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Panjabi Language During British Rule


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This short paper explores the fate of the Panjabi language under British rule, written from a Pakistani perspective. One of the things I found interesting is the author's analysis of why the Brits initially tried to push Urdu as the formal state language for communication after their invasion.

The way people subsequently divided themselves along a linguistic basis, which was really a barely concealed cleaving along religious lines is significant. This seems to have kicked off the polarisation between Panjabis of different faiths. After the British left, we saw the continuation of the same pattern emerge between Sikhs and Hindus during the Panjab suba lehar.

Panjabi language_Rahman.pdf

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