Dard people
The Dard people are an ethnic group found predominantly in northern Pakistan, north west India and eastern Afghanistan. They speak mainly Dardic languages. The largest populations are in the regions of Gilgit–Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Dards, known as Brokpa, Drokpa and Shin, are also a minority in Ladakh, which is part of Indian Jammu and Kashmir.[1]
Origin
Parpola (1999, p. 189) identifies "Proto-Dardic" with "Proto-Rigvedic", suggesting that the Dards are the linguistic descendants of the bearers of proto Rigvedic culture ca. 1700 BC, pointing to features in certain Dardic dialects that continue peculiarities of Rigvedic Sanskrit, such as the gerund in -tvī.
During Swati rule, the Dard people predominantly followed the Kalash religion and frequent small-scale jihad against Dards may have been a routine.[2]
Religion
The majority of Dardic peoples are Muslims except a small population of polytheistic Kalash.[2][3] Dardic religion in Indian Ladakh, particularly in the villages of Da and Hann, retains marked traces of the pre-Buddhist animistic religion, Bon-chos.[3] The Kalash tribes found in Chitral, are exceptional in having retained their ancestral polytheistic religion and are officially protected by the Government of Pakistan.
Social status
As of 2001[update], the Dards in Ladakh region (better known as Brokpa, Drokpa etc.) of Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination.[1]
See also
References
- Sources
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