Gojri (, ), also known as Gujari, Gujri, Gojari, or Gojri, is a variety of

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

spoken by the

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

s and other tribes of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. In India, the language is mainly spoken in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and other parts of the country. In Pakistan it is mainly spoken in

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

Malakand Division Malakand Division is an administrative division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. It contains the following districts: Districts * Bajaur District * Buner District * Upper Chitral District * Lower Chitral District * Lower Dir District * ...

, and

Hazara Division Hazara Division is an administrative division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located along the Indus River and comprises eight districts: Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Battagram, Upper Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Lower ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

and

Gujranwala Division Gujranwala Division is an administrative division of Punjab province, Pakistan. The division, headquartered at the city of Gujranwala, consist of 6 districts, covers an area of 17,207 km2. According to the 1981 census, the population was 7,52 ...

Gujrat Division Gujrat Division (Urdu, pa, گجرات ڈویژن; also called 10th Division) is an administrative division of the Punjab province of Pakistan, with it being headquartered in the Gujrat city. It came into being on 17 August 2022 after districts ...

and

Pothohar The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

region of

. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

of the erstwhile

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

had recognized Gujari by including it in the sixth schedule of the state constitution. As per classification of languages of British India, G.A. Grierson in the first Linguistic Survey of India categorised Gujari language under

Western Pahari The Western Pahari languages are a group of Northern Indo-Aryan languages that are spoken in the state of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Uttarakhand and Punjab Languages The following lists the languages cla ...

group of Languages. In Pakistan, the language is understood by Gujjars across the country and is spoken in upper or hilly areas including the Hazara, Malakand and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

divisions of

and in

. A number of organisations and institutions in Pakistan work for the development of Gujari, including a Gujari-language news channel. It is also spoken in two provinces in southeastern Afghanistan.

Literary traditions

Gujari folklore is very large, including songs, ballads and folktales, known as Dastans. Hundreds of folk songs have been recorded and published, including "Nooro", "Tajo", "Nura Beguma", "Shupiya", "Kunjhdi", "Mariyan". A modern tradition of creative writing encompasses poets such as Sain Qadar Bakhsh, Noon Poonchi, and others. Others such as Mian Nizam ud Din, Khuda Bakhsh Zar, Zabih Rajourvi, Shams ud Din Mehjoor Poonchi,

Mian Bashir Ahmed Mian Bashir Ahmed Larvi (November 1923 – 14 August 2021) was the eldest son of renowned saint Mian Nizam ud Din, the founder President of Gujjar-Jat Conference a socio political body established in 1932. He was a politician and a Caliph of I ...

Javaid Rahi Javaid Rahi is an Indian author, a tribal social reformer, and a researcher. He worked in the preservation of the Culture and Heritage of indigenous communities of North-western India focusing on tribal Gujjar-Bakerwal culture. He is a writer o ...

Rafiq Anjum A pediatrician by profession, Dr. Rafique Anjum (alternate spelling Dr Anjum Awan) is an Urdu/Punjabi and Gojri poet, Islamic scholar and researcher of Jammu and Kashmir. He received state level award for Excellence in Literature in 2007, and is ...

, Milki Ram Kushan, Sarwari Kassana, Naseem Poonchi have also made remarkable contributions to Gujari through poetry, prose and criticism.

Institutions and media

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

and

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

Kendra run various Gujari programmes.

Radio Kashmir Jammu All India Radio Srinagar (AIR Srinagar) is a public radio station operating in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. All India Radio Srinagar broadcasts in Kashmiri, Urdu and Hindi languages. Formerly known as Radio Kashmir Srinagar, it was ren ...

, Srinagar,

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

in India and seven radio stations of Pakistan and PTV air Gujari programmes and news bulletins accepted across Jammu and Kashmir. Books have been published in Gujari, including encyclopedias, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, on topics including dictionaries, grammars, nature, folklore, art and architecture, agriculture, sociology and research. The National Academy of Letters,

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, recognized Gujari as one of the major Indian languages for its National Award, Bhasha Samman, and other programmes. The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Arts, Culture and Languages established a Gujari Department in its Central Office in the 1970s and published in Gujari. They organized seminars, conferences, etc. for the development of the Gujari Language. Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education made curriculum in Gujari up to Middle Standard for teaching Gujari in schools. The University of Jammu Council approved the opening of Gojri Research Centre in Jammu and University of Kashmir that have been awarded doctorate degrees on completing research projects on the language. In

Pakistan administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompass ...

, the Gujari Academy has been established and postgraduate studies departments were set up in various universities and regional research centers.

Revival

In lower or plain areas of Pakistan, Gujjars have a major concentration in districts like Islamabad, Attock, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, Gujrat, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Lahore and Layyah. However, due to the revolution of time, the majority of them have forgotten or stopped speaking Gujrai. Gojri Bahali Programme (Gojri Revival Programme) has been launched in these areas to encourage Gujjars to restart speaking Gujari. Though this programme has a particular focus on these areas, it extends to the whole of Pakistan. Under this programme, Gujjars are being persuaded to readopt Gujari as their mother language. They are also being asked to mention it in the mother language column of various forms at educational institutions; when applying for computerised national identity card; and while filling out their particulars when seeking employment. Under this programme, the federal government will be asked to add Gujari in the mother language column of the population census. Similarly, the

University of Gujrat The University of Gujrat (UOG) is a Leading public university located in Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established in 2004.Chakdina village in Gujrat district. Kundoana

Gujjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

s are a branch of

Khatana Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

Gujjars Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

and trace their descent from Kundo, a famous

who lived during the reign of Mughal King

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

or immediately before him in Gujrat district. His grave survives to date in Makiana village in Gujrat tehsil.

Some important Gujari books

Dictionaries : * '' Gojri Dictionary'' 6 Volume

Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (also known as Cultural Academy) is a Society registered with Government as a Cultural organization dedicated to the promotion of regional languages, art and culture including theatre ...

* '' Concise Gojri Dictionary'' Ed. Javaid Rahi,

* '' Hindi- Gojri Dictionary'' Ed. Javaid Rahi,

Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, is a community-supported nonprofit organization set up in 2000 with the objective to project tribal issues before authorities and to promote ethno- Cultural aspects of tribes. The Foundation was establishe ...

* '' Folk-Lore Dictionary'' 2 VOL of Gujjar Tribe Ed. Javaid Rahi,

* '' Hindi- Gojri Dictionary'' Ed. Javaid Rahi,

* '' Gojri English Dictionary'' Ed.Dr. Rafiq Anjum Books / Author/

* '' Lok-Virso'' – (Research )Awarded by

(1999) * '' Jammu Kashmir ke Qabaila-aur-unki Zubanein'' (Research /Urdu) –(2010) * '' Gujjar Tribe of Jammu and Kashmir'' (Research English) (2015) * '' Gujjar Shanakhat Ka Safar'' (History and Culture Urdu-2005) * '' Gojri Lok Geet'' -2018 * ''Gujjar Aur Gojri'' (2004) * ''Gujjar Tarekh'' (2009) * ''Tagore ki Chunam Shairi'' (2011) Published by

* ''Gojri Grammer'' (2012) Published by

* ''Qadeem Gojri Lughat'' (2013) Published by

* ''The Gujjar Tribe of J&K'' (2012) Published by

* ''The Gujjars'' vol 1 to 6 (2013–16) Published by

* ''The Gujjars Tribe of Jammu and Kashmir'' Research Book

Gujari journals

Published by

* ''Sheeraza Gojri-Bi-Monthly'' * ''Maharo Adab Gojri'' * ''Shingran Ka Geet'' * ''Gojri Ka Lal'' * ''Qadawar'' * ''Paneeri'' * ''Gojri Look Geet'' * ''Gojri Look Kahani'' * ''Gujjar Aur Gojri'' * ''Gojri Zaban-o-Adab'' GOJRI BOOKS Published by NGOs * ''Akhan Gojri Quotations'' JK Gojri Anjuman 2004 Edited by Dr. Rafeeq Anjum * ''Gojri Kahawat Kosh Gojri Quotations'' JK Gojri Anjuman 2004 Edited; by Dr. Rafeeq Anjum * ''Anjum Shanasi Biography'' JK Gojri Anjuman 2007 Edited * ''Sajra Phull ( Hakeem)'' Selected poetry JK Gojri Anjuman 2007, Edited * ''Peehng (Mukhlis)'' Selected poetry JK Gojri Anjuman 2007, Edited by Dr. Rafeeq Anjum * ''GOJRI BOOKS'' Published by BAZM E ADAB KALAKOTE * ''SAJAR BOOT'' – book series * گوجری سیرت النبی صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم(لشکار محمد) مصنف مفتی محمد ادریس ولی ہسوال گوجر

References

*1992: Rensch, Calvin R., ''Hindko and Gujari'' - National Institute of Pakistani Studies, 305 pp. . *2012: Javaid Rahi, ''The Gujjar Tribe of Jammu & Kashmir'' -Gulshan Books, Srinagar J&K 190001, 305 pp. ISBN -13, 8183391030.