PSEB Matric Punjab History and Culture flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Harappa

Major Indus Valley Civilisation site on the Ravi in present-day Sahiwal district, Pakistan; known for its grid town plan, granaries, and seals, excavated by Daya Ram Sahni from 1921.

Ropar (Rupnagar)

Excavated site on the Sutlej in Punjab, India, showing Harappan-affiliated and later cultures; important for understanding the eastern extent of Indus Valley influence.

Sapta Sindhu

Vedic term meaning 'land of seven rivers', referring to the Punjab region drained by the Indus and its tributaries; the core area of Rigvedic settlement.

Battle of the Hydaspes

326 BCE battle on the Jhelum between Alexander the Great and King Porus; a Macedonian victory, after which Alexander's army later mutinied at the Beas.

Mahajanapadas

Sixteen large states of ancient India; Gandhara and Kamboj lay in the north-west near Punjab, and the region later fell under Achaemenid Persian control.

Kanishka

Kushana emperor of the 1st–2nd century CE whose empire included Punjab; associated with the fourth Buddhist council and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism.

Mahmud of Ghazni

Ghaznavid ruler who raided north-western India from around 1000 CE, attacking temple towns such as Thanesar and Mathura; his raids weakened existing Punjab kingdoms.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Founder of Sikhism, born 1469 at Talwandi (Nankana Sahib); taught Ik Onkar, Naam Japna, Kirat Karni and Vand Chakna, rejecting caste and empty ritual.

Gurmukhi script

Script used for Punjabi and Sikh scripture; its standard form is traditionally credited to Guru Angad Dev Ji, the second Sikh Guru, who popularised it for writing.

Guru Ram Das

Fourth Sikh Guru who founded the city of Amritsar around 1574 and dug the sacred tank; he also organised the Masand system for collecting offerings.

Adi Granth

Sikh scripture first compiled by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604; it contains hymns of the Sikh Gurus and saints including Baba Farid, Kabir and Ravidas.

Miri-Piri

Doctrine introduced by Guru Hargobind combining spiritual authority (piri) with temporal or political authority (miri); symbolised by the Akal Takht built opposite the Harmandir Sahib.

Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

The ninth Sikh Guru was executed in Delhi in 1675 under Aurangzeb for defending religious freedom, especially the right of Kashmiri Pandits to their faith.

Khalsa

Founded by Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur Sahib on Baisakhi 1699; initiated Sikhs take amrit and observe the five Ks, and the Guru Granth Sahib became the eternal Guru.

Panj Piare

The 'five beloved ones' initiated by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699; the first five Sikhs who offered their heads and formed the nucleus of the Khalsa.

Five Ks

Five outward symbols of initiated Sikhs: kesh (uncut hair), kangha (comb), kara (steel bracelet), kachh (shorts) and kirpan (sword), prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh.

Banda Singh Bahadur

Sikh military leader who captured Sirhind in 1710 and established an early Sikh state; he was captured and executed by the Mughals in 1716.

Sikh misls

Confederacies of Sikh warriors that emerged in the 18th century after Mughal decline; they controlled different regions of Punjab before Ranjit Singh consolidated power.

Ranjit Singh

Sikh ruler (1780–1839) who captured Lahore in 1799, became Maharaja in 1801, and built a modern army with European officers, creating a powerful Punjab state.

Treaty of Lahore

1846 treaty ending the First Anglo-Sikh War; it ceded the Jalandhar Doab, restricted the Sikh army and installed a British resident, leading to further British control.

Annexation of Punjab

Following the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49), the British annexed Punjab in 1849, ending Sikh sovereignty and bringing the region under colonial administration.

Jallianwala Bagh

Site in Amritsar where British troops under General Dyer fired on an unarmed gathering on 13 April 1919, killing hundreds and galvanising the Indian freedom movement.

Ghadar Party

Organisation founded in 1913 in San Francisco by Indian immigrants, mainly Punjabis, to overthrow British rule through armed revolution and publications such as the Ghadar newspaper.

Komagata Maru

Japanese ship carrying Indian immigrants, mostly Sikhs from Punjab, that was turned away from Vancouver in 1914; the incident fuelled anti-British sentiment.

Bhagat Singh

Punjabi revolutionary (1907–1931) and HSRA member; he and associates were hanged in Lahore in 1931 after the Saunders killing and Assembly bomb case.

Akali movement

Gurdwara reform movement of the 1920s in Punjab that sought to free gurdwaras from corrupt mahants; it led to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925.

Partition of Punjab

1947 division of Punjab between India and Pakistan along the Radcliffe Line, causing mass migration and violence; Lahore went to Pakistan and East Punjab to India.

Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966

Law that divided the Indian Punjab into Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, with some hill areas transferred to Himachal Pradesh.

Bhangra and Giddha

Punjab's best-known folk dances: Bhangra is performed by men with the dhol, especially at Baisakhi, while Giddha is a women's circle dance with clapping and boliyan.

Heer-Ranjha

Classic Punjabi tragic romance, most famously retold by Waris Shah in the 18th century; it is a central work of Punjabi Sufi literature.

Phulkari

Traditional Punjabi embroidery using bright silk thread on coarse cloth, usually made by women and given as a gift at weddings and births.

Baisakhi

Punjabi harvest festival celebrated in mid-April; it marks the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 and is marked by Bhangra and fairs.