Hindko language

Infobox Language
name=ISOtranslit|Hindko|hnd
nativename= _hn. هندکو
familycolor=Indo-European
pronunciation= [Hindko]
states=Pakistan (N.W.F.P., Punjab) Azad Kashmir;
India (Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab)
region=South Asia
rank=
speakers [Hindkowan Nation] ="approx." 49.50 percent of the total population of Pakistan.2000 According to the last Census held by Govt. of Pakistan the percentage of the Hindkowan Nation spread from Peshawar to Karachi [with different dialects of the Hindko Language throughout Pakistan] was declared 49.50%. [http://www.paktribune.com/ezone/newsdetails.php?id=125128 Shah Rukh, Dilip Kumar invited to Pakistan] ] Fact|date=January 2008
fam2=Indo-Iranian
fam3=Indo-Aryan
fam4=Northwestern zone
fam5=Lahnda
script=Nasta'liq script
nation=
agency=
iso3=hnd|notice=Indic

Hindko (هندکو /Hindkoŭ/), also Hindku, Hinko, [cite journal|title=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan|journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan|year=1964|first=|last=|coauthors=|volume=22|issue=|pages=23|id= |url=|format=|accessdate=2008-04-19 ] or Lahndacite web|url = http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/KRO_LAP/LAHNDA_properly_Lahnda_or_Lahin.html| title = Lahnda|publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate = 2007-05-23] , لَیہندا) is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken in North Western Pakistan, especially in Hazara, Kohat and Peshawar. [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm Abstract of speakers’ strength of languages and mother tongues – 2001] , "Census of India" (retrieved 19 March 2008)] [ [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-12-2003_pg7_25 Daily Times: Peshawarites still remember the Kapoor family] ] The literal meaning of the word "Hindko" is "Mountains of the Indus". The word "Hind" is the Persianised reference to the regions associated with the Indus River immediately to the east of Persia and "Ko" means mountains [Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition - Kohistan ] . The word Hindko has also been interpreted to mean the language of Indus mountains. [ [http://www.opf.org.pk/almanac/L/languages.htm - Grierson Linguistic Survey of India] ] The term is also found in Greek references to the mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan as Καύκασος Ινδικός (Caucasus Indicus). The language is spoken in the areas of the North West Frontier Province (including Hazara), Punjab (including Attock), and Azad Kashmir by an estimated 2.2 to 4 million people.2000 According to the last census held by Government of Pakistan the percentage of the Hindko nation spread from Peshawar to Karachi [with different dialects of the Hindko language throughout Pakistan] was declared 49.50%. [http://www.paktribune.com/ezone/newsdetails.php?id=125128 Shah Rukh, Dilip Kumar invited to Pakistan] ]

There is no generic name for these people because they belong to diverse ethnicities and tend to identify themselves by the larger families or castes. However the people of the largest group in the districts of Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra are sometimes recognised collectively as Hazarawal, named after the defunct Hazara Division that comprised these districts. In Peshawar city they are referred to as "Peshawari" or Hindkowan. The important thing is that the word Hazarawal means the people living in Hazara Distt. and the word Peshawari means the people living in the Distt. Peshawar and it shows the area to which they belongs - collectively the Hindko speaking People living throughout Pakistanhad been named as HindkowanNATION in the centuries old books and in the different Gazetteers of Pakistan. Also the research scholars like M/s Mukhtar Ali Nayyer, Khatar Ghaznavi, Sabir Hussain Imdaad, Sheen Shaukat and so many others after research named the Hindko Speaking People as HINDKowan. There are only two Nations in North West Frontier Province and these are PAKHTOON NATION and Hindkowan. The word Pashtoon is hardly two centuries old and came on screen after the inter-marriages of the boys and girls of the Hindkowan and Pukhtoon Nations.

History and Origin

During the pre-Buddhist era in present day Pakistan, the language of the masses was refined by the ancient grammarian Pāṇini, who set the rules of a structurally rigorous language called Sanskrit which was used principally for scriptures (analogous to Latin in the Western world). Meanwhile, the vernacular language of the masses, Prakrit developed into many tongues and dialects which spread over the northern parts of South Asia. Hindko is believed to be closely related to Prakrit. Due to the geographic isolation of the regions, it has undergone very little grammatical corruption, but has borrowed considerable vocabulary from its neighbours, in particular Pashto. It shows close affinity to Punjabi and the Lahnda sub-group of Indo-Aryan tongues and can be sub-divided into a northern and southern dialect (the southern dialect spoken in Pakistani Punjab shows some similarity with Siraiki as opposed to Punjabi). This language is very similar to the Mirpuri dialect of Potohari and Hindko and Mirpuri speakers can understand each other very well.

Hindkowan

Like the People living in Lahore are called Lahori, in Multan are called Multani and in PESHAWAR are being called PESHAWARI. The people whose mothers' language is Persian and they are Farsiwan but they know the HINDKO Language and they are working to promote the HINDKO Language they called themselves Hindkowan. Hindkowans are being led by M/s Raza Hamadani and Khatar Ghaznavi as they both were Farsiwans. The People whose mothers' language is Pashto or Pukhto and they are working to promote the Hindko Language they are being called as Hindko Bolnay Walay Pathan by themselves. The Hindko speaking people from Peshawar to Karachi, as a whole, are being called as Hindkowan . The words Hindkowan appears in the centuries old books and Gazetteers of North West Frontier Province, Rawalpindi and Multan also. The research scholars like Khatar Ghazanavi, Mukhtar Ali Nayyer, Sheen Shaukat and Sabir Hussain Imdaad, after laborious research, have also declared the Hindko Speaking People as Hindkowan.

peakers [Hindkowan Nation]

The largest geographically contiguous group of Hindko speakers [Hindkowan Nation] is concentrated in the districts of state Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Attock, Muzaffarabad and Kaghan valley of Pakistan, while there are a substantial number of geographically isolated speakers of Hindko Language in cities like Peshawar, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan and Kohat.

People in Hazara tend to associate themselves with the larger families (or caste as it used to be called), having distinct ethnic roots. The more prominent among them are Abbasi,( [Qureshies)] Awan, Karlal, Jadoon,Tanoli, Tareen, etc. People who speak Hindko are referred to by some academics as Punjabi Pathans probably because of the many Pashtun tribes, for example Jadoons,Tanolis and Tahirkhelis, who settled in places like Hazara, adopted Hindko Language and its Culture as their first language and gained political power in these areas during the British rule, and also because of many ethnic Pushtun people who speak Hinkdo Language as their first language in Peshawar and Kohat. The Hindko speaking people as a whole Hindkowan Nation living in major cities Peshawar, Kohat, Nowshera,Abbottabad, Harpur, Mansehra , Batagram and so on.

THEEK AAY

In most Hindko-speaking areas, speakers of Pashto live in the same or neighbouring communities (although this is less true in Abbottabad and Kaghan Valley than elsewhere). In the mixed areas, many people speak both languages. The relationship between Hindko and Pashto is not one of stable bilingualism. In the northeast, Hindko is the dominant language both in terms of domain of usage and in terms of the number of speakers, whereas in the southwest, Pashto seems to be advancing in those same areas.

Literature and writers

Gandhara Hindko Board (Registered) is the most active organisation that has been offering great services for the preservation and promotion of Hindko language and Hindkowan culture since 1993. The board was launched way back in year 1993 to preserve and promote Hindko language-- the second main lanuage of Gandhara province (officially known as North-West Frontier Province) of Pakistan. It brings out two regular publications-- "Hindkowan" and "The Gandhara Voice" and a number of occasional publications. The board is headed by Professor Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan of Peshawar city.The board has to its credit first Hindko dictionary and several other books on a variety of topics. With head office in Peshawar, the organisation has regional offices in other cities of the province where Hindko language is spoken and understood. The organisation has arranged a number of mega events to raise awareness among the Hindkowans about the importance of their language and culture. The board seeks respect for and due attention to all the languages spoken in Gandhara province and has a leading role in marking the World Mother Language Day in Peshawar, capital of Gandhara Province.The organisation has its own website-- www.hindko.pk. Idara e Faroghe Hindko [Regd.] Peshawar Pakistan is another worth-mentioning body that is rendering valuable services to promote the Hindko language. Riffat Sawatti and Aurangzeb Ghaznavi are the heart and soul of this Organization. The Idara has published the first Hindko translation of the Holy Quran by Haider Zaman Haider. A monthly Magazine name Faroogh is also published regularly from Peshawar under supervision of Aurangzeb Ghaznavi. In Karachi Dr.Syed Mehboob is also working for the promotion of Hindko language.

References

8. 1974: Phonlogy of Verbal Phrase in Hindko,Dr Elahi Bkahsh Akhtar Awan published by Idara-e-Farogh-e-Hindko Peshawar in 1992.9. 2004: Hindko Sautiyat,Dr E.B.A. Awan, published by Gandhara Hindko Board Peshawar in 2004.10. 2005: Hindko Land a thesis presented by Dr E.B.A. Awan at the World Hindko Conference at Peshawar in 2005.11. *1980: "Hindko in Kohat and Peshawar." Bulletin of SOAS, 1980, 482-51012. *1978: "Rival linguistic identities in Pakistan Panjab." Rule, protest, identity: aspects of modern South Asia (ed. P. Robb & D. Taylor), 213-34. London: Curzon13. *1986: Addleton, Jonathan S., "The Importance of Regional Languages in Pakistan," al'Mushir, Vol. 28, No. 2 (1986), pp. 55-80.14. * 2000: According to the last census held in 2000(prob) by the Govt. of Paksitan, the total population of the Hindkowan Nation(Hindko speakers)of the country (from Peshawar to Karachi) was declared to be 49.50 %.16. * "PUKKHTO OR PUSHTO LANGUAGE" [1867] by Henry Walter Bellew17. * "Tareekh e Peshawar" [1869] by Munshi Gopaal Daas18. * Gazetteer of N.W.F.P. 190519. * Gazetteer of N.W.F.P. 193020. * "Pakistani Adab Men Zubaan ka Masla" by Dr. Abo ul Lais Siddiqui21. * "Muaaraf e Saraiki" by Syed Noor Ali Zamin Hussaini22. * "Hindustani Lisaaniat" by Dr. Syed Muhyyuddin Qadri23. * "Aariaie Zubaanen" by Prof. SudheshVar Verma24. * "Al-Ateeq Al-Ateeq" by Abdul Hamid Ateeq Fikri25. * "Hindko Da Muqadma" by Muhammad Zia ud Din26. * "Military and Politics in Pakistan" by Hasan Askari Rizvi27. * "Punjabi Zuban o Adab Ki Tareekh" by Inaam ul Haq Javed28. * "Deeni Adab" by Syeda Kulsoom Akhtar29. * "Lisaaniat" by Prof Aashiq Raheel30. * "Ashab ul Ras" by Syed Noor Ali Zamin Hussaini31. * Gazetteer of Multan 190232. * "Hindko Zuban o Adab Ka Tareekhi Jaeza" by Sheen Shaukat33. * "Urdu Zuban ka Maakhiz - Hindko" by Khatir Ghaznavi34. * "Agar ab bhi no Jagay to---" by Maulana Shams Naveed Usmani34. * "Arab Hind Taalaqaat" by Syed Sulman Nadvi35. * So many Magazines of Quarterly WARIS Multan, PUNJABI ADAB Lahore, Monthly LEHRAN Lahore.36. * so many brouchures, articles and other literature

References

External links

* [http://www.hindko.4t.com Hindko Page]