17/07/2025
Ancient History of Gilgit-Baltistan
Dr. Mohsin Gangjuk
Part-II
People and their Languages
Gilgit-Baltistan has a diverse society in terms of language, religion and ethnicity. It is considered among the most multi-lingual places of the world. Its geography and natural physical environment not only preserve but also separate various linguistic varieties. Five major regional languages are spoken, Shina in many local varieties, Khowar, Balti, Burushaski, and Wakhi. Besides we found also speakers of Pushto, Punjabi, Hindko, and other languages, who have migrated from other areas of Pakistan into the area. The national language, Urdu is the major language of mutual communication among the multi-lingual society of Gilgit-Baltistan and English plays a growing role as the language of education. Gilgit is the administrative and economic center of Gilgit- Baltistan, where fifteen different languages are spoken. Major spoken languages of Gilgit- Baltistan remained the lingua franca of different principalities or regions but now some of them are extinct or only restricted to remote valleys. In Yasin and Ishkoman people mainly speak Shina, Khowar and Wakhi; in Chitral mainly Khowar; in Gilgit mainly Shina, Burushaski; in Hunza and Nager mainly Burushaski and Shina; in Chilas and Astor mainly Shina and Kohistani; in whole Baltistan mainly Balti. The majority of the population are Muslims and they belong to various sects: Shias, Sunnis, Ismailis, and Nurbakhshi. Religious communities are largely endogamous. People are also divided into patrilineal kinship groups which are often combined into larger qoms (kinship or ethnic groups). Valleys or sub-regions are important references for collective identity. Political organization and belonging play an important role in this regard. Historically, two different political systems prevailed in Gilgit-Baltistan. The first was a non-centralized, “egalitarian” political organization in the southern part, roughly in what is today the district of Diamer. In these tracts which were colloquially called Yaghestan (“free/unruly country”) communal affairs were regulated by the jirga, the assembly of men. All over Gilgit-Baltistan, people are divided into patrilineal qoms which are often locally ranked. Membership in the jirgas was mostly limited to the men of the landowning qoms like Shin and Yeshkun while “menial” and artisan groups like Kamin, Dom, or Gujjar were excluded. Thus, political organization was not egalitarian, yet it was marked by the absence of centralized rule. In the greater part of Gilgit- Baltistan local rulers, Rajas or Mirs, ruled over valleys or parts of valleys. Before the British intervention, a Raja was largely a primus inter pares who needed the support of at least a part of the local population in order to secure his position. While raja-ship was hereditary in principle, there was quite fierce competition between claimants for rule, and often a contender did not hesitate to kill his brothers. During colonial rule, however, local rulers needed the recognition of the British in the first place, which guaranteed their power. As a consequence, being much less dependent on local support, many Rajas became more and more despotic. Especially the rulers, or Mirs, of Hunza, Nager were prominent and they continued their largely autonomous rule well into postcolonial times. While Raja rule was formally abolished, the political significance of the jirgas in Diamer continues until today. Many valleys of the Diamer district largely remain outside of administrative control even now.
In the Gilgit region, Darada-Shahis were ruled around the 9th and 10th centuries AD. At that time, the population was divided into four different castes i.e. Shins, Yashkuns, Doms, and Kamins. The Shins are considered superior and ritually cleaner than others. They treated goats and Mayaro (Ibex and Markhor) as clean and pure animals. According to local traditions, it was assumed that they were initially migrated from southern regions. Later on, they were recruited for warfare and defense which made them prominent. Doms are latecomers than Shins, who also came from southern regions. They were gleeman and the musicians. Yashkuns are proposed to be descendants of the indigenous population speaking Burushaski. They were landowners. Kamins are craftsmen and are considered descendants of the Aboriginal population. They were considered a low caste. Besides these four castes, there are some other castes Kohistanis, Kashmiris and Gujars. Syeds, who are descendants of Muslim missionaries, also enjoy a high social position in Gilgit-Baltistan.
In Baltistan region, there are mainly three major castes i.e. Mongols, Mons and Dards. The Majority of the Balti population belonged to the Tibeto-Mongolian race, while Mons and Dards belonged to the A***n race. Mons are mostly carpenters and musicians and considered as low caste. They are aboriginal people who migrated from the Himalayan Mountains of southern Tibet. In Baltistan, some families and villages are still recognized as descendants of Mons. Although, Islam changes their social status and casted differences but terns like Mon Jong, Lhang Khong, Garbong and forts like Mongi Khar in Ladakh trace their origin to ancient Mons. Dards in Baltistan are called “Brokpa” means residents of high lands. Probably, they were A***n Dards, who settled in Baltistan from Gilgit and Hunza-Nager regions.They were settled in Rondu, Basho, Skardu, Shigar, Kharmang and Ladakh. They now constitute about seven percent of total population. In sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, during the height of Balti imperialism, Dards were taken as prisoners from the conquered lands of Gilgit, Chilas and Chitral. They were settled in highlands for the protection of their frontiers.They were even settled in Ladakh, where Dards of Da and Dards of Dras are still exists. Dards of Dras accepted Islam, while Dards of Da neither accepted Islam nor Lamaism but stuck to their ancient beliefs.
Linguists divide the languages of Gilgit-Baltistan into four major categories; Indo-Iranian languages (Wakhi, Pashto, Balochi), Indo-A***n languages (Domaaki, Sanskrit), Tibetan languages (Balti), and Dardic languages (Shina, Khowar, Kohistani). The Burushaski, which is among the twelve isolated languages of the world, cannot be put into any categories of the following languages.
1. Shina
It is the main language of Gilgit region. It is spoken in Gilgit, Astor, and Diamer districts, along with some communities of Baltistan and Kohistan (KPK Province). Shina language is divided into divergent dialects, which are spoken in different regions i.e. Phalura dialect in south-eastern Chitral, Savi dialect in Kunar valley of eastern Afghanistan. There are many theories about the origin of the Shina language. Biddulph proposed a theory for the introduction and spread of the Shina language. He suggested that the Shin conquerors came up the Indus valley and occupied an area that included Gilgit and Baltistan and extended almost as far as Leh in Ladakh. They either replaced the original inhabitants or imposed their language upon them. This left the original language, Burushaski, to be spoken only in the high, inaccessible valleys such as Yasin, Hunza, and Nagar. The original inhabitants of the Gilgit Valley were Yeshkuns, the same race who inhabit those high valleys. They remain the majority in Gilgit but speak Shina. Lorimer also proposed such proposition that Burushaski was the original language of the Gilgit area and was pushed out or superseded in Gilgit. Jettmar finds no record of invasion from the south but hypothesizes a peaceful joining of kingdoms, an outgrowth of which was the spread of the Shina language. For him, the Shina language traced its origin from one of the A***n tribes, who migrated through the Hindu Kush and eventually settled in the Indus and Ganges plains of Chitral, Gilgit, and Kashmir. Lorimer, in the same article as above, goes on to list a number of ways in which Burushaski and Gilgiti Shina are similar, primarily vocabulary and manner of speech, as opposed to morphology. Such assimilation as the retaining of many vocabularies and the manner of speech could be expected as the original Yeshkuns adopted a new language, Shina, with its own morphology. Indeed, geographical proximity and intermarriage have continued the contact between the two languages over the centuries.
Additionally, Biddulph records that Shina speakers were brought to Baltistan as prisoners from Astor and Chilas during the time of the Balti rulers. He also names the villages where the Shina speakers settled and the Shina dialects of their descendants living there at the time of his study. The Shina speakers are scattered throughout Baltistan as well as those in Ladakh.
Bailey, however, was the first to present an in-depth study of the grammar and phonology of Shina. Based on his studies, he proposed three main types of Shina: Gilgiti, Kohistani, and Astori. The Chilasi or Kohistani group includes the dialect spoken around Chilas, in the Tangir and Darel valleys, and Indus Kohistan. The three valleys Jalkot, Palas, and Kolai comprise the Indus Kohistan sub-group. Astori, Guresi, and Drasi make up the Astori group. Brokskat, a fourth type of Shina, is at least mentioned in all the lists. Brokskat is the name given to a variety of Shina spoken in Baltistan and Ladakh (on the Indian side of the ceasefire line) in villages around Garkhon in the Indus valley between Kargil, Khalatse, and Dah-Hanu. Brokpa is the name given to these Buddhist Dards by the Ladakhis, meaning people who live in the high altitudes; Brokskat is the language they speak. Because of extended isolation from the other dialects of Shina and convergence with Ladakhi, Brokskat is not intelligible to speakers of Shina. The Shina speakers of Baltistan include the valleys of Satpara, Tandal, Kharmang, Kachura, and Gultari. The Shina- speaking area of Satpara Valley is above the Satpara Lake, which is located some five miles south of Skardu town. There are many references in the literature to Gilgiti as the main dialect or standard of Shina. Biddulph notes “The Gilgit pronunciation of Shina is supposed to be more refined than the dialects spoken in neighboring valleys, but of late it has received a large infusion of Kashmeri, Dogri, Hindustani, and Urdu. Lorimer describes Gilgiti as the premier dialect and the best known dialect. The Gilgiti Shina dialect is spoken in the Gilgit proper, which includes the regions of Chaprot, Mayoon, and Hini in the Hunza River valley; the Bagrote, Sai, and Haramosh valleys. (continued)
References:
1. Sikandar Khan, In the Wonderland of Asia: Gilgit & Baltistan (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2014).
2. Gerard Fussman, “Languages as a source for history,” in History of Northern Areas of Pakistan, ed. Ahmad Hassan Dani (Islamabad: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, 1989).
3. Jettmar, Bolor and Dardistan.
4. Sikander Khan, Qadeem Ladakh: Tarikh-wo-Tamadun (Ladakh: Kacho Publishers, 1989).
6. Banat Gul Afridi, Baltistan in History (Peshawar: Ijmay Books International, 1988).
7. Muhammad Yūsuf, Tarikh-i-Baltistan (Skardu: Baltistan Publications, 2009).
8. Abdul Hamid Khawar, Tarikh-i-Aqwam Dardistan-wo-Boloristan (Gilgit: Abdul Wahid Publishers, 2009).
9. A.H. Francke, Baltistan and Ladakh: A History (Islamabad: Lok Virsa Publishers, 1986).
10. D.L.R. Lorimer “The Forms and Nature of the Transitive Verb in Shina (Gilgiti Dialect),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies 3: 467-493.
11. T. Grahame Bailey, Grammar of the Shina Language. (London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1924), 24.
12. Dr. Namoos, Gilgit aur Shina Zubaan. 1961.
