The cradle of a great civilisation. The nexus of the Silk Road. A divided land riven with conflict for centuries. The preconceptions of the Punjab are also as varied as the extraordinary mix of peoples who have made this region their home. Now, the Royal Geographical Society is exhibiting The Punjab: Moving Journeys to reveal the little-seen history of the region at the Society’s HQ in London from Tuesday 9 September.

Combining contemporary commentary from British Punjabi’s with Victorian photography with accounts from British visitors and colonial administrators who visited the Punjab during the 19th Century, Moving Journeys uncovers this region’s complex history alongside the challenges facing Punjabi’s in 21st century Britain, including how they relate to their British adoptive home and an Indian/Pakistani homeland.

The last of the exhibitions in the Society’s Crossing Continents series, and developed in partnership with the Punjab Heritage Association, the Satrangi Group and Bradford Young Ambassadors and the Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail, The Punjab: Moving Journeys links London and Bradford to the borders of Indian and Pakistan.

Through the Society’s 19th century photographs, maps and texts the Punjab’s history has being rediscovered and retold by members of Britain’s Punjabi community, focusing on migrations, within and across borders, from the earliest history of the region, through Partition and into the 21st century.