Minaro[1] | |
|---|---|
 Brokpa men inLadakh, dressed up forBona-na festival | |
| Total population | |
| 3,000–4,000[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ladakh | |
| Languages | |
| Brokskat | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly:Buddhism; Minority:Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherIndo-Aryan peoples |
TheBrokpa (Tibetan:འབྲོག་པ་,Wylie:’brog pa,THL:drok pa), sometimes referred to asMinaro, are a smallethnic group mostly found in theunion territory ofLadakh, India around the villages ofDha andHanu. Some of the community are also located across theLine of Control inBaltistan in the villages aroundGanokh. They speak anIndo-Aryan language calledBrokskat.[3] The Brokpa are mostlyVajrayana Buddhist while some areMuslim.[4]
According to theBritish Raj commentators, the name 'Brogpa' was given by theBaltis to theDardic people living among them. The term means "highlander". The reason for this is that the Brogpa tended to occupy the higher pasture lands in the valleys.[5]Frederic Drew states, "Wherever the Dards are in contact with Baltis or with Bhots, these others call them (...)Brokpa orBlokpa."[6] As the Tibetan language pronunciation varies by region, the same name is pronounced byLadakhis asDrokpa orDokpa.[a]
Over time, the term "Brokpa" fell out of use inBaltistan and theDrass area, in favour of ethnic labels such as "Dards" and "Shins".[7] Only the Brokpa of the lower Indus valley in LadakhDah Hanu region continue to retain the name, and their language is calledBrokskat.[2][8] They use the endonym Minaro.
The Brokpa speak an Indo-Aryan language calledBrokskat, which is a variety of theShina language currently spoken in theGilgit region.[9] (During theBritish Raj, it became common to refer to the people of the Gilgit region as "Dards" using ancient nomenclature. The Brokpa are thus "Dards" living in the midst of Tibetic Ladakhi and Balti people.)[b] While the two languages share similar phonological developments, Brokskat converged withPurgi to the extent of being mutually intelligible at the present time.[11][9][12]
The Brokpa might have expanded from the Gilgit region upstream along the Indus valley until reaching their current habitat, viz., the lower Indus valley of Ladakh next to the border with Baltistan.[13] The time frame of this expansion or dispersion is uncertain, but their chiefs are believed to have ruled atKhalatse until the 12th century, where the remnants of their forts can still be found. Their rule over this region ended during the reign of the Ladakhi kingsLhachen Utpala and his successorLhachen Naglug.[14]
Another group of Brokpa appear to have settled in theTurtuk region in the lowerShyok river valley, where also remnants of their fort can be found. They appear to have faced a defeat at the hands of raiders from Baltistan, and moved to theHanu valley below theChorbat La pass.[15]
Scholar Rohit Vohra states that the Brokpa can be found all along the Indus Valley fromLeh, but Achina-Thang is the first wholly Brokpa village, however they have adopted Ladakhi culture a long ago.[16] Their major villages are, in addition to Dah and Hanu,Garkon,Darchik, andBatalik. A few of them live in the villages of Silmo (34°37′37″N76°19′12″E / 34.627°N 76.320°E /34.627; 76.320 (Silmo)) and Lalung (34°35′28″N76°17′53″E / 34.591°N 76.298°E /34.591; 76.298 (Lalung)) en route toKargil.[16] In the 17th century, the stream and village of Gurugurdo (34°39′40″N76°19′59″E / 34.661°N 76.333°E /34.661; 76.333 (Gurugurdo)) was set as the border between Baltistan and Ladakh.[17][18] To the north of here, there are Muslim Brokpa villages, such asChulichan, Ganokh, and possibly Marol.[16][17] Ganokh and Marol are at present in Pakistan-administeredGilgit-Baltistan.
The number of Brokstat speakers was estimated as 3,000 people in 1996.[11]
Brokpa celebrate Bono-na festival which is a festival of thank giving to deities for good crops and prosperity.[19]
The traditional Brogpa diet is based on locally grown foods such as barley and hardy wheat prepared most often as tsampa/sattu (roasted flour). It takes in different ways.[clarification needed] Other important foods include potatoes, radishes, turnips, and Gur-Gur Cha, a brewed tea made of black tea, butter and salt.
Dairy and poultry sources are not eaten because of religious taboos. Brogpa eat three meals a day:Choalu Unis (breakfast),Beali (lunch) andRata Unis (dinner). Brogpa vary with respect to the amount of meat (mainly mutton) that they eat. A household's economic position decides the consumption of meat. It is only during festivals and rituals that all have greater access to mutton.[20]
The Brogpa economy has shifted from agropastoralism to wage labour, and the division of labour that relied on stratifications of age and gender is now obsolete. For many years, brokpa predominantly engaged in high-altitude grazing (3000 to 4500 meter) and lowland agriculture. The Brogpa transition to private property, monogamy, nuclear families, formal education, wage labour, and their incorporation into a highly militarised economy of soldiering and portering illuminates the complex workings of modernity in Ladakh.[21]
Minaro ,as they call themselves
