Kho people

The Kho (/koʊ/,[3] Khowar: کھو) or Chitrali people,[4] are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group[5] native to the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan.[6] They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Khowar.[7]

For the ethnic group in Vietnam, see K'ho people.

Kho People
کھو
Total population
578,100 (2020) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan
Pakistan Pakistan550,000 (2020)[1]
Languages
Khowar
Religion
Hanafi Islam,[2] Ismaili Islam[2]
Related ethnic groups
Other Indo-Aryan peoples

History

The Kho people are likely descendants of those who migrated to their present location in Chitral from the south.[8] In ancient times the Kho people practiced a faith akin to that observed by the Kalash today.[9][10] In the 14th century, many of the Kho converted to Islam though some previous customs continue to persist.[11] With respect to Islam, the Kho are primarily Hanafi Sunni Muslims although there exists a substantial population of Ismaili Muslims in the Upper Chitral region.[12]

Language

The Kho people speak the Khowar language, which is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup. The ethnologists Karl Jettmar and Lennart Edelberg noted, with respect to the Khowar language, that: "Khowar, in many respects [is] the most archaic of all modern Indian languages, retaining a great part of Sanskrit case inflexion, and retaining many words in a nearly Sanskritic form.”[13]

Khowar is spoken by about 313,000 people in Pakistan.[14] Most of the Kho people also use Urdu as a second language.[15][16]

Culture

Kho culture places heavy emphasis on poetry, song and dance. Kho people also have a great respect of law and order. Much of this can be attributed to Chitral being a stable kingdom for most of its history, where the rule of law and the will of the ruler came before tribal concepts such as revenge and isolationism. Many Kho believe that their customs and language is much more rich, polite, and sophisticated in comparison to their neighbours.[17]

Polo is a popular sport and pastime for the Kho people. Polo traditionally played by the Kho has little rules or organisation.[17]

Dance and music play a large role in Kho society. Common clothing include the salwar kameez (long tunic and trousers) and headwear includes the pakol (chitrali hat).[17]

Folk music

Folk singers and reed instrument players have a special respect in the Kho society and are featured in their festivities. The most common instruments are Surnai Shehnai, Sitar, and reed instruments. The Kho sitar is a popular musical instrument in Chitral. It is made out of mulberry wood with five steel strings arranged in three courses, the outer ones have double strings, tuned in unison, while the inner course is single. Popular music of the area includes:

  • Shishtoo-war (Sauz), a popular folk music played with shehnai on happy occasions, mostly at marriages.
  • Shab-daraaz (Dani) is a sad tone based on heartbroken love poems.
  • Ghalhwar is a combination of Dani and Sauz. This is a mixture of fast and classical music played at the starting of a polo match.

Genetics

According to Aziz et al. 2019, the western Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups were observed predominantly and mostly shared in Kho samples with overall frequency of 50%. These include HV8, H19, H57, H24, C and, C4a haplogroups. The South Asian haplogroups and its relevant subgroups including U4, U4c, U6, U5a, and W were also found in Kho samples with overall 37.5% frequency. Another South Asian haplogroup, M30 was also identified for Kho samples with frequency of 6.2%. The haplogroups and haplotypes specify the origin and linkages of an individual and population. The mtDNA haplogroup analysis eventually demonstrates the western Eurasian ancestral origin of Kho samples. However, the presence of few South Asian haplogroups with a minor proportion revealed that Kho might be an admixed population of south and western Asian genetic components. This indicates the genetic affiliation of Kho with the South Asian populations.[18]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "Khowar". Ethnologue. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. Olson, James Stuart (1998). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-313-28853-1.
  3. O'Leary, Clare F.; Rensch, Calvin Ross; Decker, Sandra J. (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Languages of Chitral. National Institute of Pakistan /* Location and demographics */ at Quaid-i-Azam University. p. 22.
  4. Osella, Filippo; Osella, Caroline (16 May 2013). Islamic Reform in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-107-27667-3.
  5. Olson, James Stuart (1998). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-313-28853-1. The Kho people are the most important ethnic group in the Chitral region of northern Pakistan... They are an Indo-Aryan people who are Muslims, primarily Sunnis of the Hanafi tradition.
  6. "Khowar". Ethnologue.
  7. "Khowar". Ethnologue.
  8. Cacopardo, Alberto (1991). "The Other Kalasha A Survey of Kalashamun-Speaking People in Southern Chitral: Part I: The Eastern Area". East and West. Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO). 41 (1): 273–310. JSTOR 29756980. ... the language even today, while the rest are Kho people who have moved in from the south.
  9. Bashir, Elena; ud-Din, Israr (1996). Proceedings of the Second International Hindukush Cultural Conference. Oxford University Press. p. viii. ISBN 978-0-19-577571-6. Before conversion, the Kho people had the same beliefs as the Kalasha have even to this day.
  10. Cacopardo, Alberto M.; Cacopardo, Augusto S. (2001). Gates of Peristan: history, religion and society in the Hindu Kush. Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. p. 48.
  11. Bashir, Elena (1996). Proceedings of the Second International Hindukush Cultural Conference. Oxford University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-19-577571-6. This was a pre-Islamic custom in Kho society which has continued to exist even after the people converted to Islam in the fourteenth century, even though there is not any room for such beliefs in the religion.
  12. Olson, James Stuart (1998). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-313-28853-1. In the Upper Chitral region, most Kho are Ismaili Muslims, who the Hanafi Sunnis consider to be an inferior people.
  13. Jettmar, Karl; Edelberg, Lennart (1974). Cultures of the Hindukush. F. Steiner Verlag. p. 3. ISBN 9783515012171.
  14. "Khowar". Ethnologue.
  15. Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D. (2017). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twentieth Edition. Dallas: SIL International.
  16. "Khowar | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  17. Winston, Robert, ed. (2004). Human: The Definitive Visual Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 433. ISBN 0-7566-0520-2.
  18. Aziz, Shahid; Nawaz, Mehwish; Afridi, Sahib Gul; Khan, Asifullah (1 April 2019). "Genetic structure of Kho population from north-western Pakistan based on mtDNA control region sequences". Genetica. 147 (2): 177–183. doi:10.1007/s10709-019-00060-8. ISSN 1573-6857. PMID 30887215. S2CID 81976969.
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