|
Homepage of Razwal Kohistani Lesser known Shin, Yashkun, Kamin, Gabara, Chilis and Marooch tribes of Indus Kohistan [Location] [Area and Population] [Religious sects] [Political Perspective] [Languages of Indus Kohistan] [Traditional Institutions] [Jirga System] [Shin tribes] [Yashkun Tribes] [Chilis and Gabara Tribes] [Kamin Tribes] [Other Casts and branches] [Land tenure system] [Forest tenure system] [Crop Land Tenure System] [Kinship system] [Marriage customs] [Transhumance] [Life in Kohistan] [Folk Tales] |
|
|
Kamiņ tribes The branches of the Kamiņs, who are formally associated with the Şiņ groups and tribes in Kohistan, are satra, Rama, BatiRa, Thakra, shatie and sesi. Their many branches are found in Harban and Shatial also. They are mostly found in Chillas, Harban, Tumar, Sazin, Darel and Tagir. Those who are found in Kolai, Palas and Jalkot, are merged in the traditional organizational hierarchy of the Şiņs and are their associates. The Kamiņsin the upper areas beyond Kohistan, are out of this hierarchy of the Şiņs. The relevance of the Kamiņs has always been connected or sought with the "Kamis" in the Punjab when they have nothing to do with them. This view was first introduced by the English historians such as Lietner, Biddulph, Drew, Durand and finally Karl Jettmarr. Moreover, a local researcher, Mohammad Shuja Namoos, also derived most of his conclusions from the Westerners. Some historians have written the word "Kamiņ" as "karemin" also. Shaw has connected it with the Persian word "karam" whose meaning is told to be the work. One has not heard the word "karemin" from any locals. There has always been a confusion owing to the words of "kami" and "Kamiņ" in considering about Kamiņs. There is no mutual linkage between the words of 'kami", "Kamiņ" and "Kamiņ. I would like to present two examples here clarifying this misconception. Karl Jettmar writes on Page 41 in his book "Bilor and Dardistan" that: "Kamiņ is the term for a low caste of tenants and craftsmen in the Punjab and in the corner between the River Kabul and the River Swat." It is not true of him that the term Kamiņ prevails in the Punjab. It is the word "Kami" which is customary there while between River Kabul and Swat, which is mostly Pukhtoon land, this term is not used. Nor is it a Punjabi region. Among the Kamis in the Punjab, the dominating castes are the Musalli, Mirasi and Dom in regard to their professions who are related to the Darawars by race. Their skin colour and physique is quite different than the Kamiņs of the Northern Pakistan. The Kamis of the Punjab have not been merged into the structural circles of the castes in the Punjab. Besides Jettmar, the view of my colleague and honourable teacher, Schmidt, about Kamiņs is that: "Kamiņ people don't have own land, houses or property in Palas or Jalkot, because the people of Palas and Jalkot reckoned as out side the Şiņ lineages." (Schmidt & Zarin, Discussion with Hariq. p 12) "n Kohistan the term Kamiņ is used to describe all non-Şiņs including YaŜkuņ, Gujjars, blacksmiths, weavers and Doms. This is in Palas only a binary sociological division (Şiņ, Kmin)." (Schmidt 1985. p 68) I have found in my studies conducted in Kolai, Palas, Jalkot, Darel, Tagir and Harban that Kamiņs are fully incorporated in the local Wesh system. It is not true that in Kohistan, the term Kamiņ covers all the non-Şiņ population. Jahn Biddulph has expressed his opinion about the Kamiņs as: "The Krammins, who are millers and porters, are most numerous in Darel, and do not exist in Junza or Nagir. They do not intermarry with any other caste. Their name is probably derived from the persian Kamiņ, "mean people" though Mr. Shaw in his paper on "Stray Aryans in Tibet," suggests that the name is derived from Kuram, 'work." (Biddulph 1880 A.D. p 39) Dr. Mohammad Shuja has also expressed his doubts about Kamiņs saying that very little is known about the Şiņ invasion and about their coming into Pakistan. However, the Kamiņs in the Northern Pakistan are described to be related with the ancinet inhabitants of the sub-continent. But it is only an assumption based on the view held in the plains of Pakistan about Doms, Mirasis and Musallies. One must bear in mind here whether the non-Aryan linguistic characteristics are found in their native language to indicate them the ancient castes and not Aryans because the ancient castes in India were non-Aryans. Surprisingly their population is going down now in Kohistan and the Northern Pakistan. They are migrating to urban areas and are giving up their traditional profession. Their numerous families are now found in the districts of Muzaffarabad, Mansehra, Abbott-abad and Haripur. Very few families of theirs are left in Kohistan who have also given up their ancestral profession. They beat drums in the past at the time of invasions to entice men to fight. It was customary in Kohistan until 1950. Their mother tongue is called Domakhi which is now spoken only by a small group in Hunza valley. Everywhere else they speak Şiņa and have forgotten their mother tongue. Dr. George Buddress says that they migrated from the South around two hundred years ago. In my opinion, they came even much earlier than this, probably even before the Şiņ tribes because in 1500 A.D during the separation of the Wesh system between Kolai Palas and Jalkot, a few "shoodars" might have come from the Indian tribal areas with the Doms and engaged in the professions of "kamis" (Kamiņ castes), p 50. The local Kamiņs are accommodated in the social pattern of the Şiņ tribes and in their traditional Jirga system. Moreover, their women have equal rights to other Şiņ and YaŜkuņ women which proves that the Kamiņs are also "ulsia" and hence they are not related at all with the "kamis' of the Punjab. There are some such branches of the Kamiņ whose names reflect the existence or the coincidence of their some relationship with the Indian tribe in western Bengal, GoRa, like the tribe of GuRie in Chillas. In this region since there have been migrations of the numerous tribes via Gandhara, Kashmir, Chitral, Wakhan and Swat, it would be better to keep the names and mobility of these tribes in view in the historical perspective. Few Kamiņ Branches and their present areas
|
Copyright © 2005
Shina Research Forum Karakorum Himalayas
|