Punjabi Emerged as an Independent Language in the 12th Century.

Punjabi is descended from Prakrit in the Vedic period (1700 B.C.), Pali, Old Persian, and Apabhramsha in the Ashoka period (273 B.C. - 232 B.C.) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani in the Muslim period (711 A.D. - 1857 A.D.). Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition.

Punjabi is spoken as a first language by the majority population of Pakistan and it is the primary language of the Sikh people in India and third-most spoken language in South Asia. The Punjabi language is currently the second-most spoken language in the United Kingdom and the third spoken language of Canada.

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language like many other modern languages of South Asia and lies entirely in present-day India, well within the eastern half of historical Punjab. It is a descendant of the Shauraseni language, which was the chief language of medieval northern India. Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 12th century. Fariduddin Ganjshakar is generally recognized as the first major poet of the Punjabi language. Revered by Muslims, he is considered one of the fifteen Sikh bhagats and selections from his work are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred scripture.

The Sikh religion originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region and Punjabi is the predominant language spoken by the Sikhs. Most portions of the Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi language written in Gurmukhi, though Punjabi is not the only language used in Sikh scriptures.

The Janamsakhis, stories on the life and legend of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), are early examples of Punjabi prose literature. Nanak himself composed Punjabi verse incorporating vocabulary from Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and other Indic languages as characteristic of the Gurbani tradition.

Punjabi Sufi poetry developed under Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1628–1691), Shah Sharaf (1640–1724), Ali Haider (1690–1785), Saleh Muhammad Safoori (son of, Mai Safoora whom Ali Haider had given great tribute) and Bulleh Shah (1680–1757). In contrast to Persian poets, who had preferred the ghazal for poetic expression, Punjabi Sufi poets tended to compose in the Kafi.

Punjabi Sufi poetry also influenced other Punjabi literary traditions particularly the Punjabi Qissa, a genre of the romantic tragedy that also derived inspiration from Indic, Persian and Quranic sources. The Qissa of Heer Ranjha by Waris Shah (1706–1798) is among the most popular of Punjabi qisse. Other popular stories include Sohni Mahiwal by Fazal Shah, Mirza Sahiba by Hafiz Barkhudar (1658–1707), Sassi Punnun by Hashim Shah (1735?–1843?), and Qissa Puran Bhagat by Qadaryar (1802–1892).

Heroic ballads known as Vaar enjoy a rich oral tradition in Punjabi. Prominent examples of heroic or epic poetry include Guru Gobind Singh's in Chandi di Var (1666–1708). The semi-historical Nadir Shah Di Vaar by Najabat describes the invasion of India by Nadir Shah in 1739. The Jangnama, or 'War Chronicle,' was introduced into Punjabi literature during the Mughal period; the Punjabi Jangnama of Shah Mohammad (1780–1862) recounts the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–46.

Dialects of Punjabi Language and actually spoken areas are as under;

1. The dialect of Jhang, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Khanewal, Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Chishtian is Jhangochi Punjabi.

2. The dialect of Multan is Multani Punjabi.

3. The dialect of Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan is Riyasti Punjabi.

4. The dialect of Bhakkar, Layyah, Muzaffargarh is Thalochi Punjabi.

5. The dialect of Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur is Derewali Punjabi.

6. The dialect of Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha, and parts of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan is Shahpuri Punjabi.

7. The dialect of Chakwal and Attock is Dhani Punjabi.

8. The dialect of Peshawar, Attock, Nowshehra, Mansehra, Balakot, Abbottabad, Murree, Muzaffarabad is Hindko Punjabi.

9. The dialect of Jhelum, Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi, Murree Hills, Muzaffarabad is Pothowari Punjabi.

10. The dialect of Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin,Wazirabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib, Gurdaspur is Majhi Punjabi.

11. The dialect of Ludhiana, Moga, Sangrur, Barnala, Faridkot, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa, Muktsar, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Ropar, Ferozepur, Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra is Malwi Punjabi.

12. The dialect of Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur is Doabi Punjabi.

13. The dialect of Kharar, Kurali, Ropar, Nurpurbedi, Morinda, Pail, Rajpura, Samrala is Pwadhi Punjabi.

14. The dialect of Jammu is Dogri Punjabi.

Majhi standard Punjabi is the written standard for Punjabi in both parts of Punjab. Jhangochi or Rachnavi is the oldest and most idiosyncratic dialect of Punjabi. The area of Jhangochi dialect of Punjabi is the “Bar areas of Punjab”, i.e., areas whose names are often suffixed with 'Bar', for example, Sandal Bar, Kirana Bar, Neeli Bar, Ganji Bar and has several aspects that set it apart from other Punjabi variants. This area has a great culture and heritage, especially literary heritage, as it is credited with the creation of the famous epic romance stories of Heer Ranjha and Mirza Sahiba.

Note: - In Indo-Aryan dialectology generally, the presence of transitional dialects creates problems in assigning some dialects to one or another "language".

Northern dialects Hindko of Hazara/Kohati/Peshawari and are now classified as a separate language Hindko.

Jummu's Dogri is also classified as a separate language.

Similarly, Southern dialects of Western Punjabi (Multani, Derawali, and Riasti) are now also classified as a separate language Saraiki.

However, this separation is controversial and Saraiki, Hindko, and Dogri are considered as a dialect of mainstream Punjabi because These are Mutually intangible, Morphologically and Syntactically similar with Standard Punjabi and is in fact dialect of Punjabi agreed by the majority of local linguists such as Dulai, K Narinder, Gill, Harjeet Singh Gill, A Henry. Gleason (Jr), Koul, N Omkar, Siya Madhu Bala, Afzal Ahmed Cheema, Aamir Malik, Amar Nath as well as modern linguistics publications such as the US National Advisory Committee based The UCLA Language Materials Project (LMP) along with modern Foreign linguistics such as Lambert M Surhone, Mariam T Tennoe, Susan F Henssonow, Cardona, and Nataliia Ivanovna Tolstaia classifying Hindko, Saraiki, Dogri as a dialect of Punjabi.

There are several different scripts used for writing the Punjabi language, depending on the region and the dialect spoken, as well as the religion of the speaker. Pakistani Punjabis have been using the Shahmukhī script from the times of the Muslim Empires in the region, created from modification of the Persian-Nasta’liq script. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the script used is Shahmukhi and differs from the standard Nastaʿlīq script as it has four additional letters.

The eastern part of the Punjab region, located in India, is divided into three states. In the state of Punjab, the Gurmukhī script is generally used for writing Punjabi. Punjabi Hindus, who are mainly concentrated in the neighboring Indian states such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, as well as the national capital territory of Delhi, sometimes use the Devanāgarī script to write Punjabi. While Punjabi GCSE and A-Level qualifications are available to students in the United Kingdom; their written exam is in Gurmukhi only.