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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Type of fan}}<br />
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[[File:Dining Room Punkah 1880.jpg|thumb|Punkahs in the house of a British couple in India c. 1880]]<br />
[[File:Punkah Indochina c. 1930.jpg|thumb|A punkah in the house of French colonials in Indochina c. 1930]]<br />
[[File:Church interior with punkahs.jpg|thumb|Church interior with an intricate system of punkahs c. 1900]]<br />
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A '''punkah''', also '''pankha''' ([[Hindi language|Hindi]]: {{lang|hi|पंखा}}, {{transl|hi|''paṅkhā''}}), is a type of fan used since the early 6th century BC. The word ''pankha'' originated from'' pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped.<br />
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In its original sense in [[South Asia]], ''punkah'' typically describes a handheld fan made from a single frond of palm or a woven square of [[bamboo]] strips, [[rattan]] or other plant fibre, that can be rotated or fanned. These are called punkah in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]. These small handheld devices are still used by millions when ceiling fans stop working during frequent power outages.<br />
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In the colonial age, the word came to be used in [[British India]] and elsewhere in the tropical and subtropical world for a large swinging fan, fixed to the ceiling, and pulled by a punkah wallah, during hot weather.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Punkah |volume=22 |page=657}}</ref> To cover a larger area, such as in an office or a courthouse, a number of punkahs could be connected together by strings so that they would swing in unison. The material used could range from utilitarian rattan to expensive fabrics. The date of this invention is not known, but it was familiar to the Arabs as early as the 8th century.<ref name=EB1911/> It was not commonly used in India before the end of the 18th century.<ref name=EB1911/><br />
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The electric fan largely supplanted it in barracks and other large buildings at the beginning of the 20th century.<ref name=EB1911/><br />
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The term was carried over to '''punkah louvre''', to refer to the outlet for cool air in aircraft, particularly those over the passenger seats.<br />
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In India, the '''punkhawallah''' or '''punkha wallah''' was the servant who operated the fan, often using a pulley system.<ref>{{cite web|title=punkahwallah|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punkahwallah|website=Wiktionary|access-date=10 January 2017}}</ref> <br />
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In modern use, a person selling, repairing or making fans, both handheld and electric, would also be known colloquially as a punkha wala, since the term means ''fan guy'' or ''the guy with the fans''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}<br />
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<gallery> <br />
File:French Indochina courtroom with ceiling punkah.jpg|French Indochina courtroom equipped with punkah fans<br />
Image:Melrose-natchez-2.jpg|A punkah in an [[Antebellum architecture|antebellum]] house in Natchez, Mississippi<br />
Image:Punkahfans.jpg|Decorative punkah fans at a hotel in Abu Dhabi (UAE)<br />
</gallery><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Coolie]]<br />
*[[Wallah (disambiguation)]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{commonscat|Punkah|lcfirst=yes}}<br />
*{{cite journal |last1=Datta |first1=Arunima |title=Keeping India Cool |journal=History Today |date=9 September 2019 |volume=69 |issue=9 |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/keeping-india-cool}}<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Cooling technology]]<br />
[[Category:Ventilation fans]]</div>ImportMaster