Other Spellings : Panjabi

Religion : Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Atheism, Agnosticism

Language : Punjabi

Regional Spread : Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh Chandigarh and Delhi in India. A significant Punjabi population is also present in Pakistan, UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada, USA, UAE, Myanmar and Malaysia

Sub-Groups: Some of the major subgroups of the Punjabis in India include Ahirs, Aroras, Banias, Bhatias, Brahmins, Dalits, Gujjars, Jats, Kalals, Khatris, Labanas, Rajputs, Sainis, Sansis, Soods, and Tarkhans. Most of these subgroups can be further sub-divided into clans and family groups.

Traditional Occupation: Agriculture, Trading

Population : 100 to 120 million

Food Habits : Punjabi cuisine is relished all over India and across the world. Staple diet of the people Punjab is wheat based rotis and paranthas. Rice is cooked on special occasions. Characteristic feature of Punjabi cuisine is lavish use of butter, cream, ghee and cheese. Pulses or dals are flavored with characteristic Punjabi tadka and constitute a major item of the meal. Gravy is prepared using the basic mix of onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, chillies and loads of spices. Non-vegetarian food is also relished by the people.

Marriage Preference :Prefer marriages with Punjabi in the same caste. In recent times inter-caste marriages are also becoming common with the increasing trend of love marriages where boys and girls find their mate themselves.

Famous Personalities:

• Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu Writers : Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Bhai Gurdas, Bhai Vir Singh, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Abid Tamimi
• English Writers : Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh, Kartar Duggal, Amrita Pritam, Vikram Seth
• Journalists : Kuldip Nayyar, Aroon Purie, Vinod Mehta, Vinod Dua, Karan Thapar
• Artists : Amrita Sher-Gil, Satish Gujral, Manjit Bawa
• Nobel Laureates :Har Gobind Khorana (India), Abdus Salam (Pakistan)
• Musicians : Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, K.L. Saigal, Mohammed Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor, Adnan Sami, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khanum, Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, Gurdas Mann, Daler Mehndi, Harbhajan Mann
• Bollywood : The Kapoors from Prithviraj Kapoor's Family, Anil Kapoor, Balraj Sahni, Dev Anand, Yash Chopra, Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Dutt, Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri, Rajesh Khanna, Akshay Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, Ajay Devgan, Zohra Sehgal, Pran, Dara Singh, IS Johar, Gulzar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Saeed Jaffrey, Om Puri, Subhash Ghai, Raj Babbar, Kanwaljit Singh, Gulshan Grover, Juhi Chawla, Raveena Tandon, Karan Johar, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Gurinder Chadha
• Revolutionaries : Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhai Paramanand, Harnam Singh, Udham Singh, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev
• Politicians : Master Tara Singh, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Surjit Singh Barnala, Giani Zail Singh, Gulzari Lal Nanda, IK Gujral, Manmohan Singh, Buta Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Arun Jaitley, Madanlal Khurana
• Sportsperson : Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Bishen Singh Bedi, Maninder Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Pargat Singh, Milkha Singh, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Gaurav Ghei

Related Ethnic Groups : Indo-Aryans, Seraikis, Sindhis, Gujaratis, Kashmiris, Dogras, Pakistani Muhajirs, Punjabi Pathans, Roma people.

History and Origin : The Punjabi people are an Indo-Aryan people and speakers of the Punjabi language, an Indo-Aryan tongue. Punjabis can be found primarily in the Punjab region of Pakistan and Northern India. In Pakistan, Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group at roughly 44% of the total population and reside predominantly in the province of Punjab. In India, ethnic Punjabis can be found across the greater Punjab region which now comprises the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh and also the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir. Significant numbers of Punjabis are also found in a wide-ranging diaspora around the world.

About Punjabi: Punjabi population descends from various stocks and consists of heterogeneous racial elements. Punjabi people are sturdy, self-willed and industrious and are among the finest peasants of India. They are generally tall and muscular, with well-shaped limbs, an erect carriage and strongly marked and sharp handsome features.