Religion in the Punjab in ancient history was characterized by Hinduism and later conversions to Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Christianity; it also includes folk practices common to all Punjabis regardless of the religion they adhere to. Such practices incorporate local mysticism, including ancestral worship and worship of local saints of all faiths.[1]

Religion in the Punjab region (2011 and 2017)[2][3][4][lower-alpha 1]

  Islam (60.13%)
  Hinduism (28.54%)
  Sikhism (9.5%)
  Christianity (1.43%)
  Others (0.33%)

Background

Rig Veda is the oldest Hindu text that originated in the Punjab region.

Hinduism is the oldest of the religions practised by Punjabi people, however, the term Hindu was applied over a vast territory with much regional diversity.[5] The historical Vedic religion constituted the religious ideas and practices in the Punjab during the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), centered primarily in the worship of Indra.[6][7][8][note 1] The bulk of the Rigveda was composed in the Punjab region between circa 1500 and 1200 BC,[9] while later Vedic scriptures were composed more eastwards, between the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. An ancient Indian law book called the Manusmriti, developed by Brahmin Hindu priests, shaped Punjabi religious life from 200 BC onward.[10]

Later, the spread of Buddhisim and Jainism in the Indian subcontinent saw the growth of Buddhism and Jainism in the Punjab.[11] Islam was introduced via southern Punjab in the 8th century, becoming the majority by the 16th century, via local conversion.[12][13] There was a small Jain community left in Punjab by the 16th century, while the Buddhist community had largely disappeared by the turn of the 10th century.[14] The region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs (shrines) dot the landscape of the Punjab region.[15]

The rise of Sikhism in the 1700s saw some Punjabis, both Hindu and Muslim, accepting the new Sikh faith.[10][16] A number of Punjabis during the colonial period of India became Christians, with all of these religions characterizing the religious diversity now found in the Punjab region.[10]

History

Ancient period

The Persians were the first to use the term Hindu, referring to a vast territory containing much regional variety in belief and practice. Nevertheless, the common concept was the belief in cycles of reincarnation, or sansār, and was the oldest recorded religion in the region.[10] While law books like the Manusmriti codified socio-religious customs and were sanctified by the Hindu religion, such books more generally influenced the formation of broader traditional societal beliefs.[10]

Medieval period

Sikhism appeared in the 16th century, in reaction to both Punjabi and subcontinent-wide cultural practices of the time,[10] including asceticism, the caste system, and female subordination, as well as in congruence with it, sharing precepts with Hinduism, including karma, sansār, and liberation, and that with Islam, including a formless God, rejection of idolatry, and social equality.[10] It also developed its own distinct doctrines, including the belief that both intrinsic factors (egocentrism, to be ameliorated through devotion and prayer), and external forces (social and political oppression, to be addressed by community service and armed self-defense as needed, and balancing spiritual and temporal power in the world as opposed to renunciation), produced suffering.[10]

Modern period

During the colonial era, the practice of religious syncretism among Punjabi Muslims and Punjabi Hindus was noted and documented by officials in census reports:

"In other parts of the Province, too, traces of Hindu festivals are noticeable among the Muhammadans. In the western Punjab, Baisakhi, the new year's day of the Hindus, is celebrated as an agricultural festival, by all Muhammadans, by racing bullocks yoked to the well gear, with the beat of tom-toms, and large crowds gather to witness the show, The race is called Baisakhi and is a favourite pastime in the well-irrigated tracts. Then the processions of Tazias, in Muharram, with the accompaniment of tom-toms, fencing parties and bands playing on flutes and other musical instruments (which is disapproved by the orthodox Muhammadans) and the establishment of Sabils (shelters where water and sharbat are served out) are clearly influenced by similar practices at Hindu festivals, while the illuminations on occasions like the Chiraghan fair of Shalamar (Lahore) are no doubt practices answering to the holiday-making instinct of the converted Hindus."[17]: 174 
"Besides actual conversion, Islam has had a considerable influence on the Hindu religion. The sects of reformers based on a revolt from the orthodoxy of Varnashrama Dharma were obviously the outcome of the knowledge that a different religion could produce equally pious and right thinking men. Laxity in social restrictions also appeared simultaneously in various degrees and certain customs were assimilated to those of the Muhammadans. On the other hand the miraculous powers of Muhammadan saints were enough to attract the saint worshiping Hindus, to allegiance, if not to a total change of faith... The Shamsis are believers in Shah Shamas Tabrez of Multan, and follow the Imam, for the time being, of the Ismailia sect of Shias... they belong mostly to the Sunar caste and their connection with the sect is kept a secret, like Freemasonry. They pass as ordinary Hindus, but their devotion to the Imam is very strong."[17]: 130 

— Excerpts from the Census of India (Punjab Province), 1911 AD

Punjab region

Colonial era

Population trends for major religious groups in the Punjab Province of the British India (1881–1941)[18][19]: 46 
Religious
group		 Population
% 1881		 Population
% 1891		 Population
% 1901		 Population
% 1911[lower-alpha 2]		 Population
% 1921		 Population
% 1931		 Population
% 1941
Islam 47.6%47.8%49.6%51.1%51.1%52.4%53.2%
Hinduism 43.8%43.6%41.3%35.8%35.1%31.7%[lower-alpha 3]30.1%[lower-alpha 3]
Sikhism 8.2%8.2%8.6%12.1%12.4%14.3%14.9%
Christianity 0.1%0.2%0.3%0.8%1.3%1.5%1.5%
Other religions / No religion 0.3%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.1%0.1%0.3%

Modern era

Religious groups in the Punjab Region (2011 Census of India & 2017 Census of Pakistan)[2][3][4][lower-alpha 1]
Religious
group		 Punjab
Region		 Punjab
(Pakistan)[2]		 Punjab (India)[3] Haryana[4] Delhi[4] Himachal
Pradesh[4]		 Islamabad[2] Chandigarh[4]
Total
Population		 Percentage Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 114,130,322 60.13% 107,541,602 97.77% 535,489 1.93% 1,781,342 7.03% 2,158,684 12.86% 149,881 2.18% 1,911,877 95.43% 51,447 4.87%
Hinduism 54,159,083 28.54% 211,641 0.19% 10,678,138 38.49% 22,171,128 87.46% 13,712,100 81.68% 6,532,765 95.17% 737 0.04% 852,574 80.78%
Sikhism 18,037,312 9.5% — — 16,004,754 57.69% 1,243,752 4.91% 570,581 3.4% 79,896 1.16% — — 138,329 13.11%
Christianity 2,715,952 1.43% 2,063,063 1.88% 348,230 1.26% 50,353 0.2% 146,093 0.87% 12,646 0.18% 86,847 4.34% 8,720 0.83%
Jainism 267,649 0.14% — — 45,040 0.16% 52,613 0.21% 166,231 0.99% 1,805 0.03% — — 1,960 0.19%
Ahmadiyya 160,759 0.08% 158,021 0.14% — — — — — — — — 2,738 0.14% — —
Buddhism 139,019 0.07% — — 33,237 0.12% 7,514 0.03% 18,449 0.11% 78,659 1.15% — — 1,160 0.11%
Others 185,720 0.1% 15,328 0.01% 98,450 0.35% 44,760 0.18% 15,803 0.09% 8,950 0.13% 1,169 0.06% 1,260 0.12%
Total population 189,795,816 100% 109,989,655 100% 27,743,338 100% 25,351,462 100% 16,787,941 100% 6,864,602 100% 2,003,368 100% 1,055,450 100%

West & East Punjab

Subregions

Following the creation of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901, the Punjab region (Punjab Province) was divided into four natural geographical divisions by colonial officials on the decadal census data:[17]: 2 [19]: 4 

  1. Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura District);
  2. Himalayan geographical division (including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State);
  3. Sub−Himalayan geographical division (including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District);
  4. North−West Dry Area geographical division (including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract).

Throughout history, religious diversity has been noted across the Punjab region. During the colonial era, the various districts and princely states that made up each of the four geographical divisions were religiously eclectic, each containing significant populations of Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Hindus, Punjabi Sikhs, Punjabi Christians, along with other ethnic and religious minorities.

However, between the censuses of 1941 and 1951, a sudden shift towards religious homogeneity occurred in all districts across Punjab owing to the new international border that cut through the province due to the partition of India in 1947. This rapid demographic shift was primarily as a consequence of wide scale migration but also caused by large-scale religious cleansing riots which were witnessed across the region at the time. According to historical demographer Tim Dyson, in the eastern regions of Punjab that ultimately became Indian Punjab following independence, districts that were 66% Hindu in 1941 became 80% Hindu in 1951; those that were 20% Sikh became 50% Sikh in 1951. Conversely, in the western regions of Punjab that ultimately became Pakistani Punjab, all districts became almost exclusively Muslim by 1951.[20]

Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division

Including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura District.[19]: 48 [17]: 2 

Religion in the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division of Punjab Province (1901—1941)[19]: 48 
Religion Percentage
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941[lower-alpha 7]
Hinduism 43.79% 42.62% 41.37% 36.04% 34.42%[lower-alpha 3]
Islam 37.36% 37.81% 38.0% 39.72% 40.47%
Sikhism 18.35% 18.73% 19.10% 21.88% 22.37%
Christianity 0.18% 0.51% 1.23% 1.54% 1.60%
Jainism 0.32% 0.33% 0.29% 0.27% 0.23%

Districts & Princely States

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Indo−Gangetic Plain West geographical division (1941)[19]: 42 
District/
Princely State		 Islam Hinduism [lower-alpha 3] Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[lower-alpha 5] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Hisar District 285,208 28.33% 652,842 64.85% 60,731 6.03% 1,292 0.13% 6,126 0.61% 510 0.05% 1,006,709 100%
Loharu State 3,960 14.2% 23,923 85.77% 7 0.03% 2 0.01% 0 0% 0 0% 27,892 100%
Rohtak District 166,569 17.42% 780,474 81.61% 1,466 0.15% 1,043 0.11% 6,847 0.72% 0 0% 956,399 100%
Dujana State 6,939 22.63% 23,727 77.37% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 30,666 100%
Gurgaon District 285,992 33.59% 560,537 65.83% 637 0.07% 1,673 0.2% 2,613 0.31% 6 0% 851,458 100%
Pataudi State 3,655 16.98% 17,728 82.38% 0 0% 9 0.04% 128 0.59% 0 0% 21,520 100%
Karnal District 304,346 30.6% 666,301 66.99% 19,887 2% 1,249 0.13% 2,789 0.28% 3 0% 994,575 100%
Jalandhar District 509,804 45.23% 311,010 27.59% 298,741 26.5% 6,233 0.55% 1,395 0.12% 7 0% 1,127,190 100%
Kapurthala State 213,754 56.49% 61,546 16.27% 88,350 23.35% 1,667 0.44% 380 0.1% 12,683 3.35% 378,380 100%
Ludhiana District 302,482 36.95% 171,715 20.98% 341,175 41.68% 1,913 0.23% 1,279 0.16% 51 0.01% 818,615 100%
Malerkotla State 33,881 38.45% 23,482 26.65% 30,320 34.41% 116 0.13% 310 0.35% 0 0% 88,109 100%
Firozpur District 641,448 45.07% 287,733 20.22% 479,486 33.69% 12,607 0.89% 1,674 0.12% 128 0.01% 1,423,076 100%
Faridkot State 61,352 30.79% 21,814 10.95% 115,070 57.74% 247 0.12% 800 0.4% 0 0% 199,283 100%
Patiala State 436,539 22.55% 597,488 30.86% 896,021 46.28% 1,592 0.08% 3,101 0.16% 1,518 0.08% 1,936,259 100%
Jind State 50,972 14.09% 268,355 74.17% 40,981 11.33% 161 0.04% 1,294 0.36% 49 0.01% 361,812 100%
Nabha State 70,373 20.45% 146,518 42.59% 122,451 35.59% 221 0.06% 480 0.14% 1 0% 344,044 100%
Lahore District 1,027,772 60.62% 284,689 16.79% 310,646 18.32% 70,147 4.14% 1,951 0.12% 170 0.01% 1,695,375 100%
Amritsar District 657,695 46.52% 217,431 15.38% 510,845 36.13% 25,973 1.84% 1,911 0.14% 21 0% 1,413,876 100%
Gujranwala District 642,706 70.45% 108,115 11.85% 99,139 10.87% 60,829 6.67% 1,445 0.16% 0 0% 912,234 100%
Sheikhupura District 542,344 63.62% 89,182 10.46% 160,706 18.85% 60,054 7.04% 221 0.03% 1 0% 852,508 100%
Total 6,247,791 40.47% 5,314,610 34.42% 3,454,208 22.37% 247,028 1.6% 34,744 0.23% 15,148 0.1% 15,439,980 100%

Himalayan geographical division

Including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State.[19]: 48 [17]: 2 

Religion in the Himalayan geographical division of Punjab Province (1901—1941)[19]: 48 
Religion Percentage
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941
Hinduism 94.60% 94.53% 94.50% 94.25% 94.35%
Islam 4.53% 4.30% 4.45% 4.52% 4.27%
Sikhism 0.23% 0.46% 0.44% 0.49% 0.60%
Christianity 0.20% 0.26% 0.26% 0.14% 0.10%
Jainism 0.03% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.03%

Districts & Princely States

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Himalayan geographical division (1941)[19]: 42 
District/
Princely State		 Hinduism [lower-alpha 3] Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[lower-alpha 5] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Sirmoor State 146,199 93.7% 7,374 4.73% 2,334 1.5% 38 0.02% 81 0.05% 0 0% 156,026 100%
Simla District 29,466 76.38% 7,022 18.2% 1,032 2.68% 934 2.42% 114 0.3% 8 0.02% 38,576 100%
Simla Hill States 345,716 96.16% 10,812 3.01% 2,693 0.75% 161 0.04% 126 0.04% 12 0% 359,520 100%
Bilaspur State 108,375 98.22% 1,498 1.36% 453 0.41% 7 0.01% 3 0% 0 0% 110,336 100%
Kangra District 846,531 94.12% 43,249 4.81% 4,809 0.53% 788 0.09% 101 0.01% 3,899 0.43% 899,377 100%
Mandi State 227,463 97.79% 4,328 1.86% 583 0.25% 11 0% 0 0% 208 0.09% 232,593 100%
Suket State 69,974 98.43% 884 1.24% 234 0.33% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 71,092 100%
Chamba State 155,910 92.3% 12,318 7.29% 107 0.06% 190 0.11% 0 0% 383 0.23% 168,908 100%

Sub−Himalayan geographical division

Including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District.[19]: 48 [17]: 2 

Religion in the Sub−Himalayan geographical division of Punjab Province (1901—1941)[19]: 48 
Religion Percentage
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941
Islam 60.62% 61.19% 61.44% 61.99% 62.29%
Hinduism 33.09% 27.36% 26.66% 22.85% 21.98%
Sikhism 5.68% 9.74% 9.77% 11.65% 11.89%
Christianity 0.48% 1.59% 2.01% 2.05% 1.74%
Jainism 0.12% 0.12% 0.12% 0.11% 0.12%

Districts & Princely States

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the Sub−Himalayan geographical division (1941)[19]: 42 
District/
Princely State		 Islam Hinduism [lower-alpha 3] Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[lower-alpha 5] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Ambala District 268,999 31.73% 412,658 48.68% 156,543 18.47% 6,065 0.72% 3,065 0.36% 415 0.05% 847,745 100%
Kalsia State 25,049 37.17% 29,866 44.32% 12,235 18.15% 55 0.08% 188 0.28% 0 0% 67,393 100%
Hoshiarpur District 380,759 32.53% 584,080 49.91% 198,194 16.93% 6,165 0.53% 1,125 0.1% 0 0% 1,170,323 100%
Gurdaspur District 589,923 51.14% 290,774 25.21% 221,261 19.18% 51,522 4.47% 25 0% 6 0% 1,153,511 100%
Sialkot District 739,218 62.09% 231,319 19.43% 139,409 11.71% 75,831 6.37% 3,250 0.27% 1,470 0.12% 1,190,497 100%
Gujrat District 945,609 85.58% 84,643 7.66% 70,233 6.36% 4,449 0.4% 10 0% 8 0% 1,104,952 100%
Jhelum District 563,033 89.42% 40,888 6.49% 24,680 3.92% 893 0.14% 159 0.03% 5 0% 629,658 100%
Rawalpindi District 628,193 80% 82,478 10.5% 64,127 8.17% 9,014 1.15% 1,337 0.17% 82 0.01% 785,231 100%
Attock District 611,128 90.42% 43,209 6.39% 20,120 2.98% 1,392 0.21% 13 0% 13 0% 675,875 100%

North−West Dry Area geographical division

Including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract.[19]: 48 [17]: 2 

Religion in the North−West Dry Area geographical division of Punjab Province (1901—1941)[19]: 48 
Religion Percentage
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941
Islam 79.01% 80.00% 78.95% 78.22% 77.85%
Hinduism 17.84% 13.58% 14.23% 12.80% 13.21%
Sikhism 2.91% 5.62% 5.64% 6.73% 6.74%
Christianity 0.23% 0.79% 1.17% 1.18% 1.17%
Jainism 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%

Districts & Princely States

Religion in the Districts & Princely States of the North−West Dry Area geographical division (1941)[19]: 42 
District/
Princely State		 Islam Hinduism [lower-alpha 3] Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[lower-alpha 5] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Montgomery District 918,564 69.11% 210,966 15.87% 175,064 13.17% 24,432 1.84% 49 0% 28 0% 1,329,103 100%
Shahpur District 835,918 83.68% 102,172 10.23% 48,046 4.81% 12,770 1.28% 13 0% 2 0% 998,921 100%
Mianwali District 436,260 86.16% 62,814 12.41% 6,865 1.36% 358 0.07% 23 0% 1 0% 506,321 100%
Lyallpur District 877,518 62.85% 204,059 14.61% 262,737 18.82% 51,948 3.72% 35 0% 8 0% 1,396,305 100%
Jhang District 678,736 82.61% 129,889 15.81% 12,238 1.49% 763 0.09% 5 0% 0 0% 821,631 100%
Multan District 1,157,911 78.01% 249,872 16.83% 61,628 4.15% 14,290 0.96% 552 0.04% 80 0.01% 1,484,333 100%
Muzaffargarh District 616,074 86.42% 90,643 12.72% 5,882 0.83% 227 0.03% 0 0% 23 0% 712,849 100%
Dera Ghazi Khan District 512,678 88.19% 67,407 11.59% 1,072 0.18% 87 0.01% 106 0.02% 0 0% 581,350 100%
Bahawalpur State 1,098,814 81.93% 174,408 13% 46,945 3.5% 3,048 0.23% 351 0.03% 17,643 1.32% 1,341,209 100%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 40,084 99.6% 160 0.4% 2 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 40,246 100%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Singh, Nagendra Kr; Khan, Abdul Mabud (2001). Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims: Tribes, Castes and Communities. Global Vision. ISBN 978-81-87746-09-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "TABLE 9 - POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN" (PDF). Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Population by religion community – 2011". The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "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 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5.
  6. ↑ Wheeler, James Talboys (1874). The History of India from the Earliest Ages: Hindu Buddhist Brahmanical revival. N. Trübner. p. 330. The Punjab, to say the least, was less Brahmanical. It was an ancient centre of the worship of Indra, who was always regarded as an enemy by the Bráhmans; and it was also a stronghold of Buddhism.
  7. ↑ Hunter, W. W. (2013-11-05). The Indian Empire: Its People, History and Products. Routledge. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-136-38301-4. In the settlements of the Punjab, Indra thus advanced to the first place among the Vedic divinities.
  8. ↑ Virdee, Pippa (February 2018). From the Ashes of 1947. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-108-42811-8. The Rig Veda and the Upanishads, which belonged to the Vedic religion, were a precursor of Hinduism, both of which were composed in Punjab.
  9. ↑ Flood, Gavin (13 July 1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5.
  11. ↑ "In ancient Punjab, religion was fluid, not watertight, says Romila Thapar". The Indian Express. 2019-05-03. Thapar said Buddhism was very popular in Punjab during the Mauryan and post-Mauryan period. Bookended between Gandhara in Taxila on the one side where Buddhism was practised on a large scale and Mathura on another side where Buddhism, Jainism and Puranic religions were practised, this religion flourished in the state. But after the Gupta period, Buddhism began to decline.
  12. ↑ Rambo, Lewis R.; Farhadian, Charles E. (2014-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion. Oxford University Press. pp. 489–491. ISBN 978-0-19-971354-7. First, Islam was introduced into the southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the sixteenth century, Muslims were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of mosques and mausoleums marked the landscape. Local converts constituted the majority of this Muslim community, and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the Islamic confession of faith (shahada), the performance of the circumcision (indri vaddani), and the ingestion of cow-meat (bhas khana).
  13. ↑ Chhabra, G. S. (1968). Advanced History of the Punjab: Guru and post-Guru period upto Ranjit Singh. New Academic Publishing Company. p. 37.
  14. ↑ Rambo, Lewis R.; Farhadian, Charles E. (2014-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion. Oxford University Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-0-19-971354-7. While Punjabi Hindu society was relatively well established, there was also a small but vibrant Jain community in the Punjab. Buddhist communities, however, had largely disappeared by the turn of the tenth century.
  15. ↑ Nicholls, Ruth J.; Riddell, Peter G. (2020-07-31). Insights into Sufism: Voices from the Heart. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-5748-2. With the Muslim conquest of Punjab there was a flow of Sufis and other preachers who came to spread Islam. Much of the advance of Islam was due to these preachers.
  16. ↑ Singh, Pritam (2008-02-19). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-04946-2.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 1, Report". Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  18. ↑ Krishan, Gopal (2004). "Demography of the Punjab (1849–1947)" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 11 (1): 77–89.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  20. ↑ Dyson 2018, pp. 188–189.
  1. 1 2 Estimates from combining 2011 Indian census and 2017 Pakistani census with religious data amalgamated from Punjab, India, Punjab, Pakistan, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Islamabad, and Chandigarh.[2][3][4]
  2. ↑ Delhi district is made into a separate territory
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Including Ad-Dharmis
  4. ↑ 1941 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Gujrat, Shahpur, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Attock, Mianwali, Montgomery, Lyallpur, Jhang, Multan, Muzaffargargh, Dera Ghazi Khan), one tehsil (Shakargarh – then part of Gurdaspur District), one princely state (Bahawalpur), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the Radcliffe Line. See 1941 census data here: [19]: 42 
    Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included Bahawalpur. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
  6. ↑ 1941 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Simla, Kangra, Ambala, Hoshiarpur, and Gurdaspur (minus Shakargarh Tehsil)), and princely states (Loharu, Dujana, Pataudi, Kalsia, Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Sirmoor, Simla Hill, Bilaspur, Mandi, Suket, and Chamba) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the eastern side of the Radcliffe Line. See 1941 census data here: [19]: 42 
    Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and princely states would ultimately make up the subdivision of East Punjab, which also included Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Chief Commissioner's Province of Himachal Pradesh, and Bilaspur State. The states that make up this region in the contemporary era are Punjab, India, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.
  7. ↑ See total breakdowns in table below.

    Notes

    1. ↑ Michaels (2004, p. 38): "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (karma), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana); the idea of the world as illusion (maya) must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (asrama), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions."
      Jamison, Stephanie; Witzel, Michael (1992). "Vedic Hinduism" (PDF). Harvard University. p. 3.: "... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a contradictio in terminis since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism."
      See also Halbfass 1991, pp. 1–2

    Bibliography

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