Yashkuns

The Yashkun People or Yashkuns (Shina: یشکن) are a sub-group of the Shina, a Dardic-speaking ethnic group, most of whom reside in the Gilgit division of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral and Kohistan districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.^[1] They speak a Dardic language called Shina and are scattered throughout northern Pakistan. Most researchers assert that the Yashkun were immigrants to northern Pakistan from Central Asia. However, other authorities maintain that the Yashkuns were indigenous to northern Pakistan.^[2][3]

Yashkuns

یشکنز
Regions with significant populations
Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Kohistan
Languages
Shina, Urdu
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Dardic People

History

McCrindle claims Yashkuns descend from the ancient tribe of Aśvakan/Aśvakas (Kambojas).^[4] Some Yashkuns live in the Hindu Kush region where the Kambojas once ruled.^[5] As Dardic Shina they are related to other indigenous groups such as the Pashai^[6] and Nuristânis (Kafiristanis).^[7]

The Yashkun share etymological connections with the Askunu of Nuristan and the Asawan caste found in Indian kamboj.

Demography

The Yashkuns form the majority of the population in Gor (Goharabad), Chilas, Tangir, Darel valley, the Indus Valley below Sazin, the upper Gilgit Valley, Gupis, Yasin, Punial, Astore Valley, Chitral, Nagar, Hunza, Kohistan, Hodur, Khinar, Astore, Gurez, Dras, Talil and Soro.

References

1. Barton, Amber Marie. "An odontometric investigation of biological origins and affinities of the Yashkuns of Astore, Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan". scholarworks.calstate.edu. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
2. Edwards, Stephen R. (2006). Saving Biodiversity for Human Lives in Northern Pakistan. IUCN. ISBN 978-969-8141-86-8.
3. Barton, Amber Marie. "An odontometric investigation of biological origins and affinities of the Yashkuns of Astore, Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan". scholarworks.calstate.edu. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
4. O. C. (April 1893). "V. Notices of Books - The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, as described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodôros, Plutarch, Justin, and other classical Authors. With an Introduction, containing a Life of Alexander, copious Notes, Illustrations, Maps, and Indices. By J. W. M'Crindle. 8vo. Pp. xii. and 432. London : Archibald Constable and Co., Westminster. 1893". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 25 (2): 406–407. doi:10.1017/s0035869x0017039x. ISSN 0035-869X. S2CID 250352190.
5. Grierson, G. A. (July 1911). "The Language of the Kambōjas". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 43 (3): 801–802. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00041988. ISSN 1356-1863. S2CID 163447486.
6. Georg, Morgenstierne (1956). Indo-Iranian frontier languages. the Pashai language : vocabulary. OCLC 928960516.
7. Degener, Almuth (23 January 2003), "The Nuristani languages", Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples, British Academy, doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-726285-6, retrieved 29 July 2021