Balti people
kargili | |
|---|---|
 Balti children photographed in Tarishing, Gilgit−Baltistan in September 2008 | |
| Total population | |
| c. 393,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan Ladakh, India[2] | |
| Languages | |
| L1: Balti (native language) L2: Urdu (national language of Pakistan) | |
| Religion | |
 Islam(Predominantly Shia Muslims,[3] with small minorities of Noorbakshia Muslims and Sunni Muslims in Pakistan and India[4]) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Tibetans, Purigpas, Ladakhis, Dardic |
The Baltis are a Tibetic ethnic group who are native to the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit−Baltistan and the Indian-administered territory of Ladakh, predominantly in the Kargil district with smaller concentrations present in the Leh district. Outside of the Kashmir region, Baltis are scattered throughout Pakistan, with the majority of the diaspora inhabiting prominent cities such as Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Origin
[edit]The origin of the name Balti is unknown.[5] The first written mention of the Balti people occurs in the 2nd century BCE by the Alexandrian astronomer and geographer Ptolemy, who refers to the region as Byaltae.[6] The Balti people themselves refer to their native land as Balti-yul (transl. 'Land of Baltis'); the modern name of the Baltistan region is the Persian rendering of this name.[7]
Language
[edit]The Balti language belongs to the Tibetic language family. A.F.C.Read (1934) considers it to be a dialect of Ladakhi,[8] while Nicolas Tournadre (2005) instead considers it to be a sister language of Ladakhi.[9] The Balti language remains highly archaic and conservative, closer to Classical Tibetan than other Tibetan languages.[10]
Religion
[edit]The Baltis still retain many cultural traits of pre-Islamic Bön and Tibetan Buddhist rituals within their society, making them a unique demographic group in Pakistan.[11]
Bön and Tibetan Buddhism were the dominant religions practiced by the Balti people until the arrival of Islam in Baltistan around the 14th century CE, predominantly through Sufi missionaries such as Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani. The Noorbakshia Sufi sect further propagated the Islamic faith in the region, and most of the Balti had converted to Islam by the end of the 17th century.[12] While Shia Islam had a presence in Baltistan since the late 16th century,[13] Shia along with Sunni missionaries began actively proselytizing among the Balti around the 19th and early 20th centuries.[14]
Around 60% of the Baltis are Shia Muslims, while some 30% practice Noorbakshia Sufi Islam, and 10% are Sunni Muslims.[15][12]
See also
[edit]
- Gilgit−Baltistan
- Balti language
- Mayfung
- Three Cups of Tea, a book about an American humanitarian involved in building schools in Baltistan (as part of a larger AfPak campaign)
References
[edit]- ^ Ahmed, Musavir (29 January 2021). "Balti: Protecting the language". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ "In pictures: Life in Baltistan". BBC News. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ Bakshi, S.R. (1997). Kashmir: History and People. Sarup & Sons. p. 186. ISBN 978-81-85431-96-3.
- ^ "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Backstrom, Peter The Balti people belong to the Tibetan–Kargil branch of the Kamboj tribe. The Kamboj have their roots in the ancient Iranian–Aryan stock. One branch of this tribe migrated from the Pamirs and Hindukush into Tibet and the Karakoram, where they later became known as the Baltis C.; Radloff, Carla F. (1992). O’Leary, Clare F. (ed.). Languages of Northern Areas. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan. Vol. 2. Quaid-i-Azam University: National Institute of Pakistani Studies. p. 5. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.860.8811. ISBN 9698023127.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Afridi, Banat Gul (1988). Baltistan in history. Peshawar, Pakistan: Emjay Books International. p. 9.
- ^ Kazmi, Syed Muhamad Abbas (1996). "The Balti Language". In Pushp, P. N.; Warikoo, K. (eds.). Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh: Linguistic predicament. Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. pp. 135–153]. ISBN 8124103453.
- ^ Balti Grammar, by A. F. C. Read. London: The Royal Asiatic society, 1934.
- ^ * N. Tournadre (2005) "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes." Lalies, 2005, n°25, p. 7–56 [1]
- ^ Zeisler, Bettina (2005), "On the Position of Ladakhi and Balti in the Tibetan Language Family", Ladakhi Histories, Brill, pp. 41–64, ISBN 978-90-474-0809-3
- ^ "The Nurbakhshi religion in Baltistan". Baltistan Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Little Tibet: Renaissance and Resistance in Baltistan". Himal Southasian. 30 April 1998. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ Rieck, Andreas (1995). "The Nurbakhshis of Baltistan — Crisis and Revival of a Five Centuries Old Community". Die Welt des Islams. 35 (2): 159–188. doi:10.1163/1570060952597761. ISSN 0043-2539.
- ^ Abbas, Mohsin; Ahmad, Mujeeb (2021). "The Development of the Nūrbakhshī Sufi Order in Gilgit-Baltistan". Islamic Studies. 60 (4): 365–398. doi:10.52541/isiri.v60i4.1892. ISSN 2710-5326.
- ^ Bakshi, S. R. (1 January 1997). Kashmir: History and People. Sarup & Sons. ISBN 9788185431963.