Kho people
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2018) |
کھو | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 318689[1] (1998) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Chitral District, Ghizer District | |
 Pakistan | 318689 |
| Languages | |
| Khowar | |
| Religion | |
| Hanafi Sunni Islam,[2] Ismaili Islam[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kalasha people, other Shina people | |
The Kho (/koʊ/,[3] Khowar: کھو) or Chitrali people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Dardistan region.[2] They speak Khowar, which is a member of the Dardic subgroup of the Indo-Aryan language family.[2] Kho people mainly live in the Chitral District of Pakistan.
History
The Kho people are likely descendants of those who arrived in the region during the Indo-Aryan migration.[3] The Kho people formerly observed a form of ancient Hinduism and Buddhism.[4] During the Mongol invasion of India in the 1200s, many of the northern Kho converted to Islam.[5]
Genetic Origin
The western Eurasian haplogroups were observed predominantly and mostly shared in Kho samples with overall frequency of 50%. These include HV8, H19, H57, H24, C and, C4a haplogroups. The South Asian haplogroups and its relevant subgroups including U4, U4c, U6, U5a, and W were also found in Kho samples with overall 37.5% frequency. The haplogroups and haplotypes specify the origin and linkages of an individual and population. The haplogroup analysis eventually demonstrates the western Eurasian ancestral origin of Kho samples.[6]
Demographics
Historically the Kho people reside in the Dardistan region. Kho people mainly live in the Chitral District of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a smaller number also live in Ghizer District of Gilgit Baltistan (including the Yasin Valley, Phandar, Ishkoman and Gupis). They are also found in few numbers in northern Afghanistan, where the majority of them live in the northern provinces of Badakhshan.[citation needed]
Culture
Kho culture places heavy emphasis on poetry, song and dance. Kho people also have a great respect of law and order. Much of this can be attributed to Chitral being a stable kingdom for most of its history,[7] where the rule of law and the will of the ruler came before tribal concepts such as revenge and isolationism. Many Kho believe that their customs and language is much more rich, polite, and sophisticated in comparison to their neighbours.[8]
Polo is a popular sport and pastime for the Kho people. The polo traditionally played by the Kho has little rules or organisation.[8]
Dance and music play a large role in Kho society. Common clothing include the salwar kameez (long tunic and trousers) and headwear includes the pakol (chitrali hat).[8]
Because of Chitral's location at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia, the Kho display a wide variety of cultures, largely depending upon their ancestral ethnic group and family history.
Languages
The Kho people speak the Khowar language, a member of the Dardic subgroup of the Indo-Aryan language family. The ethnologists Karl Jettmar and Lennart Edelberg noted, with respect to the Khowar language, that: "Khowar, in many respects [is] the most archaic of all modern Indian languages, retaining a great part of Sanskrit case inflexion, and retaining many words in a nearly Sanskritic form.”[9]
Khowar is spoken by about 247,000 Kho people in northern Pakistan.[10] Some of the Kho people use Urdu as a second language.[11]
Folk music
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Folk singers and reed instrument players have a special respect in the Kho society and are featured in their festivities. The most common instruments are Surnai Shehnai, Sitar, and reed instruments. The Kho sitar is a popular musical instrument in Chitral. It is made out of mulberry wood with five steel strings arranged in three courses, the outer ones have double strings, tuned in unison, while the inner course is single. Popular music of the area includes:
- Shishtoo-war (Sauz), a popular folk music played with shehnai on happy occasions, mostly at marriages.
- Shab-daraaz (Dani) is a sad tone based on heartbroken love poems.
- Ghalhwar is a combination of Dani and Sauz. This is a mixture of fast and classical music played at the starting of a polo match.
Notable people from Chitral
See also
References
- ^ http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/district-glance-chitral
- ^ a b c d Olson, James Stuart (1998). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN 9780313288531.
- ^ a b O'Leary, Clare F.; Rensch, Calvin Ross; Decker, Sandra J. (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Languages of Chitral. National Institute of Pakistan Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University. p. 22.
- ^ Cacopardo, Alberto M.; Cacopardo, Augusto S. (2001). Gates of Peristan: history, religion and society in the Hindu Kush. Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. p. 48.
- ^ Minahan, James B. (1 August 2016). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 220. ISBN 9781610699549.
- ^ Aziz, Shahid; Nawaz, Mehwish; Afridi, Sahib Gul; Khan, Asifullah (1 April 2019). "Genetic structure of Kho population from north-western Pakistan based on mtDNA control region sequences". Genetica. 147 (2): 177–183. doi:10.1007/s10709-019-00060-8. ISSN 1573-6857.
- ^ "chitral". Royalark.net. 1 June 1937. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- ^ a b c Winston, Robert, ed. (2004). Human: The Definitive Visual Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 433. ISBN 0-7566-0520-2.
- ^ Jettmar, Karl; Edelberg, Lennart (1974). Cultures of the Hindukush. F. Steiner Verlag. p. 3. ISBN 9783515012171.
- ^ "Khowar Language". 25 January 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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