Folklore and Folk Literature in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan’s Languages
Introduction
Pakistan is home to 70+ languages and alone Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accommodated around 30 languages. All these languages made KP a home of diversity. People in this province can see all these colors along with their unique culture, customs and folk life.
Chitral is one the richest districts of KP as for as diversity of language and culture is concern. There are thirteen languages spoken in this remote district of KP, bordering Afghanistan. Kalasha, one of endangered language and endangered culture/religion is also in Chitral. Similarly other districts such as Swat have 7 distinct languages with their own cultures. District Kohistan is also land to more than five languages.
In Gilgit-Baltistan there are seven languages spoken. All these languages are quite different from each other. Their culture and folklore is also very much different from one another. One of most significant case is the Domaaki language. These people are musicians, and thus they called “Dom” and their language “Domaaki” (language of musicians). This was a stigma that most of these people left that language. But now a few youngsters and literate people from that community realized and started to revitalize that language. They have even change the name of that language to Dawoodi, connected them with Prophet Dawood.
Folklore in these Languages
As for as the oral traditions is concern, this can include language, proverbs, riddles, nursery rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, charms, prayers, chants, songs, dramatic performances, etc. Language itself is kept alive in these vibrant forms far more effectively than in codified forms such as dictionaries or grammatical texts. Oral traditions are passed on by word of mouth, which renders them particularly vibrant, but also fragile, as their survival depends on an uninterrupted chain of transmission.
Folklore, Performing Arts and Poetry
This category includes traditional music, dance and heater etc. These are also common in some of our languages, such as in Wakhi and Burushaski language spoken in Hunza, Ghizer and Broghal valleys have such kind of cases. In Hunza valley a group called Bulbulek is now days very famous and even some university students, both girls and boys sing, dance and write poetry in their own mother tongue. They have a musical group and without any stigma they can perform anywhere. Shina case is the other good example when a modern poet Zafar Waqar Taj wrote songs and then he convinces some young singers, both male and female to sing those. Now this shina music along with Sitar from Mir Afzal Ustad of Kalam is very famous in GB and in rest of Pakistan as well. Similarly in other languages such as Khowar, Torwali and Gawri music and dance is very famous. A decade ago audio cassettes were famous, thus those singers were recording through a tape recorder and would sell those to the local music shops. Now with the modern technology, they can record either audio or video and post on social media and other websites. Domaaki people are professional musicians and in all weddings and festivals across Hunza valley they perform.
Folk Literature Published by FLI
- Palula proverbs
- Gawri, Urdu, English conversation book
- Khowar, Urdu, English conversation book
- Khowar proverbs
- Khowar Idioms
- Pahari and Pothwari–A Sociolinguistic Survey
- History of Kalam Kohistan (part 1)
- The Ormuri Language in Past and Present
- Palula Vocabulary
- Palula Text
- Ushojo Voacbulary
- Dameli Voacbulary
- Gawarbati Voacbulary
- Yidgha Voacbulary
- Building Local Capacity Through Mentoring
- Palula alphabet book
- Gawri alphabet book
- Language and culture
- Ushojo alphabet book
- Dameli alphabet book
- Gawar-bati alphabet book
- Yidgha alphabet book
- CDs with audio recordings of folktales from Ushojo, Dameli, Yidgha and Gawar-Bati languagesTop of Form
Folklore that Dying Out
Wedding Ceremonies
- During the wedding young men used to open fire with gun on a specific target
- Bride and groom used to drink milk together from same pot
- Bride used to ride from her father’s home to her new home on a horse (especially mare)
- Parents of bride were taking bride-price in cash, cows and goats etc.
- The day after the wedding the bride’s relatives brought meals for her
- After that they used to take clay pots and a few cornstalks with cobs to her new house
- Simple soup with butter-oil in a clay pot was used as wedding meal
- When the bride was leaving her parents house she used to throw grains back across the threshold for good fortune to remain back at her parent’s house
- Wedding procession was coming along with drums and flutes
- People threw walnuts on bride when she enters her new home
- Before wedding, before plastering the walls with mud, on a certain night young men would come and eat walnuts
Death Ceremonies
- People used to wait till Friday to bury a dead body
- A feast was given on the day of the funeral for the people who attended it
- For 3-4 days, every morning, the relatives of the deceased person would take tea to grave
- On the day of the funeral people used to distribute salt
- The relatives of a deceased person used to light a lamp where his/her body was washed
- Every person used to give a feast in the name of deceased person in the month of Ramadan
- As alms giving, relatives and neighbours used to bring 5-10 corn breads to a dead person’s home
- People used to wait till Friday to bury a dead body
- A feast was given on the day of the funeral for the people who attended it
- For 3-4 days, every morning, the relatives of the deceased person would take tea to grave
- On the day of the funeral people used to distribute salt
- The relatives of a deceased person used to light a lamp where his/her body was washed
- Every person used to give a feast in the name of deceased person in the month of Ramadan
- As alms giving, relatives and neighbours used to bring 5-10 corn breads to a dead person’s home
Traditional Games
A lot of traditional games are no more played and cricket took the place
Music, Dance and Poetry
- Most of the woman in Gawri Community are poets by birth
- Men and women during a wedding procession would be dancing and singing on the way to the bride house
- Apricots were forbidden to eat before ripening, after that women and men used to eat apricots while singing and dancing
- Men were singing during grass cutting and traditional maize threshing with wooden sticks
- Men and women were dancing, singing and playing musical instruments i.e. guitar (sarod) and flute
Story-Telling
- Every night especially during the long nights of the winter old people used to tell the stories (folktales)
- In Mosques the people used to sit around the fire-place and tell folktales, oral history and genealogy during winter
- Mother used to tell fairytales to their kids
- Famous story tellers used to host by people in their guest rooms during special gatherings to listen the folktales
- Famous story tellers used to tell the stories and other people used to say /xa/ “yes”, otherwise they stop telling the story
Some other Customs
- Gawri people (both men and women) used to make clothes from wool, now use shalwar-kameez instead
- In the past people were using clay and wooden pots
- Swords were used in fights
- In the 1980’s the Kalashnikov came and replaced the older kind of weapons
- Wooden shoes were used
- Sandals made of grass were used by rich people.
By: Muhammad Zaman Sagar, Forum for Language Initiatives (FLI), Islamabad
“The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of writersclubpk.com and its staff members”