Haryana in the context of "Punjab Plain"

Northwest India is a loosely defined region of India. In modern-day, it consists of north-western states of the Republic of India. In historical contexts, it refers to the northwestern Indian subcontinent (including modern-day Pakistan).

In contemporary definition, it generally includes the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan Uttarakhand, and often Uttar Pradesh, along with the union territories of Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Gujarat, a western coastal state, is occasionally included as well. The mountainous upper portion of Northwest India consists of the Western Himalayas, while the flat lower portion consists of the middle portion of the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Thar Desert.

Modern Standard Hindi (आधुनिक मानक हिन्दी, Hunterian: Ādhunik Mānak Hindī), commonly referred to as Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of the Government of India, and is the lingua franca of most of the country. It is also an official language in the Pacific nation of Fiji.

Hindi is an official language in ten states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), and six union territories (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir) and an additional official language in the state of West Bengal. Hindi is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India.

The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as Satadru; and is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The combination of the Sutlej and Chenab rivers in the plains of Punjab forms the Panjnad, which finally flows into the Indus River at Mithankot.

In India, the Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Uttar Pradesh (UTT-ər prə-DESH, abbr. UP; Hindi: Uttar Pradēś, pronounced [ˈʊtːəɾ pɾəˈdeːʃ] , lit. 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world – more populous than all but four other countries outside of India (China, United States, Indonesia, and Pakistan) – and accounting for 16.5 per cent of the population of India or around 3 per cent of the total world population. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to the south. It is the fourth-largest Indian state by area covering 243,286 km (93,933 sq mi), accounting for 7.3 per cent of the total area of India. Lucknow serves as the state capital, with Prayagraj being the judicial capital. It is divided into 18 divisions and 75 districts.

Uttar Pradesh was established in 1950 after India had become a republic. It is a successor to the United Provinces, established in 1935 by renaming the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, in turn established in 1902 from the North-Western Provinces and the Oudh Province. Though long known for sugar production, the state's economy is now dominated by the services industry. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. The economy of Uttar Pradesh is the third-largest state economy in India, with ₹18.63 lakh crore (US$220 billion) in gross domestic product and a per capita GSDP of ₹68,810 (US$810). The High Court of the state is located in Prayagraj. The state plays an important role in national politics, sending 80 seats to the lower house Lok Sabha and 31 seats to the upper house Rajya Sabha.

Punjab (/pʌnˈdʒɑːb/ pun-JAHB; Punjabi: pañjāba, pronounced [pəɲˈd͡ʒaːb] ) is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest; by Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the north and Chandigarh to the east. To the west, it shares an international border with the identically named Pakistani province of Punjab, and as such is sometimes referred to as East Punjab or Indian Punjab for disambiguation purposes. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles), which is 1.53% of India's total geographical area, making it the 19th-largest Indian state by area out of 28 Indian states (20th largest, if Union Territories are considered). With over 27 million inhabitants, Punjab is the 16th-largest Indian state by population, comprising 23 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and the official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs (57.7%) and Hindus (38.5%) forming the dominant religious groups. The state capital, Chandigarh, is a union territory and also the capital of the neighboring state of Haryana. Three of the five traditional Punjab rivers — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — flow through the state.

The history of Punjab has witnessed the migration and settlement of different tribes of people with different cultures and ideas, forming a civilisational melting pot. The ancient Indus Valley Civilisation flourished in the region until its decline around 1900 BCE. Punjab was enriched during the height of the Vedic period, but declined in predominance with the rise of the Mahajanapadas. The region formed the frontier of initial empires during antiquity including Alexander's and the Maurya empires. It was subsequently conquered by the Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, and then Harsha's Empire. Punjab continued to be settled by nomadic people; including the Huna, Turkic and the Mongols. Punjab came under Muslim rule c. 1000 CE, and was part of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Sikhism, based on the teachings of Sikh Gurus, emerged between the 15th and 17th centuries. Conflicts between the Mughals and the later Sikh Gurus precipitated a militarisation of the Sikhs, resulting in the formation of a confederacy after the weakening of the Mughal Empire, which competed for control with the larger Durrani Empire. This confederacy was united in 1801 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, forming the Sikh Empire.

North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority population, while Tibeto-Burmans (speaking Tibeto-Burman languages) form the significant minority population. It extends from the Himalayan mountain range in the north to the Indo-Gangetic plains, the Thar Desert, till Central Highlands. It occupies nearly two-quarters of the area and population of India and includes one of the three mega cities of India: Delhi. In a more specific and administrative sense, North India can also be used to denote the northern Indo-Gangetic Plain within this broader expanse, to the Thar Desert.

Several major rivers flow through the region including the Indus, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Narmada rivers. North India includes the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and union territories of Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Occasionally, states of Western, Central and Eastern India are referred as "North Indian" in a broader term.

Himachal Pradesh (Hindi: Himācal Pradeś, pronounced [ɦɪˈmäːtʃəl pɾəˈd̪eːʃ]; Sanskrit: himācāl prādes; lit. "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the 13 mountain states and is characterised by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks and extensive river systems. Himachal Pradesh is the northernmost state of India and shares borders with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the north, and the states of Punjab to the west, Haryana to the southwest, Uttarakhand to the southeast and a very narrow border with Uttar Pradesh to the south. The state also shares an international border to the east with the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. Himachal Pradesh is also known as Dev Bhoomi, meaning 'Land of Gods' and Veer Bhoomi which means 'Land of the Brave'.

The predominantly mountainous region comprising the present-day Himachal Pradesh has been inhabited since pre-historic times, having witnessed multiple waves of human migrations from other areas. Through its history, the region was mostly ruled by local kingdoms, some of which accepted the suzerainty of larger empires. Prior to India's independence from the British, Himachal comprised the hilly regions of the Punjab Province of British India. After independence, many of the hilly territories were organised as the Chief Commissioner's province of Himachal Pradesh, which later became a Union Territory. In 1966, hilly areas of the neighbouring Punjab state were merged into Himachal and it was ultimately granted full statehood in 1971.

A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a zamindari (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; zamindar is the Persian for landowner. During the British Raj, the British began using it as a local synonym for "estate". Subsequently, it was widely and loosely used for any substantial landed magnates in the British India. Zamindars as a class were equivalent to lords and barons; in some cases, they were independent sovereign princes. Similarly, their holdings were typically hereditary and came with the right to collect taxes on behalf of imperial courts or for military purposes. This continued in states like Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal even after independence until the abolition of zamindari in 1950.

During the Mughal Empire, as well as the British rule, zamindars were the land-owning nobility of the Indian subcontinent and formed the ruling class. Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs. Most of the big zamindars belonged to the Hindu high-caste, usually Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar or Kayastha. During the colonial era, the Permanent Settlement consolidated what became known as the zamindari system. The British rewarded supportive zamindars by recognising them as princes. Many of the region's princely states were pre-colonial zamindar holdings elevated to a greater protocol. The British also reduced the land holdings of many pre-colonial princely states and chieftaincies, demoting their status to noble zamindars from previously higher ranks of royalty. During the period of British colonial rule in India, many wealthy and influential zamindars were bestowed with noble and royal titles such as Maharaja, Raja/Rai, Babu, Rai sahib, Rai Bahadur, Nawab and Khan.