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PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN The nature of relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan is a very delicate one. Leaving aside the recent realities (past 20 years) of the close brotherly relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Jehad against the Soviets/Communists, the emergence of the former-Taliban, and now the post 9-11 Afghan govt., prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan many Afghans were uneasy towards the region of Pakistan. What had embittered the feelings of the Afghans was the taking away of Pashtun inhabited territories by the Sikhs who perpetrated brutal atrocities on their Muslim subjects and made their existence miserable. Similarly, their successors the British, were no less antagonistic toward the Pashtuns and waged constant war against them causing great hardships and miseries to the inhabitants of the entire area. The Pashtuns of what is called today NWFP and the Tribal Areas of Pakistan had to make tremendous sacrifices for about 130 years both under the Sikhs and the British (1818-1947). It was this misfortune of the Pashtuns of this belt that was partly responsible for the attempts made by the Kabul rulers to get it back. But from August 14, 1947 things have taken a different turn and the entire perspective has changed. The Pashtuns of neither the settled regions nor the Tribal Areas are subjected to any discrimination nor any expeditions sent against them or armies deployed to suppress them. They are citizens of a free state where they enjoy the same rights as people of other provinces. Pashtuns hold positions of highest responsibilty in civil as well as military services of Pakistan. They are today proud citizens of a Muslim state and have so much endeared themselves to the other people of the country that one cannot think of Pakistan without the Pashtun element forming part of it. They have produced great leaders of national stature with large followings in the Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan. Since the day Mahmud Ghaznavi entered this sub-continent, Pashtuns have been a constant factor in political, social and military life of Muslims of this sub-continent. In terms of time from 1000 AD onwards for about a thousand years, and in terms of space from Chitral to Chittagong and from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, the ubiquitous Pashtun has always been there. There is no city or town in this sub-continent with Muslim population without Pashtun 'mohallas' or neighborhoods and there is hardly a Muslim family which has not entered into matrimonial relations with Pashtun. As far as Afghanistan is concerned we can very well understand the feelings of Amir Dost Mohammed, Sher Ali, Abdur Rehman Khan and King Amanullah toward fellow Pashtuns east of Durand Line living under non-Muslim rule during their time. But today they are not living under non-Muslim rule. Similarly today the problem is not of "divided Pashtuns" as Kabul was inclined to look at it in the past, but on the contrary Pashtuns playing a leading role in two Muslim states..... in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. There was a time when Durand Line divided Pashtuns to weaken them but today the Line makes them partners-in-power in two states. No decision on any issue can be taken by the government of Pakistan without the consent of the Pashtuns living in Pakistan. Further, since they are spread over NWFP and Quetta division of Baluchistan, they will weild power in the governments of both provinces in any constitutional setup. Would the Afghan government and the supporters of 'Pakhtunistan' movement like to deprive the Pashtuns of this important role in Pakistan? Wise counsel is: they should not. Moreover, Pashtuns are the connecting link between the two brotherly Muslim states whose geographical and economic necessities may, in the near future, bring about their fusion. A few words about the fusion of the two brotherly countries. The idea of Afghanistan forming an autonomous province of Pakistan is not an unfamiliar or impracticable one. The letter 'alif' in the Urdu (or 'A' in English) word Pakistan stands for Afghans. Both Jamaluddin Afghani and Allama Iqbal cherished the concept of North-West British India and Afghanistan together forming a single Muslim state. Moreover, Pakistan, as at present constituted is poor in minerals but rich in food and fibres while Afghanistan has tremendous untapped mineral and manpower resources. Plus, Afghans would be able to get direct access to Pakistan's ports of Arabian sea, while Pakistanis will be able to get direct access to Central Asian markets. A fusion of the two would be pregnant with immense possibilities not only for the people of the two countries but for the entire Muslim world. There is nothing wrong or repugnant in this idea. The combined strength of the Pashtuns from the Indus to the Oxus and from Dir to Herat would ensure their internal autonomy as well as a strong voice and a powerful say in the Central Government of Pakistan. Furthermore, such confederation will be a diluting factor to the predominant groups of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Punjabis in Pakistan, thus creating stronger equity among all groups. World trends are towards greater integration and larger pooling of resources. Let the Afghans give the idea a calm and cool consideration in the larger interests of Muslim unity. There is plenty of commonality between Pakistan and Afghanistan in respect to their religion, culture, race, history, geography, etc. Here I would like to quote a paragraph relevant to this aspect from W.K. Frazer Tytler's book "Afghanistan: A Study of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia". He writes: "It is indeed a strange feature of this complicated situation that there exists, like a cancer in the body politic of northern South Asia, this collection of 'independent' tribes, well armed, intractable and formidable, who may at anytime disturb relations and disrupt the economy of either of the states in whose midst they dwell. It is an anachronism and a danger to the stability of northern South Asia and the peace of Central Asia. The remedy is the fusion of the two states of Afghanistan and Pakistan in some way or other. It may be argued that, given the differences in mental and political outlook of the two states, such fusion is impossible. This may be so; I am in no position to argue the matter. But history suggests that fusion will take place, if not peacefully, then by force." This is the view of an eminent western author. The above study brings out two alternatives for the solution of Pak-Afghan problems. Either the Durand line remains, enabling the people of Pashtun race to play a leading role in both Afghanistan and Pakistan which should lead to the shelving of 'Pakhtunistan' issue forever and the establishment of amicable relations between the two, Or, since one of the objectives of setting up an independent state (Pakistan) in the north-western parts of British India was to include in its fold Muslims living up to the Hindu Kush or the Oxus which have been the traditional boundaries of all the Muslim and pre-Muslim dynasties of this area, a fusion of Afghanistan and Pakistan is highly desirable. Such a development would be natural, normal and extremely welcome. It will benefit both, strengthen both, and open up new vistas for both. As the present boundaries of Afghanistan skip the Hindu Kush and lie along the Oxus, the possiblities are considerably broader and potentialities exceedingly brighter. The whole issue needs to be studied in historical, cultural and religious perspective and not in terms of modern, recently nurtured ideas of parochial western nationalism. We have to break the linguistic and racial barriers sometime and somewhere and demonstrate to the world that Muslim nationalism does not brook petty ideas and does not believe in tenuous bonds. The best place to demonstrate the superiority of Islamic principles of nationalism is between the Sutlej and the Oxus and the best time is the 21st century. Common rule over Pakistan and Afghanistan is not a new or novel idea in the context of history. The Sakas, Parthians, Graeco-Bactrians, Kushans, Ghaznavids, Abdalis and many others were rulers of both the countries with their capital either at Peshawar, Taxila, Ghazna or Qandahar. Then, the territories now forming Afghanistan have great political significance for the Muslims of South Asia. From its bosom have originated movements and monarchs who established Muslim rule in Pakistan, and later in the entire sub-continent. Mahmud Ghaznavi, though a Turk, was born and brought up in Ghazna in Afghanistan and it was with the help of Afghan soldiers that he conquered several cities in northern India and introduced Muslim rule in the areas now known as Pakistan (11th century AD). Mohammad Ghori, though of Turko-Persian origin, was born and nurtured at Ghor in Afghanistan. It was again with the help of Afghan soldiers that he extended Muslim sway over the whole of northern India (12th-13th century AD). It was again an Afghan, Alauddin Khilji, who extended Muslim rule for the first time to southern India up to Cape Comorin (end of 13th and early 14th century AD). Zahiruddin Baber, though a Barlas Turk, conquered parts of Afghanistan and stayed at Kabul for no less a period than twenty years, making it a base for the conquest of the sub-continent where he finally established Mughal rule. It were the Afghan dynasties of Lodhis and Suris that strengthened the base of Muslim rule in India by introducing land reforms, by bringing the rulers (Muslims) and the ruled (Hindus) closer to each other and by encouraging cultural and literary activities. It will be noticed that almost all the Muslim dynasties that ruled over this sub-continent sprang up from the territories now constituting the state of Afghanistan...... Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Lodhis, Suris and Mughals, not to speak the various Afghan dynasties that ruled over the provinces. And finally when the Mughals were facing extinction, being stangulated to death by the Marathas and the Sikhs, it was again an Afghan, Ahmed Shah Abdali, who came to their rescue (middle of 18th century) and allowed them a brief respite. But since the Mughals were a spent force and unable to rise again, the support and succour provided by Abdali proved of no avail. However, Abdali being a shrewd and sensible leader, aware of the huge anti-Muslim forces raising their head, and conscious of the limitations of his own power, established his hold, as a first step, in the north-western corner naming it Afghanistan (1747 AD). Pakistan is merely an extension of Abdali's kingdom..... in fact Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan and Kashmir formed part of it during reigns of Abdali, his son Taimur Shah and during short period of the latter's sons Shah Zaman and Shah Shuja. In view of this historical background, Pakistan and Afghanistan cannot remain separate from each other for long especially when the same forces that Abdali had faced and crushed in the 18th century (Sikhs and Marathas) are again, in a different garb (India), posing a threat to the independence of this entire region. Since Afghans have made glorious contribution to the development of the administration, education and culture of this sub-continent, instead of remaining isolated with closed minds within the boundaries of Afghanistan, they can come out again play a leading and constructive role in the whole of Pakistan extending their area of activity up to Sea of Arabia. They have been known throughout history for their valour, broad-mindedness and tolerance. Instead of thinking on racial lines let them demonstrate these fine qualities once again for the benefit of their co-religionists. | |||||
Monday, November 17, 2008
PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
Mongol invasions of the Punjab
Mongol invasions of the Punjab
With the establishment of Muslim Sultanate in Delhi in 1206 AD a new power had sprung up beyond Central
Asia. Changez Khan had been crowned head of the united Mongol tribes the same year. A few years later
began the misfortunes of the Muslim world which had a profound effect on every facet of Muslim life in the
subcontinent, particularly the Punjab. Having smashed the power of Muhammad Khwarizm Shah who was the
greatest Muslim monarch of the time, Changez Khan began to chase his nephew, Jalaluddin Khwarizm Shah.
This young and valiant monarch gave fight to the 'Scourge of God' and had several encounters with him all
along Khorasan and Afghanistan-- the last on the banks of River Indus. With his forces depleted and unable
to stand the vast numerical superiority of the Mongols, Jalaluddin Khwarizm Shah, while fighting the enemy
and inflicting heavy casualties on him, plunged into the Indus at Kalabagh and wavingf his flag swam accross
into the Punjab along with his retinue. From a rock jetting over the river near Kalabagh, Changez Khan
watched this singular act of daring with deep admiration and profound respect. Turning to his sons Changez
advised them to imbibe the invincible spirit, indomitable courage and implacable determination demonstrated
by his youthful adversary. "Such a son must a father have", he exclaimed. Perhaps exhausted, perhaps
overawed by the bleak prospects of chasing such a formidable enemy, Changez returned home leaving in
peace the newly born Delhi Sultanate. If Changez had crossed the Indus, history of this subcontinent would
probably have been different. "Jalaluddin Khwarizm Shah fought bravely and desperately against the Mongols
at the bank of the Indus and atlast seated on his charger, leapt from the top of a 60 ft cliff near Kalabagh into
the river bearing the banner in his hand. Changez admired his bravery but it did not prevent him sending an
army across the Indus in pursuit. It ravaged the districts of Peshawar, Lahore and Multan but did not find the
Shah".
However, peace was not to last long. Changez Khan's successors took up the cutgels within a decade and for
the next hundred years kept the Delhi Sultanate on it's tenterhooks. From the days of Shamsuddin Altamash
to the early days of Tughlaq dynasty, Mongol raids and ravages were a regular and constant feature. And who
bore the brunt of these ferocious Mongol attacks? The Punjab!!
It was on the rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab that India was defended; it was on the plains of the Punjab that
the enemy forces were so often defeated and beaten; it was in the 'doabas' of the Punjab that the Mongols
practised their fiendish scorched earth policy. Thrice Lahore was captured, sacked and burnt. But the people
of the Punjab bore these calamities with perfect equanimity and exemplary fortitude.
The extent to which the Punjab suffered as a result of Mongol attacks from 13th century onward can be
reckoned from the following events:
1. In 1221 AD some of Changez Khan's forces crossed the Indus in pursuit of Jalaluddin Khwarizm Shah,
ravaged vast tracts of the punjab and sacked Multan and Lahore. (At this time Naseeruddin Qabacha was the
independent ruler of Pakistan and Shamsuddin Altamash of India).
2. In 1241 AD during the reign of Altamash's daughter, Razia Sultana, Mongols attacked the Punjab, sacked
and burnt Lahore.
3. In 1246 AD Mongols attacked the Punjab and invested Multan.
4. In 1260 and in subsequent years during the time of Balban, Mongols attacked the Punjab and ravaged the
countryside several times. In one of the encounters near Multan, Balban's eldest son Prince Mohammad was
killed.
5. Next big attack came in 1285 AD.
6. In 1291 AD a grandson of Hulagu invaded Punjab and was defeated by Alauddin Khilji.
7. In 1298 AD Mongols again invaded the Punjab with a force of 100,000 and advanced as far as Delhi but
were decisively defeated by Alauddin Khilji.
8. In 1304 and 1305 AD Mongols attacked the punjab and ravaged Multan, but were defeated by the Governor
of the Punjab, Ghiyazuddin Tughlaq.
9. In 1327 AD the punjab was attacked and Multan ravaged.
10. In 1358 AD Mongols again attacked the Punjab.
These were only the major attacks, in between there were innumerable raids with what consequences one
can only visualize. Ghiasuddin Tughlaq who was Governor of Lahore before he became ruler of Delhi in 1320
AD is said to have fought 29 battles against the Mongols during Alauddin Khilji's reign.
Since to save the Delhi Sultanate, it was vital to make defence on one of the five rivers of the Punjab, whoever
defended it successfully was considered a national hero and tipped for rulership at Delhi. When the Khilji
dynasty declined, the court nobles invited Ghiasuddin Tughlaq, Governor of Lahore to take over. The Tughlaq
dynasty he established lasted from 1320 to 1398 AD. It collapsed when Delhi was attacked by Taimur Lung.
From the establishment of Delhi Sultanate in 1206 AD for over 300 years, the Punjab bore the brunt of foreign
attacks and saved the Muslim state from extinction. In this painful process, Punjab's population and prosperity
diminished and its entire life was crippled. After this period, the Punjab was almost an uninhabitable waste,
except for a few walled cities. Because of constant Mongol raids, it remained depopulated and very little
agriculture was carried on.
Ethnicity and Provincialism in Pakistan
Ethnicity and Provincialism in Pakistan Ethnocentrism is wrong, but what is worse is denial of ethnic identity/differences. As different ethnic groups, we have more than enough commonality to be a strong nation. Differences between sub-cultures/ethnicities exists in most countries, but what holds a nation together is basic cultural, linguistic, religious, historical, and/or geographic commonalities. We should accept and respect our ethnic differences, after all Pakistan is a federation of such, and be united as a nation based on our commonality in being linguistically/culturally Indo-Iranian, racially mostly Caucasian, geographically based on Indus Valley, having a common history, and following the religion/culture of Islam. All of these common factors among the different Pakistani ethnic groups makes them close to each other, yet very different from the Indians. These common factors defines the Pakistani nationhood, not just religion as many Pakistanis are made to believe in. The present-day provincial setup of Pakistan has its origins from the British era. The British rulers drew boundaries of provinces not based on ethnic demographics, but the politics of that era for their interersts. As has always been the case, the ethnic demographics have also evolved since 1947. In reality, the current provincial setup of Pakistan is artificial. The large southern region of "Punjab" is Seraiki, its southwest is Baluchi, and northwest Hindkowi. The huge northeast part of "NWFP" is Hindkowi, and the north is Khowari/Shina/etc. Almost half of "Baluchistan" is Pakhtun (northern part), with pockets of Brauhis the central region and Jats/etc. in the southeast. Almost half of "Sindh" is Urdu-speaking (urban areas). Not to mention the countless Afghan, Central Asian, Iranian, Bengalee, etc. refugees, and inter-ethnic migrations in various parts of the country. Though outdated and slightly flawed, here is an article of interest on this subject by Ahmed Abdalla published in 1973: For the last few years the question of Pakistan's "nationalities" is being debated, propagated, supported and contested at various levels and in different quarters. Unfortunately, in these lively discourses some basic issues have been ignored. We shall make an attempt here to discuss and analyse two most salient aspects of the problem. Firstly, are the nationalities, so often spoken of , located in clearly demarcated and distinct areas to division on regional basis? Secondly, have the nationalities, whatever regions they are living in, settled down permanently or, is the population pattern still fluid and changing, yet to assume a final shape and a stable character? Let us address ourselves to the first question province-wise: NWFP: The province known as NWFP has an area of 39,283 sq. miles with a population of one crore ten lacs. Its most populous district called Hazara on the eastern bank of river Indus is inhabited, from Manshera downward, by non-Pakhtuns, mostly Gujjars and Hindko speaking Pathans of mixed blood. In the regions west of river Indus starting from the north, the people of the (former) state of Chitral are non-Pakhtuns belonging to the racial stock of Chinese Turkestan akin to the people of Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Yasin and Nagar. Next, the majority of the people of the province’s biggest city, peshawar, belong to various Iranian and Central Asian stocks and are not Pakhtuns. In the southern region, half the people od D.I. Khan district are, again, non-Pakhtuns mostly Awans, Jats, Rajputs and Baluchis. In this context how would an advocate of four nationalities determine the exact boundaries of Pakhtunistan which, if scrupulously adhered to on racial and linguistic considerations, may shrink to very unpalatable proportions. This population complex also Explains the limited success in NWFP of Wali Khan (a protagonist of Pakhtunistan) in the general elections of December 1970. BALUCHISTAN: The province called Baluchistan has an area of 134,000 sq. miles with a population of about 24 lacs. Of the ten districts of Baluchistan province, three districts viz Quetta-Pishin, Zhob and Loralai are overwhelmingly Pathan; two districts viz Kachchi and Lasbela are inhabited by Rajputs, Jats and their allied tribes while the remaining five viz Sibi, Chagi, Kalat, Mahran and Kharan are largely Brohi-Baluchi. Even in some of the tehsils of these five districts non-Baluchis are in majority. For instance, Sharigh Tehsil ( Harnai ) of Sibi distric has a fairly large percentage of Pathans. Population-wise about seven lacs are Pathans; over four lac Rajputs and Jats and about one lac Punjabis, Muhajirs and Gilgiti labour taking the total of non-Baluchis to 12 lacs leaving only 12 lac Baluchi and Brohi tribes in a population of 24 lacs. In this state of affairs how much area and what percentage of population of Baluchistan will accrue to a province based on Baluchi-Brohi nationality? Out of ten districts they will, at best, get five. If the Baluchis/Brohis seriously think of having particular areas of Baluchistan marked on the basis of nationality, they may indeed come to grief. SIND: Sind has an area of over 54,000 sq. miles and a population of one crore 40 lacs. Of this about 55 lacs are Muhajars, Pathans and Punjabis. Of the remaining 85 lacs, about 25 lacs are of Baluchi/Brohi origin ( Sindhi-speaking ), leaving barely 60 lac old Sindhis in a total of 140 lacs. Most of the regions west of Indus from Jacobabad to Dadu are inhabited by Baluchi and Brohi tribes since long before partition. After partition the population pattern of the province has drastically and basically altered due to the influx of refugees from India and immigrants from other provinces of Pakistan. These refugees and immigrants, are of different origins. Any attempt to re-demarcate the boundaries of the province of Sind on the basis of nationality may diminish the size of the Sindhi nationality province to a disagreeable size. PUNJAB: Punjab has an area of 79,542 sq. miles with a population of 3 crores 75 lacs. It may be pointed out that the present boundaries of Punjab were determined by the British more on the basis of political considerations than on racial or cultural grounds. For instance, the D. G. Khan and Muzaffargarh districts are overwhelmingly Baluchi, while Multan and Bahawalpur have, all through history, had closer affinities with Sind than with Punjab. Multan was the capital of Sind for a long time so much so that in western India Sindhis were usually called Multanis. Even today the spiritual home of the Sindhis is the tomb of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakaria in Multan. Sindhis have such great veneration for this Saint that they make it a point to visit his Mazar by walking bare-footed. If the Punjabis think of basing their provincial boundaries on nationality, they may not be able to retain all the areas that today constitute Punjab. In view of this background, if the four nationalities concept is accepted, it would become essential and unavoidable to re-demarcate the present provincial boundaries which have neither racial nor linguistic basis. In case of re-demarcation of provincial boundaries major portions of Hazara and D. I. Khan districts of NWFP will go to Punjab; whole of D. G. Khan and part of Muzaffargarh districts of the Punjab will go to Baluchistan; Three districts of Baluchistan will go to NWFP and two to Sind while Jacobabad and parts of a few districts of Sind west of Indus will go to Baluchistan. If this exercise is resorted to, two problems will crop up: Firstly, several sub-nationalities with strong historical claims will put up their own demands for separate provinces which would be difficult to refuse. Whatever the claims and pretensions of four nationalities, the rights and merits of the sub-nationalities are much more strong and have a more cogent and powerful historical backing. As such, further vivisection will become inevitable. What is more important is that there is hardly an instance of these so-called nationalities having a separate, distinct existence in history, Pakhtuns have never presented a united front. Khushal Khan Khattak bemoans this weakness of the Pakhtuns throughout his poetry and hurls the most bitter invectives on them for their failure to forge unity. In fact the most outstanding aspect of the Pakhtun history has been their refusal to act as one nation or nationality. As regards Baluchistan, its entire history is replete with struggles, wars and rivalries between Baluchi and Brohi tribes not to speak of intertribal conflicts among Baluchis and Brohis themselves. Northern Punjab being the route of the invading armies from Central Asia into Gangetic valley, never had any opportunity to have separate nationality. As for Sind, it has been expanding and shrinking in size depending upon both internal and external situations, particularly on the conditions prevailing in Iran, Central Asia and India. At one time it embraced the whole of the present-day Pakistan, plus vast portions of Rajputana in the east and Qandhar in the west. And at another it was confined only of lower Sind with Thatta as its capital. In this process it has been absorbing and shedding the nationalities living to its north, east and west. Moreover, even if it is decided to re-demarcate the present provincial boundaries on the basis of nationalities, will the people living in one province for generations agree to become part of another? Will the Sindhi- speaking and Punjabi-speaking Baluchis, playing such important role in the politics of the provinces of their adoption, consent to join Baluchistan? Similarly, would the non-Pushtu-speaking people of D.I. Khan and Hazara wish to be absorbed by Punjab? Same applies to Quetta Division, Lasbela, Kachchi, etc., etc. Adoption of four nationalities basis and consequent re-drawing of boundaries will necessitate holding of referendum in various regions of each province. The result of such a referendum is anybody’s guess. Instead of solving the problem it will open up a pandora’s box and lead to further vivisection. For instance, once the four nationalities get their provinces strictly on the basis of regrouping of nationalities, further rivalries inherent in those nationalities will come up to surface. Clash between Baluchi-Brohi groups in Baluchistan, between northern-southern Pathans in Pakhtunistan, between Punjabis-Seraikis in Punjab and between Sindhis-Muhajirs in Sind, will become inevitable. On what basis will the protagonists of four nationalities theory deny the sub-nationalities their right to have separate status when the latter have both history and language to back their stand. Another important factor in this context cannot be overlooked. Each one of the present provinces is multi-lingual. Pushtu, Hindko and Punjabi are the major languages spoken in the NWFP; Punjabi, Seraiki, Urdu and Baluchi in the Punjab; Baluchi, Brohi , Lasi, Kurd and Pushtu in Baluchistan; Sindhi, Urdu and Baluchi in Sind. PROBLEM OF MIGRATION Next we shall discuss the second factor relating to the concept of nationality which is as important as the previous one. Unlike India where people are living a settled life in clearly demarcated regions based on various languages in vogue there, the conditions in Pakistan are quite different, its population being yet in a fluid state. Large groups of people living in all the four provinces are still mobile, constantly migrating from one province to another. There has been a regular flow of Pathans and Baluchis into the Punjab and Sind which continues even today. Lakhs of Pathans are employed in Karachi and other industrial cities of Sind and Punjab such as Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Multan, Lyallpur, Daudkhel, Rawalpindi, etc. Similarly, the flow of Baluch tribes into Sind has not yet stopped. The people of Punjab are also flowing out in small numbers into Sind, Baluchistan and NWFP. They have either acquired lands or doing business in other provinces. Baluchistan and NWFP, in turn, are not free from influx from further west—there being a constant flow of Powindas and others from Afghanistan. It is generally believed that the Powindas go back after winter season. But this is not so; several of them remain behind. It would be of interest to note that many of our distinguished personalities are Powindas and recent immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan. Maulana Mufti Mahmud, a leader of Jamiat-ul-ulamai Islam comes from the Naaser tribe of Powindas. Gandapurs of D. I. Khan are Powindas. From his mother’s side, Mr. Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, a leader of National Awmi Party is an Iranian Powinda. Some of his maternal relations are still in Iran. General Mohammad Musa, former C-in-C of the Pakistan Army belong to the Hazara tribe of Afghanistan; his father had migrated from Afghanistan and settled in Quetta. General Yahya Khan, former President of Pakistan is a Qizilbash from northern Iran whose family had settled in Peshawar. That the process of the settlement of Powinda families has not yet stopped in NWFP and Baluchistan is proved by the fact that in 1972 the NAP Government of Baluchistan put restrictions on their permanent settlement in the Quetta Division. This measure was strongly resented by the Pakhtoon leader, Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai on the ground that it was aimed at the Pakhtun elements of Baluchistan's population. A special personality who deserves mention in this context is the First Lady of Pakistan, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, wife of President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She is a 'Kurd' from Kirmanshah in Iran and belongs to the tribe which produced the illustrious Muslim general and monarch Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi. Pakistan is indeed fortunate to have its first lady from the kith and kin of a soldier of whom the entire Muslim world is proud. There are many other groups and individuals in Pakistan who have recently arrived from Iran and Afghanistan and the process continues. In this fluid situation, would the protagonists of four nationalities theory agree to have the provincial boundaries re-demarcated, with resulting restrictions on the flow of population from one province to another? It would not only be impractical but outrageous and harmful to each one of the so-called nationalities, spelling their economic ruin. With the process of migration still in progress and the final population pattern yet to take definite shape and form; with the so-called nationalities inter-mingled with each other in every province; and with each nationality carrying within its fold district sub-nationalities. It has neither historical background nor geographical roots nor racial or linguistic basis. The idea is irrational, illogical and anomalous. Its implementation would be politically tragic and economically disastrous for all the four. Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world whose provincial boundaries cannot be demarcated on the basis of nationalities because of the intermingling of various racial and linguistic groups with each other. In fact nationalities in the true sense of the word do not exist in Pakistan in clearly demarcated areas as they do in India, USSR, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Canada, etc. From Karakoram to Karachi, Pakistan is a solid land mass with distinct geographical boundaries; inhabited by people of same racial stock, having a common history, heritage, dress and diet; pursuing the same religion, with Urdu understood by all and regional languages having a common script. Very few nations in the world possess such strong uniting factors as the people of Pakistan. Centrifugal and separatist tendencies that are at present being highlighted by outside powers in collaboration with a few so-called leaders, have hardly any roots in the masses. The people of Pakistan, irrespective of the province they belong to, think and act alike. Separatist tendencies have not even touched them; they are simple, religious-minded, hard-working innocent folk. They regard themselves firstly Muslims, secondly, Pakistanis and thirdly, their allegiance is to the tribe they belong to. Four nationalities concept does not form part of their thought-pattern. |
PUNJABI MUSLIMS, SIKHS AND THE BRITISH
PUNJABI MUSLIMS, SIKHS AND THE BRITISH
If a few anti-Sikh and anti-British movements originated among certain groups of northern Indian Muslims as those of Ahmed Shaheed Brelvi and the 1856 revolt, similar movements were started by the Punjabi Muslims which, unfortunately, have not received due publicity. Various Muslim Jat/Rajput tribes of the Punjab such as Bhattis, Chattas, Kharals and Tarors carried on unceasing struggle against Sikh ascendancy till they were crushed by Ranjit Singh in 1799—the same year in which Tippu Sultan died fighting against the British at Seringapatam. Under the leadership of Ghulam Mohammad, the ablest Chatta chief, Muslims gained several successes against the Sikhs and captured the famous Bhangi gun. Finding themselves in a precarious position, the Sikhs treacherously murdered Ghulam Mohammad by breaking a pledge and an agreement. Similarly, the Hafizabad Muslim tribes carried on guerilla warfare against the Sikhs for a long time.
The British too did not have smooth running in the early period of their rule in the Punjab. Writing about the unrest among the Punjabi Muslims during the 1857 Mutiny, Mr. S S Thorburn, ICS, a Financial Commissioner of the Punjab has the following to say:
"The Muhammadan tribes were growing restive as the weeks lengthened….. The first to break out into blind, clumsy rebellion against order were branches of that numerous and barbarous people, the Gujjars, once supreme in Kashmir, but for centuries scattered as grazier and slovely cultivators from the Kaghan glen in Hazara to Delhi. About Ludhiana and southwards bands of them collected and began plundering, but having neither cohesion, intelligence, nor firearms, were easily suppressed. From time to time other tribes in the same neighbourhood, such as the incorrigibly lazy and improvident Ranghars and the gipsy fraternities, known as the criminal tribes, whom neither kindness nor severity has yet tamed to honest labour, also attempted risings, but were at once hunted down by police and levies, and terrorised into their normal condition of inoffensive uselessness. Later, the Kharals and Dhunds of the hills between Hazara and Rawalpindi made a combined movement against the hill sanatorium, Murree, but their insurrection fizzled out. Then, towards the end of the long tension in the third month of the struggle before Delhi, an insurrection on a large scale broke out amongst the pastoral Muhammadan tribes, Kharrals and others, inhabiting the jungly tracts between Lahore and Multan. Though their largest gang took, sacked and for some days, occupied a small town, Kot Kamalia, their rebellion was never formidable. They were merely roaming mobs of boors and cattlemen and boys. Once only did they venture on a combat with a small troop of horses. Wild and cunning as jackals in shifting from lair to lair, their suppression gave occupation for three months to several flying columns, and not until trackers followed up their spoor, and their flocks and herds were captured, did the troublesome business end." (The Punjab in Peace and War, by S.S.Thorburn)
Although Mr. Thorburn speaks the rising of Punjabi Muslims in rather derogatory terms, neverthless he does mention in some detail the actual events which prove that there was widespread unrest in the Punjab during the Mutiny. I shall quote another author to prove my assertion:
" In 1857 the native troops in Multan mutinied and were disarmed. They however, charged and took the guns of the European artillery, attacking the men with clubs and bedposts…" (The Land of Five rivers and Sind, 1883 AD, by David Ross)
" The Dhunds of the Punjab revolted against the British during the Mutiny….. Similarly, followers of Makhdum of Pak Pattan revolted against the British in 1857 which is called Gugera insurrection." (The Chiefs of the Punjab, by Griffin and others)
Therefore to blame the Punjabi Muslims for having cooperated with Sikhs and the British is unfair and incorrect. There were risings during the Sikh as well as the British periods by the Muslims of Punjab, as noted above, but they were of no avail. Similarly, the Muslims of northern India could do nothing effective against Marathas who virtually controlled the whole of northern India for almost half a century. And remember, the northern India Muslims had all the wealth and armed might of the great Mughal at their disposal. The British too did not find the northern India Muslim a tough adversary. Both the naïve ruler of Oudh and the effete Mughal Emperor surrounded by groups of depraved, could hardly put up any resistance.
For the Punjabi Muslims it was a most painful dilemma. His rulers to the east---the Delhi emperors and their armies comprising northern India Muslims---had degenerated beyond redemption. They had already been subdued both by the Marathas and the British by 1800 AD. While in the west, the dispute for the throne had thrown the Afghans into disarray so much so that they too were defeated and pushed beyond the Khyber by the vigorous Sikhs. Thus, if the two organised Muslim kingdoms of the mughals in the east and the Afghans in the west with all the wherewithal could not stand the British and the Sikh powers, how could the Punjabi Muslims, who were neither armed nor organised, overcame the same Sikhs and British? This argument becomes more cogent and convincing when considered in the light of the fact that the Punjabi Muslims had no independent kingdom or armies of their own like the Muslims of northern India or Afghanistan nor were they hardly recruited in the armies of the Mughal empire of which the Punjab formed a province.
The other accusation brought against the Punjabi Muslims is that they fought as mercenaries in the British army---sometimes even against people of their own faith. This accusation, to put it mildly, is puerile and ridiculous. Students of history are aware that instances are abundant where people professing a certain religion have fought against their co-religionists under the banner of a king or leader belonging to another faith. In the 14th century AD two independent rival kingdoms had emerged in south India when the Tughlaq empire began to disintegrate. One was the Muslim kingdom of Bahmanis and the other the Hindu kingdom of Vijianagar. Vijianagar had a large number of Muslims in its army who were always loyal to their masters and fought against the Muslim rulers of the Bahmani kingdom. Similarly, during the 3rd battle of Panipat in 1761 AD the Maratha army had its left flank manned by Muslims (mostly Pathans) under the command of Ibrahim Khan Gardi. They felt no compunction in fighting against Ahmed Shah Abdali and his Pathan soldiers. When Mahmud Ghaznavi had appeared on the sub-continent scene in 1000 AD the Ismaili rulers (Muslim) of Multan and Mansura formed alliances with Raja Jaipal and his son Anandpal and harassed Mahmud’s forces. At the battle of Tarain in 1192 AD in which Mohammad Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj, Pathan soldiers were fighting on both sides. In 1310 AD when Alauddin Khilji’s general, Malik Kafur was fighting the Raja of Coromondal Coast in south India, a large number of Arabs settled there enlisted themselves in the raja’s army and fought against Malik Kafur. Some of the leading generals of Marathas were Mughals such as Saleh Beg and Sanjli Beg. During the long-drawn-out Crusades, there are instances of some Muslim rulers having supported the Christians and fought with them against their co-religionists.
If the Muslims of any region in India first joined the British army as mercenaries and set an example in this direction, it were the Muslims of northern India. In the 100 years that elapsed between the battle of Plassey in 1757 and the Mutiny of 1857, the bulk of East India Company’s forces consisted of northern Indian Muslims and Hindus. After the conquest of the Punjab in 1848 the British discontinued the recruitment of northern Indian Muslims and started recruiting Punjabis.
If joining the Sikh or British armies and fighting against their co-religionists was a crime, Muslims of other parts of the sub-continent and of other countries were equally guilty of similar acts.
Dardic languages in Chitral
Dardic languages in Chitral
There are 10 languages which are indigenous to Chitral, a valley in the extreme Northwest corner of Pakistan with a population of around 210,000 to 250,000. The Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne said that Chitral was the region with the highest linguistic diversity in the world. The reason for this is obvious. Chitral consists of high mountains interspaced by isolated valleys where small communities have thrived for centuries free from outside interference.
The primary language of Chitral is Khowar, which is the mother tongue of 90% of the population. Most of the remaining 10% speak Khowar as their second language.
The other indigenous languages of Chitral, going clockwise around the Chitral Valley, are: Phalura, Gujari, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha, Wakhi and Kirghiz. In addition, a variety of Persian is spoken in the isolated village of Madaglasht.
Pashtu, also spelled Pashto and Pukhtu, has pushed its way into Chitral within this century. Finally, there is the newly arrived language of Munji. This is a language similar to Yidgha which was spoken in the Munjan Valley in Badakhshan in Afghanistan. During the War in Afghanistan, all the villages in Munjan were bombed and many people were killed, so the Munji people fled to Pakistan and settled in refugee camps, primarily in Chitral. The men still
go back to tend the fields during the Summer. Perhaps families are returning there as the fighting abates.
Lastly, Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and therefore the language for all written communications, especially since almost all of the other languages have no written form. This makes a grand total of 14 languages spoken in Chitral.
Some of these languages are in danger of dying out within the next few generations. This is especially true of Phalura, also known as Ashretiwar, whose speakers are said to want their children to convert to Khowar. The language in greatest danger of dying out is Kalasha, because there are only 3,000 Kalash speakers left and, more importantly, when a Kalash person converts from the Kalash religion to Islam, they customarily stop speaking Kalasha and start speaking Khowar instead.
Among the ten languages indigenous to Chitral, little is known about Wakhi, except that it is believed to be an archaic variety of Persian, perhaps similar to that spoken in the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan. Wakhi is spoken by only a few families in the Upper Yarkhun Valley near the Baroghil Pass to the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. The total number of speakers in Chitral is believed to be less than 900.
This is also the area where Kirghiz is spoken by a small group of unknown size. Kirghiz is a Turkic language spoken in the former Soviet Republic of Kirgizskaya. There are also said to be a few speakers of the Sarikoli language in that area. Sarikoli is a Pamir language. Most Sarikoli speakers live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
Although some of the other languages are decreasing in importance, or are dying out completely, Khowar is increasing in importance, for several reasons: The population of Chitral itself is increasing, people of the area who stop speaking their own language generally convert to Khowar and the Afghan refugees who have lived in Chitral since 1979 have raised new families there and they and their children have learned to speak Khowar.
Here is brief information about the remaining languages:
Phalura, also known as Palola and as Ashretiwar, is spoken by 7,000 to 15,000 people in Ashret and Biori Valleys. A variety of this language is spoken in Village Sau in Afghanistan. The people of Ashret are important because they are strategically located at the main gate to Chitral. All persons entering Chitral through Lowari Top, the pass which is 10,230 feet high which connects Chitral to Dir and the rest of Pakistan, must pass the customs
checkpost at Ashret. Tradition has it that the people of Ashret are originally from Chilas in the Indus Valley. The "Mitar" or ruler of Chitral brought them over, gave them land, and appointed them as the guardians of the gate to Chitral at Ashret, because he did not trust his own Chitrali people to perform this task.
The people of Ashret are truly faithful guardians of the gate. In 1983, when I tried to enter Chitral secretly through a remote mountain path, two Ashretis apprehended me and insisted that I go with them to register at the customs checkpost. Fortunately, I managed to escape from them. A true Chitrali would never have stopped me in this way.
The story that the people of Ashret originally come from Chilas cannot confirmed. There is no date to this story. It appears to have happened even as much as 500 years ago. The present people of Chilas speak the somewhat similar but still different language of Shina. Any connection they may have with the people of Ashret has been lost.
I have received interesting correspondence from a researcher who is pursuing a theory that the Romani people are originally the people of Ashret. The Romani are better known as the gypsies (which they consider to be a derogatory term) and are of unknown origin somewhere on the Indian subcontinent. The primary basis for the supposition that the Romani and the Ashreti people might be the same is that the Romani say that they came from a place called
Lowari - and the Ashretis are the guardians of Lowari Top. Also, "Top" is a word in the Romani language. Finally, the people on the other side of Lowari Top are primarily Pathans in Dir. These Pathans arrived in Dir relatively recently, driving out whomever was there before. Who were those previous occupants of Dir? Could it be possible that they were the Romani people?
Gujari: Gujari is said to be spread over a large area from India to Afghanistan. The Gujaris in Chitral live in 14 villages in the upper end of Shishi Valley. They primarily live by goat herding. They are also to be found in villages south of Drosh and in the Bumboret and Ashret Valleys. They tend to live high up near the snowline. They sometimes call their own language Gujarati, which is incorrect. Gujurati is an entirely different language spoken down in the plains of Pakistan and India. There are believed to be 3,000 speakers of Gujuri in Chitral. It is not known whether the Gujars speak one unified language or a family of languages.
Dameli: Dameli is spoken in 11 villages in Damel Valley, the largest of which is Damel Nisar. Damel Valley is lower down than Ashret Valley and leads to a high mountain pass to Dir. This pass has never been popular and there is no road. The actual pass is 12,000 feet high, higher than Lowari Top, but, according to Prince Nasir-ud-Din, who has long recommended the development of this pass, the pass is flatter and much less prone to avalanche. Every Winter, several travelers die trying to cross Lowari Top because of avalanches of snow. This rarely happens on the pass to Damel Valley, according to Prince Nasir-ud-Din. It is not clear where the people of Damel come from.
Gawar-Bati: Gawar-Bati is spoken in Arandu, which is the last village in the lower end of Chitral. Therefore, the Chitralis call this language Aranduiwar. Most speakers of Gawar-Bati live further down the Kunar Valley, as it is known in Afghanistan. The speakers of Gawar-Bati in Afghanistan live in the villages of Narai, Barikot, Dokalam and Pashingar. Because of the War in Afghanistan, many speakers of Gawar-Bati now live in refugee camps in
Chitral. All speakers of Gawar-Bati are believed to be relatively recent arrivals. They say they came from Swat or from lower down the Kunar River
Before the war in Afghanistan, there were 1500 speakers of Gawar-Bati in Chitral. Now, there are more. Speakers of Gawar-Bati tend to claim that they and their language are Nuristani, which they are not. The Nuristanis are a larger and more prestigious ethnic group.
Nuristani: Unlike other ethnic groups who probably arrived with their languages relatively recently, the Nuristanis are known to have been there for at least 3,000 years. When Alexander the Great passed through the area in 327 BC, his scribes reported a race of light skinned European type people who made wooden boxes. These were clearly the Nuristanis, and the wooden boxes were their coffins. Unlike other races and cultures, they left their dead
above ground and did not bury them. However, Alexander the Great never reached as far up as Chitral. He did not cross the Khyber Pass either. His exact route across the Hindu Kush Mountains is not known, but it seems certain that he turned left at what is now Jalalabad and ascended the Kunar River to as far as Chiga Sarai or Asmar and crossed the pass from there into Bajaur Valley in what is now Pakistan. The Nuristanis were probably that far down
the river at that time, as some are still there today.
The Nuristanis are an almost legendary race who are the subject of the popular Kipling story entitled "The Man Who Would Be King" and the movie starring Sean Connery by that name. In Chitral, the Nuristanis are known as the "Red Kafirs", because of the light almost reddish color of their skin. They had their own Indo-European religion with gods and goddesses, but were converted to Islam by King Abdul Rehman of Afghanistan in 1893.
When King Abdul Rehman conquered Nuristan in 1893, a few Nuristanis fled to Chitral, where they continued to practice their religion. However, by the 1930s, the last Red Kafir had converted to Islam and their religion was lost. Nobody seems to be able to remember their religion any more or to adequately describe it.
The linguist Richard Strand, formerly of the University of Chicago, spent years in Nuristan and wrote articles about the place, one of which was published in National Geographic Magazine. He became completely fluent in all the languages and dialects of Nuristan. Prince Siraj-ud-Din, whose mother was Nuristani and who therefore is half-Nuristani, told me that "Richard speaks Nuristani better than the Nuristanis."
Tragically, Richard Strand never published the results of his investigations, other than a few brief statements. I had several arguments with him over this, saying that it was unfair for him not to publish this tremendously valuable storehouse of knowledge which only he had. However, he said that nobody had paid him to do his research and it was up to him to decide when and how it was published. I have not heard from Richard Strand in more than ten years and have been searching for him for some time. If anybody knows where he is or what happened to him, please let me know.
The Nuristanis call their own languages or dialects Kativiri, Kamviri and Mumviri. There are altogether more than 100,000 speakers of Nuristani, which at one time was known as Kafirstani.
Kalasha or Kalashamun: This is spoken by 3,000 people in the Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir Valleys. These are the "Black Kafirs", as opposed to the "Red Kafirs". In Chitral, there are two kinds of Kafirs: Red and Black. The Black Kafirs are so named because their women and girls dress in black robes made of goat hair. The Black Kafirs have customs similar to the Red but claim that their religion is much different. They also do not bury their dead. Instead, the dead bodies are placed in wooden coffins above ground. There is a celebration. If an important man died, they dance and beat drums around his dead body for 48 hours without sleep. If a woman dies, they dance for 36 hours. If a child dies, they dance for 24 hours. I have been to several of these ceremonies. (I did not stay up the full 48 hours and went to sleep, however.)
The Kalasha language is also spoken in Urtsun and Jinjoret valleys and in the village of Kalkatak. These are places where the Kalash religion was formerly practiced. When a Kalash person converts to Islam, he also converts his language from Kalasha to Khowar. All the inhabitants of Urtsun, Jinjoret and Kalkatak long ago converted from the Kalash religion to Islam. However, many are said to have started speaking the Kalasha language again. There are believed to be at least 3,000 speakers who have started speaking Kalasha again in these areas.
Yidgha: This language is spoken in villages above Garam Chishma, near the Durah Pass into Afghanistan. On the other side of the Durah Pass, in Badakhshan in Afghanistan, the somewhat similar language of Munji is spoken. However, all of the Munjani speakers are said to have fled into Pakistan during the war in Afghanistan.
Yidgha and Munji have long been considered to be dialects of each other. However, a study by Kendall Decker has shown that these two languages bear only a 56% lexical similarity. This indicates that they are not dialects but rather are different and distantly related languages. There are 5,000 to 6,000 speakers of Yidgha and a similar number of speakers of Munji.
The languages of Khowar, Phalura, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha and Munji are all classified as Dardic languages in the Indo-European family of languages. The term Dardic comes from the ancient Greek historian Herototus who placed the land of the Dards as in the mountains between Afghanistan and Kashmir. Whether it is historically accurate to associate the present people of Chitral with this term is not known. The terms Dardic and Dards are unknown in Chitral. This is just a European term. All authorities, including Morgenstierne and Strand, agree that the use of the term "Dardic languages" is a misnomer because these languages are not really related to each other at all, beyond being Indo-European languages.
My own studies confirm this. Khowar and Kalasha are always classified as closely related members of the same language group, the Chitral sub-group. However, my own field work showed only 26% lexical similarity and most of that 26% consisted of obvious loan words. This indicates that there may be no relation between the two languages at all. The belief that Khowar is closely related to Kalasha may stem from the fact that the Kalash people often speak Khowar brokenly when talking to outsiders, rather than trying to speak their own language.
by Esmail Sloan
There are 10 languages which are indigenous to Chitral, a valley in the extreme Northwest corner of Pakistan with a population of around 210,000 to 250,000. The Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne said that Chitral was the region with the highest linguistic diversity in the world. The reason for this is obvious. Chitral consists of high mountains interspaced by isolated valleys where small communities have thrived for centuries free from outside interference.
The primary language of Chitral is Khowar, which is the mother tongue of 90% of the population. Most of the remaining 10% speak Khowar as their second language.
The other indigenous languages of Chitral, going clockwise around the Chitral Valley, are: Phalura, Gujari, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha, Wakhi and Kirghiz. In addition, a variety of Persian is spoken in the isolated village of Madaglasht.
Pashtu, also spelled Pashto and Pukhtu, has pushed its way into Chitral within this century. Finally, there is the newly arrived language of Munji. This is a language similar to Yidgha which was spoken in the Munjan Valley in Badakhshan in Afghanistan. During the War in Afghanistan, all the villages in Munjan were bombed and many people were killed, so the Munji people fled to Pakistan and settled in refugee camps, primarily in Chitral. The men still
go back to tend the fields during the Summer. Perhaps families are returning there as the fighting abates.
Lastly, Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and therefore the language for all written communications, especially since almost all of the other languages have no written form. This makes a grand total of 14 languages spoken in Chitral.
Some of these languages are in danger of dying out within the next few generations. This is especially true of Phalura, also known as Ashretiwar, whose speakers are said to want their children to convert to Khowar. The language in greatest danger of dying out is Kalasha, because there are only 3,000 Kalash speakers left and, more importantly, when a Kalash person converts from the Kalash religion to Islam, they customarily stop speaking Kalasha and start speaking Khowar instead.
Among the ten languages indigenous to Chitral, little is known about Wakhi, except that it is believed to be an archaic variety of Persian, perhaps similar to that spoken in the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan. Wakhi is spoken by only a few families in the Upper Yarkhun Valley near the Baroghil Pass to the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. The total number of speakers in Chitral is believed to be less than 900.
This is also the area where Kirghiz is spoken by a small group of unknown size. Kirghiz is a Turkic language spoken in the former Soviet Republic of Kirgizskaya. There are also said to be a few speakers of the Sarikoli language in that area. Sarikoli is a Pamir language. Most Sarikoli speakers live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
Although some of the other languages are decreasing in importance, or are dying out completely, Khowar is increasing in importance, for several reasons: The population of Chitral itself is increasing, people of the area who stop speaking their own language generally convert to Khowar and the Afghan refugees who have lived in Chitral since 1979 have raised new families there and they and their children have learned to speak Khowar.
Here is brief information about the remaining languages:
Phalura, also known as Palola and as Ashretiwar, is spoken by 7,000 to 15,000 people in Ashret and Biori Valleys. A variety of this language is spoken in Village Sau in Afghanistan. The people of Ashret are important because they are strategically located at the main gate to Chitral. All persons entering Chitral through Lowari Top, the pass which is 10,230 feet high which connects Chitral to Dir and the rest of Pakistan, must pass the customs
checkpost at Ashret. Tradition has it that the people of Ashret are originally from Chilas in the Indus Valley. The "Mitar" or ruler of Chitral brought them over, gave them land, and appointed them as the guardians of the gate to Chitral at Ashret, because he did not trust his own Chitrali people to perform this task.
The people of Ashret are truly faithful guardians of the gate. In 1983, when I tried to enter Chitral secretly through a remote mountain path, two Ashretis apprehended me and insisted that I go with them to register at the customs checkpost. Fortunately, I managed to escape from them. A true Chitrali would never have stopped me in this way.
The story that the people of Ashret originally come from Chilas cannot confirmed. There is no date to this story. It appears to have happened even as much as 500 years ago. The present people of Chilas speak the somewhat similar but still different language of Shina. Any connection they may have with the people of Ashret has been lost.
I have received interesting correspondence from a researcher who is pursuing a theory that the Romani people are originally the people of Ashret. The Romani are better known as the gypsies (which they consider to be a derogatory term) and are of unknown origin somewhere on the Indian subcontinent. The primary basis for the supposition that the Romani and the Ashreti people might be the same is that the Romani say that they came from a place called
Lowari - and the Ashretis are the guardians of Lowari Top. Also, "Top" is a word in the Romani language. Finally, the people on the other side of Lowari Top are primarily Pathans in Dir. These Pathans arrived in Dir relatively recently, driving out whomever was there before. Who were those previous occupants of Dir? Could it be possible that they were the Romani people?
Gujari: Gujari is said to be spread over a large area from India to Afghanistan. The Gujaris in Chitral live in 14 villages in the upper end of Shishi Valley. They primarily live by goat herding. They are also to be found in villages south of Drosh and in the Bumboret and Ashret Valleys. They tend to live high up near the snowline. They sometimes call their own language Gujarati, which is incorrect. Gujurati is an entirely different language spoken down in the plains of Pakistan and India. There are believed to be 3,000 speakers of Gujuri in Chitral. It is not known whether the Gujars speak one unified language or a family of languages.
Dameli: Dameli is spoken in 11 villages in Damel Valley, the largest of which is Damel Nisar. Damel Valley is lower down than Ashret Valley and leads to a high mountain pass to Dir. This pass has never been popular and there is no road. The actual pass is 12,000 feet high, higher than Lowari Top, but, according to Prince Nasir-ud-Din, who has long recommended the development of this pass, the pass is flatter and much less prone to avalanche. Every Winter, several travelers die trying to cross Lowari Top because of avalanches of snow. This rarely happens on the pass to Damel Valley, according to Prince Nasir-ud-Din. It is not clear where the people of Damel come from.
Gawar-Bati: Gawar-Bati is spoken in Arandu, which is the last village in the lower end of Chitral. Therefore, the Chitralis call this language Aranduiwar. Most speakers of Gawar-Bati live further down the Kunar Valley, as it is known in Afghanistan. The speakers of Gawar-Bati in Afghanistan live in the villages of Narai, Barikot, Dokalam and Pashingar. Because of the War in Afghanistan, many speakers of Gawar-Bati now live in refugee camps in
Chitral. All speakers of Gawar-Bati are believed to be relatively recent arrivals. They say they came from Swat or from lower down the Kunar River
Before the war in Afghanistan, there were 1500 speakers of Gawar-Bati in Chitral. Now, there are more. Speakers of Gawar-Bati tend to claim that they and their language are Nuristani, which they are not. The Nuristanis are a larger and more prestigious ethnic group.
Nuristani: Unlike other ethnic groups who probably arrived with their languages relatively recently, the Nuristanis are known to have been there for at least 3,000 years. When Alexander the Great passed through the area in 327 BC, his scribes reported a race of light skinned European type people who made wooden boxes. These were clearly the Nuristanis, and the wooden boxes were their coffins. Unlike other races and cultures, they left their dead
above ground and did not bury them. However, Alexander the Great never reached as far up as Chitral. He did not cross the Khyber Pass either. His exact route across the Hindu Kush Mountains is not known, but it seems certain that he turned left at what is now Jalalabad and ascended the Kunar River to as far as Chiga Sarai or Asmar and crossed the pass from there into Bajaur Valley in what is now Pakistan. The Nuristanis were probably that far down
the river at that time, as some are still there today.
The Nuristanis are an almost legendary race who are the subject of the popular Kipling story entitled "The Man Who Would Be King" and the movie starring Sean Connery by that name. In Chitral, the Nuristanis are known as the "Red Kafirs", because of the light almost reddish color of their skin. They had their own Indo-European religion with gods and goddesses, but were converted to Islam by King Abdul Rehman of Afghanistan in 1893.
When King Abdul Rehman conquered Nuristan in 1893, a few Nuristanis fled to Chitral, where they continued to practice their religion. However, by the 1930s, the last Red Kafir had converted to Islam and their religion was lost. Nobody seems to be able to remember their religion any more or to adequately describe it.
The linguist Richard Strand, formerly of the University of Chicago, spent years in Nuristan and wrote articles about the place, one of which was published in National Geographic Magazine. He became completely fluent in all the languages and dialects of Nuristan. Prince Siraj-ud-Din, whose mother was Nuristani and who therefore is half-Nuristani, told me that "Richard speaks Nuristani better than the Nuristanis."
Tragically, Richard Strand never published the results of his investigations, other than a few brief statements. I had several arguments with him over this, saying that it was unfair for him not to publish this tremendously valuable storehouse of knowledge which only he had. However, he said that nobody had paid him to do his research and it was up to him to decide when and how it was published. I have not heard from Richard Strand in more than ten years and have been searching for him for some time. If anybody knows where he is or what happened to him, please let me know.
The Nuristanis call their own languages or dialects Kativiri, Kamviri and Mumviri. There are altogether more than 100,000 speakers of Nuristani, which at one time was known as Kafirstani.
Kalasha or Kalashamun: This is spoken by 3,000 people in the Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir Valleys. These are the "Black Kafirs", as opposed to the "Red Kafirs". In Chitral, there are two kinds of Kafirs: Red and Black. The Black Kafirs are so named because their women and girls dress in black robes made of goat hair. The Black Kafirs have customs similar to the Red but claim that their religion is much different. They also do not bury their dead. Instead, the dead bodies are placed in wooden coffins above ground. There is a celebration. If an important man died, they dance and beat drums around his dead body for 48 hours without sleep. If a woman dies, they dance for 36 hours. If a child dies, they dance for 24 hours. I have been to several of these ceremonies. (I did not stay up the full 48 hours and went to sleep, however.)
The Kalasha language is also spoken in Urtsun and Jinjoret valleys and in the village of Kalkatak. These are places where the Kalash religion was formerly practiced. When a Kalash person converts to Islam, he also converts his language from Kalasha to Khowar. All the inhabitants of Urtsun, Jinjoret and Kalkatak long ago converted from the Kalash religion to Islam. However, many are said to have started speaking the Kalasha language again. There are believed to be at least 3,000 speakers who have started speaking Kalasha again in these areas.
Yidgha: This language is spoken in villages above Garam Chishma, near the Durah Pass into Afghanistan. On the other side of the Durah Pass, in Badakhshan in Afghanistan, the somewhat similar language of Munji is spoken. However, all of the Munjani speakers are said to have fled into Pakistan during the war in Afghanistan.
Yidgha and Munji have long been considered to be dialects of each other. However, a study by Kendall Decker has shown that these two languages bear only a 56% lexical similarity. This indicates that they are not dialects but rather are different and distantly related languages. There are 5,000 to 6,000 speakers of Yidgha and a similar number of speakers of Munji.
The languages of Khowar, Phalura, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha and Munji are all classified as Dardic languages in the Indo-European family of languages. The term Dardic comes from the ancient Greek historian Herototus who placed the land of the Dards as in the mountains between Afghanistan and Kashmir. Whether it is historically accurate to associate the present people of Chitral with this term is not known. The terms Dardic and Dards are unknown in Chitral. This is just a European term. All authorities, including Morgenstierne and Strand, agree that the use of the term "Dardic languages" is a misnomer because these languages are not really related to each other at all, beyond being Indo-European languages.
My own studies confirm this. Khowar and Kalasha are always classified as closely related members of the same language group, the Chitral sub-group. However, my own field work showed only 26% lexical similarity and most of that 26% consisted of obvious loan words. This indicates that there may be no relation between the two languages at all. The belief that Khowar is closely related to Kalasha may stem from the fact that the Kalash people often speak Khowar brokenly when talking to outsiders, rather than trying to speak their own language.
by Esmail Sloan
STORY OF KARACHI
| STORY OF KARACHI There was nothing much at Karachi until the Mirs of Talpur seized it from the Khan of Kalat in 1795 and constructed a mud fort at Manora. Under its protection, a small town grew up, whose population had reached 13,000 by 1818. Not much happened thereafter until 1st February 1839, when a British ship - the Wellesley - anchored off Manora. Two days later the little fort surrendered without a shot being fired on either side. The fickle finger of fate had suddenly shoved the sleepy back-water towards becoming a megalopolis, a world city. WRESTED FROM THE SWAMPS: The settlement was remote and swampy, isolated by hundreds of miles of bleak desert in every direction but the sea. Nonetheless, within four years, the capital of Sind was transferred there and building began in earnest. By 1847 the Napier Barracks (now governinent offices) were completed. A census next year showed that the population had already reached 50,000. The filth and squalor proliferated, everything became plastered with smelly black mud from the mangrove swamps, so a Municipal Committee was formed to levy funds and provide public utilities. In 1848 the municipality's income was Rs.6,000; in 1849 it was Rs.18,000 and in 1850, Rs.27,000 - an increase reflecting the mind-boggling population explosion. The committee laid out a whole network of roads, named after itselt; in what is now Central Karachi. Preedy Street was named after the Revenue Commissioner; MeLeod Road after the Collector of Customs and so on. Even in those days Karachi had a traffic problem. There were so many carts and carriages that the roads had to be paved with gravel chippings (an unheard of refinement, way ahead of London.) The streets were watered daily by municipal bullock carts, to damp down the dust. As revenues increased, public works were undertaken on a grand scale. Frere Hall (a museum and library) was finished in 1865, Mereweather Clock Tower in 1867, Boulton Market in 1883, Empress Market in 1889... The town turned into a city. As people poured in, the drinking water problem, always difficult, became acute. There is no natural source of water in Karachi; all water consumed there must be fetched from somewhere else. Last century, water drawn from the Indus was brought by camel train to the cantonment. The wealthier merchants sent mule carts to the sweetwater springs in nearby Clifton. Less fortunate people bought drinking water from municipal watercarriers until household pipes could be laid. Though provision proceeded apace, demand has always been ahead of supply. Karachi's poor, in places like Korangi, are still waiting for safe drinking water. At the turn of the century a public tram service commenced from Saddar (the cantonment) to the new harbour at Kiamari. The horses wore straw hats to avoid sunstroke and water for them was provided by the philanthropic "Drinking Trough Society of Karachi." The troughs can still be seen here and there in the city. Modernising the harbour commenced in 1860, proceeding by fits and starts. By 1882 the Mereweather Pier was completed and pilgrims for Mecca no longer had to embark at Manora. By 1900, Karachi was one of the the biggest and best outfitted ports in the world. Nonetheless, it continued to be troubled by the ague and the plague until the sanitation system was completed, just after the first World War. The war itself brought immense prosperity to Karachi's merchants. Clifton's promenade, pier and park were gifted to the city by Sir Jehangir H. Kothari OBE in 1919. The complex Cost Rs.300,000 to build, an absolute fortune in those days. Other public parks, including the Zoological Gardens on Garden Road were laid out at this time. Even more new roads and buildings were constructed in the interwar period. As the population approached the quarter million mark, those who could moved out to the suburbs, building houses in a style best described as "South Asian Hollywood." commuting arrived with a vengeance and one of the world's first rapid transit systems was inaugurated. MELTING POT: The building of Karachi attracted Goan cooks, Anglo-Indian bartenders, Sikh bricklayers, and Chinese washermen. Parsi, Hindu and Jain merchants came from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Until Partition, their camel caravans regularly crossed the Thar. The Parsis built a Tower of Death out at Korangi. A few of the merchants' big mansions still remain downtown. The Lebanese community became sizeable. People of African descent can also be seem in and around Karachi. Tradition has it, they escaped from a shipwrecked Arab slaver at the mouth of the Hub River (hence their nickname 'hubshi"). At Partition, Hindus, Armenians and Jews left the city en masse. Muslim refugees from India, calling themselves Mohajir, migrated in by train, boat, air, truck, even on foot. It is not known how many millions arrived. Karachi, new capital of a new country, was so pushed for space that its government servants had to sleep in the public parks and gardens in tents! The Mohajir further diversify the ethnic mix of the city. Many English stayed on, their ranks now depleted by age. Vintage couples can be spotted at their usual watering holes, the Metropole Hotel and the statelier clubs in the early evening. Subsequent decades have seen the influx unabated. The Karachi Development Authority instituted the upgrading of amenities on a massive scale: new housing colonies, public buildings, roads, schools, colleges, markets, bazaars, business centres, to keep pace with development needs. Cycle rickshaws have now been replaced by thousands of scooter-rickshaws. After Pakistan's civil war in 1971, thousands of Biharis (Urdu-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh) arrived by boat. In the 1980s Afghan refugees joined migrant workers from the Frontier who have laboured as dockworkers and porters for decades. Meanwhile, "economic refugees" from Pakistan's less developed areas, like Gilgit, Chitral and Hunza head for Karachi in search of jobs. The original Sindhi speaking population is now a minority in the city. Gas supply lines from Sui in Baluchistan were laid, the Hub Dam Scheme extended the Greater Karachi Water Project and the Circular Railway was completed. In the 1960s, two huge industrial areas were built, at Sind Industrial Estate and Landhi and in the 1970s three more: the Export Processing Zone, Pakistan Steel Mills Complex and Muhammad Bin Qasim Container Port. In the following decade, work on KANUPP, Karachi's nuclear power station, was inaugurated. Industrial growth has been spectacular. RICH AND POOR: Original home of Pakistan's film and music industries, Karachi in the 1980s made more films and exported them to more countries than Hollywood. It houses the very latest in modern technology. The city works and sleeps in a haze of brick dust as buildings barely 30 years old are relentlessly torn down and replaced with something more up to date. The population of seven, maybe eight, million now extends over several hundred square kilometres along the coast and into the desert, residing in modern apartment blocks, prestigious cooperative housing societies called "Colonies", seaside mansions and sprawling shanty towns on the outskirts, areas of such appalling poverty that it is difficult to see how residents will ever be extricated from their plight. Working 16 hours a day, poor youths toil like slaves, earning a pittance to produce elegant costume for the city's elite. Piles of rubble surround new homes, hotels and condominiums. Limousines and rickshaws alike must pick their way through scaffolding jungles as artisans with age old skills produce ever more new buildings. Sometimes these are exquisite, and Karachi's modern architecture is the showcase of Asia. .......to be continued |
dont forgat khashmir 50 year
ON FIRE | THE BLOODY 50-YEAR OLD DISPUTE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR LINGERS ON... |
| The State of Jammu & Kashmir is under brutal subjugation of 600,000+ Indian mercenaries, who are licensed to kill by the Indian Parliament!!! 60,000+ innocent people have been mercilessly butchered to death in the last 9 years in the occupied Kashmir. There is 1 soldier for every 6 Kashmiris, majority of whom are old men, women and children! |
Dear visitor,
You may be aware that it has been more than 50 testing years for our brethren in Kashmir. In the last 10 years or so, the hardships and miseries of Kashmiris have increased manifolds with the Indian State continuously upping the ante against a people asking for justice. Unfortunately as things stand, there seems no end to the miseries of those unfortunate Kashmiris whose only crime has been to ask for their right to self-determination.
The once beautiful valley is now a smouldering hell. The holocaust is being recreated in Kashmir almost every day. And it is a very unfortunate fact that the international media finds opportunity time after time to commemorate the 50 years old Jewish Holocaust, but hardly finds time to give due attention to the ongoing holocaust that is Kashmir.
My Kashmir Web Site started way back in 1994, when as a member of the External Relations Committee of Pakistan Students Association International, I worked on a campaign with some colleagues to bring Kashmir to the attention of people that mattered. Yes we did not have the money nor the control over the international media. But what we did have was something even more powerful, it was the voice of conscience and that of truth. And we had reckoned that the truth was out there, meeker in posture but perhaps bigger in numbers. Now that the greatest democratising tool, that is the Internet, was under our fingertips things had to change for the better.
The Kashmir Campaign of the PSAI did not last long. The devoted group that had formed the External Relations Committee soon disbanded with members graduating and getting lost somewhere in the realities of life, far removed from the virtues of idealism and yes also from the power of Internet. But then these days the Internet is getting mass acceptance. And many more thoughtful citizens of this planet are taking their due place in this mass medium of common people, and they are making themselves heard.
I hope that this Site slowly but steadily develops into a platform to bring such citizens together for the cause of Kashmiris which is indeed the cause of humanity. I invite you to express your views and suggest ways of highlighting the cause of Kashmiris around the world. I also invite you to spread the word around so as to help make this Web Site into an open forum of collaboration for those seeking to uphold the values of humanity.
Remember that just five minutes of your time can save five lives in Indian Occupied Kashmir. So please act now.
Best Regards and Happy Reading...
Some of my articles related to the Kashmir problem:
- Brief letter describing the Kashmir problem
- Detailed analysis of India's unbridled militarization, its attempt to usurp Kashmir, its impact on India-Pakistan relations in particular, and the South Asian region in general
- The myth of 'third option' - a firm rejoinder to Amanullah Khan of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front [July 20, 1995, Daily The Nation]
Important Documents
Kashmir News from around the World:
- Kashmir News from the Cable News Network [CNN Interactive]
- Kashmir News from the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC Online]
- Kashmir News from HotNews Online
- Kashmir News compiled by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front
Other Kashmir Sites:
- Violence as Policy in the Occupation of Kashmir - A thesis paper by Michael Kolodner
- Kashmir - Desolation or Peace: By Dr. Majid A. Siraj
- Official Web Site of the Kashmiri-American Council
- Official Web Site of the Kashmiri-Canadian Council
- Government of Pakistan Official Kashmir Page
- Gharib Hanif's Comprehensive Kashmir Site
- Kashmir Council for Human Rights
- Kashmir Research Site
- KRIS - Kashmir Information Service
- INCORE: Conflict Data Service - Kashmir
- Ahsen Ahmed's Kashmir Site
- Kashmir as a Disputed Territory
- PakSA's Azad Kashmir Site
- Kashmir Web Site on Pak Avenue
The fundamental problem between India and Pakistan is not that of Hindu-Muslim hatred. Not that these are the same people. No they are not. Hindus and Muslims are indeed fundamentally a very different people because of their religions, who have amalgamated perchance into each other by virtue of a shared history. The fundamental problem in the Subcontinent is that of intolerance, mistrust, and a lack of pragmatic and humane vision for all.
Gandhi honestly attempted to provide the vision for a united Sub-continent. But he failed because he could not rescue himself from the narrow confines of his Hindu mentality. Jinnah was once the greatest ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, but above all he was a pragmatist too. He was pragmatic when he believed that the Sub-continent would fare far better united, and he was also pragmatic when he came to the conclusion that the Indian mindset was far from that of his higher ideals.
Pakistan failed to solve the fundamental problem of mutual intolerance, but perhaps it did manage in the end to protect most of the Muslim peoples from a dominant Hindu majority. After all that was its purpose in the first place and it served this purpose well. But the people of the Sub-continent must not forget what ills them. Their ills manifest clearly in the Hindu-Muslim clashes, in the Sunni-Shia clashes, in the Kashmir freedom struggle, in the Khalistan struggle, in the emergence of Bangladesh, and of course in the perennial India-Pakistan vendetta.
Kashmir was, is and will continue to be a flashpoint, and a potential source of nuclear conflict. Kashmir is central to the India-Pakistan dispute. India has failed to accept Pakistan as a nation-state, and Pakistan's worst fears have come true. India seeks to undo the very foundations of partition, that is, Muslim majority areas to Pakistan, and the Hindu majority to India. This obduracy and rigidity hasnt served any one. Not even the Indians.
We in Pakistan fervently hope that the Indians will someday accept Pakistan and its right to exist. Similarly we hope that they will let the process of partition, started some odd fifty years ago, come to its logical conclusion by allowing the Kashmiris their right to choose between India and Pakistan. Only when the Indians accept our right to exist and the right of Kashmiris to decide their future, with all sincerity, can peace return to this region. Till then our people shall continue to suffer our misfortunes.
If we seek emancipation for our future generations, now that our present generation has been given to poverty and squalor; we must rise above our prejudices and our "us vs. them" mentality. This self-stratification of the Sub-continental society is the unfortunate after-effect of the ancient Hindu caste system. The remnants of this stratified and mutually antagonistic society remain today to haunt us. It does not bid well for a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual area such as the Sub-continent to remain enslaved to such universally discredited notions with disastrous implications for us all.
What remains to be seen is how and whether we do manage to see the writing on the wall.
Let us all be blessed,
Peace!
The word "Punjab" for the first time was mentioned in the Book ``Tarikh-e-Sher Shah'' (1580) which mentions the construction of Fort by a fellow named ``Sher Khan of Punjab''. Again the name is mentioned in ``Ain-e-Akbari'' part 1 written by Abul Fazal who also mentions that the territory of Punjab was divided into two provinces of Lahore and Multan. Similarly in the second volume of ``Aeen-e-Akbari'' title of a chapter contains the word ``Punjab'' in it. Also the Mughal King Jahangeer mentions the word ``punjab'' on page 183 of his book "Tuzk-i-Janhageeri". [Quraishee 73]
But Archeologists have traced the signs of human habitation to times long before that of Mughals arrival. The upper basin of Indus and the Baluchistan Plateu hosted one of the earliest human civilizations known as the Indus valley civilization. The earliest signs of life human activity date as far back as 7000 B.P. The Indus valley civilization grew from small village and settlements to highly refined urban life. At its height, around 3000 B.C., it boasted the splendid cities of Harrapa (Near present Day Sahiwal in West Punjab) and Moen-jo Doro in the lower Indus valley. The story of the decline, whose reasons are still not completely explained, of civilization is also told through the remains of these cities.
Aryan Migrations:
Among other reasons like the change in the wheather patterns, urbanization without any rural agricultural production base one factor is reported to be the series of raids or small scale migrations by the Aryans from the North-West (1500-100 BC). The next thousand year history of Punjab (or Arya-Varta, the land of Aryas, as Aryas called it) is dominated by the Aryans and their interactions with the natives of the Indus basin. Here is where the oldest books of human history called the Rig-Vedas are supposed to have been written. The Aryan tongue Sanskrit became a symbol of the Aryan domination of the area.
Easternmost Satrapy of the Persians:
Punjab lied at the outskirts of the great Persian empires and came under their control from time to time. The Persian King Darius the great is reported to have attacked Punjab and occupied some parts. But for the first time the coccupation of Punjab was completed by the Persian King Gustasp in 516 BC. Punjab became the wealthiest Satrapy i.e., the province in the Persian kingdom.
Greeks, the rival empire of the Persians, also had some knowledge of the area. The great Persian Emperor Darius I (521-486 BC) appointed Skylax the Greek to explore the area around Indus river for commercial expeditions who provided an account of his voyage in his book ``Peripulus''. Hectaeus (500 BC) and Herodotus (483-431 BC) also wrote about the ``Indian Satrapy'' of the Persians. Alexander's expeditions were documented in the works of Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny, Arrian and others. They described a region that had plenty of mighty rivers and was divided into four Kingdoms. In Greek maps we find the mention of the mightiest of river of all the world called the Indos (Indus) and its tributaries of Hydaspes (Jehlum), Akesines (Chenab), Hydroatis (Ravi), Hyphasis (Satluj) and Hesidros (Beas).
Alexanders's Invasion:
In 321 BC Alexander the great after breaking the might of the Persians entered their final Satrapy of Punjab. He invited all the cheiftans of this Satrapy to come to him and submit to his authority, which is exactly what the ruler of the northwest most (west of Hydaspes) kingdom of Gandhara with its capital of Taxilai did. But the ruler of the Kingdom beteen (Hydaspes and Akesines) refused to submit to Alexander's authority and the two armies fought the historical battle on the bank of Akesines outside the town of Nikaia (somewhere around modern city of Jehlum).
Porus put up a tough fight but his army was no match for Alexanders army. After losing his sons and getting hurt himself when the defiant Raja was brought in front of Alexander, the legendary conversation took place when Alexander inquired Porus, ``How should I treat you?'', the brave Porus shot back, ``The same way as a king treats another king.''. Alexander was struck by his genius and he not only returned the Kingdom back to Porus, but he also added the area lying between Akesines and Hydraotis to his Kingdom whose ruler had fled.
Alexander as with his other occupied areas established two cities in the area of Punjab, where he settled people from his multi-national armies which included a majority of Greeks and Macedonians. These cities along with the rule of the Indo-Greek thrived long after Alexander's departure.
Alexander's Eastern empire (from Syria to Punjab) was inherited by Selecus Nicator, the founder of Seleucid dynasty. However the Greek empire in the east was disrupted by the ascendency of the Bacterians. The Bacterian King Demetrius I added Punjab to his Kingdom in the second century BC. The best known of the Indo-Greek kings was Menander who established his independent kingdom centered at Taxila in 170 BC. He later moved his capital to Sagala (The modern Sialkot). Menander soon captured territories east of his kingdom and grew to rival the power of Bacterians. Menander died in a vain attempt to conquer Bacteria in 130 BC. Menander's successors maintained the their rule on Punjab till 55 BC when the whole area was disrupted by the events happening in greater Euro-Asia.
In the middle of the second century BC, Yui Chi tribe of modern China began to move westward which caused in turn to Sakas or Scythians to move. Northern Sakas successfully wrestled the power of the areas from the Indo-Greeks. Another Central Asiatic people to make Punjab their home were the white Huns who made continuous campaigns towars this part of the world. Finally establishing their rule in the later 3rd century AD.
Muslim Invasions
Following the birth of Islam in Arabia in 6th century AD, Arabs rose to power and replaced the Persians as the major power in the area. In 711-13 AD Arabs advanced to the land of five rivers, occupying Multan. Further north the area that survived the Arab attcks was divided into small kingdoms.
Meanwhile in Ghazni after the death of Subuktgin, the Turk, his son Mahmud assumed power in 997 AD. He was to expand his father's kingdom far to the west and east of Ghazni through his military conquest. He was to attack Punjab 17 times during his reign. The Ghaznavids were uprooted by the Ghauris who extended their rule as far as Dehli. Shahabuddin Ghauri annexed Lahore to his kingdom in 1186. After Ghauri's death his governor Qutbudin Aibak became an independent ruler of Punjab and founded the Mamluk sultenate. Khiljis' replaced the Mamluks in 1290. The rule of Khiljis was briefly disrupted by the two successful raids by the Mongols who marched their way to dehli twice during Alauddin khilji's rule. tughluqs succeeded Khiljis in 1320 AD. Tughluq rule was replaced by the Sayyids in 1414 AD. Lodhis gained control of Dehli in 1479 AD.
But Archeologists have traced the signs of human habitation to times long before that of Mughals arrival. The upper basin of Indus and the Baluchistan Plateu hosted one of the earliest human civilizations known as the Indus valley civilization. The earliest signs of life human activity date as far back as 7000 B.P. The Indus valley civilization grew from small village and settlements to highly refined urban life. At its height, around 3000 B.C., it boasted the splendid cities of Harrapa (Near present Day Sahiwal in West Punjab) and Moen-jo Doro in the lower Indus valley. The story of the decline, whose reasons are still not completely explained, of civilization is also told through the remains of these cities.
Aryan Migrations:
Among other reasons like the change in the wheather patterns, urbanization without any rural agricultural production base one factor is reported to be the series of raids or small scale migrations by the Aryans from the North-West (1500-100 BC). The next thousand year history of Punjab (or Arya-Varta, the land of Aryas, as Aryas called it) is dominated by the Aryans and their interactions with the natives of the Indus basin. Here is where the oldest books of human history called the Rig-Vedas are supposed to have been written. The Aryan tongue Sanskrit became a symbol of the Aryan domination of the area.
Easternmost Satrapy of the Persians:
Punjab lied at the outskirts of the great Persian empires and came under their control from time to time. The Persian King Darius the great is reported to have attacked Punjab and occupied some parts. But for the first time the coccupation of Punjab was completed by the Persian King Gustasp in 516 BC. Punjab became the wealthiest Satrapy i.e., the province in the Persian kingdom.
Greeks, the rival empire of the Persians, also had some knowledge of the area. The great Persian Emperor Darius I (521-486 BC) appointed Skylax the Greek to explore the area around Indus river for commercial expeditions who provided an account of his voyage in his book ``Peripulus''. Hectaeus (500 BC) and Herodotus (483-431 BC) also wrote about the ``Indian Satrapy'' of the Persians. Alexander's expeditions were documented in the works of Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny, Arrian and others. They described a region that had plenty of mighty rivers and was divided into four Kingdoms. In Greek maps we find the mention of the mightiest of river of all the world called the Indos (Indus) and its tributaries of Hydaspes (Jehlum), Akesines (Chenab), Hydroatis (Ravi), Hyphasis (Satluj) and Hesidros (Beas).
Alexanders's Invasion:
In 321 BC Alexander the great after breaking the might of the Persians entered their final Satrapy of Punjab. He invited all the cheiftans of this Satrapy to come to him and submit to his authority, which is exactly what the ruler of the northwest most (west of Hydaspes) kingdom of Gandhara with its capital of Taxilai did. But the ruler of the Kingdom beteen (Hydaspes and Akesines) refused to submit to Alexander's authority and the two armies fought the historical battle on the bank of Akesines outside the town of Nikaia (somewhere around modern city of Jehlum).
Porus put up a tough fight but his army was no match for Alexanders army. After losing his sons and getting hurt himself when the defiant Raja was brought in front of Alexander, the legendary conversation took place when Alexander inquired Porus, ``How should I treat you?'', the brave Porus shot back, ``The same way as a king treats another king.''. Alexander was struck by his genius and he not only returned the Kingdom back to Porus, but he also added the area lying between Akesines and Hydraotis to his Kingdom whose ruler had fled.
Alexander as with his other occupied areas established two cities in the area of Punjab, where he settled people from his multi-national armies which included a majority of Greeks and Macedonians. These cities along with the rule of the Indo-Greek thrived long after Alexander's departure.
Alexander's Eastern empire (from Syria to Punjab) was inherited by Selecus Nicator, the founder of Seleucid dynasty. However the Greek empire in the east was disrupted by the ascendency of the Bacterians. The Bacterian King Demetrius I added Punjab to his Kingdom in the second century BC. The best known of the Indo-Greek kings was Menander who established his independent kingdom centered at Taxila in 170 BC. He later moved his capital to Sagala (The modern Sialkot). Menander soon captured territories east of his kingdom and grew to rival the power of Bacterians. Menander died in a vain attempt to conquer Bacteria in 130 BC. Menander's successors maintained the their rule on Punjab till 55 BC when the whole area was disrupted by the events happening in greater Euro-Asia.
In the middle of the second century BC, Yui Chi tribe of modern China began to move westward which caused in turn to Sakas or Scythians to move. Northern Sakas successfully wrestled the power of the areas from the Indo-Greeks. Another Central Asiatic people to make Punjab their home were the white Huns who made continuous campaigns towars this part of the world. Finally establishing their rule in the later 3rd century AD.
Muslim Invasions
Following the birth of Islam in Arabia in 6th century AD, Arabs rose to power and replaced the Persians as the major power in the area. In 711-13 AD Arabs advanced to the land of five rivers, occupying Multan. Further north the area that survived the Arab attcks was divided into small kingdoms.
Meanwhile in Ghazni after the death of Subuktgin, the Turk, his son Mahmud assumed power in 997 AD. He was to expand his father's kingdom far to the west and east of Ghazni through his military conquest. He was to attack Punjab 17 times during his reign. The Ghaznavids were uprooted by the Ghauris who extended their rule as far as Dehli. Shahabuddin Ghauri annexed Lahore to his kingdom in 1186. After Ghauri's death his governor Qutbudin Aibak became an independent ruler of Punjab and founded the Mamluk sultenate. Khiljis' replaced the Mamluks in 1290. The rule of Khiljis was briefly disrupted by the two successful raids by the Mongols who marched their way to dehli twice during Alauddin khilji's rule. tughluqs succeeded Khiljis in 1320 AD. Tughluq rule was replaced by the Sayyids in 1414 AD. Lodhis gained control of Dehli in 1479 AD.
LEADING TRIBES OF PUNJAB AND THEIR ORIGINS
LEADING TRIBES OF PUNJAB AND THEIR ORIGINS
Before the advent of Islam, but after the Aryan migrations, several invasions and mass migrations of the Central Asian tribes named as the Sakas, Parthians, Kushans, Huns and Gujjars took place in the Punjab (and other parts of Pakistan). The last two tribes i.e. the Huns (White Huns/ Epthalites) and Gujjars arrived in the 5th century AD when Hinduism had revived under the Gupta Empire but had not fully succeeded in crushing the influence of Buddhism. As the Gupta Empire collapsed under the impact of Hun invasions, it caused deep consternation among Brahmins in view of their failure to eliminate Buddhism while the Gupta power supporting them in this task had disappeared. Therefore, they began to make overtures to the new arrivals who were valiant, vigorous and warlike. They were offered the rank of Kshatryas in the Hindu fold, a position only next to that of the Brahmins and confers the responsiblity of rulership.
In the course of time the leading groups of Huns were absorbed in the Hindu fold as Kshatryas while Jats, who were the descendants of the remaining groups of Huns, occupied a lower strata of society. But the present day Jats and Rajputs also include the descendants of the previous invaders..... the Sakas and the Kushans and even of earlier races. Sakas, Parthians, Kushans, White Huns, and Gujjars were ethnically Iranian. In fact, Huns (White Huns/Hepthalites) are also called Iranian Huns to differentiate them from the other Mongoloid Huns who invaded Europe. The word Gujjar is derived from Khazar and Jat from Gatae who inhabited around the Caspian Sea and migrated towards northwest South Asia.
Todd assigns Scythian origin to the Rajputs. Scythians came to be known as Sakas in South Asia, and were absorbed in the Hindu fold as Kshatriyas. Sakas, Yavannas (Greco-Bactrians), Pallavas (Parthians) ultimately became Kshatriyas. The Huns are known to have been regarded as one of the 36 clans of Rajputs. However, except for the Huns, all others had mostly adopted Buddhism mixed with their religions (like Saka sun-worship).
Almost 60% of the population of the Punjab comprises of Rajputs and Jats and the various branches of their race such as Awans, Khokhars, Ghakkars, Khattars, Janjuas, Arains, Gujjars, etc. though the Awans, Khokhars and Khattars claim common ancestry from Qutb Shah who is said to have come from Ghazni with Mahmud Ghaznavi, scholars hold the view that they were most probably converted by Qutb Shah during Mahmud Ghaznavi's reign and were not his descendents. This tendancy of claiming foreign origin by some of the local tribes is not uncommon. Even admittedly Rajput tribes of famous ancestry such as the Khokhar, have begun to follow the example of claiming connection with the Mughal conquerors of India or the Qureshi cousins of the Prophet.
A branch of the Wattu Rajputs of the Sutlej by an affection of peculiar sanctity, have in the course of a few generations become Bodeas and now deny their Rajput and claim Qureshi origin. There is a Kharral family lately settled in Bahawalpur who have begun to affect peculiar holiness and to marry only with each other and their next step will certainly be to claim Arab descent.
However, a significant number of Punjabi tribes are indeed descended from Afghan, Turkic, Arab, Mughal and Iranian Muslim invaders/migrants. Even those who are of local origins but claim foreign Muslim ancestory, might have partial ancestory derived from them. But all in all, the foreign Muslim ancestory element among Punjabis does not exceed more than 20% of their population.
According to Thomson, Awans are a Jat race and were converted to Islam by Mahmud Ghaznavi. In several districts of the Punjab they are registered as Jats. Mr. Thomson in his Jehlum Settlement report adduces many strong reasons in support of his conclusion that the Awans are a Jat race who came from passes west of D.I.Khan. Griffin also agrees to the local Muslim origin of Awans while Cunningham holds that Janjuas and Awans are descended from Anu and calls them Anwan. Another scholar Wilson is of the view that Awans are of indigenous Hindu/Buddhist/Pagan/Animist origin. In the genealogical tree of the Nawabs of Kalabagh, who are regarded heads of the Awans, there are found several native names such as Rai, Harkaran, etc.
As regards Gujjars, the well known scholar Cunningham thinks that they are descended from Scythian (Saka) and Yue-Chi (Kushan) tribes who invaded Pakistan in the first century BC and in the first century AD respectively. Other scholars believe that they are descended from a Central Asian Turkic people called Kazars. Since the tribe migrated from Caspian Sea which is called Bahr-e-Khizar it was named Khizar, Guzar, Gurjar, Gurjara or Gujjar. The name Hazara was given to the district by these Guzara tribes. The name Gujjar, according to another version, is derived from the words 'Gau' and 'Char' meaning cattle grazers.
Though Arains claim Iranian descent, they too are generally considered of Rajput origin, but Rajputs having Scythian-Kushan-Hun origins are indeed related to Iranians. According to the Punjab Gazetteer, the Arains of sahiwal District themselves pointed out that they are Surajbansi Rajputs originally settled around Delhi. Arains of Ghaggar Valley say that they were Rajputs living on the Panjnad near Multan. Mr. Pursr writes that they are usually supposed to be Muslim Kambohs. the Jullander Arains themselves say that they are descended from Rai Chajju of Ujjain. Kambohs claim descent from Raja Keran who was related to him.
Similarly, Ranghars and Meos are described to be of Rajput/Jat origin who were converted to Islam during the time of Qutbuddin Aibak. Kahutas are a mixed Mughal and Rajput tribe. Khattars are related to Awans and Jats.
Khokhars are sometimes returned as Jats and sometimes as Rajputs. Col. Davis notes that many of the social customs of the Khokhars of Shahpur denote Hindu origin. Eastern Punjab Khokhars themselves claim Jat-Rajput origin. Only some of the West Punjab Khokhars claim Arab origin.
Gen. Cunningham identifies the Ghakkars with Gangaridae of Dionysius and holds them to be descendents of Yueti or Tokhari Scythians (sakas).
In Pakistan, Rajput and Jat tribes are so mixed up that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other at many places and in several cases. Some of the Rajput tribes are probably of Jat origin and vice versa. In southwest Punjab the name Jat includes a most miscellaneous congries of tribes of all sorts. Its significance tends to be occupational: to denote a body of cultivators or agriculturists. Even tribes which bear well-known Rajput names are often classified as Jats in the Punjab. Anyway, the origin of both is the same as stated earlier.
Gen. Cunningham and Maj. Todd agree in considering the Jats of Indo-Scythian stock. Maj. Todd classifies Jats as one of the great Rajput tribes. They belong to one and thesame stock.... they have been, for many centuries, so blended and so intermingled into one people that it is practically impossible to distinguish them as separate wholes. At present distinction is social rather ethnic. The same tribe Rajput in one district and Jat in another according to the position in local tribes... During census many of the Jats entered, as third heading, the name of the Rajput tribe from which they claim to have sprung.
The Jats in ancient times inhabited the whole valley of the Indus down to Sind.... They now form a most numerous as well as the most important section of the agricultural population of Punjab.
Beyond the Punjab, Jats are chiefly found in Sind where they form mass of the population.
The main (Muslim) Rajput tribes of the Punjab are: Bhatti, Punwar, Chauhan, Minhas, Tiwana, Noon, Chib, Gheba, Jodhra, Janjua, Sial and Wattu etc. While the important (Muslim) Jat tribes are: Bajwa, Chatta, Cheema, Randhawa, Ghammon, Buta, Kahlon, Gil, Sehota, Taror, Waraich, Summa, Wahla, Bhutta, Malhi, Sukhera, Alpials, Dahas, Langah, Ranghar, Meo, Awan, Khokhar, Ghakkar, etc. But some of these Rajput tribes are classified are Jats and vice versa.
Punjab has had its periods of prosperity and poverty in a regular cycle. Before the arrival of Muslims, Punjab along with the other regions/provinces of present day Pakistan was leading a separate existance from that of India, and kingdoms based in its territories or in the NWFP often ruled over most of northern India. Kushan, Saka, Bactrian and Hun Kingdoms with their capitals at Peshawar, Taxila and Sialkot respectively, ruled over large parts of northern India for centuries.
BALOUCH HISTORY
BALOUCH HISTORY
Balouch is a nation consisting of 500 tribes, their tradition and commonly values are similar. They have united civilaizal society and they speak common language which is called Balouchi. nited civilaizal society and they speak common language which is called Balouchi. This language was driven from ancient Indo-Iranian language. Balouchi language also known as an ancient spoken language. It is pronounceless language spoken in accordance with tribes areas.
This nation lives in a vast land called Balouchistan located in easter part of Asia north of Gulf penisala occupied by three modern countries Iran, Pakistan and Afghanstan. The part which is taken by Iran Known as Iranian Balouchisatan. Zaidan is capital of it measuring in miles 69,487 sq miles.The second is located in west of Pakistan is known as Balouchistan. The capital is Quetta and it has 34,000 sq miles. The population of Balouchistan lacks specified record here by give the approximate figure which is 1,50,000.
"The history of the Baloch is, however, still in dark. Research scholars have different opinions. Some say they belong to the northern regions of Elburz, now inhabited by Ashkanis, originally Aryans. Some historians maintain that they came from Halab, Allepe, and are Semites. It is also believed that they from the old stock of Sumerians of Mesopotamia, while others regard the Baloch as the remnants of indigenous population of the area. The historians, however, mostly concern themselves in tracing the Baloch racical origin either from among the Indo-Europeans or the Semites. Neither should one object on these methods for historical research, nor doubt the fact that there had been an admixture of various people with Baloch like the Scythians, Pathians, Ashkanis, Sakas, Kushans, Huns, Turks and many others; nor contest the proposition that Baloch, culturally, were greatly influenced by Tigris-Euphrates civilization at different stages of history. " {Janmahmad}
"The origin of the word 'Baloch' is still unknown. E. Herzefeld believes that it is derived from brza-vaciya, which came from brza-vak, a Median word meaning a loud cry, in contrast to namravak, quiet, polite way of talking. Some writers maintain that the Baloch owe their name to Babyloian King 'Belus', also the name of their God. It is also believed that the word is anick-name meaning a `cock's comg`. As the Baloch forces who fought against Astyages (585-550 B.C.) wore distinctive helmets decorated with a cock's comb, the name `Baloch' is said to have been derived from the token of cock. Some writers believe that etymologically it is made of two Sankrit words, `Bal` and `Och`. `Bal` means strength or power, and `Och`, high or magnificent. The word `Baloch' therefore, means very powerful and magnificent. Yet another erroneous version is that Baloch mean `nomad` or `wanderer`. This has been presumed perhaps due to the innocent use of the word for nomadic people, and may be because of the fact that the term may be used by indigenous settlers for the Baloch nomads.
The first Baloch migration from the Caspian See region, most probably around 1200 B.C., must have been motivated by this general historical phenomenon. They first settled in northern Persia. We have the authority of Persion poet, Firdousi (935-1020 A.D.) and also strong historical evidences that the Baloch were a political and military force during the times of Cyrus and Combyses.
However, the Baloch movement from Kirman and Seisran to Makkuran and then Eastern Balochistan was not the only result of the lack of sufficient productive forces to meet their demands, or insufficient grazing fields for their flocks, because the area they migrated to was no better in natural resources than the area in which they had been settled for centuries. The main reason was their conflict with rulers and their own internal enmity which resulted in a weakening of their political position. yet another factor most probably was the Mongolian invasion of Central Asia and the subsequent political anarchy in the whole region.
From the evidences available, it is establiched that by the beginning of the Christian era, the Baloch were one of the major people inhabiting Iranian Balochistan, Seistan and Kirman. Their migration further east into Makkuran must also be the result of Anushervan's (531-578 A.D.) attack on them. But according to some Iegends, it was at a later stage and was the result of a quarrel between the Kirman ruler and the Baloch Chief who was the successor to the most powerful leader, Ismael Romi. The former demanded forty-four girls, one from each Baloch tribe, for his harem. The Baloch dressed up boys in girls' disguise and, fearing the wrath of the ruler, migrated from Kirman and took refuge in Makkuran.
The Kurds
The Baloch have always been referred by the ancient chroniclers with Koch who appear to be the original inhabitants of Balochistan before the Baloch arrival and also with Kurds. Many ethnologists believe that the Kurds belong to the Median branch of Aryan tribes who were mixed up with many people of indigenous origin and later invaders including Semites, Armenians and Turkomans.
The Kurds have been living in Kurdish region and Zagros area since the Semitic conquest of Assyria. They are said to have posed a permanent nuisance for the weak rulers of Assyria by organizing raids on Tigris mainland. In a Sumerian inscription dated 2000 B.C. a country known as Kardala is mentioned; and afterwards the Assyrian King, Tiglath Pileser, (circa 745-724 B.C.) appears to have fought a tribe referred as Kur-ti-e. Xenophon (circa 434-355 B.C.) also speaks of Kardukai, a mountain-folk who harassed his march towards the sea. Some archaeological evidences tend to show a Kurdish kingdom which flourished in the second millennium B.C. on the borders of the Semitic empire in Babylonia. In a later period, the Kurds cavalry seved as the vanguard of Cyrus army in capturing Babylonia in 539 B.C.
The Kurds are from the same origin as that of Baloch. The period of their migration from the Caspian region may be a few centuries earlier than the Baloch who followed at a later period; but instead of going to their people in Zagros mountainous region, outskirts of Mesopotamia, they headed towards east. Linguistically and culturally they must have been from the same stock." [ Janmahmad; The Baloch Cultural Heritage, 1982]
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