Dards

group of Indo-Aryan peoples

The Dards are a group of un-mixed Indo-Aryan people living in Northern Pakistan, Western Jammu & Kashmir, and Eastern Afghanistan who speak the Dardic languages. A very small minority also live in Xinjiang, China and Tajikistan.[4]

Dardic peoples
Regions with significant populations
Northern Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Northwestern India (Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh)
Eastern Afghanistan (Kapisa, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan)
Languages
Dardic languages
Religion
Predominantly: Islam (Sunni, Shia and Sofia Noorbakhshia)[1]
Minority: Hinduism,[2] Ancient Hinduism/Animism (Kalash people)[3]
Related ethnic groups
Other Indo-Aryan peoples

Dardic is a geographical phrase, not a ethnic or linguistic one.[5] It is not used by any of its speakers. Dardic languages are mostly Indic, but have a huge amount Iranian loanwords from Pashto, Yidgha, or Ormuri.

References

change
  1. "Introduction to Dardistan".
  2. Harris, Ian Charles (1994). Longman Guide to Living Religions. Stockton. ISBN 978-1-56159-089-6.
  3. The India Magazine of Her People and Culture. A. H. Advani. 1993.
  4. "Dards, Dardistan, and Dardic: an Ethnographic, Geographic, and Linguistic Conundrum". www.mockandoneil.com. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  5. Kellner, Birgit (2019-10-08). Buddhism and the Dynamics of Transculturality: New Approaches. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-041314-4.