Brokpa
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (20,000 (est.)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Dha-Hanu,Sharchay-Batalik valley, Ladakh, India. Ganoakh Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan | |
| Languages | |
| Brokskat | |
| Religion | |
| Shia-Muslims and Tibetan Buddhism, Animist | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dard people |
The Brokpa are a small community of Dard people residing in the valley of indus at the border with Pakistan, about 163 km (101 mi) southwest of Leh and 62 km (39 mi) North of Kargil in Ladakh. They are thought by some to be the purest descendants of the ancient Indo-Europeans.[1][2]
They are mainly found in Dha, Beama, Garkhone, Darchiks, Batalik, Sharchay and Chulichan. Part of the community are also located in the Deosai plateau just across the LOC in the villages Ganoaks,Morol,Danansar and Chechethang Baltistan. Like the people of Gilgit, they speak an archaic form of the Shina language unintelligible with other dialects of Shina. They are originally said to have come from Chilas and settled in the area generations ago. They are predominantly caucasoid in contrast to the Tibeto-Burman inhabitants of most of Ladakh. They are Muslims as well as Buddhists, the Bhuddhists,however animist rituals still survive.
Minaro is an alternate ethnic name. 'Brogpa' is the name given by the Ladakhi for the people.[3]
The traditional Brogpa diet based on locally grown foods such as barley and hardy wheat prepared most often as tsampa/sattu (roasted flour). It takes in different ways. Other important foods include potatoes, radishes, turnips, and Gur-Gur Cha, a brewed tea made of black tea, butter and salt.
Dairy and poultry sources are out of menu because of religious taboos. Brogpa takes three meals a day; Choalu Unis (Breakfast); Beali (Lunch) and Rata Unis (Dinner). Brogpa vary with respect to the amount of meat (mainly mutton) that they eat. Household’s economic position decides the consumption of meat. It is only during festivals and rituals all have greater access to mutton.[4]
Brogpa economy has shifted from agropastoralism to wage labor, and the division of labor that relied on stratifications of age and gender is now obsolete. Brogpa transition to private property, monogamy, nuclear families, formal education, wage labor, and their incorporation into a highly militarized economy of soldiering and portering illuminates the complex workings of modernity in Ladakh.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ From Nomadic Tribesmen to Nazi Icons: Who Were the Aryans?, heritage-key.com
- ↑ Shubhangi Swarup. The Last of the Aryans, Open magazine, 6 August 2011.
- ↑ Ethnologue. Brokskat - A language of India. Minaro
- ↑ Bhasin, Veena: Social Change, Religion and Medicine among Brokpas of Ladakh, Ethno-Med., 2(2): 77-102 (2008)
- ↑ Bhan, Mona. "Becoming Brogpa". Counterinsurgency, Democracy and the Politics of Identity in India. Routledge South Asia Series.