Friday, March 29, 2024
Punjab

People


▪ Introduction ▪ Socio-Economic Structure ▪ Cultural Complexity
▪ Community Laws ▪ Tribal Settlements ▪ Trends after partition


Cultural Complexity

  Not a single village in the Punjab is homogeneous. Every community has its own social customs which are different to some extent from those of others. Religion further determines this cultural difference and mode of living. Even when a Jat and a Khatri are next-door neighbours,
some of their cultural traits remain different from each other. The practice of widow remarriage, for instance, is accepted by Jats but it is almost a taboo among the Khatris. The Jats and the Khatris are further sub-divided into many clans which have their characteristic differences in customs pertaining to birth, death, marriage, etc. Then there are the erstwhile low-castes who differ from all the other people in their habits and social customs. Besides, the three geographical strips, Majha, Malwa and Doaba have certain local cultural traits. It is marvelous that under all these peculiarities a thread of homogeneity binds the Punjabis together as a whole. The Greeks, the Scythians, the Parthians, the Huns, the Pathans and the Mughals came here, settled down and got woven into its cultural fabric.