Garhwali people

Garhwali people

Regions with significant populations
Garhwal (Uttarakhand, India)
Languages
Garhwali
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Kumaoni people, Khas people

The Garhwali people are an Indian ethnolinguistic group native to the Garhwal, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, who speak Garhwali, an Indo-Aryan language.^[1]

Etymology

In modern usage, "Garhwali" is used to refer to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, and ancestral or genetic origins is from the Garhwal Himalayas. Their ethnonym is derived from the word 'Garhwal' or 'Gadwal'.

The earliest reference to this region is in the Skanda Purana which called it Kedar Khand and Himvat. It describes the area that contained Gangadwar (Haridwar and Kankhala), Badrinath, Gandhamardan, and Kailash.^[2]

History

Garhwal Kingdom

The Kingdom of Garhwal was founded by Parmars. The area comprises 52 principalities called garhs (fortresses). These were small and had their own chiefs who were responsible for the welfare of the garhs. The Parmar dynasty ruled the Kingdom until 1803 before the "Gurkhas" invaded Kumaon and Garhwal, driving the Garhwal chief into the plains. For 12 years the Gurkhas ruled the country with an iron rod, until a series of encroachments by them on British territory led to the Anglo–Nepalese War in 1814.^[3]

At the termination of the campaign, Garhwal and Kumaon were converted into British districts, while the Tehri principality was restored to a son of the former chief (that is King Pradymun), King Sudarshan Shah. A part of this kingdom was taken by the British, and later, it became known as the British Garhwal which spread over the area of 5,629  mi² (14,580  km²). After the British rule, Garhwal made rapid development. Two battalions of the Indian army (the 39th Garhwal Rifles) were deployed in the area, stationed at the military cantonment of Lansdowne. Grain was one of the major corps of this area. Apart from this, cloth, while salt, borax, livestock, and wool were imported from Tibet. The administrative headquarters of the area were established at Pauri. Srinagar (Garhwal) was the largest city and served as an important trade center along with the town of Kotdwara which is situated at Oudh and Rohilkhand railway tracks. Later, it became a part of the Punjab Hill States Agency of British India. Most of the Uttarkashi district acceded to the Union of India in 1949.

Garhwali are known for their courage because they were preferred by the British as an army. Garhwali Kingdom was one of the few kingdoms that never came under the Muslim rule influence.

The history of Garhwal is older than that of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Worshipping Lord Shiva is attributing reverent honour and homage to him. According to the great Mahabharata, Garhwal is believed to be the land where the Vedas and the Shastras were made.^[4]

Language

The Garhwali language (गढ़वळि भाख/भासा) is primarily spoken by the Garhwali people of the north-western Garhwal Division from the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in the Indian Himalayas. The Garhwali language is classified as a Central Pahari language belonging to the Northern Zone of Indo-Aryan languages. Garhwali is one of the 325 recognised languages of India^[5] which is spoken by over 2,267,314 people^[6] such as Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand.^[7]

The language has many regional dialects including:^[8] Srinagari, Tehri (Gangapariya), Badhani, Dessaulya, Lohbya, Majh-Kumaiya, Bhattiani, Nagpuriya, Rathi, Salani (Pauri), Ravai, Parvati, Jaunpuri, Gangadi (Uttarkashi), Chandpuri. Srinagari dialect is the literary standard, while Pauri is generally regarded as the prominent one.

However, for a number of reasons, Garhwali is a rapidly shrinking language. The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages book authored by "Theo Baumann" has described Garhwali language one of the moribund languages that needs to be protected.^[9]

Local deities