Punjabi Muslims

Punjabi Muslims (Punjabi: پن٘جابی مُسلمان) are Punjabis who are adherents of Islam. With a population of more than 112 million, they are the third-largest predominantly Islam-adhering Muslim ethnicity in the world, after Arabs and Bengalis.

The majority of Punjabi Muslims are adherents of Sunni Islam, while a minority adhere to Shia Islam. Most of them are primarily geographically native to the Pakistani province of Punjab, but a large group of them have ancestry across the Punjab region as a whole. Punjabi Muslims speak or identify with the Punjabi language (under a Perso-Arabic script known as Shahmukhi) as their mother tongue.

The coalescence of the various tribes, castes and the inhabitants of the Punjab region into a broader common "Punjabi" identity initiated from the onset of the 16th century CE. However, Punjab as a linguistic, geographical and cultural entity had existed for centuries prior. Integration and assimilation are important parts of Punjabi culture, since Punjabi identity is not based solely on tribal connections. Islam spread in the region via missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of the Punjab region, thereby becoming the faith of many by the 16th century. This contributed to the formation of a Punjabi Muslim identity.

At the advent of Islam in the seventh century, Punjab was part of Takka kingdom. By then, Buddhism had declined in Punjab after the fall of the Kushans, and had largely disappeared by the turn of the 10th century. Several scholars have identified Takka kingdom with the kingdom of al-Usaifan, whose king is reported by al-Biladhuri to have converted to Islam during the reign of Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). However, Islam as a political power got introduced via southern Punjab only after the 8th century Umayyad conquest of Sindh. The first Muslim state in Punjab was the Emirate of Multan, established in 855 after the disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate. In the 11th century, Muslim conquered northern Punjab after the defeat of the native Hindu Shahis by the Ghaznavids. The city of Lahore emerged as a thriving city, rivalling Ghazni and effectively acted as a second capital of the empire.

In Punjab, conversion to Islam occurred mostly amongst pastoralist or agricultural groups that were not integrated into the Hindu Varna social class hierarchy, such as Jats, who were known to Muslims as Zutt. The tribes of the Bar region would be contacted by Sufi mystics like Fariduddin Ganjshakar over the centuries and converted to Islam, albeit a syncretic form. The Gakhars of the Pothohar Plateau were noted for their martial capabilities and gradually converted to Islam.

In 1161, the Ghurids conquered the city of Ghazni, forcing the Ghaznavids to shift their capital to Lahore. Soon, however, Muhammad Ghori invaded Punjab as well, and conquered Lahore and Multan in 1186, marking end of the Ghaznavids. In 1206, he was assassinated at Damiak by Isma'ilis or Punjabi Khokhars. One of his Mamluk slaves, Qutb ud-Din Aibak, established the Delhi Sultanate, with Lahore being the first capital of the sultanate. The early period of the Delhi Sultanate saw several Mongol invasions of Punjab. Ultimately, Mongols were defeated during the rule of the Khalji dynasty.

Islam became firmly established in Punjab during the era of Delhi Sultanate, and tribes like Khokhars played an important role in the inter-dynastic struggle. In 1320, Ghazi Malik, the former governor of Multan, rebelled against the Khalji rule. With the support of various factions including Khokhars, he established the Tughlaq dynasty. Some of the earliest mentions of Punjabi language date to this period.

By the late 14th century, the Tughlaq dynasty had declined, and the sultanate was divided among various warlords. The city of Lahore was intermittently captured by Khokhars. Taking advantage of the prevailing anarchy, Timur led a brutal invasion of Delhi sultanate in 1398. Lahore had been under control of Shaikha Khokhar since 1394, who resisted Timur but was defeated and killed. Afterwards, Timur plundered Delhi and massacred its inhabitants. Tughlaq power crumbled and resulted in nobles asserting formal independence. In 1414 the Tughlaq dynasty was itself replaced by Sayyid dynasty of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain. Much of the time of Sayyid Sultans was spent in fighting against Jasrat, who was the most formidable opponent of Delhi sultans in Punjab. South Punjab became independent from Delhi when Langah Sultanate broke away in 1445. The rulers of medieval Gujarat Sultanate in western India are also described as having Punjabi Khatri origins.