|
People
of Pakistan
Pakistan is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and predominantly a Muslim
society. Ninety-seven per cent of the140 million people in Pakistan
are Muslims. The population is made up of different ethnic groups,
such as dominant Punjabis, Siraikis, Sindhis, Pakhtuns, Baloch,
Brahvis, Kashmiris, Hazaras, Urdu-speaking immigrants from India
or Mohajirs, Gojars, Kohistanis, Chitralis, and a dozen or so Dardic
languages-speaking lingo-ethnic groups.
The official language is English, and most of the
urban people can understand and speak Urdu as well. However, Urdu
is the mother tongue of only seven per cent of the population. The
other main languages are Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto, Balochi, Siraiki,
and Brahvi.
More than half the working population is involved in agriculture
and live in rural areas. Manufacturing, mining, and service industries
are the other large employers in the urban sectors. Many people
go abroad in search of work.
Race as such plays little part in defining regional
or group identity in Pakistan, and no ideal racial type is accepted
by all Pakistanis. However, ethno-lingual processes over the centuries
have helped developed nationalities and ethno-lingual groups who
have a deep sense of identity, psychological make-up, commonality
of language and area and belonging to certain regions of Pakistan.
The population is a complex mixture of indigenous peoples, many
racial types having been introduced by successive waves of migrations
from the northwest, as well as by internal migrations across the
subcontinent of India. Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Pathans (Pashtuns),
and Mughals came from the northwest and spread across the Indo-Gangetic
Plain, while the Arabs conquered Sindh. All left their mark on the
population and culture of the land. During the long period of Muslim
rule, immigrants from the Middle East were brought in and installed
as members of the ruling oligarchy. It became prestigious to claim
descent from them, and many members of the landed gentry and of
upper-class families are either actually or putatively descended
from such immigrants.
Pakhtoon

Pakhtoon designates a person who speaks Pukhtu.
Pathan is a Hindi term adopted for them by the British. The racial
composition of the Pukhtoons is less than clear. The tribes who
dwelled in the area in the days of the Greek historians are believed
to be part of the great Aryan horde which had moved down from Central
Asia a millennium earlier. Over the course of centuries, the Greek,
Persian, Turk, and Mongol invaders who passed through the Frontier
have added their blood.Nearly one-third of the population of NWFP
is non-Pakhtoon. In the tribal areas, they are called Hamsaya or
Kadwal. In the border areas of Hazara and Derajat, social norms
more closely resembling those in Punjab and Kashmir may be discerned.
Balochi

Baloch are a group of tribes speaking the Balochi
language and estimated at about 8,800,000 inhabitants in the province
of Balochistan in Pakistan and also neighbouring areas of Iran,
Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Punjab (India). In Pakistan the Balochi
people are divided into two groups, the Sulaimani and the Makrani,
separated from each other by a compact block of Brahui tribes.
The original Balochi homeland probably lay on the
Iranian plateau. The Balochi were mentioned in Arabic chronicles
of the 10th century AD. The old tribal organization is best preserved
among those inhabiting the Sulaiman Mountains. Each tribe (tuman)
consists of several clans and acknowledges one chief, even though
in some tuman there are clans in habitual opposition to the chief.
Sindh's

Sindh has very glorious past. The richness of its
history and culture has always attracted scholars of the country
and abroad for the study of all aspects of Sindhi life and its ethos.
Historically the roots of Sindhi culture and civilization
go back to a hoary past. Archaeological researches during 19th and
20th centuries A.D., showed the roots of social life, religion and
culture of the people of the Sindh- their agricultural practices,
traditional arts and crafts, customs and tradition etc. going back
to a ripe and mature Indus valley civilization of the third millennium
B.C. Recent researches have traced the richness of the Indus valley
civilization, to even earlier ancestry.
Sindhi culture can truly lay claim to being one
of the oldest known to man, surpassing certain shades and colors
even those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and china.
Punjabi's

An important aspect of Punjabi ethnicity is reciprocity
at the village level. A man's brother is his friend, his friend
is his brother, and both enjoy equal access to his resources. Traditionally,
a person has virtually free access to a kinsman's resources without
foreseeable payback. This situation results in social networks founded
on local (kinship-based) group needs as opposed to individual wants.
These networks in turn perpetuate not only friendly relations but
also the structure of the community itself. There is great social
pressure on an individual to share and pool such resources as income,
political influence, and personal connections. Kinship obligations
continue to be central to a Punjabi's identity and concerns. Distinctions
based on qaum remain significant social markers, particularly in
rural areas.
|