People

On account of its strategic location in the Indian sub-continent, wave after wave of migrants poured into the area and settled on its fertile lands and today, although originally belonging to the Aryan stock, the people of Punjab are descendants of the Iranians, Turks, Afghans and Arabs who came individually or in groups.

The people of Punjab ethnically belong to a pluralistic pattern of life but they have a common identity. They have one common faith, Islam, and they proudly share its glorious traditions in their thought and conduct. In their religious sensibility, in folklore, in regional and domestic culture and in their hopes and aspirations the people have a common identity. The dialects spoken in different regions of the land have a common vocabulary and a shared heritage. The people of Punjab also have a shared spiritual experience which has been disseminated by Tassawwaf and can be witnessed on the occasion of the remembrance festivals held on the Urs of great Sufi Saints.