Tourism in Pakistan
Punjab is the second largest province in Pakistan. It is known for its ancient cultural heritage as well as its religious diversity. The lands of Punjab have been home to a number of religions and civilisations. The Indus Valley Civilization once ruled the region and a significant archaeological find was discovered at the ancient city of Harrapa. The Gandhara civilisation was also quite dominant in the northern region of Punjab at the site of Taxila. Several other civilisations such as Greeks, Central Asians, and Persians ruled Punjab leaving a number of sites which still exist today. The arrival of Islam came about during the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate followed by the Ghaznavids. The Mughals took control of the region and ruled its land for several centuries. The mughal heritage remained quite strong in Punjab with a large number of forts, tombs and monuments still intact today. The Durrani Empire ruled the Punjab at the fall of the Mughal Empire for a short period following the rise of the Sikh Empire. The strong control of the Sikhs also lead to a number of sites still remaining intact throughout Punjab. The British Raj took control of the region until the independence.
Punjabi Hindus
Hinduism has been prevalent in Punjab since before the arrival of Islam and birth of Sikhism there. Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the ancient Vedas. Many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore, Jalandhar, and Chandigarh. Some examples of prominent Punjabi Hindus include the former Prime ministers of India I. K. Gujral and Gulzari Lal Nanda, cricketers Kapil Dev and Virat Kohli, scientist Hargobind Khorana, actress Priyanka Chopra and Indian stand-up comedians Kapil Sharma, Chandan Prabhakar, Bharti, Rajiv Thakur, Sudesh Lehri and Sunil Grover. Pollywood industry also has many prominent faces like Parmish Verma, Harish Verma, B.N.Sharma