PSEB SS PHC cheat sheet
PSEB SS PHC · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Punjab History and Culture - Key Facts and Decision Rules
Indus Valley Civilisation sites in Punjab: Harappa (Sahiwal district, now Pakistan) and Ropar/Rupnagar on the Sutlej in Indian Punjab; Harappa was first excavated by Daya Ram Sahni in 1921 under John Marshall's ASI.
Vedic period: the Rigveda's Sapta Sindhu region centres on Punjab's rivers; the Battle of the Ten Kings (Dasarajna) on the Ravi is a key textual reference point.
Taxila and the Gandhara connection: Punjab's ancient northwest linked to Achaemenid, Greek and Mauryan rule; Alexander's 326 BCE campaign included the Hydaspes (Jhelum) battle against Porus.
Sikh tradition timeline: Guru Nanak (1469–1539) born at Nankana Sahib; Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth in 1604 at Amritsar; Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib.
Key Sikh institutions: Harmandir Sahib (Amritsar, founded 1577 by Guru Ram Das), Akal Takht (1606, Guru Hargobind), and the Guru Granth Sahib as eternal Guru after 1708.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r. 1799–1839) unified Punjab from Lahore; his army included European officers and the Sikh Khalsa Fauj; the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845–46, 1848–49) ended with annexation in 1849.
Colonial and freedom movement: Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919, Amritsar), Ghadar Party (1913, San Francisco), Bhagat Singh's HSRA, and the 1947 Partition dividing Punjab between India and Pakistan.
Punjabi language and script: Gurmukhi script standardised through the Sikh tradition; Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language with tonal features; major dialects include Majhi, Malwai, Doabi, Pwadhi and Puadhi.
Cultural markers: Bhangra and Giddha folk dances, the dhol drum, folk genres such as Jugni, Tappa and Boliyan, Sufi poetry of Baba Farid, Waris Shah's Heer, and Bulleh Shah's kafis.