The Saraiki diaspora refers to the dispersing of ethnic

Saraikis The Saraikis ( skr, ), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group inhabiting parts of central and southeastern Pakistan, primarily in the southern part of the Pakistani province of Punjab They are mainly found in a region of southern Punjab known ...

from Pakistan's Saraiki-speaking region to other parts of the world. The Saraikis are one of the largest ethnic groups to collectively migrate from Pakistan. The total Saraiki population numbers around 26 million, with the majority of overseas Saraikis concentrated in Britain,

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. Some Saraiki currently live in

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 ...

Regions

India

According to the Indian census of 2001, Saraiki is spoken in urban areas throughout northwest and north central India by a total of about 70,000 people, mainly by the descendants of migrants from western Punjab after the Partition of India in 1947. Some of these speakers are settled in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

who went and settled there before the partition because of their pastoral and nomadic way of life, and these are Muslims. Out of these total speakers of the language, 56,096 persons report their dialect as Mūltānī and by 11,873 individuals report their dialect as Bahāwalpurī. One dialects of Saraiki that is spoken by Indian Saraikis is ''Derawali'', spoken by

Derawal The Derawal ( Saraiki: ) are a community of people who originated from the Derajat region, Dera jat consists of area east of suleman ranges and west of River Indus and is inhabited by Saraiki speaking Baloch people. Famous dish of the Region is So ...

s in

Derawal Nagar Derawal Nagar is a neighbourhood in Delhi, India which is named after people of the Derawal community. Originally native to the Derajat region (districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan in present-day Pakistan). These individuals, who ar ...

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 ...

who migrated to India during the partition. Other dialects spoken by Indian Saraikis include ''Jafri'', ''Saraiki Hindki'', ''Jhangi'', ''Thali'', and ''Jatki''. Saraiki is spoken in

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

, Ballabhgarh,

Palwal Palwal is a city and a municipal council. It is the headquarters of Palwal district, the 21st district of Haryana state in northern India. It is a centre of the cotton trade in the area. It is also a part of National Capital Region. Etymo ...

, Rewari,

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located in Thar desert. It is located 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilome ...

, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Panipat districts of

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 a ...

, some area of Delhi and

Ganganagar district Sri Ganganagar district is the northernmost district of Rajasthan state in western India. History Named after Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar district was part of Bikaner state. This was a mostly uninhabited region. The hi ...

Hanumangarh Hanumangarh is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as Ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative seat of Hanumangarh District. The c ...

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

districts and some Balochi and Bhagnaree families of Udaipur city of

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 s ...

. It is spoken by some in

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 ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Many Sairaiki-origin people (whose ancestors once lived in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

) form a distinguished group of doctors, engineers, fashion designers, IT professionals. Some of these people no longer speak the Saraiki language, and have majorly diluted into speaking Punjabi or

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Afghanistan

, ''Kandhari'', a dialect of Multani Saraiki is a mother tongue of the

Hindki Hindki ( ps, هندکي) is a term originally used by Pashtuns to denote people or communities of Indian origin that they have been in contact with. More specifically this may include: *Indians in Afghanistan#History, historical Indian communities ...

Outside South Asia

Many Saraiki migrants are in the Middle East, Europe with smaller communities in Australia, South East Asia and China and Cuba. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Saraiki is spoken by 400,000, China, South Africa and the USA.

References

10. Ian Hancock. "On Romani Origins and Identity". RADOC. Retrieved 24 December 2014. {{Pakistani diaspora Pakistani diaspora

Regions

India

Afghanistan

Outside South Asia

See also

References