History is the study of the past as it is described in written documents.

HISTORY OF PUNJAB
Pre Historic Period

• Also known as ‘Stone Age’
• Early man totally dependent upon the nature for his existence and upon stone for his early creativity

• Punjab is the cradle of the Indus Valley Civilization, archaeological excavations, throughout the state, have revealed evidences of the magnificent cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro that lived and died along the banks of the mighty Indus and its tributaries.
• The Mahabharata, which narrates life between the 7th and 5th century BC, contains rich descriptions of the land and people of Punjab at that time. It is believed that a part of the Ramayana too, was written around the Shri Ram Tirath Ashram, near Amritsar; and it was in these forests that Lav and Kush grew up.
• Other great historical discoveries have been unearthed at Ropar, Kiratpur, Dholbaha, Rohira and Ghuram. These relics throw light on the culture and changing architectural styles of Punjab, since the Harappan age. At Sanghol, in Fatehgarh Sahib district near Ludhiana, sites associated with great Mauryan Dynasty, have yielded remarkable relics that record the presence of Buddhism in the region.
• Sage Priyamedha Sindhukshit in the famous ‘Hymn of Rivers” (Nadi-stuti) after invoking the favour of rivers soars to a high pitch of exultation in his reference to the Sindhu. He clearly states that his ancestors were the inhabitants of the land through which the river flowed from ages immemorial,
• The Vedic and the later Epic periods of the Punjab were socially and culturally the most prolific. The Rig Veda was composed here.
• During the period quite a number of centres of learning and culture were established. Panini and Vishnu Gupta were associated with this.religion , Philosophy, grammer, law, astrology, medicine and warfare were taught . Yasak’s Nirkuta and Panini’s Ashtadhyayi are those classic creations of which help us to understand the language and culture of the ancient Punjab.
• The field of action of the Ramayana is believed to be outside the Punjab but the tradition maintains that Valmiki composed the Ramayana near the present Amritsar city and Kaikeyee belonged to this region.

Proto- Historic Period
Characterstics

• Use of metals along with stone
• Chalcolithic Age and Bronze Age
• Copper first metal used
• Then use of Bronze, an alloy of copper and Tin
• Northern India- Copper and Bronze age
• Southern India- Iron age and Stone age
• Domestication of Oxen
• Cultivation of wheat and Barley

Sites- near Chandigarh

Sites in Punjab
1. Rupnagar- On the bank of Satluj
1952-53- Excavated by Y. D. Sharma (earthen ware, seals, beads, bangles etc.)
2. Kotla- Nihang Khan (District Rupnagar)- Discovered in 1929; discovered by M.S. Vats in 1921.
3. Dher Majra (District Rupnagar)
4. Bara (District Rupnagar)
5. Rohira (Tehsil Ahmadgarh, District Sangrur)-
•    Revealed that the houses were spacious and made up of bricks in the ratio 1:2:4
•    A large number of beads of steatite terracotta, bangle pieces of terracotta and bone styli were discovered
6. Sanghol (District Fatehgarh Sahib)-
•    Terracotta figures found
•    Pottery and variety of copper objects found
7. Sunet (District Ludhiana)-
Seals, coins, coin moulds and human and animal figurines in terracotta found

8. Dhogri and Madhopur – Both in Jalandhar district.
9. Rakhigarhi (District Jind)
10. Mudiala Kalan – It is G.T. road in district Ludhiana.
11. Raja Sirkap – It is in district Faridkot.
12. Daulatpar – It is 15 km East of Thanesar.
13. Mithathal – It is in Bhiwani district.   
14. Chandigarh – The pottery related culture was excavated in chandigarh.
15. Dhalbaha – It is in district Hoshiarpur.

More Information-
Period- 2500 BC- 1750 BC

Bronze age-

• 1921- Daya ram Sahni excavated Proto- historic sites at Harappan in Montgomery district in West Bengal (Pakistan)
• 1922- R. D Banerjee discovered a site at Mohenjodaro in Larkana district in Sindhu (Pakistan)

Indo Aryan period-

• About 1500 BC
• Descended into Punjab plains from North- West
• The word meaning of Aryan is “Noble”, respected, or “High born”.
• Didn’t live in castles or mansions or in cities (established themselves in villages)
• Rigveda- famous book of Aryans composed on the banks of river Satluj
• Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagwat Gita composed
• In the great epic Mahabharata (1500 B.C to 1700 B.C) we find at several places the description of Punjab in terms of its geographical position and socio-religious structures.
• Punjab was called Aratta and its people Balhika. “Where these five rivers, Shatadru, Vipasha, the third Iravati, Chandrabhaga and Vitasta flow and where there are Pilu-forests and (where) Sindhu is the sixth to flow out, this country is called Aratta…”.
• Lord Rama (Ramayana) belonged to Punjab as tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji has connected Ghuram in Patiala district with the birth place of Mata Kaushalya, mother of lord Rama
• Punjab was parcelled into number of Republics like Trigartas, Kututas, Kunindas, Yakdeyas and Malavas etc.
• During excavation at Sanghol, Sunet, Rohira and other places, coins have been found of the above tribal republics which give an ample proof of their domination in Punjab
• Later on, people of Punjab became much influenced by Buddhism and Jainism

Budhism, Jainism and Punjab

• In 6th century BC world witnessed, religious upheaval. In Greece, Heraclites, Permaides and Empedocles played significant role. In an Iran, Zoroastor awakened the people. In China, Confucius protested against prevailing religious superstition. Same role was played by Budhism and Jainism in India. Both represents reform movement in Hinduism.
• 4th Buddhist Council 120 AD held in Thishka in Jalandhar. Some scholar hold that this council was held in Kashmir. It was presided over by Vasumitra. During this council, Buddhism, parted into Mahayana and Hinayana.

Persian and Greek invasion

• 516 BC- Persian king Gustasp occupied Punjab
• Darius Persian king also occupied some parts
• During 6th century BC, Persia was ruled by Cyrus, a powerful ruler. He occupied North West region of India. Cambysen, succeeded Cyrus who too suppressed the tribes of N.W. India and advanced towards India. He was succeeded by Darius I who occupied portion of Punjab which comprised upto Jhelum River. These victories are mention in works of Herodotus. He counted Heart, Kandhar, N.W. Punjab and whole of Sindh, as part Darius Empire. But such victory could not last long.
• 321 BC- Greek ruler Alexander invaded Punjab
• New routes for communication and trade with the countries of west were opened
• Fusion of culture started
• Greek scholars learnt philosophy, religion etc. from the Indians and the Indians in turn learn Greek coinage, art, astronomy etc.

Alexander invasion

• Alexander was son of Phillip the king of Mecedonia, a slate in Greece. He ascended the thrown of Meledonia after the death of his father in 336 BC. He was just 20 at that time. He wanted to be world conqueror. His teacher was Aristotle.
• He conquered Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Baby lonia, Persia and then crossed over to river Indus in 326 BC. He marched upto river Beas during Alexander invasion,
• Punjab was divided into smaller states engaged into mutual warfare. There were many small kingdom in Punjab like, Aspasian territory in Kabul, Kingdom of Assakenois, Kingdom of Abhisara, Kingdom of Taxila, Kingdom of Saubhati, etc. The most important kingdom was kingdom of Porus.
• The Kingdom of Porus lay between rivers of Jhelum and Chenabi comprising modern district of Jhelum, Gujrat and Shahpur. In 327 BC young conqueror crossed over Hindukush with army of 120,000 soldiers. Ist of all, Assakenois, tribe offered him resistance, but were defeated. In 326 BC Alexander was welcomed by king of Ambhi of Taxila who was enemy to Porus.
• Porus was defeated in the battle. He was taken into custody. But Alexander reinstated Porus to his rein and made him ally.
• Alexander died at Babylon when he was going back after conquering N.W. India and Punjab.

Mauryas

• 4th century BC
• Chanakya (Kautilya)- inspired Chandragupta Maurya to free Punjab from foreign yoke and establish a powerful empire in India
• Under Maurya, the area known as modern Punjab was included in the larger province of Gandhara, whose capital was at Takshila (now in Pakistan)
• Rule of Nand Dynasty was ended by Mauryan dynasty under leadership of Chander Gupt Maurya with help of Kautilya. Punjab began to suffer from mutual conflicts again after the death of Alexander. Chander Gupt Maurya exploited the prevailing conditions and occupied Punjab and Sidh in 321 BC.
• In Greece, Seleucus succeeded Alexander. He moved towards India to region last possession. He crossed Indus river. He was disappointed because now the Punjab was a united force under Chander Gupt Maurya. He attached India 305 BC. He was defeated in battled and forced to accept a treaty with Chander Gupta Maurya. Seleucus ceded part of Gandhara, Kabul, Heart at Baluchistan. In return, Chandergupt gave him 500 elephant Seleucus also married his daughter to Chander Gupt Maurya.
• Chander Gupt Maurya was succeeded by Bimbisara. Who also ruled Punjab. He had a renowned physician and Surgon named Jivika Bimbisara was succeeded by Ashoka. He led expedition to win Khasa the hill region of Kashmir.

Punjab under Sungas, Greeks, Shakas, Parthians and Kushans     

• Pushyamitra Sunga, who was commander-in- chief of the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha, grabbed political power from the Mauryas and established Sunga dynasty in Central and Eastern India and a large part of Punjab, was the part of his empire.
• King Milinda or Menander (Greek ruler)- invaded India at the time of Pushyamitra

Shaka Rule-

• Punjab was one of the 5 seats o power of Shakas in India with Takshila as its capital

Parthians-

• A large number of coins and coin- moulds of Gondophernes (Parthian king) have been discovered at Sunet (Ludhiana District) and Rohira (Sangrur District)

Kushanas-

• They were first rulers in India to issue ‘Gold coins’ on a wide scale.
• The Kushan rulers of the first and second centuries AD evidently maintained active trade communication with Roman Empire.
• Imported Roman coins have been found in the Punjab, Kabul and neighbouring territories

Guptas Age-

• Mauryan empire began to disintegrate after the death of Ashoka. The last Mauryan ruler, Birhadratha was killed by his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitre Sunga.
• He founded Sunga dynasty. However there were other strong kingdom also in name of Satwahana and Kushana, by from 3rd century A.D. onward. Gupta empire began to be consolidated.  
• It was only in A.D. 318 when Samudra Gupta established a powerful Gupta empire.
• In Punjab during Samunder Gupt, Devaputra, who adopted title of Kudara, was ruling his capital was Peshawar.
• During the reign of Skand Gupta – the last ruler of Gupta age, normadic Mongols invaded Punjab many a times and finally in A.D. 500 these tribes established themselves in the Malwa region of Punjab. These tirbes under the name of Huns ruled for about a century and made Shakla (later or Sialkot) as their capital.
• The numismatic sources show that majorly Punjab was being ruled by three Scythian (Saka) houses. The western part was ruled by Shakas with Peshawar as capital. Other two houses were Shiladas and Gadharas.
• In the later half of the 6th century came into existence the great kingdom of Thaneshwar under the Vardhanas, king Prabhakar Vardhana drove back the Huns from the North Western Punjab.
• His son Harshavardhana was a capable ruler and extended the boundaries from Punjab to the Ganga delta.
• The Chinese traveler Hiuen-Tsang visited Punjab in A.D. 633 and has left many memorable instances of the Harsha’s empire.
• After the death of king Harsha in A.D. 674 there was chaos and confusion. He left no heir and his empire did not outlive him.
• Red polished pottery (which is common at the time Gupta period) at Sunet in Ludhiana district and many other antiquities found at various other places in Punjab make it quite evident that modern Punjab was part of mighty Gupta empire.

Punjab under Vardhana Age

• Founded at Thaneshwar (Kurukshetra, Haryana) by Pushyabhuti in the beginning of 6th century A.D.
• Most important king of this period was Harshavardhana
• During his times, the great Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang visited India.
• He speaks highly of the ancient town of Sirhind

Turkish Invasion

• In the 8th-9th century, Punjab polity was fragmented into different kingdoms. Punjab was being ruled by Turk shahi Dynasty. Other important kingdoms were- kingdom of Kashmir, Jammu, kangra, chamba, kullu, gharwal, kumoun etc. During this time, sindh and Multan were conquered by arab muslim invaders.
• By the end of the 9th century, Turk shahi dynasty was replaced by hindushahi dynasty. Important rulers of this dynasty were- samanta, kamalu, bhima, jaipala, anandapal, trilochan pal and bhimpal.
• Jaipala faced the attack of alpatgin and his successor sabutkgin. Jaipala made an alliance with the ruler of Multan to repulse sabutkgin back. However, sabutkgin defeated jaipala in the battle. Soon, jaipala began to prepare for war again, however, he faced defeat after defeat in the hands of sabutkgin. In 988 A.D., sabutkgin occupied Peshawar. In 988 A.D. itself. Sabutkgin died and succeeded by sultan mehmud.
• In 1000 A.D. Ghazni led his first attack on hindushahi dynasty and plundered the Punjab region. Jaipala and his relatives were made captive. Anandapal, his son, paid heavy ransom to get his father free. Jaipala burnt himself alive out of successive disgraced defeats in the hands of Mahmud, anandapal became his successor.
• In 1002, Anandapal too refused to pay to Mahmud ghazni. In 1004, Mahmud marched onto India again through balochistan and attacked bhatya. In 1006, Mahmud attacked Multan and defeated ismail of daud. He again attacked Anandapal to defeat him. After conquering Multan. Mahmuh appointed sukhpal as governor of Multan.
• Sukhpal soon declared himself independent. In 1008, Mahmud launched a massive attack to teach a lesson to Sukhpal. He arrested sukhpal and annexed Multan to his empire. In 1008, Mahmud again attacked anandapal who had developed large alliance with other rulers of the region. In the battle of waihind, Mahmud again defeated the allied forces led by anandapal. Anandapal was cornered in the salt ranges region.
• In 1012, Anandapal died and succeeded by trilochanpal who was also a great warrior. Mahmud launched 3 successive attacks against trilochanpal in 1013, 1014 and 1019. he cornered trilochanpal in the shivalik hills of east Punjab.
• Mahmud annexed Punjab into his empire and appointed general malik ariyrak as governor of Lahore. Mahmud ruled Punjab till his death in 1030 when he was succeeded by his son mehsud.

Muslim Invasion in  Punjab

• During the invasion of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, the area of Punjab was under the Hindustani dynasty
• Raja Jaipal, the ruler of Hindustani dynasty, was successful in building up an empire from Sirhind to Lampaka (modern Lamghan) with Bathinda its capital
• The Hindustani dynasty further shifted its capital from Bathinda to Sirhind
• They ruled over a large part of Punjab but dynasty could not stand against the incessant invasions of Mahmud Ghaznavi who made as many as seventeen attacks on India
• From the conditions of chaos and confusion created by continuous onslaught of the Mohammadan invaders and specially those of Mahmud Ghaznavi, the Rajputs rose to power after the fall of Hindustani in Punjab
• The Chauhans first ruled in Ajmer, but it appears that by 1164 AD they had occupied Delhi as well as the entire tract of territory lying between it and the Satluj
• Sirhind and Bathinda constituted the two most important military stations on the north- western frontiers of the Rajputs Kingdom
• In 1191 AD, Shihabuddin Mohamad Gori defeated and killed Prithviraj Chauhan, the last illustrations king of Chauhan dynasty) in the famous battle named battle of Tarain in 1192 AD and the entire territory upto Delhi (including Sirhind) came under the control of the Turks

Mohammad Ghori

• In late 12th century, Ghori started the series of invasion which culminated into Muslim rule in India. He belonged to principality of Ghor which falls between the hills of ghazni and Herat. After consolidating his position, he began to look towards India. He claimed Punjab region. His main aim was to loot and plunder on the one hand and to spread his faith on the other. The first expedition of Md Ghori was againt Multan in 1175 a.d. he also aoccupied Uch alongwith Multan. Bhattiraja was the ruler of uch. According to farishta, md ghori conspired with the wife of bhattiraja.
• He promised her to get married with her daughter if she killed her husband. When actually she killed her husband, ghori did not keep his words. It caused the defeat of uch. In 1178, he attacked gujrat,
• Where he faced touch resistance Chalukyan king Bhima - II.  Ghori decided to annex Punjab to develop his permanent base in India. He attacked Lahore which was being ruled by khusrao malik, the appointee of Mahmud Ghazni at that time. After the successive attacks, ghori seized Punjab in 1186.
• During this period, the fertile plains of Punjab were being ruled by rajputs. They were alarmed at the march of md. Ghori towards the plains of Hindustan. Md ghori captured the fort of sirhind which panicked prithviraj chauhan and he started preparing for an inevitable war between ghori and prithviraj chauhan. He was the ruler of delhi and ajmer. He decided to check the advancing md ghori by forming an alliance of 100 chiefs of the region.
• The two armies met in the battle field of tarain in 1191 a.d. near thaneshar. Prithviraj chauhan defeated ghori completely and also captured the fort of sirhind but he allowed ghori to return back to his native place. In 1192, ghori again marched onto india with an army of 120000. prithviraj chauhan appealed to many rajas for help, some of them responded positively, two armies once again met in the battle field of tarain in 1192, but this time rajput forces faced crushing defeat. Prithviraj chauhan was arrested and executed. In 1194, ghori defeated the most powerful king of the time namely jaichandra of kanauj in the battle of chandwar.
• In 1206, the victorious career of ghori came to an end with his death. He died on his way back to ghazni. He was attacked and killed by khokhars, a warlike tribe of Punjab plains. Before his death, he had appointed qutub ud din aibak as his successor of his Indian dominion with Lahore as capital.
• Again in 1398 Amir Timur, a terrible military leader came hurtling down from Samarkand. Within less than 8 months he reached Delhi and put the city to sword. Whatever country he conquered, he pillaged it ruthlessly and massacred the whole population. From Delhi he went back home as he had no desire to stay in India.
• During the period from Timur’s death to the advent of Babur there was contest for supremacy between various Muslim dynasties which cleared the way for rapid decay of the Delhi Sultanate.
• After a gap of about 100 years the history again took a turn. This time it was Babur, a Chaghtai turk, who was descended from Timur on his father’s side and connected with Chinghiz Khan on his mother’s side.
• In 1525 he marched from Kabul and occupied Punjab. With an army of about 12000 soldiers he met Ibrahim Lodhi with one lakh troops in the historic field of Panipat in 1526 and defeated him.
• This victory of Babur cleared the way for empire building and by time of his death in 1530 almost the whole country was under him.
• Strong foundation was laid for Mughal empire. “Great architects of this empire – Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shahjehan, Aurangzeb – followed one after another and it grew from strength to suzerainty.
• The whole of Punjab barring the mountain fastnesses of the Himalayas, became a province of the Mughal Empire and its people and institutions acquired the stamp of a new culture – the Indo-Mughal Culture”.
• After Aurangzeb the Mughal dynasty did not produce able and pains taking rulers. The confusion and the chaos that followed the gradual process of decay of the Mughal Empire once again gave an opportunity to invaders. These invaders came from Persia and not from Central Asia.
• In A.D. 1738 Nadir Shah marched towards India and did not meet any resistance enroute to Delhi. He overran Punjab and dealt a humiliating defeat to the pleasure loving Mughal Emperor Mohamad Shah and his carpet knights in 1739 in the Panipat plain. The ruthless conqueror carried away a large booty including the crown pearls, the famous Koh-i-Noor and the Peacocok throne of Shahjehan. Sind, Kabl and the western parts of the Punjab had to be surrendered to the Persians.
• Ahmad Shah Abdali an officer, in Nadir Shah’s army accompanied him in his campaign against India. This sharp-eyed and ambitious person had seen the inherent weakness of the Mughal Empire. After the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747, Ahmad Shah Abdali became an independent ruler of Afghanistan. He called himself Durri-i-Durran i.e. the pearl of the age, and his clan came to be known as Surrani. Ahmad Shah Abdali attacked India four times between 1748 and 1751 and inflicted very serious and grievous injuries to Punjab and Punjab was incorporated in the Durrani Empire.

• Historically the word Punjab as the name of our region appears for the first time in the travelogue of Muslim traveller Ibne-Batuta who came to India in the 14th century. It’s literally Panjnad rephrased.
• Panj means five and Nad means river i.e. the land of five rivers. Both the words are indigenous.
• Panj means five and Aab (in Persian) means rivers. It is a compound made of a Punjabi and a Persian word.