It was raised in its current form in 1956, following the amalgamation of the 1st, 14th, 15th and 16th Punjab regiments that were inherited by the Dominion of Pakistan from the British Indian Army upon the Partition of India.

The Punjab Regiment of Pakistan traces its origins back to the Madras Army of the British East India Company.

Their first major engagement saw a decisive victory at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760, when the British East India Company, led by Sir Eyre Coote, effectively ended French colonial ambitions in South Asia.

All of the regiment's battalions subsequently played an important role in the early military campaigns of the East India Company and were actively engaged in the wars against the French, the Kingdom of Mysore and the Maratha Empire.

Various battalions were deployed to regions of British interest, ranging from modern-day China, Egypt, Burma and erstwhile Abyssinia.

The 5th Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Livesy Lawrence Stokes, performed relatively well in the British invasion of Japanese Thailand in early December 1941.

Following the regiment's transfer to the Pakistan Army, it became largely religiously homogenous, comprising mostly Muslims with around 20% ethnic Pashtuns and 80% Punjabis.

To date, only ten soldiers have been awarded this honour, of which five belonged to the Punjab Regiment: As a form of respect, deceased recipients are given the honorary title of Shaheed (Arabic: شهيد; šahīd), which denotes martyrdom, whilst living recipients are dubbed Ghazi (Arabic: غازي; ġāzī), the Islamic term for warrior.