (including states) according to the census of 193r was 28,490,857. The Jats, who number some five millions, form the backbone of the cultivating community. Large numbers of them have become Sikhs or Mohammedans in the tracts where those religions predominate. The Rajputs, with a total of over a million and three-quarters, comprise tribes of religions, races and social systems. By religion they are mostly Mohammedan, only about 8,600,000 being Hindus, while are Sikhs. The Gujars are an important agricultural and pastoral tribe. Baluchis and Pathans are strongly represented in the south-west and west. The distinctive religion of the Punjab is Sikhism (q.v.), though Sikhs form only 14.3% of the total population. The Mohamme dans represent 51% of the population. The people bear a martial i character and entered with enthusiasm into the World War.

Nearly half a million of men were mobilized and the Punjab sup plied more than 40% of the combatants from India.

Language.—Of the 28,490,857 people in the Punjab about speak the provincial language, Punjabi, which varies in character in different parts of the province. About 3,988,000 speak Hindustani (see HINDOSTANI), this number including those whose ordinary vernacular is Hindi, but who understand and are gradually adopting the more comprehensive Hindustani. These two languages are the most generally used throughout the prov ince, but not equally in all parts. The other languages in use are more or less local. The hill dialects, known as Pahari, are akin to the language spoken in Rajputana. Hindustani is the language of the law courts and of all ordinary official and other communica tions with chiefs and people.

Administration.—The administration is conducted by a Gov ernor, two members of Council and three Ministers. Two Finan cial Commissioners take the place of the board of revenue in most of the provinces and each of the five Divisions is under a Commis sioner. A survival of the "non-regulation" system is to be found in the title of deputy-commissioner for the district officer else where called collector. The highest judicial authority is the high court, consisting of a Chief Justice and six permanent puisne judges. A legislative council, first created in 1897, was enlarged

in 1909 to 26 members, and in 1921 to 94, of whom 23 are nomi nated and the rest elected.

Education.

The Punjab University, which was founded in 1882 serves the Kashmir State and the Frontier Province as well as the Punjab. In the Province there were in 1926 23 arts colleges and 8 professional colleges, 3o6 high schools, 2,029 middle schools and 6,876 primary schools. The number of enrolled pupils, which in 192r was 556,989, had risen in 1926 to 1,062,816. (E. D. MAIL.) Proofs of a remarkable prehistoric culture (about 2500 B.c) have been found at Harappa ; seals unearthed there, almost identical with Sumerian seals discovered in Babylonia, suggest an art connection between Babylonia and India at that time, but racial affinity cannot be deduced. For early history to the fall of the Mogul dynasty see INDIA: History. From the time of Alexander onwards Greek settlers remained in the Punjab and Greek artists gave their services for Buddhist work, introducing new features into Indian architecture. The most conspicuous and distinctive Buddhist buildings are the topes (stupa), plain hemispheres on platforms of two or more stages. One of the largest is at Manikiala, r4 m. east of Rawalpindi. These build ings and sculptures date probably from 200 B.C. to A.D. 400.

The early colonists formed clans (not identical with castes, but often joining them), which generally preserved distinct characteristics and followed certain classes of occupation. Some existing Punjab tribes are traced to these settlers, as the Bhattis of Bhattiana south of the Sutlej, who have also in the village of Pindi Bhattian a record of early occupation of the left bank of the Chenab. The Dogras, another Aryan clan, belong to the lower hills between the Chenab and the Ravi. So with others. To the earlier settlers—the dark race (Dasyu, commonly called aborigines), whom the Aryans found in the country, may have belonged the old Takka tribe, whose name is found in Taksha sila or Taxila. From the later foreigners, the Indo-Scythians, are probably descended the Jat cultivators, the Gujars and others.

During the events which brought Babar to the throne, the sect of the Sikhs was founded by Nanak (born 1469) and under the persecution of Aurangzeb they were raised into a nation of warriors by Govind Singh (1675-1708), the tenth and last Guru. (See SIKHISM.) Upon the break-up of the Mogul Empire in the 18th century the Sikhs formed confederacies on both banks of the Sutlej. After long internecine warfare one of their chief tains secured a position of authority over the rest. This was Ranjit Singh, born in 1780, who acquired Lahore as his capital in 1799. When he tried to include within his jurisdiction Sir hind and Malva, the Sikh States south of the Sutlej, their chiefs sought British protection. The British desired an alliance with Lahore as well as Kabul against supposed French designs on India. A British envoy, Charles Metcalfe, was received by Ranjit at Kasur in 1809 and the alliance was formed.