Punjabi vs Indian
“Punjabi” and “Indians” are two terms which are related to ethnicity and race. Indians are people residing in India or having an Indian origin. Punjabis are people residing or originating from the region of Punjab both in India as well as in Pakistan.
Punjabi
The Punjabi people are more of an ethnic group mainly from North India among other groups which presently constitute some portions of Indian Punjab, Kashmir, Rajasthan, and a majority of regions of Punjab located in Pakistan and some other states of North India. The Punjabi people reside mostly in the state of Punjab of both India and Pakistan, a location of one of the oldest civilizations in the valley of the Indus River. They have a strong cultural background, and their culture has been their traditional identity. The Punjabi language is their prime language. Nevertheless, in recent years, the definition of “Punjabi” has been widened by including other emigrants from different regions who follow the Punjabi culture and traditions.
In India, the Punjabi population is about 2.5 percent, and the majority of Punjabi-speaking people live in the states of: Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Punjabis are culturally and linguistically related to other Indo-Aryan peoples of South Asia. Punjabis are located the world over especially in the U.K., Canada, USA, Kenya, Uganda, Persian Gulf, Tanzania, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Australia. As an ethnic group, Punjabis are among the largest in the world.
A portion of the Punjabi population is found in Pakistan as well. Approximately 40 percent of Pakistan’s population is Punjabi. They hail from groups called “biradris.” They are descendants of a common ancestor. The present nomenclature is based on the geographical location of the population. In India, the main language of the Punjabi people is Punjabi, while in the Pakistani Punjabi, a variety of dialects are used like: “Potwari,” “Hindko,” “Lahnda,” etc.
Indian
An Indian is a citizen of the Republic of India. Indians constitute about 17 percent of the total world’s population. India has hundreds of languages and thousands of ethnic groups. Punjabi is one among these.
India is a diverse nation with many different religions being followed which mainly include: Hinduism (80 percent of the population), Islam (13.4 percent of the population), Buddhism (0.8 percent of the population), Sikhism (1.9 percent of the population), Jainism (0.4 percent of the population), Christianity (2.3 percent of the population), and many more. It is a place where religion plays a central role in the lives of its people.
Summary:
- The Punjabi people are natives of India as well as Pakistan, while Indians are people who are natives of India only.
- The commonly spoken language by the Punjabi people is mainly Punjabi while the language spoken by an Indian is mainly Hindi or a regional language of the region he belongs to.
- The Punjabi people follow mainly Sikhism in India and Islam in Pakistan while Indian people follow a variety of religions mainly: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.
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WHAT IS SO FREAKING GREAT ABOUT PUNJABI.
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They are best 🙂
No derrrrr
Punjabi pride <3
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Easy . Indian people copy our food , music , dressing , dance moves etc etc etc 🙂
ever see a punjabi wedding with dhokla being served with dandia ….laughable isnt it ….
but you will see punjabi music being played throughout India and rest of Indians dancing to it wearing punjabi suits munching punjabi butter chicken ….. Cant deny the facts now can we 🙂
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and who “exactly” are Indian people? Indian refers to a nationality, not an ethnic or linguistic group. Punjabis are another ethnic group in India, just like many others.
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I’ve seen serving dhokla in Punjabi marriage in pathankot.
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No differnce, just Pujanbi are up there selves. Were all the same, just cos were in the UK, with a Guji population, we think were it. Just imagine if UP made it to UK instead of Punjab, then we ould be nowhere.
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Sorry, i am not being bias or anything but Punjabi’s r not up themselves, we like to embrace our culture not compare it with any other culture. All culture r equal in anything. There is no difference in the two cultures it is just that these cultures have different beliefs and traditions. Thankyou:)
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If a narration is 10% wrong and 90% right where 10% becomes a critical element, then the 100% narration is misinformed. This is that narration which is 100% wrong by differentiating Punjabi with Indians as ethnicity. Its already misplaced.
Indians is not an ethnicity; it is a Citizenship based on land named India. If Punjabi ethnicity has an Indian passport, he/she’s an Indian by Citizenship.
A gujarati, malyali, kannada, marathi, haryanvi are all ethnicities with different language, food, looks as well, but Indians by Citizenship. They are all different from Punjabi and each other too. But they are United Citizens of India.
How does a Punjabi Differ from Rest of India is “generically” correct and absolutely “wrong”. The earliest ancestry of Punjabis possibly was from Central Asia, Afghanistan; and they settled at Indus Valley. Their route of entry into India was Central Asia and most other Indians had it from Africa direct or second migrations supposedly from Gulf through thar desert.
Said that, it was “before” sikhism. Once Sikhism was invoked it accepted everyone into the fold that believed in one God. This led to dissolution of the earliest Ancestry of clean lines of Central Asia. Most Sikh Punjabis therefore today are a mixed lot of Punjabi and local Indians. However the Punjabis that remained Hindus generally remain with more ration of Central Asian gene because of Caste system and not integrating into lower caste, especially the Brahmin. However this is going away as well so it wont last for long.
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This is by far the most accurate and unbiased awnser. Thanks for the education, we all need alot more of it.
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Thank you. I’m glad it was of value. I also know cos I did a lot of study in this including Gene mapping through genographic.
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Your reply was absolutely the most sincere & accurate with out bias as another person also mentioned! Very educative and informative. I must say that your information was better than the post. Also you are correct there a TONS of Hindu Punjabis and now a days though we remain Hindu we are beginning to get married regardless of caste
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Well said. You can also be Punjabi just by being from Punjab as well. Punjabi does not always relate to religion. It is a culture of the land on its own. However, the vast majority of Punjabi’s are Sikh as Punjabi is the language spoken by Sikh and is the place where there is a large population of Sikhs. Indian is a nationality just like being from other countries.
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Punjabis are Indian.You see,India is a big coumtry with alots of religion and groups.Punjabis are the people from punjab.Which means punjabis are indians.Indian meaning nationality.For ana exampl,if you are a hindu from malaysia your know as a Malaysian hindu which also applies to everything else.So punjab is just a state in India.PUNJABIS , ARE INDIANS.
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Well said! Makes the most sense!
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I see above comments reference the term ‘punjabi’ in terms of geography/region. I would like to discuss the ‘punjabi’ in terms of women’s clothing. I am of western descent but have been told by Indian national friends (from the Hyderabad area) that the outfit they call a ‘punjabi’ is traditionally worn by an unmarried woman. In Australia however I frequently see women both married and unmarried wearing these outfits. I am wanting to know if traditional rules are also now changing and am a little confused. I had a nice lady at work suddenly turn rude, claim she was offended when I gave her a compliment on her lovely ‘punjabi’. She stated I was using slang and suggested the term referenced male clothing? Then admitted it actually depends on what region you are from? I have never seen anyone else react like this before and feel like she was the one being rude. What am I missing? I have googled Indian dress and see variations of the ‘punjabis’ used for women’s clothing and can’t see what the problem was. The way she explained it was that she thought I was saying she was wearing male clothing and that using the term ‘punjabis’ was somehow incorrect. Her next comment was to link all of the above with the caste system. That totally baffles me! Can someone who understands this please explain as no offence was intended.
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