User:Rahul khan111/sandbox/Khani

Khani is a surname among people in India. They are a group of people that follow the Hindu religion and have their roots and origin in the Punjab region of the Indian Subcontinent. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the states of Punjab, Jammu, Chandigarh, and Delhi. Hinduism has been prevalent in Punjab since historical times before the arrival of Islam and birth of Sikhism in Punjab. Some of the influential Sikh figures such as Guru Nanak, Banda Singh Bahadur, Bhai Mati Das, all originated from Hindu families of Punjab. Many of Punjab's Hindus converted to Sikhism. In fact, Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and so on. Examples of Punjabi Hindus include the former Prime ministers of India I.K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and scientist Hargobind Khorana.

Contents [hide] 1 Vedic Punjab 1.1 Classic cities of the Punjab region 2 Castes 3 Notable Punjabi Hindus 4 References Vedic Punjab[edit source]

Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Realms or tribes are labelled black, Foreign tribes mentioned in early Vedic texts purple, Vedic shakhas in green. Rivers are labelled blue. The Thar desert is marked orange. The original Punjab region is now divided into several units: West Punjab (now in Pakistan), portions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa such as the Gandharar region, the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and the Indian Union territory of Chandigarh. The regions of Azad Kashmir and Jammu have also been historically associated with the Punjab.

The Punjab is the 'Sapta Sindhu' region mentioned in the Rig Veda, the seven rivers are:

Saraswati (thought to be the present day Ghaggar), Satadru/Shutadri (Sutlej), Vipasa (Beas), Asikani, Chandrabhaga (Chenab), Iravati (Ravi), Vitasta/Vet (Jhelum) and Sindhu (Indus). The modern name of the Vipasa,'Beas' is thought to be a corruption of Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata.

Among the classic books that were wholly or partly composed in this region are the following.

Rigveda Grammar of Sakatayana Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini Nirukta of Yaska Charaka Samhita Mahabharata along with the Bhagavad Gita Brihatkatha of Gunadya The Bakhshali Manuscript The world's oldest university Takshashila flourished here, even before the Buddha's birth.

The Brahmins of this region are called 'Saraswata' after the legendary Saraswati river region, once known for the ashramas of the rishis.

Classic cities of the Punjab region[edit source] Peshawar(Peshawar), North West Frontier Province: Capital of Kanishka, the Kushan ruler and the site of the tallest stupa in Jambudvipa. [[]] (), North West Frontier Province: Founded by a son of Bharata, brother of Sri Rama, according to the Ramayana [[]] (Taxila), Punjab(Pakistan): Also founded by a son of Bharata. Multan(),Punjab(Pakistan): Pilgrimage site of the legendary Sun temple. Rawalpindi, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Bappa Rawal, from the Sisodiya clan of Mewar Rajputs and ancestor of Rana Pratap Singh. Sialkot, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Sul (Shalya), emperor of Madradesa and brother of Madri, second wife of emperor Pandu and mother to Nakul and Sahadeva Kasur, Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Kusha, son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra Natak written by Guru Gobind Singh. Lahore,Punjab(Pakistan): city founded by Lava(Loh), son of Sri Rama according to the Bichitra Natak. Amritsar, Punjab(India): It is believed that the hermitage of Sage Valmiki, author of the Ramayana was located in the vicinity of the area that forms the modern city of Amritsar today. Valmiki is said to have composed the great epic at this very spot. Also, Sita gave birth to the twins, Lava and Kusha in this hermitage. Jalandhar, Punjab(India): A historic city mentioned in the Puranas and the most famous city in Punjab. Kurukshetra,Haryana: The site of the Mahabharata war. Karnal, Haryana: city founded by Karna. Katasraj temple, Punjab(Pakistan): Classic temple complex in the Chakwal district, site of the 'enchanted pool' episode in the Mahabharata, where Yudhishthira is tested by his father Lord Yama/Dharma. Castes[edit source] Most Punjabi Hindus come from Brahmin, Arora, Rajput, Khatri, Agarwal, Bhatia, Chamar, Kumhar, Jat, Chhimba, Saini and Khani communities.

Notable Punjabi Hindus[edit source] Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian freedom fighter Sukhdev Thapar, Indian freedom Fighter Madan Lal Dhingra, Indian freedom fighter Kalpana Chawla, Astranaut, NASA Vikram Batra, Indian Army, War Hero Pran Nath Thapar, Indian Army General (1961-62) Om Prakash Malhotra, Indian Army General (1978-81) Nirmal Chander Vij, Indian Army General (2002-2005) Deepak Kapoor, Indian Army General (2007-2010) Gurdayal Basra, Professor, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom Deepak Malhotra, Eli Goldston Professor, Harvard Business School, USA Ajay Sood, Fellow of Royal Society, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Upinder S. Bhalla, Professor, NCBS, Bangalore Arun Kumar Grover, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University Geet Siriram Sethi, National Player (Snooker), India Pankaj Advani, National Player (Snooker), India Gagan Narang, National Player (Shooting), India Abhinav Bindra, National Player (Shooting), India Prithviraj Kapoor's, Kapoor family,[1][2] famous family of the Hindi film industry. Raj Kapoor Randhir Kapoor Karishma Kapoor Kareena Kapoor Ritu Nanda née Kapoor Rima Jain née Kapoor Rishi Kapoor Ranbir Kapoor Rajiv Kapoor Shammi Kapoor Aditya Raj Kapoor Shashi Kapoor Kunal Kapoor Sanjana Kapoor Karan Kapoor Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Billionaire Lakshman Das Mittal, founder and chairman of Sonalika Group, Billionaire Qimat Rai Gupta, founder and chairman of Havells, Billionaire Naresh Goyal, founder and chairman of Jet Airways, Billionaire Brijmohan Lall Munjal, Businessman and founder of Hero Cycles Gulshan Kumar, founder of T-Series Dev Anand, actor Sunil Dutt, actor and politician Sanjay Dutt,actor Rajesh Khanna, actor Twinkle Khanna, actor and writer Yash Chopra, film producer and director Aditya Chopra, film director and producer Yash Johar, film producer and director Karan Johar, film director and producer Akshay Kumar, actor Govinda, actor Ajay Devgan, actor Virat Kohli, Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer Hrithik Roshan, actor Vinod Khanna, actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda, actor Gautam Gambhir, Indian cricketer Himansh Kohli, actor David Dhawan, film producer and director Varun Dhawan, actor Gulshan Grover, actor Om Puri, actor Priyanka Chopra, actress Parineeti Chopra, actress Boney Kapoor, film producer Arjun Kapoor actor Anil Kapoor, actor Sonam Kapoor actress Harshvardhan Kapoor, actor Amrish Puri, actor Ayushman Khurana, actor Har Gobind Khorana, Noble prize winner Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail Manohar Lal Khattar, current Chief Minister of Haryana King Porus, ancient Hindu king of Paurava Mehar Mittal, famous Punjabi actor and comedian Kriti Sanon, actress Vaani Kapoor, actress Kajal Aggarwal, actress Sidharth Malhotra, actor Aditya Roy Kapur, actor Kimi Verma, actress Juhi Chawla, actress Suresh Oberoi, actor Vivek Oberoi, actor Arjun Rampal, actor Shiv Kumar Batalvi, famous Punjabi romantic poet Divya Dutta, actress Kapil Sharma, comedian, singer and actor B.N. Sharma, Punjabi comedian Himanshu Suri, Desi rapper and activist from Queens, New York Yuyutsu Sharma, Poet