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18-539: The majority of the inhabitants belong to Dardic tribes ( Yashkuns , Mankiyalis , Shinkari, Rajkoti, Chilis , Gabara, Marooch), alongside communities of Awans , Gujjars , Syeds , Tanoli , Mashwanis , Karlals , Dhund abbasi , Swatis and Pashtun tribes ( Durrani , Tareen , Yousafzai , Dilazak , Jadoon , Khattak ) who migrated to the area. Hindko is the most spoken language of Hazara Division followed by Pashto , Kohistani , Shina and various Dardic languages . Hindko speaking Hazarewals reside in and form

36-676: A Greek explorer sailed down the length of the Indus in the service of Darius. Hecataeus of Miletus , around 500 BC, wrote about the geography and peoples of "India", as did the Greek physician Ctesias . Most of these works have not survived in their original form but fragments are known through transmission by later writers. Not only individual Greeks, but also large groups of Greeks were forced to settle in Bactria (northern Afghanistan), who must have had prolonged contact with Indians. Herodotus's account

54-642: A location named Daedala , where he reportedly engaged in combat with a group known as the Assakenoi . Herodotus Dadikai appears to be the Persian name derived from the Daradas given in the Puranic sources. Instead of identifying a specific group, the term was used to describe a fierce population living in the northwest, beyond the confines of established society. In Rajatarangini , Kalhana refers to

72-564: A number of non-Dardic peoples and languages. The initial efforts by the British grouped almost all the people and languages of the upper Indus River , between Kashmir and Kabul , into a single category. This led to the creation of distinct identities for all other groups in the region, giving rise to terms such as Dard , Dardistan , and Dardic . None of the inhabitants in the region identify themselves as Dards , their homeland as Dardistan , or their language as Dardic . The term Dard

90-495: Is believed to be based on these accounts. The Greeks (or Persians) were not aware of the geography of India (or Asia in general) east of the Indus basin . Herodotus in 4.40 uses the term "India" for the Indus basin, and describes it as being on the eastern fringe of the inhabitable world, But he knew of Indians ( Hindwan ) living beyond the Persian province of Hinduš (3.101): In book 3 (3.89-97), Herodotus gives some account of

108-558: Is just as dismayed at the notion of the Greeks practicing cremation as the Greeks are at that of eating their dead parents. In book 7 (7.65,70,86,187) and in 8.113 Herodotus describes the Indian infantry and cavalry employed in Xerxes ' army. As the western travellers went into the rest of the subcontinent through the original "India", the name was gradually extended to the inner regions. By

126-528: Is mainly spoken in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a historic context, Herodotus (4th century B.C.), in one of his stories, mentioned a war-like people by the name of Dadikai on the frontier of India . Subsequently, Strabo and Pliny made references to the warlike tribe known as Dardae . Alexander , whose journeys contribute significantly to the classical geography of the subcontinent, did not encounter any Dard people. However, he did visit

144-461: Is not recognized in any of the local languages, with the exception of Khowar , where it translates to 'way of the language' or 'dialect'. The broad application of this term have been criticised by many scholars. The languages and peoples are often referred to as "Kohistani", mostly by the Pashtuns . In academic linguistic contexts, however, Kohistani refers to one subgroup of Dardic languages which

162-766: The Old Persian name for the satrapy of Sindh in the Achaemenid Empire . Darius the Great had conquered this territory in 516 BC. The Greek colonies in Asia Minor (western and central Turkey ) were already part of the Achaemenid Empire since 546 BC and, thus, the Greeks and Indians came into contact with each other as subjects of the Empire. According to Herodotus 4.44, Scylax of Caryanda ,

180-519: The 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes recognized "India" as terminating in a peninsula (reflecting a first grasp of the geography of the Indian Subcontinent ). Eratosthenes was also the first Greek author to postulate an island Taprobane at the far south of India, later becoming a name of Sri Lanka . European knowledge of the geography of India did not become much better resolved until the end of Antiquity, and remained at this stage throughout

198-514: The Darads as inhabitants of the area north of Kashmir , known for their frequent attempts to invade and plunder Kashmir. The term eventually gained acceptance through frequent use. The labels 'Dard' and 'Dardistan' were introduced by G.W. Leitner , despite the fact that no local population identified as 'Dard'. John Biddulph , who resided in Gilgit for an extended period, also noted that none of

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216-697: The Karlal and Abbasi tribes of the Galyat region of Abbottabad District (where the language is locally called Dhundi-Kairali ) and Gojari spoken by Gujjars of the Kaghan Valley . The Hazarewal, are not to be confused with the ethnic Hazara people inhabiting parts of Balochistan province in Pakistan or areas of neighbouring Afghanistan . The Hazarewals have, over the last few years, found themselves increasingly in favour of separation and autonomy from

234-823: The majority of the Haripur District , Abbottabad District , and Mansehra District . The Hindko speaking population consists of the Syeds, Awans, Gujjars, Tanolis, Swatis, Abbasis, Karlals, and Jadoons. Pashto speaking Hazarewals include the Yusufzais and Swatis of the Tor Ghar and Battagram District . The Kohistani people such as the Mankiyalis and Yashkuns inhabiting the northern most districts of Hazara speak in various Kohistani languages . Other minority languages include Pahari-Pothwari , spoken by sections of

252-510: The mountainous regions beyond the area's borders. India (Herodotus) In ancient Greek geography , the basin of the Indus River (in northwestern Indian subcontinent, present-day Pakistan) was on the extreme eastern fringe of the known world . The Greek geographer Herodotus (5th century BC) describes the land as India, calling it ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη (Roman transliteration: hē Indikē chōrē , meaning "the Indus land"), after Hinduš ,

270-497: The peoples of India; he describes them as being very diverse, and makes reference to their dietary habits, some eating raw fish , others eating raw meat , and yet others practicing vegetarianism . He also mentions their dark skin colour . In 3.38, Herodotus mentions the Indian tribe of the Callatiae for their practice of funerary cannibalism ; in a striking illustration of cultural relativism , he points out that this people

288-459: The rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on administrative basis. This article about a Pakistani ethnicity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dardistan Dardistan refers to a region where Dardic languages are spoken. The terms "Dardic" and "Dardistan" are not indigenous to the region, and were coined by Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner . The legitimacy of the term has been called into question. The region also includes

306-459: The time of Alexander the Great , at least northern India up to the Ganges delta was known, the regions being referred to as Gangaridai (Ganges country) and Prasii/Prasioi (from Sanskrit prācya , the east), all included in "India". After Megasthenes , a Bactrian Greet that spent several years in the court of Magadha , south India was also known, referred to as Pandaia ( Pandya country). By

324-558: The tribes typically referred to as 'Dard' recognized the term. Biddulph acknowledged that Leitner's label 'Dardistan' was based on a misunderstanding, but he accepted it as a useful term for referring to the complex, diverse, and largely unexplored Karakoram region between Kashmir and the Hindukush Range . Interestingly, this usage mirrors the Sanskrit interpretation, where it refers to unspecified fierce outsiders residing in

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