Introduction

Abstract

The introduction highlights Punjab’s turbulent history, underlined by a shared Punjabi culture that continues to evolve from diverse influences palpable in the vivid experience of Punjabis worldwide. The emergence of Sikhi, and other powerful social movements, are a manifestation of the diverse streams of this culture and a contribution to the enrichment of this diversity. The scholarly understanding of Punjab, hitherto reflecting the contradictions arising from diversity in a fragmented manner, is here supplemented by a critical rethinking of issues of concern to contemporary Punjab scholars. The summaries of the chapters by established and emerging scholars traversing new paths of inquiry are contextualised within six thematic sections. This first Handbook on Punjab Studies is presented as advancing an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach for providing a comprehensive, critical and holistic engagement with the field.