Writing Scripts used for Writing the Punjabi Language.

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.

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.

The Shahmukhi alphabet was first used by the Sufi poets of the Punjab; it became the conventional writing style for the Muslim populace of the Pakistani province of Punjab following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, while the largely Hindu and Sikh modern-day state of Punjab, India adopted the Gurmukhi script to record the Punjabi language.

Shahmukhi alphabet use in the Indian Punjab is mainly confined to the elderly generation, although it is also recommended to be studied for students studying at M.A level in Punjabi. It is however, used as the main alphabet to write the Pothohari dialect in Indian Jammu and Kashmir.

While Punjabi GCSE and A Level qualifications are available to students in the United Kingdom; their written exam is in Gurmukhi only.