Punjab

History of PunjabPunjab presented a picture of chaos and confusion when Ranjit Singh took reins of Sukerchikias misal. The edifice of Ahmad Shah Abdali's empire in India had crumbled. Afghanistan was dismembered. Peshawar and Kashmir though under the suzerainty of Afghanistan had attained de facto independence. Barakzais were the masters of these places.. Marginalisation of PunjabPUNJAB has been an unusually fluid region, not just geographically but socially and culturally. The boundaries of present day Indian Punjab for example, the region that this paper focuses on, have been redrawn several times over the last few centuries, currently occupying less than 15% of the total geographical area of pre-partition colonial Punjab. A large number of Punjabis, both Sikhs as well as Hindus, live outside the state. A good number of those who migrated from across the border to the Indian side at the time of Partition were resettled in Delhi and other towns of North India. Ancient forts of the PunjabThe forts and fortresses, though become very largely obsolete in the context and content of modern warfare, due mostly to vulnerability from the air, were deemed until quite recently as the sine quo non of military defense and the last refuge of a combatant power put sadly on the defensive. When defeat seemed imminent or inevitable, they could repair to these citadels of security in the final resort and fight an obviously losing game to vantage through the protraction of the struggle for an incredibly long time and infliction of heavy losses on the investing enemy forces on whom ceaseless fire could be poured by the garrisoned troops nestling in comparative security behind the thick and impregnable walls.. Indus River Valley CivilisationIndus River valley which is now in Pakistan is the place where India's first major civilisation flourished for 1000 years from around 2500 BC. A civilisation of great complexity developed in Mohenjodaro and Harappa, which were the great cities of Indus-Valley. The major city sites were only discovered during this century but other, lesser cities have been subsequently unearthed at sites like Lohtal, near Ahemedabad in India.. Valour and treachery III The Battle Of AliwalRanjodh Singh, the youngest son of S. Desa Singh Majithia, also held high rank in the army of Ranjit Singh. He was of the loyal group at the Lahore Darbar and he had fought against the British during the first Anglo-Sikh war. Before the commencement of the war, a force under Ranjodh Singh had been placed at Phillour as a precautionary measure, and also to watch the enemy movements at Ludhiana.. Origin of the Saka RacesThe Scythians inhabiting Central Asia at the time of Herodotus (5th century B।C.) consisted of 4 main branches known as the MassaGatae, Sacae, Alani, and Sarmatians, sharing a common language, ethnicity and culture. Ancient Greek (e.g. Herodotus, Pliny, Plotemy, Arrian) and Persian sources (Darius's historians) from the 5th century place the MassaGatea as the most southerly group in the Central Asian steppe.(साभार : पंजाबी लोक )