https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=39.40.27.190Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-18T19:53:10ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shina_people&diff=263070Shina people2021-11-20T13:45:53Z<p>39.40.27.190: Removed one extra sentence which was not needed.</p>
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<div>{{Short description|Ethnolinguistic group native to the greater Kashmir region in South Asia}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=August 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group|<br />
| group = Shina people<br />
| image = Shina language.png<br />
| caption = ''Shina people of Pakistan and India depicted in Dark Orange''<br />
| poptime = <br />
| regions = [[Gilgit Baltistan]], Pakistan<br />[[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India<br />
| region1 = {{flag|Pakistan}}<br />
| pop1 = 500,000 (in 2008)<br />
| ref1 = <ref name="genetics"/><br />
| region2 = {{flag|India}}<br />
| pop2 = 48,400<br />
| ref2 = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.cpsindia.org/2016/12/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxiii-jk.html?m=1|title=Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST}}</ref><br />
| rels = Predominantly: [[Islam]]<ref name="CPS2016"/> <br> Small Minority: [[Buddhism]]<ref name="CPS2016"/> and [[Hinduism]]<ref name="CPS2016"/><br />
| langs = [[Shina language|Shina]], [[Brokskat]]<br />
| related = [[Dardic peoples]]<br />
| native_name = <br />
| native_name_lang = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Shina''', also known as the '''Shin''' or locally '''Dards''' are a [[Dardic people|Dardic]] tribe residing in southern [[Gilgit–Baltistan]], [[Chitral]] and the western part of the [[Kohistan District, North West Frontier Province|Kohistan district]] in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]], as well as the [[Dras|Dras Valley]] and [[Gurais|Kishenganga Valley]] in the northern region of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[India]]. They speak an Indo-Aryan language, called [[Shina language|Shina]], which has varied dialects, such as [[Brokskat language|Brokskat]].<ref name="Crane1956">{{cite book|last=Crane|first=Robert I.|title=Area Handbook on Jammu and Kashmir State|year=1956|publisher=University of Chicago for the Human Relations Area Files|language=English|page=179|quote=Shina is the most eastern of these languages and in some of its dialects such as the Brokpa of Dah and Hanu and the dialect of Dras, it impinges upon the area of the Sino-Tibetan language family and has been affected by Tibetan with an overlay of words and idioms.}}</ref> Although the [[Yashkuns]] also predominantly speak shina language but they are distinct from the Shin Tribe and they are one of the descendents of the ancient tribe Aśvakan/Aśvakas (Kambojas).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=O. C.|date=April 1893|title=V. Notices of Books - The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, as described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodôros, Plutarch, Justin, and other classical Authors. With an Introduction, containing a Life of Alexander, copious Notes, Illustrations, Maps, and Indices. By J. W. M'Crindle. 8vo. Pp. xii. and 432. London : Archibald Constable and Co., Westminster. 1893.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0035869x0017039x|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland|volume=25|issue=2|pages=406–407|doi=10.1017/s0035869x0017039x|issn=0035-869X}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Geography ==<br />
In Pakistan, The Shina is the major ethnic group of Gilgit-Baltistan and Shin language is spoken by an estimated 500,000 people living mainly in Gilgit, Diamer, and Baltistan of Gilgit-Baltistan autonomous region and Kohistan District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Shina individuals differ from other Pakistani people on the basis of a different culture, norm, and language.<ref name="genetics"/> The Shina people are found in [[Shinkari]] (the part of the Indus Valley below Gor near [[Ghorband]]), Gor, [[Chilas]], Tangir, the Indus Valley below Sazin, and the upper part of the [[Gilgit Valley]] above Ponyal.<ref>A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and NorthWest provinces, compiled by H.A. Rose, vol III Page 405</ref>{{better source|date=December 2016}} Many Shina people have also migrated to [[Karachi]] and [[Islamabad]] for employment, carrying out business, and education purposes, and many of them have permanently settled in these cities.<br />
<br />
In India, the Shina people are found in [[Guraiz]], as well as in [[Dah Hanu]] and beyond the city of [[Leh]].<ref name="Prakāśaṃ2008">{{cite book|last=Prakāśaṃ|first=Vennelakaṇṭi|title=Encyclopaedia of the Linguistic Sciences: Issues and Theories|year=2008|publisher=Allied Publishers|language=English|isbn=9788184242799|page=143|quote=Shina (described as spoken in many dialects in Gilgit, Chilas, etc., as far south as Gurez in Kashmir, Dah Hanu in ladakh, and dras in kargil.}}</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The Shina expanded to the Gilgit region from their homeland in Shinkari sometime around the 9th or 10th century. Soon after the Shina began settling in Chitral, parts of the Nagar Valley, and as far as Baltistan and Kargil.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Nicolaus|first=Peter|date=2015|title=Residues of Ancient Beliefs among the Shin in the Gilgit-Division and Western Ladakh|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43899199|journal=Iran & the Caucasus|volume=19|issue=3|pages=201–264|doi=10.1163/1573384X-20150302|jstor=43899199|issn=1609-8498}}</ref><br />
<br />
The Shina people originally practised [[Hinduism]],<ref name="1880Biddulph">{{cite book|title=Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh|author=John Biddulph|year=1880|publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing |location=Calcutta|language=English |pages=39, 115|quote=In Nager there is a caste called Shoto, which exists nowhere else; they work in leather, and rank below the Doms, who take daughters from them without giving in return ... like the Shins they have come from the south to settle in these valleys. The names of many of the rules and of a number of places, not only in the Indus and Gilgit Valleys, but also in the Chitral Valley, point to a Brahminical origin. Amongst the names of places may be mentioned ''Seo'' (Siva, ''or'' Mahadeo), ''Shogram'' (Siva's village), ''Shogoor'' (Siva's priest), and ''Swami'' ... some form of Brahminism was introduced by the Shins into the Gilgit Valley, and, to a greater or less degree, wherever their rule extended. In valleys in which they were outnumbered by the former inhabitants, the result was, doubtless, a mixture of Buddhism and Hindooism, grafted on a form of demon-worship existing in the country.|author-link=John Biddulph}}</ref><ref name="O'LearyRensch1992">{{cite book|last1=O'Leary|first1=Clare F.|last2=Rensch|first2=Calvin Ross|last3=Decker|first3=Sandra J.|title=Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Languages of Chitral|year=1992|publisher=National Institute of Pakistan Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University|language=English|quote=Phalura had previously been Hindus like the Shin. He referred to the area around Chilas, south of Gilgit, as Dangaristan and discussed how the term Dangarik has been applied to the Shina-speaking people.}}</ref><ref name="HastingsSelbie1917">{{cite book|last1=Hastings|first1=James|last2=Selbie|first2=John Alexander|title=Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Mundas-Phrygians|year=1917|publisher=[[C. Scribner's Sons]]|language=English|page=606|quote=But the Shins have the characteristic Hindu aversion to eating the flesh of milk (or even ''ghī'' made from the milk) of the cow, and eschew fowls and fish. The former language of the people was Sanskrit, and the dialect now in use is called Shina. The basic element in the people is thus probably Indo-Aryan, and their festivals preserve many traces of Hindu beliefs.}}</ref><ref name="CPS2016" /> as well as [[Buddhism]].<ref name="CPS2016" /><ref name="1880Biddulph" /><ref name="Hattaway2004">{{cite book|last=Hattaway|first=Paul|title=Peoples of the Buddhist World|year=2004|publisher=William Carey Library|language=English|isbn=9780878083619|page=46}}</ref> However, both Hinduism and Buddhism were regulated to being the religion of the ruling and upper class although Hinduism had more success among the masses.<ref name=":0" /> As such, the Shina, particularly the Dangariké caste, were referred to by their neighbours as "[[Cattle in religion and mythology#Hinduism|cow people]]".<ref name="O'LearyRensch1992" /><ref name="Morgenstierne1941">{{cite book|last=Morgenstierne|first=Georg|title=Notes on Phalūṛa: an unknown Dardic language of Chitral|year=1941|publisher=J. Dybwad|language=English|page=8}}</ref> Even after the majority of the ethnic group's conversion to Islam, orthodox Shins would continue to neither eat beef, drink cow's milk nor touch any vessel containing it; a dead cow or a suckling calf is considered especially unclean.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Th3Mu-_RwjQC&q=cow+was+unclean+for+shins&pg=PA406|title=A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province: L.-Z|date=1997|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-85297-70-5|language=en}}</ref> In Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar, the Hindu Shins formerly practised [[Sati (practice)|sati]], which ceased before A.D. 1740.<ref name="Biddulph1880">{{cite book|title=Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh|author=John Biddulph|year=1880|publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing |location=Calcutta|language=English |pages=114|quote=Women's urns are readily distinguished by a number of wooden spindle whorls, mixed with the bones. ... in Gilgit, Gor, Hunza, and Nager, that suttee was formerly practiced. The dead man, with his finest clothese and his weapons girded on him was plpaced on the pyre, and as the fire burnt up, the woman arrayed in her jewellery and her richest clothes, leaped into the flames. The burning of the dead ceased to be practised more than sixty years ago. ... in 1877, a very old man in Darel scandalised his neighbors by calling his sons to him on his death bed, and after having his arms and valuables brought to him, desiring to be burnt with them when dead ... He and a man of Gor, who died twenty years ago, are known to have always refused to be circumcized, or to call themselves Mohommedans. They were probably the very last Hindus in Dangaristan.|author-link=John Biddulph}}</ref> 1877, in that region, marked the last year that Shina men underwent Hindu [[Antyesti|cremation rites]].<ref name="Biddulph1880" /> <br />
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The Shina were exposed to Islam around the 12th century. Waves of conversions occurred during the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries. By the late 19th century, most Shina were adherents of Islam.<ref name=":0" /> Many castes of the Shina people, such as the Açar'îta caste, converted to [[Islam]] in the 19th century and this faith is now observed by the majority of the ethnic group;<ref name="SchmidtKohistani2008">{{cite book|last1=Schmidt|first1=Ruth Laila|last2=Kohistani|first2=Razwal|title=A Grammar of the Shina Language of Indus Kohistan|year=2008|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|language=English|isbn=9783447056762|page=11|quote=The Açar'îta themselves told Strand that they have been living in Ashret for "for these approximately eight of nine hundred years as the Shina tribe... We are still making our lives in this homeland, and our language is Shina. We are one people from Chilas; originally, we are from Chilas." ... Biddulph mentions that many Muslims Shins had the surname "Sing". It is also a Rajput name, and the earlier form ''siṃha'' is a frequent element in the colophons of the Gilgit Manuscripts (dateable to probably not later than the 9th century C.E.). Bota/bôTâ appears to be a cognate with Bóṭi. The conversion to Islam among the Açar'îta appears to have taken place, according to Strand, between 1820-1840 C.E.}}</ref> a minority of Shina speakers, chiefly the [[Brokpa]] caste, continue to practice Buddhism and Hinduism.<ref name="CPS2016">{{cite web |title=Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST — Scheduled Tribes of northwest India: Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh |url=https://blog.cpsindia.org/2016/12/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxiii-jk.html?m=1 |publisher=[[Centre for Policy Studies]] |accessdate=22 February 2020 |language=English |date=24 December 2016 |quote=Notwithstanding the roots of these tribes in the Hindu antiquity and persistence of that memory in their language and ritual, they have been all converted to Islam perhaps a few centuries ago. Of 48.4 thousand Brokpa, etc., counted in 2011, 45.1 thousand are Muslim. Of the rest, 3,144 are Buddhist and 133 Hindu.}}</ref><ref name="Hattaway2004">{{cite book|last=Hattaway|first=Paul|title=Peoples of the Buddhist World|year=2004|publisher=William Carey Library|language=English|isbn=9780878083619|page=46}}</ref><ref name="Grierson1903">{{cite book |author1=Sir George Abraham Grierson |title=The Languages of India |date=1903 |publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India |language=English|location=[[Calcutta]]|quote=These are the Brokpa of Dras, which differs little from Gurezi, the Brokpa of Skardu which is the same as Astori, and the curious isolated colony of Shina, spoken near the frontier line between Baltistan and Ladakh called the Brokpa of Dah and Hanu.|author1-link=Sir George Abraham Grierson }}</ref><br />
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==Castes==<br />
Shin is an ethnic group comprising following castes:<br />
*Açar'îta<ref name="SchmidtKohistani2008"/><br />
*Brokpa<ref name="Grierson1903"/><br />
*Samoon<br />
*Chillis<br />
*Dangariké<br />
*Dharmkhel<br />
*Gabare <br />
*Khoke<br />
*Manake<br />
<br />
==Genetic origins==<br />
Mah Noor ''et al.'' (2019) found west Eurasian mtDNA in 89% (8/9) of Shina samples, which included 11.1% (one sample each) from the following haplogroups, H14a, T1a, H2a, T2, U7, U5b and HV2. Besides, 11.1% (1/9) of the samples belonged to haplogroup M54, which is of South Asian origin. According to the researchers, the high frequency of western mtDNA haplogroups in the Shina samples indicate their West Eurasian ancestral origin. The presence of South Asian haplogroups however reveal minor genetic admixture of Shina with surrounding South Asian groups.<ref name="genetics">{{Cite journal | doi=10.1080/23802359.2019.1682474| title=The genetic composition of Shina population from Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan based on mtDNA analyses| journal=Mitochondrial DNA Part B| volume=4| issue=2| pages=3802–3808| year=2019| last1=Mumtaz| first1=Mah Noor| last2=Ihsan| first2=Haleema| last3=Aziz| first3=Shahid| last4=Hizbullah| last5=Afridi| first5=Sahib Gul| last6=Shams| first6=Sulaiman| last7=Khan| first7=Asifullah| pmid=33366198| pmc=7710323| doi-access=free}}</ref><br />
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==Pre-Islamic Hindu Shin names==<br />
{{cquote|Of the Shin names a great number have the suffix of ''[[Singh|Sing]]'', which is retained in spite of the conversion of the people to Islam. These names are never found among the purely Boorish population of Hunza and Nager, but it is to be noted that the Suffix ''Sing'' is found among the earlier Makpon Kings of [[Skardu|Iskardo]]. The suffix is the local version of the Hindu Surname ''[[Singh]]'' which comes from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''Simha'' meaning ''Lion''. It is generally used by the [[Kshatriya]] ruling class.<ref name="ReferenceA">Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh John Biddulph Sang e meel Publications Page 99</ref><br />
}}<br />
'''Male Shin Names'''<ref name="ReferenceA">Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh John Biddulph Sang e meel Publications Page 99</ref><br />
<br />
{{col-begin|width=60%}}<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Moosing<br />
* Hubba [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
* Ram [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
* Kummosing<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Gissing<br />
* Poonyar [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
* MelSing<br />
* Chumar [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Singoo<br />
* Dem [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
* Boonyal [[Singh|Sing]]<br />
* Dingoo <br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Boomersing<br />
* Hinnasing<br />
* Gelsing <br />
{{col-end}}<br />
<br />
'''Female Shin Names'''<ref name="ReferenceA"/><br />
{{col-begin|width=60%}}<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Sheli Bai<br />
* Sookoomull<br />
* Rozi Bai<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Shubibi<br />
* Bibi Harzu<br />
* Shermull<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Shoosha Bai<br />
* Bai<br />
{{col-4}}<br />
* Doodi <br />
* Soti Poti<br />
{{col-end}}<br />
<br />
== Religion ==<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width:40%; text-align:center"<br />
|+ Within Kashmir and Jammu administered by India<br />
! Religion !! Population !! Percentage<br />
|-<br />
|Muslim || 45,100 || 93.18%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.cpsindia.org/2016/12/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxiii-jk.html?m=1|title=Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST}}</ref><br />
|-<br />
|Buddhist || 3144 || 6.49%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.cpsindia.org/2016/12/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxiii-jk.html?m=1|title=Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST}}</ref><br />
|-<br />
|Hindu || 133 || 0.27%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.cpsindia.org/2016/12/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxiii-jk.html?m=1|title=Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST}}</ref><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Festivals== <br />
The Shina festival of ''Chili'' marks the commencement of wheat sowing, as with other celebrations in the [[Indian subcontinent]], including [[Lohri]] and [[Makar Sakranti]]. ''Chilli'' also formerly had a connection with the worship of the [[Cedar wood|cedar]].<ref>The making of a frontier Five years' experiences and adventures in Gilgit By Algernon George Arnold Durand Page 210</ref> Cedar worship is prevalent among historic the Hindu communities of [[Himalayas]], from the Hindu Kush region to [[Himachal]] and [[Uttarakhand]]. It is known as [[Cedrus deodara|Deodar]], which is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''Devadaru'', which means "wood of the gods" and is a compound of the words ''deva'' (god) and ''dāru'' (wood, etym. tree). The Cedar is also sacred in [[Kafiristan]].<ref>The making of a frontier Five years' experiences and adventures in Gilgit By Algernon George Arnold Durand Page 209</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Kashmiri language]]<br />
*[[Kho people]]<br />
*[[Kashmiri people]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
{{Ethnic groups in Pakistan}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shina People}}<br />
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Social groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<br />
[[Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir]]<br />
[[Category:Social groups of Gilgit Baltistan]]</div>39.40.27.190