Dard people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dards are various ethnic groups living in Afghanistan, India-occupied Kashmir, and Pakistan. The term Dard is due to Herodotus who described a land of the Dardikae in the Hindu Kush.
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[edit] Geographic distrbution
To the north of the Valley of Kashmir, people living in Baltistan and Gilgit are called DARD. In ancient history these areas were called DARD-I-STAN or Boloristan. In the opinion of the experts these people are of the Aryan origin and it is said that while migrating from central Asia to the south, a branch of Aryan tribe separated from the mainstream and then came to Gilgit and Baltistan and settled there. The whole population of dardestan comprises of different sects of Muslims including Shia, Sunni, Noorbakhshi and Ismaeli. Before embracing Islam these people belonged to Hindu and Buddhist religions of the Ancient Pakistan region that was India or Hindustan and not the present-day Bharat; socially these people are divided into four classes or castes.
1. Rono – the ruling class.
2. Sheen – the religious leaders.
3. Yashkan – Cultivators.
4. Doom – Lower Class.
The languages spoken in these areas are Shina, Balti, Boroshiski and Khor.
Shina language is spoken, apart from Gilgit, in Punial, Darail, Tangair, Astore and Drass. It has many dialects including Gilgiti Shina, Astori Shine, Ponyali Shina and Chilasi Shina. The pronunciation of this language is very different. It is very important to make changes in the script of this language to make is easy. This language is spoken in the western border areas Yasin, Gupis, Koh-o-gazar and Ashkoman.
Broshiski is spoken in the extreme northwestern areas of Hunza and Nagar. This language is very easy to learn and sweet to speak. Linguistic experts have declared all these regions including Kashmiri language of valley also called Kausher as Dard group of languages. Sanskrit and Persian languages have cast tremendous effects with the passage of time, on these languages.
[edit] Dards in Afghanistan
There are also Dardic groups in Afghanistan such as the Pashai and the Kohistanis. The Nuristanis were previously considered to be Dards but are today classified as a distinct group.
[edit] Dards in Indian Occupied Kashmir
Dards also inhabit India, the disputed territory namely the state of Kashmir. A Dardic group known as the Dah Hanu reside in a few scattered villages in the Ladakh district, a remote region of Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmiris of the Kashmir valley are also considered Dards. Kashmiris of the valley are not only considered dard but most of them are actually of dardic origin.Only tiny community of hindu brahmans is against this identity whereas the muslims of kashmir valley are pretty sure of their ancient dardic roots reflected in their language and their culture.
[edit] Dards in North Pakistan
The people of Northernmost Pakistan are mostly Dards, including the people of Chitral, Gilgit, Kohistan and upper Swat.
[edit] Religion
The vast majority of Dardic peoples are Muslims (Sunni, Shia and Ismaili) though some practice Buddhism. For example, The Dards of Dah Hanu are nominally Buddhist but also worship their own Pantheon of gods. They have an Indo-European appearance in contrast to the predominantly Tibeto-Burman inhabitants of most of Ladakh. They live in very primitive conditions even when judged by the standards of Ladakh. Others have retained their ancient polytheistic religions, such as the Kalash.
[edit] Origin
Parpola (1999) identifies "Proto-Dardic" with "Proto-Rigvedic", suggesting that the Dards are the direct descendants of the bearers of early Rigvedic culture ca. 1700 B.C., pointing to features in certain Dardic dialects that continue peculiarities of Rigvedic Sanskrit, such as the gerund in -tvī (p. 189).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Dards, Dardistan, and Dardic: an Ethnographic, Geographic, and Linguistic Conundrum
- Asko Parpola, 'The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European', in Blench and Spriggs (eds), Archaeology and Language III, London and New York (1999).
