(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
Srinagar- In the old city's Kathi Darwaza neighborhood, an elevated plain leads to Botraj colony where community of around three hundred“Burusho” people live. Originally hailing from Hunza, Nagar and Yasin major belts forming Gilgit Baltistan, the community has settled down in old Srinagar for more than a century.
Botraj colony largely comprises of Burusho people, locally known as“Botraj”. They speak a language alien to the majority community in Kashmir.
Many linguists consider Burushaski a language isolate. Burushaski is spoken by around 300 people of the Burusho community of Kashmir and around 100,000 people of the Hunza, Nagar and Gupis-Yasin districts in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Raja Mehboob Ali Khan, a senior member of the community in his 80's says the community actually came from northern states of Hunza, Nagar and Chitral, now in Gilgit Baltistan.
Mehboob says during British rule these places used to have their own kings.
“We are the descendants of Raja Rehan Ali Shah.” He says.
“The British and Dogras needed Kings who would work as their puppets. They sent Raja Rehan Ali Shah to Kashmir under some pretext and did not allow him to return”.
“We came here and then we became residents, rest is history”
Raja Mehboob acknowledges the cultural differences between the two communities. However, he says he loves the Kashmiri culture.
“Well, there are some differences between the Burusho culture and the Kashmiri culture but as a community we can relate to Kashmir.
However, he acknowledges the community has not done much to protect their language.
“Earlier, we did not have the means to protect our language. we would struggle to feed our families. Now, with the standard of living increasing by the day, I hope we can do it” Mehboob says.
Pertinently, it has been widely reported that Burushos in Kashmir are descendants of two former kings of the erstwhile princely states of Hunza and Nagar (located in present-day Gilgit-Baltistan).
The community which comprises of Shia Muslims migrated to Kashmir in 1888 after their forefathers were persecuted by the British.
Raja Anees Ali, another member of the Burusho community says Burushos had very limited interaction with the Kashmiri community and that is how they preserved the language in a natural way.
“Earlier, we had very limited interaction with Kashmiris but with time things changed” Anees says.
As the community intermingles with the majority community and youth failing to find matches within their own community, the fate of 'Burushaski' in Kashmir remains unknown.
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