Kashmiris

Kashmiri People
कश्मीरी, کشمیری

Regions with significant populations
India, Pakistan
Languages
Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Punjabi
Religion
Islam 90%, Hinduism 6%
Related ethnic groups
Other Dardic peoples

For other uses, see Kashmiris (disambiguation).

The Kashmiri people (, Kashmiri: कश्मीरी, Urdu: کشمیری) are a Dardic ethnic group who ancestrally belong to the Kashmir region, divided between the countries of India and Pakistan. However, an indeterminate number have left the region and now live in other parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Kashmiris speak the Kashmiri language known as koshur.

Originally, the Kashmiris were Buddhist and Hindu, however, after the conquest of Kashmir and much of India by Central Asians, the majority of Kashmiri people became Muslim. While there are Dogras, Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus, who live in the Kashmir region, they are not ethnic Kashmiris and usually speak Dogri or Punjabi instead.

Ethnic Kashmiris have Dardic ancestry and originate from the Kashmir Valley. Whilst the Northern Areas of Pakistan are also inhabited by Dardic people, they do not refer to themselves as Kashmiris.

Pakistan controlled Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) has a 95% ethnic Punjabi Muslim population with an estimated 4% Pashtun community. Major communities represent the Punjabi ethnic group consisting of variants such as Sudhans, Rajputs, Gujjars and Mirpuris who are the closest geographical and cultural relatives of the Punjabis from the Potohar Plateau of Punjab (Pakistan).

Ethnic Variation as shown by Linguistics

Linguistic variation of Kashmir showing the Ethnic Variation of Kashmir as Dardic, Indic and Sino-Tibetan

The population living in the Valley of Kashmir is primarily homogeneous, despite the religious divide between Muslims and Hindus. The people of the Valley, despite the religious contradiction, share common culture, language, customs and history, which is no doubt the basis of `Kashmiriyat.

The people living in Jammu are mostly Sikhs and Hindus and ethnically different from those living in the Valley in terms of language, genetics and culture. The Muslims living in Jammu, who are in a minority, share their religious identity with the Muslims of the Valley but are culturally different than them to some extent.

The people living in Ladakh are primarily Buddhist. Muslim minority in Ladakh belongs to the Shia sect. The people living in the the Northern Areas of Pakistan (Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan), theoretically a part of Jammu and Kashmir are not Kashmiris per se and do not share much, except in religion with the Muslims of the Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Pakistan controlled Azad Kashmir. .

The Lost Tribes of Israel

Some consider the Kashmiri people to be descendants of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. According to Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, the Kashmiri people have many Jewish cultural traits, including feasts, appearance, business practices, and other customs. He also asserts that a significant number of Kashmiri names and words derive from Hebrew. Furthermore, sidelocks, although never worn by Muslims, are very commonly worn by the Kashmiris.

The Ahmadiyya movements also support an Israelite origin for Kashmiri people.

Further reading

• Kashmir Return of Democracy By Yodhishter Kahul, Yudhistar ed Kahol
• The Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Hopes of Peace By Šumit Ganguly

See also

• Kashmiri Pandits
• List of Kashmiris