Dardistan refers to a linguistic area where Dardic languages are spoken. The terms "Dardic" and "Dardistan" are not indigenous to the region, and were coined by Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner. The legitimacy of the term has been called into question. [1] The region also includes a number of non-Dardic peoples and languages. [2]
The initial efforts by the British grouped almost all the people and languages of the upper Indus River, between Kashmir and Kabul, into a single category. This led to the creation of distinct identities for all other groups in the region, giving rise to terms such as Dard, Dardistan, and Dardic. [3]
None of the inhabitants in the region identify themselves as Dards, their homeland as Dardistan, or their language as Dardic. [4] The term Dard is not recognized in any of the local languages, with the exception of Khowar, where it translates to 'way of the language' or 'dialect'. The broad application of this term have been criticised by many scholars. [5] The languages and peoples are often referred to as "Kohistani", mostly by the Pashtuns. [6] In academic linguistic contexts, however, Kohistani refers to one subgroup of Dardic languages which is mainly spoken in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a historic context, Herodotus (4th century B.C.), in one of his stories, mentioned a war-like people by the name of Dadikai on the frontier of India. [7] Subsequently, Strabo and Pliny made references to the warlike tribe known as Dardae. [8] Alexander, whose journeys contribute significantly to the classical geography of the subcontinent, did not encounter any Dard people. However, he did visit a location named Daedala, where he reportedly engaged in combat with a group known as the Assakenoi . [9]
Herodotus Dadikai appears to be the Persian name derived from the Daradas given in the Puranic sources. [10] Instead of identifying a specific group, the term was used to describe a fierce population living in the northwest, beyond the confines of established society. In Rajatarangini , Kalhana refers to the Darads as inhabitants of the area north of Kashmir, known for their frequent attempts to invade and plunder Kashmir. [11]
The term eventually gained acceptance through frequent use. The labels 'Dard' and 'Dardistan' were introduced by G.W. Leitner, despite the fact that no local population identified as 'Dard'. [12] [13] John Biddulph, who resided in Gilgit for an extended period, also noted that none of the tribes typically referred to as 'Dard' recognized the term. [14] Biddulph acknowledged that Leitner's label 'Dardistan' was based on a misunderstanding, but he accepted it as a useful term for referring to the complex, diverse, and largely unexplored Karakoram region between Kashmir and the Hindukush Range. [15] Interestingly, this usage mirrors the Sanskrit interpretation, where it refers to unspecified fierce outsiders residing in the mountainous regions beyond the area's borders.
The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH); to the north, near its northeastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border.
Gāndhārī was an Indo-Aryan Prakrit language found mainly in texts dated between the 3rd century BCE and 4th century CE in the region of Gandhāra, located in the northwestern Indian subcontinent. The language was heavily used by the former Buddhist cultures of Central Asia and has been found as far away as eastern China, in inscriptions at Luoyang and Anyang.
The Dardic languages, or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan. This region has sometimes been referred to as Dardistan.
Chitral is a city situated on the Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before that the capital of Chitral princely state. The region was encompassed into West Pakistan between the years 1969 and 1972. It has a population of 49,780 per the 2017 census.
Shina is a Dardic language of Indo-Aryan language family spoken by the Shina people. In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in India, in the Guraiz valley of Jammu and Kashmir and in Dras valley of Ladakh. Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.
Kohistan District, also known as Indus Kohistan and Hazara Kohistan, was a District within the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Consisting of eastern portion of the larger Kohistan region, it was bifurcated into two districts in 2014: Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan. In 2017, the Lower Kohistan District was further bifurcated and a district Kolai-Palas was established. It has an area of 7,492 square kilometres (2,893 sq mi) and a population of 472,570 according to the 1998 Census.
Chilas is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the divisional capital of Diamer Division and is located on the Indus River. It is part of the Silk Road, connected by the Karakoram Highway and N-90 National Highway to Islamabad and Peshawar in the southwest, via Hazara and Malakand divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. To the north, Chilas connects to the cities of Tashkurgan and Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, via Gilgit, Aliabad, Sust, and the Khunjerab Pass.
Torwali, also known as Bahrain Kohistani, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Torwali people, and concentrated in the Bahrain and Chail areas in the Swat Kohistan region of the Swat District in northern Pakistan. The Torwali language is said to have originated from the pre-Muslim communities of Swat. It is the closest modern Indo-Aryan language still spoken today to Niya, a dialect of Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan language spoken in the ancient region of Gandhara. Torwali and Gawri languages are collectively classified as "Swat Kohistani".
Gawri (ګاوری), also known as Kalami (کالامي), Kalam Kohistani and Bashkarik, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Swat Kohistan region in the upper Swat District and in the upper Panjkora river valley of Upper Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Gawri and Torwali are collectively classified as "Swat Kohistani".
The Brokpa, sometimes referred to as Minaro, are a small ethnic group mostly found in the union territory of Ladakh, India around the villages of Dha and Hanu. Some of the community are also located across the Line of Control in Baltistan in the villages around Ganokh. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Brokskat. The Brokpa are mostly Vajrayana Buddhist while some are Muslim.
Indus Kohistani or simply Kohistani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the former Kohistan District of Pakistan. The language was referred to as Maiyã (Mayon) or Shuthun by early researchers, but subsequent observations have not verified that these names are known locally.
The Shina or Gilgitis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group primarily residing in Gilgit–Baltistan and Indus Kohistan in Pakistan, as well as in the Dras Valley and Kishenganga Valley (Gurez) in the northern region of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in India. They speak an Indo-Aryan language, called Shina and their geographic area of predominance is referred to as Shenaki.
The Katoor dynasty was a dynasty, which along with its collateral branches ruled the sovereign, later princely state of Chitral and its neighbours in the eastern Hindu Kush region for over 450 years, from around 1570 until 1947. At the height its power under Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk the territory controlled by the dynasty extended from Asmar in the Kunar Valley to Sher Qilla in the Gilgit valley. The Mehtar of Chitral was an influential player in the power politics of the region as he acted as an intermediary between the rulers of Badakhshan, the Yousafzai pashtuns, the Maharaja of Kashmir and later the Amir of Afghanistan.
Shahreis were the pre-Islamic rulers of Gilgit before the advent of the Muslim Trakhane. Shri Buddutt was the last of the Shahreis.
Indus Kohistanis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Indus Kohistani language. They mainly reside in Indus Kohistan, Hazara Division in northern Pakistan.
Swatis (Urdu: سواتی) are people inhabiting the Hazara division in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Of Dardic origins, Swatis originally spoke Dardic languages such as Gibri and Yadri and were native inhabitants of Swat valley. They were Pashtunized after Yousafzai occupation of Swat in the 16th century and were displaced to Kohistan. In historic accounts Pashtuns referred to Swatis as "Dehgan"; this was not an ethnic designation but simply referred to the fact that they were villagers. They are also sometimes called Tajiks, a common ethnonym used by Pashtuns to describe their Dardic neighbours. Hemphil (2009) rejects Ibbetson's (1916:95-6) assertion of Swatis as a "race of Hindu origin" from peninsular India, suggesting, instead, that Swatis show a higher affinity to their neighbours in the northwest and with people in the Indus valley, to the south. Khan Khel Swati is a sub-section in various sections of all three branches of the Swati.
Kohistani Shina is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the former Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan. According to Ethnologue, Kohistani Shina is mutually intelligible with the Shina variety of Chilas, but not with the standard dialect of Gilgit. Bateri and Kalkoti speakers speak Kohistani Shina as a second language. Indus Kohistani loanwords can be found in the language. A grammar and a dictionary of the language have been published.
The Torwali people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group located in the Swat district of Pakistan. The Torwali people have a culture that values the telling of folktales and music that is played using the sitar. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Torwali.
Aryan Valley, historically known as Dah Hanu region, is an area comprising four village clusters — Dah and Hanu in Leh district, and Garkon and Darchik in Kargil district — in Central Ladakh in India. It is inhabited by Brokpa people of Dardic origin. Until its absorption into the Maryul kingdom, Brokpa chiefs wielded nominal autonomy in the region.
Brokpa, Drokpa, Dard and Shin is a category of Scheduled Tribes under the Indian constitution.
The terms Dardic or Dardestān are not, however, in common use in the region; rather, they were adopted by Western scholars after G. W. Leitner used them in his books in the late 19th century (1877, 1887, 1893, 1894, 1895).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) . The Pathans call them, and all other Muhammadans of Indian descent in the Hindu Kush valleys, Kohistanis.Different ancient sources vaguely place the Dards (the Dadikai of Herodotus; the Daradas of the Puranic lists; the Daedalae of Curtius Rufus; the Derbikes of Ctesia) in the north of modern-day Pakistan. Today, the term Dardic survives in linguistic science as an extended geographic reference that embraces all the Indo-Arian languages spoken in this region. However, the ancient land of the Dards has not yet acquired any defined historical, geographical and cultural characterisation.
The name "Dard" itself was not claimed by any of the race that I met . If asked whether they were "Dards" they said "certainly", thinking I mispronounced the word "dáde" of the Hill Panjabi...
The name "Dard" is not acknowledged by any section of the tribes to whom it has been so sweepingly applied.
His scanty opportunities, however, have caused him to fall into the error of believing that the tribes which he has classed under the name of Dard are all of the same race, and he has applied the term of Dardistan, a name founded on a misconception, to a tract of country inhabited by several races, speaking distinct languages, who differ considerably amongst themselves. As, however, there is no one name which will properly apply to the peoples and countries in question, it will be perhaps convenient to retain the names of Dard and Dardistan when speaking collectively of the tribes in question and the countries they inhabit.