The Northern Kashmir, an ethnical mosaïc
From the Chitral Area to the afghan border
La minorité Kailash du Cachemire
Pathan community of Kashmir
The Kho minority
High valleys of Hunza and Kashmir
The Hunza valley
Irrigation, the miracle of Northern Kashmir
The Wakhi minority
Valley of Shimshal
The Ismaelis religion
The altitude porters of Shimshal
Rajab Shah
The Burusho minority of Pakistan
The Shina minority of Pakistan
The Gujar minority of Pakistan
Baltistan in Northern Kashmir
Les Baltis
Le village de Hushe
Little Karim
La région du Ladakh
Le sud du Cachemire
Srinagar
Les autres minorités
Les Dardes
La minorité Gipsi

The Northern Kashmir, an ethnical mosaïc :

Usual pictures of pakistani muslim life.

Already on the Karakoram Highway, one is amazed to meet the Hunzakuts, their faces surprisingly white, red cheek bones, blond hair and blue eyes. Further at the northern borders, one meets men and women from Central Asia, Chinese Ouigours or Kazakhs who came to trade at Sust or Gilgit. Further to the east where the area's still closed from west Pakistan, we find the little Tibet - Ladakh, India - which is inhabited by Mongolian people of Tibetan origin. In the Baltistan valley, an area populated 100% by Moslems, we still find Bouddhist ruins ; in fact the beautiful Bouddhist painting, near Chilas are well known and represent proof of past Bouddhist cultures.

Popular polo is the origin sport from Northern Kashmir

In all the mountains on earth and particulary in this region, the valleys often hide special customs and original cultures which are testimonies of their life styles, necessarily autarchic in these mountain ranges, where exchanges or trade is very difficult, especially in winter. This is especially true in Cashmere because of the elevated valleys which are enclosed by the very high mountains. Whatsoever, the silk road, which at that time went through the east region, allowed cultural exchanges ; the famous passes of Shimshal, Karakoram, Mutztagh and Kungerab, were often used. For this reason the aspects of culture and ethics in Cashmere are very contradictory ; it's a crossroad of civilizations that enabled trade and exchange but it also represents an ethnical and cultural hole, very original and isolated in the lost valleys that are difficult to reach. Here we find a big assembly

of people, a place of ancestral murderous dispute but also a place of harmonious well being between ethics of very different cultures.

From the Chitral Area to the afghan border :

Kailash Minority:

Kailash kid

The Kailash are part of a small community of 3000. Non Moslems, they don't adore Allah and are the only non-Moslem people of north Pakistan. The Kailash believe that their God Dezau came to the Indus Kush valley on horses that had two heads. They speak Kalashamun. Their territories went much further into the east Afghan valley before the population was, by force, converted to Islam at the end of the 19th century. East Afghanistan was rebabtized "Nuristan" "the Country of Light". The animists, true to their religious faith, took refuge on the other side of the Afghan border and joined their next of kin - cousins, who still live in the valleys of Rumbur and Birir. They were the inheritors of a millenary culture and received first, the British protection and thereafter the protection of the Pakistan government.

This is how Wilfried Thesiger discovered the Kailash when he travelled through the Chitral valley in 1952. (At the time, they were called the Black Kafirs).

The Black Kafirs who call themselves Kailash Gum, occupy the Brumforet, Rambor and Barir valleys. They adore their ancient Gods, cultivate grape wines and set up sculptured wooden statues on the graves of their dead. Their cousins on the other side of the border, had by force, been converted to Islam by Abd-er-Rahman, an Afghan Emir, at the end of the 19th century ; their homeland, originally known as Kafiristan, now has the name of Nouristan "Country of Light". Lots of the Moslems who live in Chitral are descendants from the refugees of the Red Kafirs who fled from Kafiristan in 1897. Some years later, I was to go through the Nouristan, but I'm happy to have seen the population just as it was before in all of the Kafiristan.

After some days of rest, I visited the Kafirs, accompanied by Mir Ajam, a political commissioner, who took me in a jeep to a Red Kafir village called Aijun ; he assured me that it was one of the biggest villages in Chitral. From Aijun, I went up walking through a narrow valley from where at its foot, could be seen a clear mountain stream coming down from the north west. The rocky walls of the two slopes of the valley are abrupt and covered with trees, also surprisingly, a Kermes Oak, the leaves look like those of a Holly but the tree can be identified because of its acorns. Bridges, made of wooden planks, allowed us to cross the mountain stream. After about one and a half hrs, we turned into the Brumboret valley, the one more to the south of the two affluents. The other one, uphill of Brumboret, is called Rambor.

We passed lots of men in groups and young boys who had sacs of walnuts to take to Aijun. They had long sticks to beat the walnuts and with which they broke the walnuts open wherever they were. Further up, at Bromberet, we got to a series of farms and cultivated fields in terraces wherein they harvested rice and corn. I saw a lot of nut trees and other fruit trees, some of which were huge mulberries. At this time, the valley was relatively large and less steep ; however, the two slopes on both sides were rocky and very marked, first covered by Kermes Oak and further up by pine trees and fir pine trees. The villages in the Brumboret were inhabited by Moslems and Black Kafirs. We made a rest in an adjacent valley of Batrik, a group of about twelve houses well built by the Black Kafirs. The men dressed like Moslems, the women and small Kafir girls, however, had a head cover which was characteristically decorated with little shells. All the women and young girls wore a very large dark brown garment that they attached at the waist.

I took lots of photos of the Kafir - men, women and children, as well as two wooden statues approx 1.80m high with which they decorate their tombs. The corpses are buried in wooden coffins ; they are taken to a corner of a field and left there to decompose by themselves. The statues apparently are there in remembrance of the dead but nobody minded when I moved them to take a better photo ; they were even pleased when I looked for the best exposure. The front of the Kafir houses are also decorated by rustic sculptures. Above Brumboret, the path that leads into the Barir valley is an extremely steep trail between firstly, Kermes Oaks and then goes through a huge forest of pines and Himalayan cedars. I saw no birds there and noticed on the trail, recent smoke, no doubt that it came from a markhor. Going down into Barir, the slope was much more abrupt, hardly any existing trail. At the foot of a narrow gorge, we found some Kafir houses surrounded by rice and millet grass fields as well as fruit trees and grape wines. We took a one and a half hr rest during which we swallowed large quantities of small sugared grapes; we picked them from a climbing grape wine which was at least 9m high. We then continued to go down the valley towards Gurru ; there, the houses looked as if they were suspended from a hill, just above the stream. It seemed to me that the Barir valley was prettier than the Brumboret one. The first group of houses we went by was inhabited by Moslems and Kafirs ; however, I learned that the Kafir were overwhelming the Moslems. These Moslems, as well as the newly converted, were very strict about the call of prayer. In Gurru and the area, the houses belong to the Kafirs. I noticed some non- resemblances between them and those of Chitral. For example, contrary to the men and young people of Chitral, none of the Kafirs or Moslems carry a bow ; other than that, smoke of the domestic fire only comes out the doors ; there is no funnel above the fire place. I found the Kafir villages quite dirty and in Gurru, I counted 60 bedbugs in my sleeping bag. At Gurru, I found 8 burial sculptures carved in wood on top of a small cliff ; they were approx 1.50m high and thus smaller than those I saw the day before. They were representations of men, practically nude except for a short loin cloth with pompons and on their heads they had various shaped helmets. I also noticed that some Kafirs too, wore cloths with pompons around the waist which were attached to the shoulder ; underneath though, they wore pants. Two statues were in the shade, I took them down to a field to photograph them.

(source "In the Asian Mountains" Surprising Travellers Collection, Loebeke edition

Even if protected, these people are close to extinction. Little by little the homelands of the Kailash are taken from them. Considered to be impure, the Kailash undergo many pressures from the Moslem farmers, schoolteachers, civil servants or the mullahs who insist on them becoming a member of Islam. Their cultural living areas become less and less, Islam always claims more ground. How long can this culture still survive ? The days of the Kailash might.

Pathan community of Kashmir :

Pachtouns workers

The Pathans (or Pachtouns) live on both sides of the Afghan borders. Their language, which belongs to the Indo-Iranian group, is Pashto. It's a war tribe divided into many clans and tribes with war like characters and lots of independence. In Pakistan, they distinguish the mountain Pathans, who traditionally live from highway robberies from those who live in the plains and are agricultures. They are appreciated for their construction talents. There were many refugee camps of Pathans in Pakistan during the Afghan war including the north of the country.

Kho Minority of kashmir:

Khowari people

The Kho community lives in the Ghizar region and represents the main population of the Chitral valley (80%). They are of Moslem Sunnite majority but they are Ismaleans in the northern part of the Chitral valley. The Kho minorities were attached to the Pakistani government in 1970. The Kho's craft work is highly appreciated. Their potteries and the qualities of their songs are legendary.

High valleys of Hunza and Kashmir :

The Hunza valley :

Hunza valley from Karimabad

With its rocks, its streams, its superbe mountains, its apricot trees and their barley and wheat cultivations, the Hunza valley offers beautiful scenery. Ever since many centuries, the travellers are amazed by the miracles of green cultivated terraces of the Hunza country, these were cut directly into a forest of desert mountains. Seeing that the valley only received 14 centimeters of rain per year, the fields and fruit trees depended entirely on irrigation canals that caught the waters of the streams and then , in turn received the waters of the melting snows of the glaciers and the tops of the mountains.

During the 60ties and up until the availability of regular flights between Islamabad and Gilgit became possible, the Hunza valley was totally closed in - one could only reach it by jeep going through the high Swat valley after a long journey. Since the 80ties, the Karakoram Hwy opened this valley.

(To learn more about the Hunza valley, click on the encyclopedia AGORA touch : l'encyclopédie AGORA (valley of the immortels by Helen Laberge)

Irrigation, the miracle of Northern Kashmir :

Channels in Karimabad. Hunza's water is very precious

On this soil, where it rains even less than in the Sahara, irrigation is vital for mankind. Without it, no cultivation and no life in these valleys. The water that comes down from the glaciers is caught and then distributed thanks to irrigation canals which are set up by specific maps in the mountains and sometimes built on the side of the cliffs of more than hundreds of meters. These works need to respect a certain calculated slope ; not to abrupt because the water may erode the canal and not too flat either because sand may come into the water. This is why the reappearance of water from a canal often occurs from a collector that was built like ten kilometres uphill. In this way, the water is distributed according to the richness of the cultivated parts thanks to many traps next to the water canal.

The water in these canals comes from the melting snows of the glaciers, it's full of precious minerals. One could even assume that the surprisingly long, healthy life of the inhabitants of these valleys, is due to it. It's surprising to see one's skin shine gloriously after having taken a shower in this water.

Whatever, it's greatest power is probably not magic but the means to fertilize these valleys which, without water, would only be rocks, sand and dust.

Wakhi minority of Kashmir :

The upper Hunza

The Wakhi people are installed at the borders of Afghanistan and Tadjikstan at the foot of the Chinese and Pakistani Xing Yang. On the contrary to all the communities one meets in these high valleys, the women play a leading part ; they take care of the milking and the transport of the herd to their high pastures. As for the men, they stay in their villages to take care of their crop cultivations. The Whakhi community exists for at least 2 500 years ; they converted to Islam and belong to the Ismalian branch of Islam. The endurance of the porters and their welcome are remarkable.

In the high Hunza valleys, they speak Wakhi Iranian, it's there where the bond between the Wakhan and Bodakshan gorge is traditionally narrow because of many caravan passages and herds that go through the Kilik pass. The Kighises Afghans, when the Soviet troops invaded and annexed Wakhan, found a natural refuge ten years ago in the Gojal region before they were welcomed in Turkey, where still today, they have established themselves in a large majority.

The Shimshal valley near the border of China :

Shimshal village

It's in the Shimshal valley that one finds the biggest Wakhi Ismalian community. Isolated, they get along alone ; they always insisted on a certain independence towards the Mir of Hunza whose jurisdiction it represents. The high Shimshal valley has the five biggest glaciers coming from the north, the Kanjut-Trivor line, those are the Momhil, Malangutti, Yazaghie, Khurdopin and Virjerab glaciers.

The Ismaelis religion :

Harvest in Shimshal

Shimshal is a village nestling in the high valleys of Karakoram. The discovery of Shimshal is a must for all those looking for new cultures. The people of Shimshal, who are Ismalians, are very welcoming people. It's preferable to go with a guide who will help you more to discover the particular culture of this community than only show you the way. To know more about the Ismalians, the excellent book of Michel Malherbe "The Religions of Humanity" will allow to better understand this particularity attributed to the inhabitants of the Hunza valley :

"Ismalian is born through a Chiisme reform promoted by Ismael, the eldest son of the sixth Chiite Iman Djafar. However, Ismael died in 751, fourteen years before his father and was thus never able to become Iman as he should have.

The Ismalian partisants refuse the seventh Iman as well as the others that followed - they remain attached to their master, considered to be the seventh " hidden Iman". Today, they have no political influence but their solid community is of big economical influence. The Ismalians can be divided into two branches ; the Mustalis and the Nizaris. The Nizaris who recognize the Agha Khan Iman, live in the mountainous regions of Central Asia - there were about 250,000 of them in Afghanistan in the Bamyam region, 120,000 in Tadjikstan, 80,000 in the Chinese Xing Yang, 120,000 in Syria, 80,000 in Ian and 250,000 in various regions of India and Pakistan. The role of the Iman is considerable because he represents the manifestation of God on earth as a human. He is a superior being who serves as an intermediary between God and the soals who are to go to heaven. By his speeches and writings the Iman Agha Khan, gives spiritual instructions to the faithful and guides them.
By exaggerating a little, one could say that the Ismalians consider the usual Islam as an elementary form of spiritual life and because of that, they don't hesitate declaring themselves Moslems. However, there is also a secret esoteric doctrine, called "Batin". The Ismalians who assume to have the knowledge of this esoterisme, are able to interiorize and interlectualize their religion. This explains that the rules of the Coran do not seem strictly compulsory to them and may be used as a symbolic means. The Nizari Ismalians usually only pray twice a day, they do not restrict themselves to the Ramadan fasting and prescribe monogamy. That means, that the Ismalians are far from being fanatics and they easily accept discussions with other religions. Never however, they make use of any proselytisme, which in some way, explains the weakness concerning their values.

The altitude porters of Shimshal :

The strength of the Shimshal porters is known world wide by all the mountain climbers. Three reasons allow to affirm that these inhabitants are in exceptionally good shape which is of course, very useful for the international expeditions who attack the great mountains of Pakistan. Firstly, the Ismalians don't smoke, drink or use any drugs. Furthermore, seeing that Shimshal was, at that time, separated from the nearest road by a five days walk (today it's only two) all the prefabricated products had to be carried by men to their village. The men were thus trained to carry and this ever since childhood. Lastly, the village is at 2800m altitude, so the men became used to it.

The Shimshal men all speak English. The teacher of the village spoke to me about his fear concerning the road that will soon come to his village. Truly, it might seriously disrupt the life of the community.

Rajab Shah :

Mr Rajab Shah

This dweller of Shimshal has climbed all the 8000thands of Pakistan between 1989 - 1998 ,
Always without oxygen, on various occasions of European or Asiatic expeditions for which he had been employed as porter. He'd invited me to eat at his home twice, quite spontaneously. I was impressed by his peace of mind. He's considered as a star in his country but stays very modest and full of respect. We spoke a long time about Messner and his favourite mountain, the K2, but for him, the big challenge was the north side of the Kunjat Sar. "My work consisted in mounting the camps 1 and 2, thereafter, there were no more restrictions and I went to the summit, it was for my own pleasure. The Westerners come here for the summits, they spend millions of roupies, so why shouldn't I climb it myself ? " On one occasion at an expedition for the Japanese television on the Gashertorum 1 in 1992, he reached the summit together with two other Pakistanis, where even the Japanese mountaineers did not succeed. For this, he got a decoration from the Pakistan President. Rajab Shah always succeeded his escalations without oxygen. "I carried oxygen but never used it. I helped a lot of foreign mountaineers to trace their route and carry oxygen but I myself have never needed any help." In 1997,he was one of the members of the first Pakistani expedition on Everest which broke down 200 meters before the summit. His real regret was that he didn't succeed the 7000m for his country. "I needed more time and luck" He did however succeed the Mustagh Ata (7546m) in China as a Sirdar. He insists a lot on the education of the local altitude porters ; the big problem is technical and financing, there is no mountaineering school in Pakistan and no money to organize expeditions. I'd like to go back to Everest and more than ever, organize my own expedition. If ever you go to Shimshal, go knock on Mr. Rajab Shah's door (first house to the right, in the back of the garden) - this remarkable man would surely be happy to offer you tea.

The Burusho minority of Pakistan:

The name of the Burushos makes reference to the inhabitants speaking the Burushaki language from Karimabad, Nagar and the Hunza dwellers ; they are also called Burushakis or Hunzakuts. Their language has no known root and is plunged into a historical legend. The Burushos are Ismalean Moslems in Karimabad and Chiite Moslems in Nagar. The Hunza Mir (or Tham) is the man of law of the Hunzakuts. He's no longer is influential since 1974 because at that date the Hunza Mir attached himself to the cause of the Pakistani government. The welcome and openness of the minds of these people are exceptional.

The Burusho musicians and blacksmiths traditionally come from an ethnic minority called Bericho and speak Dumaki.

The Shina minority of Pakistan :

Kids fishing in Gilgit River

The 300 000 Shinas live at the bottom of the Hunza valley, in an area that stretches approx from the Gilgit valley to the adjacent valleys. The Shina people are traditionally divided up into four communities. The Shins, the Yeshkuns, the Kamins and the Doms. The Shins are the highest status community, the Kamins are agriculturers, the Doms are musicians and blacksmiths. They speak Shina and have the Ismalean, Chiite or Sunnite Moslem religion.

The Gujar minority of Pakistan :

Gujar women in Batura valley

The Gujars came from South Asia and settled down in North Cashmere in the north Hunza region and the south of the Chitral valley. Their name indicates that they are breeders ("Gu" means cow). They found grounds of fresh herbs that grow at high altitude in order to be able to take their cows and yaks to these pasture fields and then settled. The Gujars are mainly Sunnite Moslems and marry amongst the community members. They speak Wakhi or Gojal, Khonar or Shina in the Chital valley.

Baltistan in Northern Kashmir :

Sunset in Skardu valley

The Baltistan stretches along the Indus and shyok rivers between uphill Ladakh and downhill Gilgit.

The Baltis minority :

Old balti man in Askole village

The Baltis (approx 200 000) come from a Tibetan culture, therefore they are the most western people of Tibet. They left their Bouddhist belief in the 15th century to become Chiite Moslems. Their customs are close to the Tibetan customs. Their language, the Burushaski, coming from Tibet, as well as their clothing and their food are close to those used by their Ladakh neighbours. However, their features are not those of the Tibetans ; they received the Tibetan culture as an heritage but don't look like their Tibetan cousins. The villages they built are densely constructed. The flat roofs of the houses are there to dry their crop and catch the sun. The villages are surrounded by well irrigated fields. The flowering Balti universe is always in contrast with the hostility and dryness of the mountain landscapes around.

Little Karim :

Abdul Karim dit "Little Karim"

Abdul Karim, known as "Little Karim" is one of the anonymous heroes who lived in Hushe and really became well known during the climbs. This modest man accompanied the biggest international expeditions in the Karakoram, he was the man who stayed for longest at 8000m altitude, going far beyond the records of the most famous western climbers. This man was able, alone, to haul the 20 Kilos hang glider belonging to Jean Marc Boivin onto the top of K2. Without Little Karim, a man whose force is impossible to equal, Jean Marc Boivin would not have been able to be the first man to take off from the summit of K2 nor to be so admired or have so much success.

Village of Hushe :

The Hushe village, in the shadow of the Masherbrun, only received a brief visit of the Bullock couple in 1911 : it stayed totally unknown to the west until 1980.

Hushe is in one of the more fertile valleys of the Karakoram, it stretches over 30Km along the north of the Shyok river up to the foot of the Masherbrun (7821m). Hushe has more and more tourists ever since the Gondokoro pass was discovered because this gave the possibility to reach Hushe by Concordia. The Hushe inhabitants work on their fields outside the short tourist season. They readily work as altitude porters for the trekking expeditions or important steep mountain climbs.. There is a reserve of great talented men in Hushe whose strength have been used over the last 20 years, this is closely related to the big successful ascends of the Karakoram in the 1980ties. However, no mistake, in spite of this ideal area and the joy of its inhabitants, Hushe stays very poor and the daily life is hard there, its inhabitants always cultivate crop to survive and the death rate is very high.

Ladakh area :

Moissons au Ladack

Usually, the Ladakh is not mentioned in the regions next to Cashmere, it's next door though. The Cashmere conflict closed the road from Kapalu to Leh thus isolating the Ladakhis and their close Baltistan cousins.

Ladakh menas "Country under the Passes" or "Little Tibet". In Ladakh there is a majority of Bouddhists (80%) and they represent the last western base of the Mongolian people of the Himalayas. Truly, Ladakh is in fact, like Tibet but smaller. Here we find the Tibetan traditions in the architecture of their houses, their Chortems and Mani walls. Here, one prays "Om Mani Padme Om" one drinks chang (barley beer), grean salty tea with rancid butter, one also eats tsampa (a meal made of a mixture of barley and black corn flower). The yaks are used as animals of burden. The Ladakhis are very warm hearted and welcome visitors just like their Tibetan cousins.

The Nubra valley, close to northern Leh, is already the transition to Central Asia.. Camels are in the pasture fields of the altitude prairies ; before these animals were used to carry the goods on the high silk road that went further north through the Karakoram pass.

Southern Kashmir :

Srinagar :

Srinagar

It's not possible to speak about Cashmere without briefly talking about Srinagar. Srinagar is on the edge of the Dal lake at 1700m altitude and has a population of approx 450 000 people. At the time of the British Raj, the Rajah of this semi-autonomous province, prohibited all foreigners to own a house in Srinagar. To go around this law, the English built their boats on the lake. Ever since, the tradition of these "house boats", the floating houses, still exist.

Cashmere is often called "Switzerland of Asia" and the town of Srinagar "Venise of Cashmere". However, the conflict between India, Pakistan and China darkens quiet a bit this ideal version. Srinagar has been closed to tourists for the last 10 years because of the extreme violence that takes place there from time to time. However, Srinagar is still the base of Cashmere's culture. Very fine craft work, silk weaving and the safran cultivations are world wide known.

Les autres minorités :

Dardes minority :

This is an ancient population whose origins are uncertain. Some traces of the Darde King can be found in the 4th and 5th century A/C. The linguists who speak the Darde language compile it into a global form including the archaic languages spoken in the western Himalayan region. This region was, at an earlier time, called Dardistan.

It seems that they were Shepard, half wondering tribes, who held onto the millions of traditions and Tibetan culture, especially the polyandry even though this has been prohibited by the "modern governments" of India and China, the two countries in which they live. They wonder with their yak herds and pashmina sheep in the Rupshu region, in the Changtang, - the south west of the high Tibetan plains which is part of Ladakh as well as part of India , Jammu and Cashmere (except the north-east, occupied by China, Aksai Chin). The Indian government has just opened these regions to foreigners, with lots of reserves and certain limits because these are strategic sensitive zones. The Dardes villages are situated in the Indus valley only a few kilometers from the still not stable border of Pakistan and Changtang which border China. The Dardes or Drokpas, are of Aryan ethnic and originate from Baltistan where they stayed, they were Bouddhist before the conversion (9th-10th century). Their gardens are well taken care off, onions, tomatoes and hundreds of apricot trees around which can be found many wine shoots Every morning, the Dares pick some flowers, which according to tradition, they pin onto a small hat decorated by pieces of money and mirrors. Their skin is white, their eyes pale and they have a "Greek" profile. . The Ladakhis, rough mountaineers and not very talkative, say that the Dardes are descendants of Alexander the Great's soldiers. It's only a legend which the Dardes like a lot and they talk about it to anyone willing to listen. All around are pashmina sheep, their precious wool, much desired will be sold to Cashmere merchants in Leh.

The Gipsi minority :

It's not rare to find in northern Cashmere, small groups of travelling people here and there who come from India. Often, they are looking for gold and one can see them at the rivers sifting non-stop the mud of the rivers. Not very much appreciated, they do small jobs to survive and live in their tents. (near Pas for example)