Puadh

Geography

Puadh generally lies between the Sutlej and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers and south, south-east and east of Rupnagar district adjacent to Ambala district (in Haryana). Specifically, it starts from the Ropar district of Punjab and spreads across various parts of Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala and few villages of Sangrur, Mansa, Ludhiana as well as Chandigarh.

Punjab

The Puadh region in Punjab State consists of Ropar, Mohali, Kurali and Kharar of Mohali district, Amloh, Morinda and Sirhind of Fatehgarh Sahib district, Rajpura and Patiala of Patiala district, parts of Doraha and Samrala areas in Ludhiana district and south-eastern parts of Mansa and Sangrur district.

In Punjab:

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar District: Kurali, Mohali, Kharar;
• Rupnagar district; Ropar, Chamkaur Sahib and Morinda
• Fategarh Sahib district: Amloh and Sirhind;
• Ludhiana district: Pail Doraha and Samrala
• Patiala district: Rajpura and western parts of Patiala district including Patiala city.
• Sangrur district: Moonak and other south-eastern parts of Sangrur.
• Mansa district: Bareta sub-tehsil which include Kulrian, Bahadurpur and Dialpura villages.

Haryana

In Haryana, Puadh consists of some parts of Ambala, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Jind and Kaithal districts.

In Haryana, Panchkula, Naraingarh, Ambala, Shahabad of Kurukshetra district and Dhamtana Sahib of northern Jind district fall within Puadh. Other areas include Pehowa, and Gulha tehsil of Kaithal district.

Himachal Pradesh

In Himachal Pradesh, the Puadh areas are:

South-Western Nalagarh in Solan district and Kala Amb in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh lies in the east of Puadh, which separates the states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

Chandigarh

Chandigarh falls within the Puadh region. Chandigarh was carved out of the area of 22 Puadhi-speaking villages.

Status

Puadh lacks official recognition, unlike the three other major Punjabi regions of Majha, Doaba, and Malwa. The government of Punjab does not list it as a region. Part of this is due to Puadh being subsumed under Malwa due to the prevailing belief that everything south of the Sutlej river in Punjab is "Malwa". This is despite Puadh being distinct from Malwa proper in both culture and language. There is also a lack of a natural boundary separating Puadh from Malwa, such as a river. Prior to the reorganization of Punjab in 1966, the region of Puadh fell under the Ambala district of present-day Haryana. Formerly an under-developed region, the area is becoming more propserous due to its proximity to Chandigarh and is increasingly urbanized. Charanjit Singh Channi was the first Puadhi chief minister of Punjab, with the rest being from Malwa and one from Majha.

Culture and environment

The region has its own culture, rituals, and language that differs it from other neighbouring regions. The Puadhi dialect is spoken. Organizations, such as the International Puadhi Manch, promotes the regional culture. The region has green-cover and there are mango-orchards. Farmers of the area grow wheat and sugarcane. Furthermore, there are many nullahs and seasonal rivers that contribute to the greenness of the area. A distinction between Puadhi and Malwai culture is the rural clothing, where in rural Malwa they wrap a chadara (sheet-type cloth) whilst in Puadh they wear kurta pyjama. Furthermore, the manner of tying the turla-style turban differs between the two regions. The region is religiously important for Sikhs, as both Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib fall in it. Unlike most regions of Punjab, Puadh is less numerically dominated by the Jat caste.

Puadh is often wrongly included in Malwa (Punjab) by the media. The region had its own poets even at Akbar's court such as Mai Banno of Banur. More recent poets include Bhagat Asa Ram Baidwan of Sohana. The Dhadd Sarangi and Kavishri singing originated in Puadh and also different types of Akharas such as that of Rabbi Bhaironpuri. Puadh consists only a small quantity of Punjab. The Majha, Malwa (Punjab), and Doaba make up majority of the Punjab.

Puadhi language

The dialect of the Punjabi language spoken in Puadh is called Puadhi. It is spoken by the people of Chandigarh, in Mohali district; few villages, Baltana and Zirakpur, in Patiala district; Rajpura, Ghanaur, Devigarh and Banur, some parts of Ropar district, southern villages of Sangrur such as Moonak, in Mansa district; Bareta sub-tehsil whereas in Haryana in North-western villages of Ambala district and in Tohana in Fatehabad district, in Shahbad Markanda and Ismailabad inKurukshetra district and in areas ahead of Pinjore in Panchkula district such as in Barwala and Raipur Rani and it is also spoken in Himachal Pradesh in southern villages of Nalagarh in Solan district and in Kala Amb of Sirmaur district.