The Shina or shin (
Shina: ݜݨیاٗ, ) are an
Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group
An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups share a first language. However, "ethnolinguistic" is often used to emphasise that language is a major ...
primarily residing in
Gilgit–Baltistan and
Indus Kohistan in
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 ...
, as well as in the
Dras Valley and
Kishenganga Valley
The Neelum River, or Kishanganga River, is a river in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. It originates in Bandipora district of northern Jammu and Kashmir in India, flows through the Neelam District of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and then me ...
(
Gurez) in the northern region of
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 ...
and
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 a ...
in India. They speak an
Indo-Aryan language, called
Shina and their geographic area of predominance is referred to as Shenaki.
Geography
In Pakistan, the Shina, who are also known as Gilgitis there, is the major ethnic group of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Shina language is spoken by an estimated 600,000 people living mainly in
Gilgit-Baltistan and
Kohistan.
People belonging to the Shina community people are also settled in the upper
Neelum Valley in Pakistan, as well as in
Dras
Dras (also spelt Drass, ISO transliteration: '), also known locally in Shina as Himababs, Hembabs, or Humas, is a town and hill station, near Kargil city in the Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. It is on the NH ...
, in the far north of 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 a ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
.
Outliers of Shina such as
Brokskat
Brokskat (), or Minaro is an Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the Aryan valley of Ladakh, India and its surrounding areas. It is an endangered language spoken by only 2858 people in Ladakh, India and 400 people in Ganokh, Baltistan, ...
speakers are found in
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 a ...
,
Palula and
Sawi speakers in
Chitral
Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
,
Ushojo
Ushoji (natively known as Ushojo) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Kohistan and Swat
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses spec ...
speakers in the
Swat Valley, and
Kalkoti
Kalkoti, also known as Goedijaa, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kalkot Tehsil, in the Upper Dir district in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asi ...
speakers in
Dir.
Many Shina people have also migrated to
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
and
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
for employment, carrying out business, and education purposes, and many of them have permanently settled in these cities.
History
The Shina expanded to the Gilgit region from their homeland in
Shinkari
Shinkari is an area in Kohistan of the Indus Valley in the Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan.
Overview
There are high schools in both government and private sectors, such as the APS (army public school). Hazara University is located some 10 ...
, in the
Kohistan region on the
Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...
sometime around the 9th or 10th century.
Soon after the Shina began settling in
Chitral
Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
, parts of the
Nagar Valley, and as far as
Baltistan and
Kargil
Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in J ...
.
The Shina people historically practised
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
,
as well as
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
.
However, both Hinduism and Buddhism were regulated to being the religion of the ruling and upper class although Hinduism had more success among the masses.
Their chief peculiarity was their feeling towards the cow, which they held in abhorrence and was considered by them as unclean. Even after the majority of the ethnic group's conversion to Islam, orthodox Shins would continue to neither eat beef, drink cow's milk nor touch any vessel containing it, because a dead cow or a suckling calf is considered especially unclean, so that purification was necessary even if the garments touched it. In Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar, the Hindu Shins formerly practised sati, which ceased before A.D. 1740.
1877, in that region, marked the last year that Shina men underwent Hindu
cremation rites.
The Shina were exposed to Islam around the 12th century. Waves of conversions occurred during the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries. By the late 19th century, most Shina were adherents of Islam.
Many castes of the Shina people, such as the Açar'îta caste, converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
in the 19th century and this faith is now observed by the majority of the ethnic group.
A small minority of related ethnic groups, chiefly the
Brokpa
The Brokpa (), sometimes referred to as Minaro, are a small ethnic group mostly found in the union territory of Ladakh, India around the villages of Dha and Hanu. Some of the community are also located across the Line of Control in Baltist ...
community, continue to practice Buddhism and Hinduism, though the majority of them are adherents to Islam.
Genetics
Mah Noor ''et al.'' (2019) found west Eurasian
mtDNA in 89% (8/9) of Shina samples, which included 11.1% (one sample each) from the following
haplogroups, H14a, T1a, H2a, T2, U7, U5b and HV2. Besides, 11.1% (1/9) of the samples belonged to haplogroup M54, which is of South Asian origin. The obtained mtDNA sequences of Shina were compared with surrounding north-western Pakistani population groups. The haplogroups frequencies, phylogenetic tree and network analysis identified the west Eurasian ancestral origin of Shina group with nearby maternal ancestral relationships with the
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
population. However, no close genetic relationship of Shina was depicted with nearby residing
Kho population group.
Festivals
The Shina festival of ''Chili'' marks the commencement of wheat sowing, as with other celebrations in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
, including
Lohri and
Makar Sakranti. ''Chilli'' also formerly had a connection with the worship of the
cedar. Cedar worship is prevalent among historic the Hindu communities of
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
, from the Hindu Kush region to
Himachal
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 pea ...
and
Uttarakhand. It is known as
Deodar, which is derived from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
word ''Devadaru'', which means "wood of the gods" and is a compound of the words ''deva'' (god) and ''dāru'' (wood, etym. tree). The Cedar is also sacred in
Kafiristan.
[The making of a frontier Five years' experiences and adventures in Gilgit By Algernon George Arnold Durand Page 209]
See also
*
Shina language
Shina ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Shina people. In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan.{{Cite book , last1=Saxena ...
*
Gilgit Scouts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shina People
Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Social groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir
Social groups of Gilgit Baltistan
Dardic peoples
Ethnic groups in India