J. DIVISIONS OF THE DARD RACES.
The name of Dardistan (a hybrid between the “Darada” of Sanscrit writings and a Persian termination) seems now to be generally accepted. I include in it all the countries lying between the Hindu Kush and Kaghan (lat. 37° N. and long. 73° E. to lat. 35° N., long. 74° 30´ E.). In a restricted sense the Dards are the race inhabiting the mountainous country of Shináki, detailed further on, but I include under that designation not only the Chilâsis, Astóris, Gilgitis, Dareylis, etc., but also the people of Hunza, Nagyr, Yasin, Chitrál and Kafiristan.[67] As is the case with uncivilized races generally, the Dards have no name in common, but call each Dard tribe that inhabits a different valley by a different name. This will be seen in subjoined Extract from my Ethnographical Vocabulary. 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 which means “wild” “independent,” and is a name given them by foreigners as well as “yaghi,” = rebellious [the country is indifferently known as Yaghistan, Kohistan and, since my visit in 1866 as “Dardistan,” a name which I see Mr. Hayward has adopted]. I hope the name of Dard will be retained, for, besides being the designation of, at least, one tribe, it connects the country with a range known in Hindu mythology and history. However, I must leave this and other disputed points for the present, and confine myself now to quoting a page of Part II. of my “Dardistán” for the service of those whom the philological portion of that work has deterred from looking at the descriptive part.
“SHIN are all the people of Chilâs, Astór, Dareyl or Darèll, Gôr, Ghilghit[68] or Gilìt. All these tribes do not acknowledge the ‘Guraizis,’ a people inhabiting the Guraiz valley between Chilâs and Kashmîr, as Shîn, although the Guraizis themselves think so. The Guraizi dialect, however is undoubtedly Shiná, much mixed with Kashmiri.
“The Shîns[69] call themselves ‘Shin, Shiná lôk, Shinâki,’ and are very proud of the appellation, and in addition to the above-named races include in it the people of Tòrr, Hárben, Sazîn, [districts of, or rather near, Chilâs]; Tanyire [Tangîr] belonging to Darell; also the people of Kholi-Palus whose origin is Shîn, but who are mixed with Afghans. Some do not consider the people of Kholi-Palus as Shîn.[70] They speak both Shiná and Pukhtu [pronounced by the Shîn people ‘Postó.’] The Baltis, or Little Tibetans, call the Shîn and also the Nagyr people ‘Brokhpá,’ or, as a term of respect, ‘Brokhpá bábo.’[71] Offshoots of the ‘Shîn’ people live in Little Tibet and even the district of Dras, near the Zojilá pass on the Ladâk road towards Kashmîr, was once Shîn and was called by them Huméss. I was the first traveller who discovered that there were Shîn colonies in Little Tibet, viz.: the villages of Shingôtsh, Sáspur, Brashbrialdo, Bashó, Danàl djúnele, Tâtshin, Dorôt (inhabited by pure Shîns), Zungôt, Tortzé (in the direction of Rongdu) and Durò, one day’s march from Skardo.”[72]
| The Chilásis call | themselves | Boté.[73] |
| ” ” ” | their fellow-countrymen of Takk | = “Kané” or Takke-Kané. |
| [the Matshuké are now an extinct race, at all events in Dardistan proper.] | ||
| The Chilâsis call | Gilgitis | = Gilîtí. |
| ” ” ” | Astóris | = Astoríjje. |
| ” ” ” | Gôrs | = Goríje. |
| ” ” ” | Dureylis | = Darêle. |
| ” ” ” | Baltis | = Palóye. Gil. = Polôle. |
| ” ” ” | Ladáki | = Botì. Pl. of Bôt. |
| ” ” ” | Kashmiris | = Kashîre. |
| ” ” ” | Dogras | = Sikkì [Sikhs] now “Dôgréy.” |
| ” ” ” | Affghans | = Patáni. |
| ” ” ” | Nagyris | = Khadjunì. |
| ” ” ” | Hunzas | = Hunzíje. |
| ” ” ” | Yasînis | = Poré. |
| ” ” ” | Punyalis | = Punyé. |
| ” ” ” | Kirghiz | = Kirghìz. |
Note.—The Kirghiz are described by the Chilâsis as having flat faces and small noses and are supposed to be very white and beautiful, to be Nomads and to feed on milk, butter and mutton.
The Chilâsis call the people between Hunza and the Pamêr [our Pamir] on the Yarkand road = Gójál.
There are also other Gojáls under a Raja of Gojál on the Badakhshán road.
The Chílâsis call the Siah Pôsh Kâfirs = Bashgalí (Bashgal is the name of the country inhabited by this people who enjoy the very worst reputation for cruelty). They are supposed to kill every traveller that comes within their reach and to cut his nose or ear off as a trophy.[74]
The Chilâsis were originally four tribes; viz.:
- The Bagoté of Buner.
- The Kané of Takk.
- The Boté of the Chilâs fort.
- The Matshuké of the Matshukó fort.
The Boté and the Matshuké fought. The latter were defeated, and are said to have fled into Astor and Little Tibet territory.
A Foreigner is called “ósho.”
Fellow-countrymen are called “malêki.”
The stature of the Dards is generally slender and wiry and well suited to the life of a mountaineer. They are now gradually adopting Indian clothes, and whilst this will displace their own rather picturesque dress and strong, though rough, indigenous manufacture, it may also render them less manly. They are fairer than the people of the plains (the women of Yasin being particularly beautiful and almost reminding one of European women), but on the frontier they are rather mixed—the Chilâsis with the Kaghanis and Astóris—the Astóris and Gilgitis with the Tibetans, and the Guraizis with the Tibetans on the one hand and the Kashmiris on the other. The consequence is that their sharp and comparatively clear complexion (where it is not under a crust of dirt) approaches, in some Districts, a Tatar or Moghal appearance. Again, the Nagyris are shorter than the people of Hunza to whom I have already referred. Just before I reached the Gilgit fort, I met a Nagyri, whose yellow moustache and general appearance almost made me believe that I had come across a Russian in disguise. I have little hesitation in stating that the pure Shîn looks more like a European than any high-caste Brahmin of India. Measurements were taken by Dr. Neil of the Lahore Medical College, but have, unfortunately, been lost, of the two Shîns who accompanied me to the Panjab, where they stayed in my house for a few months, together with other representatives of the various races whom I had brought down with me.[75] The prevalence of caste among the Shîns also deserves attention. We have not the Muhammadan Sayad, Sheykh, Moghal, and Pathan (which, no doubt, will be substituted in future for the existing caste designations), nor the Kashmiri Muhammadan equivalents of what are generally mere names for occupations. The following List of Dard Castes may be quoted appropriately from Part II. of my “Dardistan”:—