Dard people
Encyclopedia
The Dards also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: दारद, Perso-Arabic
Perso-Arabic script
The Persian or Perso-Arabic alphabet is a writing system based on the Arabic script. Originally used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic alphabet was adapted to the Persian language, adding four letters: , , , and . Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add other letters...

: ) are a group of people defined by linguistic similarities, and not common ethnicity, predominantly found in Eastern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

 and in the Northern Areas and North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The term Dard is due to Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

 who described a land of the Dardikae in the areas forming northeastern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Origin

Parpola (1999) identifies "Proto-Dardic" with "Proto-Rigvedic" , suggesting that the Dards are the linguistic descendants of the bearers of proto Rigvedic
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

 culture ca. 1700 BC, pointing to features in certain Dardic dialects that continue peculiarities of Rigvedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit is an old Indo-Aryan language. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language...

, such as the gerund in -tvī (p. 189).

Moreover, the Dard people are mentioned in the Vishnu Purana
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...

.
They now occupy the area called Dardu, supposed by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

 to be the Dadicæ. As such, during Swati rule, the Dard people were dominantly Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 and frequent small scale jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

 against Dard might have been a routine. Dards of of Dras, Gilgit, Skardu, etc., embraced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 after the Muslim invasion of India
Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent
Muslim conquest in South Asia mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the Rajput Kingdoms in North India, from the 7th century onwards.However, the Himalayan...

 during the 14th century A.D. whereas the Dards of Da, Hanu, Bema, Darchik and Garkon did not accept this and gradually later accepted Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

.

Geographic distribution

The term "Dard" is an outdated one that has been used to describe various groups of often unrelated mountain tribesmen who inhabit a region between Badakhshan
Badakhshan
Badakhshan is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor...

, Northern Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. Although the Dardic languages
Dardic languages
The Dardic languages are a sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, eastern Afghanistan, and the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir...

 do show similarities they are mostly very distinct from one another often living in remote mountain valleys. The cultures of the Dardic peoples are also quite varied but they do share similarities due to their common mountainous environment and intertwined history.

The Shina language
Shina language
Shina is a Dardic language spoken by a plurality of people in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan and Dras in Ladakh of Indian-Administered Kashmir. The valleys in which it is spoken include Astore, Chilas, Dareil, Tangeer, Gilgit, Ghizer, and a few parts of Baltistan and Kohistan. It is also spoken in...

 is spoken in Pakistan's Northern Areas
Northern Areas
Gilgit-Baltistan , is the northernmost political entity within Pakistan. It borders Pakistan's Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province to the west, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north, China to the east and northeast, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the...

 apart from Gilgit
Gilgit
Gilgit is a city in northern PakistanGilgit may refer to other terms related with the area of the city:* Gilgit River* Gilgit Valley* Gilgit District* Gilgit Agency * Gilgit Airport...

 where most of the speakers live. Other areas with significant Shina speakers include Punial, Darail, Tangair and Astore
Astore
Astore may refer to:*Astore District*Astore River*Astore Valley*Astore, Pakistan*Astore Sports, a sports brand...

, which are located adjacent to the Gilgit region. It is also spoken in Gurez
Gurez
Gurez or Gurais, also pronounced Gorai in the local Shina language, is a valley located in the high Himalayas , about from Bandipore and from Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and...

, Drass and Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

. It has many dialects, most of which are found in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, including Gilgiti Shina, Astori Shine, Ponyali Shina, Chilasi Shina and Gurez
Gurez
Gurez or Gurais, also pronounced Gorai in the local Shina language, is a valley located in the high Himalayas , about from Bandipore and from Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and...

i Shina. The pronunciation of this language is very different. It is very important to make changes in the script of this language to make it easy.

Khowar is principally spoken in the Pakistani regions of Chitral
Chitral
Chitral or Chetrar , translated as field in the native language Khowar, is the capital of the Chitral District, situated on the western bank of the Kunar River , in Pakistan. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, high...

, Yasin
Yasin
The Yasin anti-tank rocket launcher is a weapon developed by Hamas' Ezzedeen-al-qassam brigades named after the group's spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yasin, who was assassinated by the Israeli Defense Forces on March 22, 2004...

, Gupis, Koh-o-ghizar and Ishkoman
Ishkoman
The Ishkoman valley lies in the north of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and the Pamir corridor.-Political status:Administratively, Ishkoman valley constitutes a Tehsil of Ghizer District. It is located at a range of altitudes, from . The valley consists of 20 villages, with a total population of...

. Many Khowar speakers have migrated and set up colonies in Pakistan's urban centres such as in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

, Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 and Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

. A small number of Khowar speakers can be found in the adjacent regions of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Two non-Dardic languages which are spoken in Northern Pakistan are Balti
Balti language
Balti is a language spoken in Baltistan, in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan and adjoining parts of Ladakh. Baltistan, before 1948, was part of Ladakh province. The Balti language is a dialect of the Ladakhi language, a form of Tibetan. It is mutually intelligible with Ladakhi proper and Burig...

, a Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan languages
The Sino-Tibetan languages are a language family comprising, at least, the Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. They are second only to the Indo-European languages in terms of the number of native speakers...

 language and Burushaski
Burushaski language
The Burushaski or Burushko language , is a language isolate . It is spoken by some 87,000 Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and Ishkoman valleys, and some parts of the Gilgit valley, in Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan and by about 300 Burusho people in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India...

 a language isolate and still the topic of considerable interest for Pakistani and international linguists.

Dards in Afghanistan

There are also Dardic groups in North Eastern Afghanistan such as the Pashai
Pashai
Pashayi or Pashai are a Dardic ethno-linguistic group living primarily in eastern Afghanistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Their total population is estimated to be 500,000. They are mainly concentrated in the northern parts of Laghman and Nangarhar provinces and eastern Kapisa...

 and the Kohistanis. The Nuristani
Nuristani
The Nuristani people are an ethnic group Aryan-Iranian to the Nuristan region of northeastern Iran and Afghanistan. The Nuristanis are a people whose ancestors practiced what was apparently an ancient Indo-Iranian polytheistic religion until they were conquered and converted to Islam in the late...

s were previously considered to be Dards but are today classified as a distinct group. Many Dards are also settled in the capital Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

 where they form a close social community.

Dards in India

Dards also inhabit parts of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, chiefly in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. In the Drogpa villages of west Leh, the Buddhist Dard people still inhabit the area. Isolated from the modern world, they subsist on farming, ekinga living from the rugged mountainsides.

The Gurez
Gurez
Gurez or Gurais, also pronounced Gorai in the local Shina language, is a valley located in the high Himalayas , about from Bandipore and from Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and...

 people call themselves "Dards," and this name is by some extended to apply to Shina
Shina
Shina can refer to:* Shina , a Japanese term for mainland China* Shina , Shina Gado, a character from the Bloody Roar video game series* Shina people, Dardic people of Pakistani Kashmir* Shin of Hindukush...

 generally. Shina speaking populations are predominant in tehsil Gurez
Gurez
Gurez or Gurais, also pronounced Gorai in the local Shina language, is a valley located in the high Himalayas , about from Bandipore and from Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and...

, Drass and Dah Hanu areas of Ladakh. The Shin
Shin of Hindukush
Shin is a pre-Islamic tribe from the Hindu Kush.Shin is a tribe spread throughout the Indus Valley in Kohistan, extending as far North as Baltistan. The part of the Indus Valley below Gor to the Afghan border near Ghorband is called Shinkari and its Southernmost part is home to the purest Shin...

 who follow the Bön religion are also a Dard group who speak an archaic variety of Shina called Shins.

There are several villages in India that are inhabited by Buddhist Dards, including Grugurdo, Sanacha, Urdus, Darchik, Garkon, Dah Hanu
Dah Hanu
Dah Hanu is the main village of the Brokpa of the Ladakh District of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir.The Dards of Dah Hanu are nominally Buddhist but also worship their own Pantheon of gods...

, Phindur, and Baldes.

The Kashmiri people
Kashmiri people
The Kashmiri people are a Dardic linguistic group living in Kashmir Valley in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri language...

 of the Kashmir valley are also a Dardic people since they speak the Koshur language
Kashmiri language
Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir...

, a prominent Dardic language. The Kashmiri people, though long since converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, have been of the Brahmanical
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 origin; the educated class, who maintained their own tenets, and are still very numerous, are known as pandits
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...

. The latter group has set out colonies to seek their livelihood in other parts of northern India.

Dards in Pakistan

Most Dardic people reside in the Northern Pakistan. In ancient times, Pakistan's northern areas plus the adjacent areas of upper Swat
Swat (Pakistan)
Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora...

, Kohistan
Kohistan
Kohistan, also transliterated Kuhistan, Kuhiston, Quhistan , may refer to:in Afghanistan*Kohistan, Kapisa Province, Kapisa Province, a town and administrative center of Hesa Awal Kohistan District...

, and north eastern Afghanistan were referred to as Dardistan
Dardistan
Dardistan is a term coined by Gottlieb William Leitner for the northern Pakistan, and Kashmir in India and parts of north-eastern Afghanistan. It is inhabited by Dards speaking Dardic languages.-Historical Origin:...

, or land of the Dards. The people of the Northern Areas
Northern Areas
Gilgit-Baltistan , is the northernmost political entity within Pakistan. It borders Pakistan's Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province to the west, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north, China to the east and northeast, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the...

 are mostly of Dardic extract, including the people of Chitral
Chitral District
Chitral is a district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan that contains the town of Chitral. It has an area of 14,850 km² and a population of 318,689 at the 1998 Census, which had subsequently risen to about 378,000 people by 2004. It has one of the highest mountains of the world,...

, Gilgit
Gilgit
Gilgit is a city in northern PakistanGilgit may refer to other terms related with the area of the city:* Gilgit River* Gilgit Valley* Gilgit District* Gilgit Agency * Gilgit Airport...

, Kohistan and upper Swat
Swat (Pakistan)
Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora...

. Dards have also migrated heavily and set up colonies in several of Pakistan's major urban centres such as Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

 and Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

.

Religion

The vast majority of Dardic peoples are Muslims, with a significant population of Hindus and Buddhists, as well as a population who adheres to animism. The Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, mostly of the Saivaite sect. Dardic religion in Indian Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...

, particularly in the villages of Da and Hann
Dah Hanu
Dah Hanu is the main village of the Brokpa of the Ladakh District of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir.The Dards of Dah Hanu are nominally Buddhist but also worship their own Pantheon of gods...

, retains marked traces of the pre-Buddhist animistic religion, Bon-chos. The Kalash
Kalash
Kalasha or Kalash may refer to:*Kalash people of Chitral, northern Pakistan**Kalasha **Kalash language, also known as Kalasha-mondr**Kalasha Desh, their valleys*Nuristani people of Nuristan, Afghanistan...

 tribes found in Chitral, are exceptional in having retained their ancestral polytheistic religion and are protected by the Government of Pakistan.

See also

  • Demographics of Pakistan
    Demographics of Pakistan
    This article is about the demographic features of the population of Pakistan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

  • Indo-Iranian peoples
  • Indo-Aryans
    Indo-Aryans
    Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...

  • Iranian people
  • Nuristani people

External links

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