Lehal Library

4 The Punjab and Lhe Binh of Sikhism of the tract between the Sutlej and the Jumna live people who speak the Punjabi language and describe themselves as the people of the Punjab. The homeland of the vast majority of the Sikhs is in the doabs between the Chenab and the Jumna. and the Sutlej and the Jumna, they are known by a combination of the names of the two rivers between which they lie. These names were coined in the lime of Emperor Akbar, presumably by his minister, Todar Mal. a . The Sindh Sagar Doab, between the Indus and the Jhelum. b. The Chaj Doab between the Chenab and the Jhelurn. This doab was also known as Dhanni-Ghl'h, Chinhat-Chenab, and Behat (which is another name for the Jhelum). c. The Rechna l>oab between the Ravi and the Chenab. Al one time this area was known as Dharpi. d. The Bari Doab between the Beas and the Ravi. The tract on either side of the Ravi south of Lahore was at one ume called Nakki. e. The Bist Doab or the Bist:Jullundur Doab between the Beas and the Sutlej. This area is also known as Secroval because of the many hill torrents (sirs) which intersect it. r. The Cis-Sutlej Doab between tl1e Sutlej and thejumna. Only the northwestern portion of this doab is strictly in the Punjab. Since tlle river Sutlej runs tlirough the middle of the zone of tllc main concentration of Sikh population, historians refer to tlle region west of the river as the Trans-Sutlej and that cast of tile river as the Cis-&1tlej This division corresponds roughly to the traditional division of the Punjab into Majha and Malwa explained later in this footnote. In addition to these divisions, the following Punjabi names for different regions have been (and in some cases still are) used: a. Polhohar or Dhanni Potbohar for Rawalpindi district including a part of Jhelurn district. b. Majba or the middle, for the Bari Doab The people living in Majha are known as Majhails. (AJso spoken of as Manjha and Manjhail.) c. Doab for the Bari Doab orJullundur Doab. The inhabitants are known as Doabias. d. Malwa for the Punjabi-speaking zone between the Sutlej and the Jumna. The people are known as Malwais. (The Malwa of the Punjab should llOl be confused witll the Malwa of Central India, nonh of the river Narmada.) Malwa is sometimes referred to as Si:rhind. e. Kurukshctra, betwec_n the rivers Sarasvati and DrisadvaLi (probably the presem-<lay Ghaggar). In this region somewhere becween Kamal and Jind was fought tlle famous battle between the Kurus and Pandavas mentioned in the Mahabharata which occasioned the sermon by Knshna