Brahui people

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Brahui
بروہی

A photograph from 1910 with the caption reading "Brahui of Quetta".
Total population
2.2 million
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan,[citation needed] 2,066,000  Afghanistan,[citation needed] 260,000  Iran,[citation needed] 16,000  India,[citation needed] 400
Languages
Brahui and Balochi
Religion
Sunni Islam(Hanafi)
Related ethnic groups
Other Dravidian people, Baloch

The Brahui people or Brohi people (Brahui: بروہی) are a Dravidian ethnic group of about 2.2 million people with the majority found in Kalat, Pakistan, but also found in smaller numbers in neighboring Afghanistan, India, and Iran. They are closely linked to the Baloch with whom they have substantially intermingled and whose cultural traits they have absorbed. Linguistically they were believed to be a remnant of the inhabitants of the Indus Valley civilization. The Brahui language, also called Bravi, has been theorized as the remnant of a North Dravidian language. Due to its isolation from the other Dravidian tongues it has considerable Balochi vocabulary and counting begins with Balochi numbers. There is no distinct indigenous script for Brahui; like Sindhi and Balochi it is written in Perso-Arabic alphabet. Brahui is spoken in the following areas: Merv area of Turkmenistan, Sindh, Zahedan and Zabol in Iranian Balochistan, southern parts of Afghanistan, Pakistani Balochistan and with the bulk in the Jhalawan region.

Origins, geography, and demographics

Dravidian ethnic groups of South Asia

There are three main theories regarding the Brahui that have been proposed by academics. One theory is that they are an ancient hold-over of some sort of Dravidian origin that descended from the people of the Indus Valley civilization.

Another theory is that they are migrants from northern India who arrived in the region either before the Aryan invasion, but probably before the Baloch. Over the centuries, due to their location, the Brahui have mixed with Iranian peoples as well as with the Indo-Aryan people(s), notably the Sindhis and other groups and culturally more closely resemble their neighbors.

The third is that they used to be a Baloch tribe living in Iran in the mountain known as "Koh-e-Al Burz" or "Burz Koh", where they survived by looting the nearby Iranian villages. The Iranian farmers, after growing tired of getting their villages looted, went to the Iranian Emperor Nosherwan. After listening to the farmers' problems, Nosherwan rounded up his troops and attacked the Balochs living in "Koh-e-Al Burz". Most of the men, women and children of the balochis were slaughtered, a few that survived, under the leadership of their Sardar, Mir Qambar, entered the area now known as Balochistan and passed through Seestan, Chaghi etc. Finally they reached Jhalawan. The tall mountains of Jhalawan reminded theses Baloch of their old home so they settled here. Kalat and its surroundings, at that time, were ruled by a Hindu family who spoke a Dravidian language. The Baloch who came here were called Burz-Kohi because of their original abode (Koh-e-Al Burz). This Burz-kohi with time evolved into Brohi and then Brahui. The "Burz-Kohi"'s married the local women of Jhalawan & Kalat and with time their own language was abandoned by them and they started speaking the local Dravidian language with an incorporation of a few words of their old mother-tongue, Balochi, into it. When the other Baloch from Iraq, Arabia etc. came here and saw these Brahuis speaking this language, they named the language after the tribe that spoke it.

This third theory was presented forward by a Baloch historian Gul Khan Nasir after much research in his books "Koch-e-Baloch" and "Taarekh-e-Balochistan (A History of Balochistan)". In support of this theory the writer argues that the Brahuis lost their original language just like if a person moves to a foreign land and settles there then, after a generation or two his descendants usually lose their native language and begin speaking the language of the place where they are living. Aside from this, he also says that the word "Burz" is not a faarsi (persian) word, it's a balochi word meaning "high" and it is also used for the same meaning in Brahui. So the name of Burz-Koh was most probably selected by these Baloch who used to live there. Another argument he puts forward is that except from language, the Baloch and Brahui people are exactly alike. Another proof the author puts forward is that a Persian poet, Firdausi, in his famous Shahnameh-e-Firdausi also mentioned the nomadic tribe living in "Koh-e-Al Burz". In light of all his arguments the writer, in his book, claims that the Baloch and Brahui actually belong to the same race.^[1]

The Brahuis are almost entirely Muslim, usually of the Sunni sect.

Language

The Brahui language is a Dravidian language mainly spoken in the Kalat areas of Balochistan, Pakistan, although there are a considerable number of speakers in Southern Afghanistan and Iranian Balochistan. It includes three dialects including Sarawani (spoken in the north), Jhalawani (spoken in the southeast), and Chaghi (spoken in the northwest and west). According to a survey it has about 2,000,000 speakers in Pakistan (1998), 200,000 speakers in Afghanistan and 20,000 speakers in Iran, which would amount to 2,220,000 in the world. Due to its isolation, Brahui's vocabulary is only 15% Dravidian, while the remainder is dominated by Perso-Arabic, Balochi, and Indo-Aryan, while the grammar and overall morphology still resemble other Dravidian tongues. Brahui is generally written in the Perso-Arabic script and there is even a Roman alphabet that has been developed for use with Brahui. In Pakistan when doing a BA (bachelor of Arts) program, the Brahui Language can be taken as an optional subject.^{[citation needed]}

Tribal dialects

Baloch society is divided in tens of tribes, including the Mirwani, Bangulzai, Banulzai, Bizenjo, Langov, Lehri, Mengal, Muhammed Hasni, Mohammad Shahi, Raisani, Shahwani, Sumulani, Yusufzai (Dehwar) and Zarakzai (Zehri) ^[2]. Some tribes speak Brahui and some speak Balochi, and there are many that speak both. For instance, members of the Langov tribe, who inhabit central Balochistan in the Mangochar area, speak Balochi as their first language and Brahui as a second language. The Bizenjo tribe that inhabit Khuzdar, Nal and regions of Makran, along with the Muhammadsanis, one of the largest Baloch tribes, speak both languages. Another example is the Bangulzai tribe which is a Brahui-speaking tribe, but a sub-tribe of the Bangulzai, the Garanis, speak Balochi and are known as Balochi-speaking Bangulzais.

Presently Brahui is spoken in Balochistan (Iran), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Sindh and the Gulf Arab states. Historically, all Khans of Balochistan were Brahui speakers^{[citation needed]} but Balouchi is still spoken in court and in home settings.

See also

• Lango Brahui tribe

References

http://www.balochonline.com/site/nationalism/ethnic_origin_cI.asp
http://www.scribd.com/doc/99421/Baloch-Nationalism-Its-origin-and-development

External links

• South Asia Language Resource Center