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| Punjabi Language also spelled PANJABI,
central Indo-Aryan language spoken in Punjab, an area now divided between India and
Pakistan; to the west, modern Punjabi merges into the Lahnda language (q.v.). Punjabi is
one of the 14 regional languages recognized in the Indian constitution. In vocabulary it is very similar to Western Hindi. It has little literature and shows little borrowing from Persian, Arabic, or Sanskrit. Two alphabets are used: Lahnda, indigenous to the region and related to Devanagari; and Gurmukhi, devised by the Sikh Guru Angad (1539-52) in order to correct certain inadequacies in the Landa script so that sacred literature might be accurately recorded. The alphabet has 42 letters, 32 consonantal signs and 10 vowel signs. to be used for the scriptures of the Sikhs and now employed for general purposes as well. Earlier, Punjabi was transported to other regions in India and even to China. Gurmukhi alphabet Writing system developed by the Sufis and Sikhs in India for the sacred literature. It
seems to have been modified from the Landa script, which is used to write the Punjabi,
Lahnda, and Sindhi languages.
We have no relation to any of these links, just mentioning them for public benefit. You must make sure as we are not responsible for anything. Brother Paul Grewal sent us information on Free Punjabi Fonts by Mr Hardip Pannu, offering free
download of Punjabi Fonts. MAC. Mac Fonts is by Dr. Kulbir S. Thind.Other LINKS we found on the net: Multimedia Punjabi Tutor windows by Akal Systems.available at their website: Indian Languages page with various fonts Learn Punjabi Alphabet
Punjabi Gurmukhi,is mainly used in India. In Pakistan, Punjabi is mainly spoken rather than written; it is also a predominantly rural rather than an urban language. Urdu, rather than Punjabi, is the first language taught in schools in Punjab, so that every educated Punjabi reads and writes Urdu. There was a movement for the promotion of the Punjabi language in the 1980s and '90s, and some Punjabi literature is being published using the Urdu script; among the works published are Punjabi classics that have hitherto been available in Gurmukhi script or preserved in oral tradition. Languages of neighbouring areas: Himachali or Pahari spoken in
Himachal Pradesh, Saraiki spoken in Multan (Pakistan) Sindhi is derived from the Virachada dialect of Prakrit; it has fewer dialects than Punjabi. It is written in a special variant of the Arabic script. Most of the educated middle class in Sindh were Hindu, and their departure to India in 1947 had a traumatic effect on Sindhi culture. Pashto, the language of the Pathans (Pashtuns, or Pakhtuns) of the North-West Frontier Province, has no written literary traditions although it has a rich oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in southern areas. As in the Pakistan's Punjab province, Urdu is the language taught in schools, and educated Pathans read and write Urdu. Again, as in the case of Punjabi, there was a movement for developing the written language in Persian script and increasing the usage of Pashto. From 1979 onward, as many as 3.5 million largely Pashto-speaking refugees arrived in Pakistan from Afghanistan. While most were accommodated in refugee camps in and around Peshawar, a number of them settled in Karachi, further complicating the city's ethnic and linguistic picture. Contribute your views to Bulletin Board |
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The information below does not pretend to be a complete listing of Punjabi Literature; but whatever we could find. If you have other profiles or information please send us and we will post with your credit. We have no information available on modern Punjabi Literature in Pakistan.
Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature. In last 5 decades, Pakistan and India has seen some great Punjabi writers.
Guru Gobind Singh (17th century), legendary saint, soldier and poet was a prolific writer. He spent his youth in studying Sanskrit, Persian and other Indian scriptures. Guru Gobind Singh compiled the final version of the Adi Granth. His own writings were collected by his disciple Mani Singh thirty years after his demise.The compilation, comprising over two thousand hymns, is known as the Dasm Granth-the Granth of the tenth Guru. His ballad, Chandi Di Var (Ode to the Divine Sword), is a unique composition in Punjabi. Neither before nor after it, has martial poetry of such a fine calibre been produced in the language. Chandi Di Var is the dual vehicle of spirituality and heroism. It also epitomised Punjabi identity and in a wider context, the Indian ethos. The Guru had risen against Mughal oppression, and felt the need for an image that could stimulate the entire nation which the var (martial ode) answered. It occupies a special niche in the tradition of martial poetry, because of its allegorical nature and archetypal expression. The Sikh soldiery is said to recite this var before attacking the enemy. Waris Shah (c. 1736-90) was a consummate artiste, deeply learned in Islamic and Indian lore. His verse is a treasure-trove of Punjabi phrases, idioms and sayings. His minute and realistic depiction of each detail of Punjabi life remains unique. Of all his works, his version of the legendary romance of Heer is the most outstanding. Heer Waris Shah (or The Romance of Heer Ranjha) is believed to be based on the true account of two star-crossed lovers, who lived during the times of Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is also said that Waris Shah sublimated his own unrequited love for a girl in writing the romance. The amazing poetic mould that he worked within has not been bettered by any of his successors to date.Waris Shah's mausoleum in Pakistan is today a pilgrimage site, especially for those in love. (1872-1957), Sikh writer and theologian who was chiefly responsible for raising the Punjabi language to a literary level never before attained. He wrote at a time when Sikh religion and politics and the Punjabi language were under such strong attack by the English that the Sikhs had begun to doubt the value of their way of life. With his versatile pen, he extolled Sikh courage, philosophy, and ideals, gathering respect for the Punjabi language as a literary vehicle. The core of his philosophy is that man must overcome his pride or ego before he can realize God. Once the battle of self is won, man can then know God in all of his manifestations. Bhai Vir Singh founded the weekly paper Khalsa Samacar ("News of the Khalsa") in Amritsar (1899), where it is still published. Among his novels are Kalgidlur Camathar (1935), a novel on the life of the 17th-century guru Gobind Singh, and Guru Nanak Camathar, 2 vol. (1936; "Stories of Guru Nanak"), a biography of the originator of the Sikhism. Other novels on Sikh philosophy and martial excellence include Sundari (1943), Bijai Singh (1899), and Baba Noudh Singh (1946). He used poetical and literary forms never before known to Punjabi, such as short metre and blank verse. His poem "The Vigil" was published posthumously. The Punjab University recognized his contribution by awarding him an honorary doctorate. the father of modern Punjabi poetry, penned Rana Surat Singh, his epic poem of over 14, 000 lines, over the span of two years. Steeped in the spiritual mysteries of the Sikh faith, this epic, an allegorical fantasy, handles realms beyond the physical. A member of the coterie that ushered the Singh Sabha movement in Punjab, Bhai Vir Singh used his epic to propagate the cardinal features of the Sikh religion. It was also the first time that verse libre, called Sirkhandi Chhand was tried in Punjabi verse. The epic is the odyssey of a soul in quest of self-knowledge, and has often been compared with John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Dante's Divine Comedy. It brought about a radical change in Punjabi poetry lending it new dimensions, new idiom and new potentialities of expression. Nanak Singh (1897-1971), a prolific writer, has been called the father of the Punjabi novel. He made significant contributions to various literary genres. For him character was the determination of incident and incident the illustration of character. His greatest contribution to Punjabi fiction is its secularisation. He depicted excerpts from contemporary life, cloaked with a veil of romantic idealism. His great historical novel, Ik Mian Do Talwaran (One Sheath and Two Swords, 1959) won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1962. Mohan Singh 'Mahir' (1905-78) is believed by many to be the greatest Punjabi poet of recent times. He earned this distinction after writing his great epic, Nankayan ( Life of Nanak, 1971). He was also responsible for introducing modernism in Punjabi poetry. Experimenting boldly with form, Freudian and Marxian overtones, 'Mahir' died with a deep commitment to 'Punjabiat' - the Punjabi identity. Nankayan is a commissioned work penned at the request of Punjabi University to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Guru Nanak. He had also successfully translated Edwin Arnold's The Light of Asia into Punjabi verse, depicting the life of the Buddha. b. 1917) and Mohan Singh are the most celebrated poets of Punjabi literature. The period immediately after Independence, marred by the bloody Partition, is rightfully known as the 'Amrita Pritam-Mohan Singh Era' of Punjabi poetry. Pritam's poetry is a wonderful blend of earthiness and the unfathomable depths of the psyche of a woman shackled by small-town orthodox ideas in which she grew up, and later an emancipated woman who broke free in cosmopolitan Lahore and then Delhi. Her immortal poem on the tragedy of the Partition, Ajj Akhan Waris Shah Noo (Waris Shah Today) virtually became a legend, sung with great pathos allover the Punjabi-speaking areas on both sides of the border. With her first novel Doctor Dev in the late sixties, Amrita Pritam branched off into prose. Pinjar (The Skeleton, 1970), her second novel is one of her most powerful works - a intensely poignant account of the Partition. Her prose has a distinct poetic and lyrical quality about it which endeared her not only to her Punjabi readers but also her Hindi audience. (b. 1917) is a brilliant Punjabi writer. A master craftsman, Duggal has penned several novels, short stories, plays and poems. He remains unparalleled in Punjabi literature for having fictionalised landmark events in the contemporary history of India. Among his works is the celebrated trilogy covering a volatile period of Punjab, starting with the freedom struggle and ending with the declaration of general elections by Mrs. Indira Gandhi after the Emergency. The first novel is called Haal Mureedan Da (The Plight of the Devotees), the second Ab Na Bason Eh Gaon (No More Will I Live in This Village), and the last Jal Ki Pyaas Na Jaaye (The Thirst for Water Never Dies). Gurdial Singh (b. 1933) is a realist and one who knows his craft. As a writer he depicts life in all its sombre hues. He believes that heredity and environment determine the fate of man, and his characters are drawn from the fringes of rural society, seething with passion, but longing for the touch of compassion. His first novel, Marhi Da Diva (A Lamp in the Cremation Ground, 1964) is regarded as his magnum opus. In this novel, Gurdial Singh has succeeded in delineating a startlingly realistic portrait of the people forming an integral part of the rural landscape.The author focuses on the psychological tensions and social misgivings of a much neglected class. (b. 1934), primarily a fiction writer, has nine collections of short stories and two novels to her credit. She got the Sahitya Akademi Award for her fine autobiographical work titled Khanabadosh (The Gypsy, 1982). The fact remains that the thin line dividing her autobiographical work and her fiction is rather flimsy. While Khanabadosh is admittedly an autobiography, her collection of short stories, Savian Chidian (Sea-green Sparrows) houses on some key episodes of her own life. Amongst all the biographical writings in Punjabi, Ajeet Cour's work is distinct in its highlighting the various contours of her career. Dalip Kaur Tiwana (b. 1935) is a prominent novelist of
contemporary Punjabi literature. Her works focus on the mindscape of the oppressed woman
and the lowly position society accords to her. Another major theme running through her
writings is the naive rural folk and their suppressed ambitions and desires. Tragedy and
irony are the hallmarks of her fiction. The complex inner duality of the female psyche is
Tiwana's principal concern. Her finest work, by far, is the novel Langh Gaye Darya (The
Waters Flows down the Rivers, 1990). She emerges as the highly potent narrator of the life
and times of the royalty of Patiala, and of those who work for them. Shiv Kumar Batalvi (1936-73) is called the Keats of Punjabi poetry. His urban upbringing in a brahminical environment proved to be his greatest asset which he exploited to the best of his poetic genius. It is a culture exclusive to Shiv Batalvi, amongst his peers. His great play in verse, Loona (1965), which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award, gives a new interpretation to the legend of Pooran Bhagat which had been dealt with by other luminaries like Qadir Yar and Professor Puran Singh. Batalvi's conception and treatment of the story is unique and brilliant, wherein he identifies himself with the female character Loona, and portrays the plight of the downtrodden Indian woman. Dasven Padshah ka Granth collection of writings attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last spiritual leader of the Sikhs, a religious group in India. Dasam Granth is a short title for Dasven Padshah ka Granth (Punjabi: "The Book of the Tenth Emperor [i.e., spiritual leader]"). It is a compilation of hymns, philosophical writing, Hindu mythological tales, autobiography, and erotic fables, written in Braj Bhasa, Hindi, Persian, and Punjabi. Scholars are not in agreement as to the work's total authenticity, and it may represent a bringing together of Guru Gobind Singh's own writings with those from other sources, such as his court poets. Though some of the hymns are used in Sikh worship and ritual, the Dasam Granth is not accorded the same reverence paid to the chief Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth. We invite information and links on Punjabi Literature in India and Pakistan to add on this page. We will credit your name for this contribution.
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| Poetry | ||||||
| Poets of Past Bulle Shah - A 17th Century poet by Mr. Mandeep Singh Sandhu Modern Punjabi Poets
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