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Punjab

The land of five rivers

Punjab, or the land of five rivers, is a region shaped by the five tributaries of the Indus river. Historically, Punjab’s fertile river valley attracted numerous invaders from Central Asia’s inhospitable stretches, the Achaemenid Empire, the Greeks, the Ghaznavids, the Mughals, the Afghans among others. Learning from the rivers that flow through the state, Punjab too, changed with the currents – resisting, repelling or assimilating with the myriad hordes that tried to claim its riches. Some stretches of the Indus valley once named Punjab, fall within present-day Pakistan – and the state’s culture of agriculture, clothing, festivals, food and martial arts is an interesting mix of historic influences.