{{short description|Type of fan}} {{redirect|Punka|song|Punka (song)}}
thumb|Punkahs in the house of a British couple in India c. 1880 thumb|A punkah in the house of French colonials in Indochina c. 1930 thumb|Church interior with an intricate system of punkahs c. 1900
A '''punkah''', also '''pankha''' ({{langx|ur|{{nastaliq|پَنکھا}}}}, Hindi: {{lang|hi|पंखा}}, {{Transliteration|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 current of air when flapped.
== History == In its original sense in the Indian subcontinent, ''pankha'' (a Hindi word) 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 small handheld devices are still used by millions when ceiling fans stop working during frequent power outages.
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, 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 the inside of 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/>
The electric ceiling fan largely supplanted it in barracks and other large buildings at the beginning of the 20th century.<ref name=EB1911/>
== Legacy ==
The term punkah louvre refers to the directional outlet for cool air in aircraft, particularly those over the passenger seats.
In India, the '''punkhawallah''' or '''pankha 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|archive-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110232854/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/punkahwallah|url-status=live}}</ref>
<gallery> File:French Indochina courtroom with ceiling punkah.jpg|French Indochina courtroom equipped with punkah fans Image:Melrose-natchez-2.jpg|A punkah in an antebellum house in Natchez, Mississippi Image:Punkahfans.jpg|Decorative punkah fans at a hotel in Abu Dhabi (UAE) </gallery>
==See also== *Coolie *List of obsolete occupations *Ceiling fan
==References== {{commons category|Punkah|lcfirst=yes}} {{reflist}} *{{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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punkah}} Category:Cooling technology Category:Fashion accessories Category:Hand tools Category:Romani culture Category:Ventilation fans