Punjab
The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi. In the Indian Punjab this is written in the Gurmukhi script. Pakistan uses the Shahmukhi script, that is closer to Urdu script. Hindi, written in the Devanagri script, is used widely in the Indian states of Himanchal Pradesh and Haryana. Several dialects of Punjabi are spoken in the different regions. The Majhi dialect is considered to be textbook Punjabi and is shared by both countries.
History of the Punjabi language
Middle Indo-Aryan Languages are still synthetic like Old Indo-Aryan Languages but diphthongs and harsh combination of consonants were dropped, so much so that in the literary development these Prakrits became absolutely fluid. One poet said that the difference between Sanskrit poems and Prakrit poems is as great as between man and woman. Sankrit poems are harsh but Prakrit poems are very smooth.In 1837, British East India Company replaced Persian with Urdu in Punjab.