The Purigpa (
Tibetan script
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system ('' abugida'') of Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, Jirel and Balti. It has also been used for some non-Tibetic langua ...
: པུརིག་པ།,
Nastaliq script
''Nastaliq'' (; fa, , ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'', is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script in the Persian and Urdu languages, often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, rarely for Arabic. ''Nasta ...
: پُرِگپا) are a
Tibetic
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
ethnic group primarily found in the
Kargil District of
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu an ...
,
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 ...
and
Kharmang District
The Kharmang District (Urdu:) is one of the 14 districts of Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, bounded on the north by the Skardu District, on the north-east by the Ghanche District, on the south by the Kargil District and th ...
of
Baltiyul,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. Out of 39 thousand Purigpas, 38 thousand are Muslim. The remaining few of them are mostly Buddhists. In 2011, there were 992 Buddhists among the Purigpas.
Social status
, the Purigpa were classified as a
Scheduled Tribe
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are design ...
under the
Indian government's reservation program of
positive discrimination. As of 2011 Population Census of India, Purigpa population stood at 39,101 with 20,119 males and 18,982 females. The adult sex ratio stood at 943 and child sex ratio at 971. They boasted a literacy rate of 67.5 per cent, which was better than the average tribal literacy rate of 50.6 per cent in the erstwhile state of
Jammu and Kashmir.
History and culture
The Purigpa have varied origins and are descendants of Tibetans and Dards. These two groups began mixing with each other from the 10th century onward.
The Purigpas are primarily Shia Muslims of the
Twelver sect. They were converted by preachers who traveled via
Baltistan
Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gil ...
beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries.
See also
*
Kargil district
*
Kharmang District
The Kharmang District (Urdu:) is one of the 14 districts of Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, bounded on the north by the Skardu District, on the north-east by the Ghanche District, on the south by the Kargil District and th ...
*
Purgi language
Purgi, Purigi or Puriki (Tibetan script: , Nastaʿlīq script: ) is a Tibetic language closely related to the Balti language. Purgi is natively spoken by the Purigpa people in Ladakh region of India and Baltistan region of Pakistan.
Most of ...
References
Scheduled Tribes of India
Ethnic groups in India
Muslim communities of India
Ethnic groups in Pakistan
{{india-ethno-stub