Pakistanis

Pakistanis (Urdu: پاكِستانى قوم‎; Pakistani Qaum) are the people who are citizens of the modern State of Pakistan and their descendants. Pakistan is a multi-ethnic and multilingual state: the majority of its people belong linguistically to the Indo-Aryan group, and there are significant minorities belonging to the Iranic and Dard subgroups among others. As of 2011, the estimated population of Pakistan was over 199 million making it the world's sixth most-populous country.

Ethnic sub-groups

Pakistan has one of the world's fastest growing populations. As the country is located in South Asia, Pakistani people are a mixture of various ethnic groups. Several ethnic groups, invading armies and the migrations to the region by people passing through on their way to and from Indus have left their imprint on the population.

Pakistani people belong predominantly to seven main ethno-linguistic groups: Punjabis, Sindhis, Seraikis, Pashtuns, Mohajirs, Balochs, and Kashmiris, with substantial numbers of Brahuis, Hindkowans, Shins, Burushos, Wakhis, Baltis, Chitralis and other small, minority ethnic groups in the remote north of the country.

Punjabi

Punjabi may refer to:

In culture:

Other:

See also

Heer Ranjha

Heer Ranjha (Punjabi: ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ, ہیر رانجھا, hīr rāñjhā) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab. The others are Mirza Sahiba, and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah written in 1766. It tells the story of the love of Heer and her lover Ranjha.

Example

The invocation at the beginning, in one version goes thus
(The Legends of the Panjab by RC Temple, Rupa and Company, Volume two, page 606) Rag Hir Ranjha
 :

Translation
First take the name of Allah and second the Great Muhammad, the prophet (of God)
Third, take the name of father and mother, on whose milk my body thrived
Fourth, take the name of bread and water, by eating which my heart is gladdened
Fifth, take the name of Mother Earth, on whom I place my feet.
Sixth, take the name of Khwaja (Khizr, the Saint), who gives me cold water to drink
Seventh, take the name of Guru Gorakh Nath who is worshiped with a platter of milk and rice
Eighth, take the name of Lalanwala who breaks the bonds and the chains of captives