| Who are the Chachi's ? |
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The purpose of this article is to provide a cultural awareness of Chach Pathans. This article is primarily aimed at 'Chachi' youths that live abroad, other than their original homeland, Pakistan. The article is also intended to provide awareness to other people who may be interested in, and want to find out more about 'Chachi's.'Chachi's' are referred to those people who originate from the geographical area, Chach (Attock), in North-West Punjab, Pakistan.
Therefore, the word 'Chachi' does not mean any caste, creed or clan. Not all chachi's are Pathans, some of whom descend from Kashmiris and Africans, who accompanied the Arabs during the introduction of Islam, to present day Pakistan. Most Chachi's speak Hindko pronounced 'hinko', which has a close resemblance to Punjabi/Urdu.
The research that I have conducted over a ten year period, has been centred on the town of Ghourghusti, in Attock. Therefore, many of the findings may not be relevant to the whole area of Chach.
There are still some Chach Pathans who speak Pushto. Hindko is a language which can be traced back to the Gandhara civilisation. This particular region has been the centre of migration for thousands of years. Over the last five hundred years, the region has been dominated by Pathans, and Pushto was widely spoken amongst the populace. However, the administrators of the region, continued to speak Punjabi (hindko) dialect, until Urdu became the official language. This has lead to a revival of hindko as the popular language being spoken. Another contributing factor to the revival of hindko has been the arrival of merchants and traders from the Punjab, over 150 years ago. Hindko is now the dominant language in Attock, and Pushto is hardly ever spoken amongst the settled inhabitants.
There is conflicting theory on whether Pushto or Hindko is the original language of the area, as many Chachi's state that their elders used to speak Pushto. This confusion has led to many Pushto speaking Pathans in nearby regions, not recognising the Chach Pathans as Pathans. Indeed, who can argue with them, when some Chach Pathans themselves would argue that they are culpable because they have discarded their own language (Pushto) and culture to facilitate trade with the Punjabi merchants. This proudness and modesty shows that the Chach Pathans have the original charecteristics of the Pathan instilled within them.
There are some Chach Pathans, who are every bit if not more of a pathan than the Pushto speaking Pathans. They are conservative and firmly hold on to the ideals and notions of Pukthunwali or 'Pathanwalgi' as pronounced in Hindko. Many of these people exist in small villages in Ghourgushti, and even when they emigrate, they take their principles with them. They still maintain their strict code of honour in places like Birmingham, England, where there is a large community of Chach Pathans.
There are different types of chach pathans, some of whom are modernistic, and may no longer be called pathans, but there are also those who are still very much conservatives. They, like the Pushto speaking Pathans, are proud of their clans.
Users' Comments (6) |
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12-05-2008 18:23, IP 221.120.239.18, Guest This article about Pathans of Chach is informative and controversial. Pathans are not those who necessarily speak pushto in the 20th or 21st century. Pathns ruled whole Afghanistan starting from eastern borders of Iran to Colkata in south-east of India. Shershah Suri, Ahmad Shah Abdali and Lodhis on Delhi are the examples. With local interaction their generations forgot to speak Pushto. In Attock Hindko became their language of communication on the street. However, in most of the families Pushto and Hindko both are spoken in family environment. Personally, my father Shamroz Khan (d.1982), was born in Werdag, Natopa (near Hazro-Ghorghusti)his cousins and elders (maternal and paternal uncles of my father) used to speak Pushto with their contemporaries while he used to speak Hindko with us (his children). Now, my wife belongs to a Chachi Pathan family of the same area caleed Saidkhail-Nasozai, she speaks both the languages Hindko and Pushto. I was brought in Karachi, I can't speak Pushto, but Hondko, Urdu, English and Russian. My children speak Pushto, Urdu and English. Hence, speaking a language and genealogy of a generation at a particular era are two different things. Finally I must appreciate that the author of the article has thrown some light on this tiny community living in Hazro-Natopa-Malok Mala-Barozai-Ghorghusti region. I know that there many of them living the UK and USA, who left their country in early 50s of the 20th century. Some of them have returned back in last decade of the 20th century and died or living at home town. Others are still living abroad. My family, never left the country, except me, who left the country for education and job for a shortwhile.
11-03-2008 01:47, IP 82.13.101.75, Guest attock and mianwali used to be part of pashtunkhwa watan but in 19 70 these two district had been annexed with punjab.pashtun are not going to accept the occupation of punjabi imperialist on our mother land and one day we all pashtun will be united, from chitral to bolan and from aamo river to attock ,in a single unit. murad khan, manchester
11-03-2008 01:36, IP 82.13.101.75, Guest attock and mianwali used to be part of pashtunkhwa watan but in 19 70 punjabi imperialist annexed these two district with punjab.we pashtun are not going to accept the occupation of punjab on our motherland and one day pashtun will be united from chitral to bolan and from river aamo to attock in a single unit. murad khan, manchester
18-11-2007 00:41, IP 198.93.156.32, Guest Good effort by Dilawar Khan to reflect on the genesis of Chachis. Much more needs to be written on the subject.The Chachi youth must know their history and take strides to recapture their culture and language.Bacha Khan, in his two stints of sojourn in Chach due to expulsion from his native provice Pre and Post Pakistan era, liked and praised the local people and demanded that Chack be annexed with NWFP in place of Hazara. So well done Dilawar Khan, Kudos to you.
19-10-2007 17:45, IP 195.195.190.4, Guest were do you live in attock i live in ghourgushti wot about you????
15-10-2007 15:32, IP 77.97.171.22, Guest just want to congaratulate to narrator of the article. its a great effort to convey some information to the people about chach...i would request the writer to contact me as i m seeking more information about chach valley to include in my tv show. i present a show on AAPNA channel tv based in bradford , uk. the show is presented in hindko highlighting the culture of chach valley. regards idrees bradford uk |
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