Punjabi literature

Punjabi literature is that literature written in the Punjabi language, particularly by writers of the historical Punjab region of South Asia which today includes citizens of India and Pakistan as well as members of the Punjabi diaspora, of both Indian and Pakistani origin or descent, ranging from such regions as North America, the Middle East, South East Asia, East Africa and the United States.

Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts

Whereas Punjabi literature certainly exists as a single literature common to the Punjab region, such literature has been rendered throughout history in more than one script, and of which various scripts, the two Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi are predominant. Gurmukhi (lit. 'Mouth of the Guru') originated during the fifteenth century and according to tradition through the second Sikh teacher Guru Angad, whereas the Perso-Nastalliq (Urdu) script called "Shahmukhi" (lit. '(from) Mouth of the King') is a term of later coinage, but whose script has been usedfor Punjabi since at least the twelfth century.

Official status of Punjabi in India and Pakistan

Punjabi today is recognized officially as one of the "major" languages of the Indian constitution, without having status as the "official" language(s) of India which is accorded to Hindi and English. In the Punjab state of the India, Punjabi (in the Gurmukhi script)can be found in the popular media, religious and secular literature alongside the officially recognized "national" languages of Hindi and English.

In Pakistan, home to the greatest single number of Punjabi speakers worldwide, Urdu retains status as the official and national language, and whereas Punjabi lacks official status within government, education and the media, a contentious issue notwithstanding, Punjabi literature is still produced in Shahmukhi by writers in the Punjab region.

Punjabi contributions to Non-Punjabi literature

Despite its own literature, the Punjabi language has for its own unique historical, social and cultural reasons, co-existed with other languages such as Sanskrit, Persian, Urdu, Hindi and English, which historically predominated as the "classical" languages of religion, society, empire or modern governments. Punjabi literature has thus never entirely supplanted those other languages and their respective literatures which were recognized as either ancient (Sanskrit), imperial (Persian) or official (Hindi, Urdu and English) in the modern context.