Imra

Last updated

Imra (Kamkata-vari: Imro) was the chief creator deity of the Nuristani people before their conversion to Islam. [1] Imra was believed to be the creator of the earth. With his breath, it was believed, he created the three other main deities of the pantheon: Mon, Gish and Bagisht. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The name of the deity is considered a reflex of Indo-Iranian Yama. The name Imro or Yum in Kamkata-vari is thought to derive from a borrowing of Sanskrit Yama-rāja "King Yama" via a Middle Indo-Aryan form *Yam(a)rāy(a) with the characteristic northwestern sound change of j to y. [3] [4] [5] [6] It is likely a cognate of the Bangani title Jim Raza 'god of the dead'. [7] He is also known as Mara "Killer, Death", a term derived from the Prasun language. [8] [9]

Cognates of Kamkata-vari imro are found in other neighboring languages: Waigali yamrai, [10] Kalash (Urtsun) imbro, [11] Ashkun imra and Prasun yumr'a - all referring to a "creator god". [12] [13]

Role in religion

This deity also acts as the guardian to the gates of hell (located in a subterranean realm), preventing the return to the world of the living - a motif that echoes the role of Yama as the king of the underworld. [14]

In John Updike's 1965 short story "God Speaks" (collected in "Museums and Women") Gish Imra is the name of one of the protagonists, the son of the assassinated leader of a Central Asian state called Nuristan.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yama in world religions</span>

Yama is the Hindu deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld. Belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities, Yama is said to have been the first mortal who died in the Vedas. By virtue of precedence, he became the ruler of the departed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical Vedic religion</span> 1500–500 BC Indo-Aryan religious practices of northwest India

The historical Vedic religion, also known as Vedicism and Vedism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period. These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and some Vedic rituals are still practiced today. The Vedic religion is one of the major traditions which shaped Hinduism, though present-day Hinduism is significantly different from the historical Vedic religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kafiristan</span> Historical region of Afghanistan

Kāfiristān, or Kāfirstān, is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and its surroundings. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, the basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech (Kamah), Landai Sin river and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges. It is bounded by the main range of the Hindu Kush on the north, Pakistan's Chitral District to the east, the Kunar Valley in the south and the Alishang River in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuristanis</span> Ethnic group of Afghanistan and Pakistan

The Nuristanis are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuristan Province</span> Province of Afghanistan

Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a population of around 167,000. Parun serves as the provincial capital. Nuristan is bordered on the south by Laghman and Kunar provinces, on the north by Badakhshan province, on the west by Panjshir province, and on the east by Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuristani languages</span> Language group of the Indo-Iranian language family

The Nuristani languages, also known as Kafiri languages, are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the much larger Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups. They have approximately 130,000 speakers primarily in eastern Afghanistan and a few adjacent valleys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Chitral District, Pakistan. The region inhabited by the Nuristanis is located in the southern Hindu Kush mountains, and is drained by the Alingar River in the west, the Pech River in the center, and the Landai Sin and Kunar rivers in the east. More broadly, the Nuristan region is located at the northern intersection of the Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau. The languages were previously often grouped with Indo-Aryan or Iranian until they were finally classified as forming a third branch in Indo-Iranian.

The Katir are a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalasha language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in Chitral, Pakistan

Kalasha is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Kalash people, in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. There are an estimated 4,100 speakers of Kalasha. It is an endangered language and there is an ongoing language shift to Khowar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palula language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Chitral District Pakistan

Palula and also known as Ashreti (Aćharêtâʹ) or Dangarikwar, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 10,000 people in the valleys of Ashret and Biori, as well as in the village of Puri in the Shishi valley and at least by a portion of the population in the village Kalkatak, in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Gish or Great Gish was the most popular god of Nuristani mythology and received the greatest amount of attention among the Siah-Posh Nuristani of Bashgul. Every village of Bashgul had one or more shrines dedicated to him. In the Nuristani pantheon, Gish ranked next to Moni who was said to be the chief prophet of Imra. Both Moni and Gish were created by Imra by his breath.

Moni or Mone, also known as Mandi was, after Imra, the second-most important god in the pre-Islamic pantheon of the Nuristani people. With his breath, Imra created Moni and Gish. Moni was believed to be a divine prophet, whom Imra selected to fulfill his behests. Nearly every village had a temple devoted to Moni.

Waigali, also known as Nuristani Kalasha, is a language spoken by about 10,000 Nuristani people of the Waigal Valley in the Nuristan Province of Afghanistan. The native name is Kalaṣa-alâ 'Kalasha-language'. "Waigali" refers to the dialect of the Väi people of the upper part of the Waigal Valley, centered on the town of Waigal, which is distinct from the dialect of the Čima-Nišei people who inhabit the lower valley. The word 'Kalasha' is the native ethnonym for all the speakers of the southern Nuristani languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Afghanistan</span> Overview of the ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostly tribal society. The population of the country consists of numerous ethnolinguistic groups: mainly the Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek, as well as the minorities of Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Gujjar, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Sadat, Mongol and others. Altogether they make up the Afghan people.

Sawi, Savi, or Sauji, is an endangered Indo-Aryan language spoken in northeastern Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan. It is classified as a member of the Shina language cluster within the Dardic subgroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kho people</span> Ethnolinguistic group in Pakistan

The Kho or Chitrali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Khowar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalash people</span> Indigenous ethnoreligious group residing in Chitral, Pakistan

The Kalash, or Kalasha, are an Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalasha Valleys</span> Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The Kalasha Valleys are valleys in Chitral District in northern Pakistan. The valleys are surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range. The inhabitants of the valley are the Kalash people, who have a unique culture, language and follow a form of ancient Hinduism. As such, the Kalasha Valleys are a source of attraction for Pakistanis as well as International tourists. There are three main valleys. The largest and most populous valley is Bumburet (Mumuret), reached by a road from Ayun in the Kunar Valley. Rumbur is a side valley north of Bumburet. The third valley, Biriu (Birir), is a side valley of the Kunar Valley south of Bumburet.

The Indo-European cosmogony refers to the creation myth of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology.

Disani, known in Kamviri as Disaňi and Kata-vari as Disai, from which Prasuni Disni was borrowed from, was a goddess of the Nuristani people before their conversion to Islam. To the people of Nuristan, she was depicted as living in the terrestrial world, appearing in the shape of a woman with a golden garland. Milk and milk-products were offered to her at the altar on the hillside.

*Manu and *Yemo were a duo in Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the creation myth, Manu kills Yemo as a foundational part of the origin of the universe. Yemo is sometimes also interpreted as a primordial hermaphrodite.

References

  1. ↑ Klimburg, Max. "The Arts and Culture of Parun, Kafiristan's «Sacred Valley»". In: Arts asiatiques, tome 57, 2002. pp. 51-68. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/arasi.2002.1480]; www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_2002_num_57_1_1480
  2. ↑ Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 87. ISBN   978-04-15340-18-2
  3. ↑ Allen, Nicholas Justin. "Some gods of Pre-Islamic Nuristan". In: Revue de l'histoire des religions, tome 208, n°2, 1991. Histoire des religions et comparatisme: la question indo-européenne. pp. 141-168. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/rhr.1991.1679]; www.persee.fr/doc/rhr_0035-1423_1991_num_208_2_1679
  4. ↑ Cacopardo, A.S. (2016). "A World In-between. The Pre-Islamic Cultures of the Hindu Kush". In: Pellò, S.(ed.). Borders. Itineraries on the Edges of Iran. Venezia, Eurasiatica Quaderni di studi su Balcani, Anatolia, Iran, Caucaso e Asia Centrale. Edizioni Ca' Foscari. p. 250. ISBN   978-88-6969-100-3 [DOI: 10.14277/6969-100-3/EUR-5-10]
  5. ↑ Halfmann, Jakob. "Nuristani Theonyms in Light of Historical Phonology". In: 6th Indo-European Research Colloquium, 2022. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31805.54244]; www.researchgate.net/publication/359109254_Nuristani_Theonyms_in_Light_of_Historical_Phonology
  6. ↑ Halfmann, Jakob. "Nuristani Theonyms in Light of Historical Phonology". In: Roots of Peristan: The Pre-Islamic Cultures of the Hindukush/Karakorum. Proceedings of the International Interdisciplinary Conference ISMEO, Rome, Palazzo Baleani, 5-7 October, 2022. Part I. Edited by Alberto M. Cacopardo & Augusto S. Cacopardo. Rome: ISMEO, 2023. p. 322. ISBN   978-88-66872-65-8.
  7. ↑ Zoller, Claus Peter. "Review Article: "Pagan Christmas: Winter feast of the Kalasha of the Hindu Kush" and the true frontiers of 'Greater Peristan'.". In: Acta Orientalia 2018, n. 79. 2018. pp. 217 and 232 (footnote nr. 174). ISSN   0001-6438
  8. ↑ Parpola, Asko. The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. 2015. pp. 143 and 264. ISBN   978-0-19-022690-9
  9. ↑ Cacopardo, A.S. (2016). "A World In-between. The Pre-Islamic Cultures of the Hindu Kush". In: Pellò, S.(ed.). Borders. Itineraries on the Edges of Iran. Venezia, Eurasiatica Quaderni di studi su Balcani, Anatolia, Iran, Caucaso e Asia Centrale. Edizioni Ca' Foscari. pp. 251 and 253. ISBN   978-88-6969-100-3 [DOI: 10.14277/6969-100-3/EUR-5-10]
  10. ↑ Klimburg, Max. "The Arts and Culture of Parun, Kafiristan's «Sacred Valley»". In: Arts asiatiques, tome 57, 2002. pp. 51-68. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/arasi.2002.1480]; www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_2002_num_57_1_1480
  11. ↑ Parkes, Peter. "Temple of Imra, Temple of Mahandeu: A Kafir Sanctuary in Kalasha Cosmology". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London 54, no. 1 (1991): 85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/617315.
  12. ↑ Zoller, Claus Peter. "Review Article: "Pagan Christmas: Winter feast of the Kalasha of the Hindu Kush" and the true frontiers of 'Greater Peristan'.". In: Acta Orientalia 2018, n. 79. 2018. p. 232 (footnote nr. 174). ISSN   0001-6438
  13. ↑ Minahan, James B. (10 February 2014). Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 205. ISBN   9781610690188 . Retrieved 7 January 2021. Living in the high mountain valleys, the Nuristani retained their ancient culture and their religion, a form of ancient Hinduism with many customs and rituals developed locally. Certain deities were revered only by one tribe or community, but one deity was universally worshipped by all Nuristani as the Creator, the Hindu god Yama Raja, called imr'o or imra by the Nuristani tribes.
  14. ↑ Boyce, Mary. "The Pre-Zoroastrian Religion of the Medes and the Persians". In: A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1982. pp. 18-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004293908_003
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.