Wakhi people

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wakhis
A Wakhi girl photographed near the village of Zood Khun in the Chapursan Valley of Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan
Total population
c. 100,000–120,000[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
 Pakistan64,000 (2018)[citation needed]
 Afghanistan21,000 (2018)[citation needed]
 Tajikistan20,000 (2018)[citation needed]
 China14,000 (2018)[citation needed]
Languages
Wakhi
Religion
Predominantly Islam (Isma'ili Shia)
Related ethnic groups
Other Iranian peoples
Especially Ossetians and Yaghnobis

The Wakhi people (

Gorno−Badakhshan Autonomous Region and the southwestern areas of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.[4] The Wakhi people are native speakers of the Wakhi language, an Eastern Iranian language
.

Name

The Wakhi people refer to themselves as Khik and to their language as Khik zik.

Panj rivers on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.[1]

Demographics

The Wakhan Corridor under light snow, with a Wakhi man collecting firewood.
Wakhi musicians in Gulmit, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

Ethnic Wakhi-speakers have a total population of about 50,000–58,000.

The Great Game during the eighteenth and nineteenth century created boundaries which separated the large body of the Wakhis into living in four countries.[citation needed
]

In

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region
.

In Afghanistan, Wakhi primarily live in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province.

In Gilgit-Baltistan in the north of Pakistan, Wakhi predominantly live in the upper region of Hunza popularly known as Gojal. Wakhi speakers also live in Ishkoman Valley of District Ghizer, and some villages of Yasin Valley.[citation needed]

In Pakistan, Wakhi also live in Broghal in Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In

Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County an administrative area within Kashgar Prefecture of Xinjiang, mainly in the township of Dafdar
.

In China, the Wakhi people, together with the Sarikoli people, are officially recognized as "Tajiks", with ethnic-minority autonomous status. In Afghanistan, they are officially called "Pamiri". In Tajikistan, they are recognized by the state as "Tajiks", but self-identify as "Pamiri".[citation needed] In Pakistan, they refer to themselves as "Wakhi" or "Pamiri" or "Gujali".[citation needed]

The Wakhi predominantly adhere to

Nizari Ismaili Shia Islam, which is regarded as their ethnic religion and are followers of the Aga Khan.[3][5][6]

Economy

The Wakhi are primarily nomadic, depending on their herds of yaks and horses.[7] They often have two residences—one for winter and one for summer. Their houses are built of stone and sod.[3]

Cultural preservation

Activists and researchers have been working to preserve and record the language of the Wakhi people, and have developed Wakhi orthographies using the Arabic, Cyrillic, and Latin scripts.[4]

In 1990, the Gojali Wakhis of Pakistan established the Wakhi Tajik Cultural Association to preserve, document, and publish their local culture. The association introduced a script that was applied into linguistic and literary textbooks, and organized cultural festivals. Radio Pakistan's Radio Gilgit also aired a daily Wakhi-language program named Bam-e Dunya ("Roof of the World").[8][9]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c "Iranian languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Wakhi". Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ a b "Wakhi". Endangered Language Alliance. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: People and Tribes". Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
  8. .
  9. .

Bibliography

Further reading

External links