Jump to content

Hindkowans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 108.173.174.134 (talk) at 11:52, 11 February 2013. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Hindko people
Muhammed Ayub Khan Dilip Kumar
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan:
3,940,000[1]
India: 4,394[2]
Languages
Hindko
Religion
Islam (predominantly Sunni),[3] Christian minority estimated at 2%,[4] and Hindu & Sikh minority of indeterminate size[5][6]
Related ethnic groups
Hazarewal, Punjabi people, Seraiki people, other neighboring Indo-Aryan peoples

Hindkowans (Hindko: هِندکوان) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. However, an indeterminate number have left the region and now live in other parts of South Asia,[7] such as the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistani Azad Kashmir. Hindkowans mainly inhabit Peshawar and the Hazara region.[8]

In the modern, most Hindkowans come from Pashtun clans, thus making them Pashtuns speaking a language of India or a dialect of Punjabi as their mother tongue, but not all hindkowans are come from Pashtun clans, examples would be Awans who are putatively Arab not Pashtun, Muslims of clans that are Jat/Rajput , as well as non-muslim Sikh and Hindu hindkowans, many that have emigrated out of the Afghan province after the partition of British India. The Pashai people are another ethnic group in which most people are now Pashtuns through the ancestrial definition.

.[1] However, Hindkowans speak Hindko, a Lahnda language,[9] and is native to the northern regions of Pakistan primarily concentrated in the Hazara division, and urban centers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan such as Peshawar, Kohat, Nowshera and Swabi. It is for this reason that alternatively, the term "Kharian/Kharay or city-dweller" maybe sometimes be used for the Hindkowan.

Origin

Hindkowans who are sometimes referred to as Punjabi Pathans. While literally, the term Punjabi Pathan can only be more correctly used to refer to Afghan/Pashtoon/Pathan tribes settled in Punjab, for example the Niazis of Mianwali and speak Seraiki language and those living in Attock district of Punjab who speak Hindko language. Outside of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the term "Pathan" may however, simply be used for anyone belonging to the area (whether they be Pashto, Hindko, Gujjari/Gojri, Turwali, Kohistani etc. speaking), since the people are perceived by others to share similar cultural traits such as the "pathanwalgi" among the Chach and Hazarawal considered analogous to pashtunwali.

H.A. Rose, author of Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier has defined Hindkowans or Hindkois as follows:

Hindki, a generic term, half contemptuous, applied to all Muhammadans who being of Hindu origin speak Hindko and have been converted to Islam in comparatively recent times. In Bannu the term usually denotes an Awan or Jatt cultivator, but in a wider sense it includes all Muhammadans who speak Hindko language.[10]

Those who speak the Hindko Language are collectively called Hindkowan.

The NWFP Imperial Gazetteer of India (1905) regularly refers to their language as Hindko, which refers to the "Hindu Kush mountain range."[11] According to the publication Hindko and Gujari:

"More than one interpretation has been offered for the term Hindko. Some associate it with India, others with Hindu people, and still others with the Indus."[12][13]

The term may well be the Persic reference meaning language spoken in Hindu Kush mountain since the words "Hind" and "koh" mean Indus/Indic mountains respectively in Persian. The term is also found in Greek references to the mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan as Καύκασος Ινδικός (Caucasus Indicus, or the Hindu Kush).

In Afghanistan, a group of Hindus still continue to speak Hindko and are referred to as Hindki which according to Grierson is a variant of the term Hindko.[14][15][16] However, in Pakistan the term is considered slightly pejorative and hence Hindkowan or Hindkun is preferred on par with the term Pashtun (the dominant and more numerous ethnic group in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province).[14]

Long before the partition of British India, Grierson, in the Linguistic Survey of India, employed the term Hindko to mean "the language of Hindus" (viii, 1:34).[9] However, this is hotly disputed in Pakistan.[14] Farigh Bukhari and South Asian language expert and historian Christopher Shackle believe that Hindko was a generic term applied to the Indo-Aryan dialect continuum in the Pakistani northwest frontier territories and the adjacent district of Attock in the Punjab, Pakistan province to differentiate it in function and form from Pashto. Linguists classify the language into the Indic group.

Religion

Hindko people are mostly Muslims. The term "Hindko" itself is defined as the "language of the people of Hindu Kush Mountains."[17] As such, there are a number of Hindu Hindkowans.[18][19][20][21][22] Some of these Hindu Hindkowans are traders and over time, have settled in areas as far as Kalat, Balochistan.[23][24] Other Hindu Hindkowans migrated to India from their native region of Sarhad after the partition of India in 1947.[7] During the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent, which took place from the 12th century A.D. onwards, many of the Hindkowans converted to Islam. Today, most of the Hindkowan population is Sunni Muslim.[3] Later, with the spread of Sikhism and the rise of the Sikh Empire beginning in the eighteenth century A.D., some Hindkowans, both Hindu & Muslim, became Sikhs.[18][19][20][21][22] Like the Hindus, many Sikh Hindkowans migrated to Hindustan after the partition of India in 1947.[7]

Demographics

There are no fresh and authentic figures on the speakers of Hindko language. However, according to indirect method of household rate employed in the 4th Population Census of 1981, an estimated 2.4 per cent of the total population of Pakistan and estimated 22.8 per cent of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa speak Hindko as their mother language, with more rural than urban households reporting Hindko as their household language.No information was gathered on the Hindko language in the 5th Population Census carried out in 1998 as Hindko language column was removed from the census form much to the dismay of Hindko people.

The largest geographically contiguous group of Hindko people is concentrated in the districts of Peshawar, Abbottabad, Kohat, Attock District, Nowshera, Haripur, Mansehra and Mardan of Pakistan

Tribal communities

People here tend to associate themselves with larger families instead of a language per se. The major tribes of Hazara include the Gujjar, Awan, Bib, Bomba, Dhund Abbasi, Gakhar, Karlal, Mughals, Ghaznavis, Maliar, Parachas, Sarrara, Qazis, Sayyids, Mashwanis, Swatis, Tanolis, Dilazaks, Shilmanis, Jadoons, Khattak, Barakzai, and Kakar.[25] The Pashtun tribes who settled in Districts like Abbotabad, Haripur and Mansehra, Peshawar and Kohat adopted Hindko as their first language and gained political power in these areas during the British rule. [citation needed]. The Hindko people living in major cities Peshawar, Kohat, Nowshera and chhachh area of Attock are bilingual in Pashto and Hindko. Similarly many Pashtoon in districts like Mansehra especially in Agror Valley and northern Tanawal (Shergarh), have become bilingual in Pashto and Hindko.[26]

Prominent writers

There are many Hinko writers, among them Aurangzeb Hussamhur

Syed Mehboob,Aurangzeb Ghaznavi. Riffat Swati from Mansehrah is called madre hindko for her promotion of Hindko language. A monthly farogh is published from Peshawar by Aurangzeb Ghaznavi. Dr. Syed Mehboob is working for the promotion of Hindko language in Karachi and Sindh. His many articles has been published in various newspapers including Farogh Peshawar.

Hindko poets

Some of the prominent Hindko poets/writers are:

  • Professor Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan,
  • Haider Zaman Haider,
  • Sultan Sakoon
  • Sabir Hussain Imdaad,
  • Sheen Shaukat
  • Zaffar Iqbal Athar
  • Mohammad Ziauddin
  • Ahmad Nadeem Awan
  • Sikandar Hayat Sikandar
  • Mr. Asif Saqib,
  • Afzal Chishti
  • Raza Hamadani
  • Bushra Farukh
  • Qudsia Qudsi
  • Hassam Hurr
  • Hilal Jamid
  • Iftikhar Tashna
  • Aslam Taraq
  • Khawaja Yaqoob Akhtar
  • Maqbool Ejaz Ejazi
  • Malak Arshad Hussain
  • Masoom Shah Masoom
  • Sabeeh Ahed
  • Rani Bano
  • Sadaq Saba
  • Saeed Gilani
  • Zaffar Naveed Jani
  • Prof. Sufi Abdur Rasheed,
  • Col. Fazal-e-Akbar Kamal,
  • Mr. Sultan Sakoon,
  • Mr. Sharif Hussain Shah,
  • Prof. Muhammad Farid,
  • Prof. Yahya Khalid,
  • Mr. Nazir Kasalvi,
  • Muhammad Hanif,
  • Ahmad Ali {Khayali}
  • Shoaib shahid
  • Prof. Bashir Sooz
  • Muhammad Hanif
  • Ahmad Hussain Mujahid
  • Mohammed Khan (NCSU)

Distribution

The speakers of Hindko live primarily in seven districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: Mansehra, Swabi, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Nowshera and Kohat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as well as the Attock and Rawalpindi districts in the Punjab and parts of Kashmir; Jonathan Addleton states that Hindko is the most significant linguistic minority in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, represented in nearly one-fifth of the province's total households." In Abbotabad, 98 per cent of households reported speaking Hindko, in Mansehra District 77 per cent, in Haripur District around 85 per cent, in Peshawar District 35 per cent, and in Kohat District 40 per cent (1986).[citation needed] Testing of inherent intelligibility among Hindko dialects through the use of recorded tests has shown that there is a northern (Hazara) dialect group and a southern group. The southern dialects are more widely understood throughout the dialect network than are the northern dialects. The dialects of rural Peshawar and Talagang are the most widely understood of the dialects tested. The dialect of Balakot is the least widely understood.

Bilingualism

In most Hindko-speaking areas, speakers of Pashto live in the same or neighbouring communities (although this is less true in Abbottabad and Kaghan Valley than elsewhere). In the mixed areas, many people speak both languages. The relationship between Hindko and Pushto speakers are one of the best if compared with major groups who live in other provinces of Pakistan.

Notable Hindkowans

See also

References

  1. ^ Ethnologue: Languages of Pakistan
  2. ^ Abstract of speakers’ strength of languages and mother tongues – 2001, Census of India (retrieved 19 March 2008)
  3. ^ a b "Hindko, Southern". SIL International. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  4. ^ Hindko Home: Religious Division
  5. ^ Kapoor Family: Prithviraj Kapoor
  6. ^ Himal South Asian: Elsewhere
  7. ^ a b c "Peshawarites still remember the Kapoor family". Daily Times. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
  8. ^ Qadeer, Mohammad A. (2006). Pakistan: Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation. Taylor & Francis. p. 40. ISBN 978-0415375665.
  9. ^ a b "LAHNDA". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  10. ^ A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West provinces, compiled by H A Rose, vol II Page 333
  11. ^ "Hindko in Kohat and Peshawar". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  12. ^ Hindko and Gujari: Volume 3 of Sociolinguistic survey of northern Pakistan. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University. Retrieved 2007-09-09. More than one interpretation has been offered for the term Hindko. Some associate it with India, others with the Indus. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 114 (help)
  13. ^ "Grierson Linguistic Survey of India". Overseas Pakistanis Foundation. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  14. ^ a b c http://www.jstor.org/pss/615737
  15. ^ "Hindki". Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
  16. ^ "Ethnologue Report for Hindko". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
  17. ^ The Encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 16. The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. Retrieved 2008-08-17. Lahnda is also spoken in the north of the state of Bahawalpur and of the province of Sind, in which latter locality it is known as Siraiki. Its western boundary is, roughly speaking, the river Indus, across which the language of the Afghan population is Pashto (Pushtu), while the Hindu settlers still speak Landha. In the Derajat, however, Lahnda, is the principal language of all classes in the plains west of the river. Lahnda is also known as Western Panjabi and as Jatki, or the language of the Jats, who form the bulk of the population whose mother tongue it is. In the Derajat it is called Hindko or the language of the Hindus.
  18. ^ a b Papers in language and linguistics, Volume 1. Bahri Publications. Retrieved 2008-08-17. Essentially, what has occurred is an occupation by Pashto-speaking Pathans of key areas in the urban economy of the province which before 1947 were traditionally exercised by Hindko- speaking Hindus and Sikhs.
  19. ^ a b Language forum, Volume 9. Bahri Publications. Retrieved 2008-08-17. Essentially, what has occurred is an occupation by Pashto-speaking Pathans of key areas in the urban economy of the province which before 1947 were traditionally exercised by Hindko- speaking Hindus and Sikhs.
  20. ^ a b The rise and development of Urdu and the importance of regional languages in Pakistan. Christian Study Centre. Retrieved 2008-08-17. to Hindko is the most significant linguistic minority in the NWFP, ... to an influx of Pashtuns replacing the Hindko-speaking Sikhs and Hindus who ...
  21. ^ a b Journal of Asian history, Volumes 35-36. O. Harrassowitz. Retrieved 2008-08-17. The real opposition to Pashto came, however, from the speakers of Hindko. A large number of Sikhs and Hindus, all speaking Hindko, lived in the cities of N.W.F.P. and had a voice in the legislative assembly, this was often perceived as the non-Muslim opposition to Pashto.
  22. ^ a b Language, ideology and power: language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-08-17. The real opposition to Pashto came, however, from the speakers of Hindko. A large number of Sikhs and Hindus, all speaking Hindko, lived in the cities of N.W.F.P. and had a voice in the legislative assembly, this was often perceived as the non-Muslim opposition to Pashto.
  23. ^ The social organization of the Marri Baluch. Indus Publications. Retrieved 2008-08-17. ...is in the hands of a small caste of Hindu merchants. These Hindus are Hindko-speaking and regard Kalat as their homeland, where they generally keep their families and go for some months every year to visit and to obtain supplies. While in the Marri area, they must be under the protection of a local Marri chief or the sardar himself.
  24. ^ Viking fund publications in anthropology, Issue 43. Viking Fund. Retrieved 2008-08-17. ...is in the hands of a small caste of Hindu merchants. These Hindus are Hindko-speaking and regard Kalat as their homeland, where they generally keep their families and go for some months every year to visit and to obtain supplies. While in the Marri area, they must be under the protection of a local Marri chief or the sardar himself.
  25. ^ Gazetteer of the Hazara district, 1907 / compiled and edited by H. D. Watson
  26. ^ http://www.pakhazara.com/languages.html
  27. ^ "Heroic villain: An informative and entertaining biography of a daredevil Pathan". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2005-01-09. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hindkowans&oldid=537692752"