From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kashmiri people (Kashmiri:
कॉशुर, کٲشُر Koshur)
are a Dardic ethnic group
living in the region of Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri
language. Kashmiri is "a Northwestern Dardic
language of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian subfamily
of the Indo-European language family."[6] which
is also known as Koshur and hence are classified as a Dardic people.
History
Originally, the Kashmiris were mostly Buddhist, Hindu, and Pagan. Islam was introduced by Sufi saints from Central Asia, Hazrat
Bulbul Shah of Anatolia
being the most prominent of them. Prince Rinchin of Ladakh, a Buddhist who was living
in Jammu & Kashmir at the time came under the influence of
Saint Bulbul Shah and converted to Islam. Later on after the defeat
of the Hindu ruler Suhadeva by Dulchu, Suhadeva fled Kashmir, and
Rinchin became King of Jammu & Kashmir and adopted the name
Malik Saduruddin. Eventually the majority of Kashmiris adopted
Islam and became Muslim, although there are still small communities
of Hindus and Sikhs living in the Kashmir Valley, the former being
known as Kashmiri Pandits.
Ethnic variation as
shown by linguistics
The population living in the Valley of Kashmir is primarily
homogeneous, despite the religious divide between Muslims (94%),
Hindus (4%), and Sikhs (2%). The people of the Valley, share common
ethnicity, culture, language and customs, which is no doubt the
basis of "Kashmiriyat".
The people living in Jammu
that profess Hinduism and
Islam are ethnically different
from those living in the Kashmir Valley in terms of ethnicity,
language and culture. The people living in Azad Kashmir, share common religion with
their counterparts along the line of control, but are not
ethnically and culturally similar to the people living in the
Valley who are Dardic. The predominant language of Azad Kashmir is
Pahari and the people of Azad
Kashmir are mainly Punjabi. Kashmiri is only spoken in a few
border areas of Neelum District.[7] The
people living in Ladakh are
primarily Buddhist and are of Tibetan origins. The Muslim minority
in Ladakh belongs to the Shia sect. The Kashmir Valley is ethnically
homogeneous with ethnic Kashmiris of all religions residing mainly
in the Kashmir Valley, with Srinagar as its capital.
References
Further
reading
- Kashmir Return of Democracy By Yodhishter Kahul, Yudhistar ed
Kahol
- The Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Hopes of Peace By Šumit
Ganguly
See also
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