Shina people

In Pakistan, the Shina, who are also known as Gilgitis there, is the major ethnic group of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Shina language is spoken by an estimated 600,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan.^[7][10][11] People belonging to the Shina community people are also settled in the upper Neelum Valley in Pakistan, as well as in Dras, in the far northwest of the Kargil district of Ladakh and in the Kishenganga Valley (Gurez) of northern Jammu and Kashmir in India.^[10] Outliers of Shina such as Brokskat speakers are found in Ladakh, Palula and Sawi speakers in Chitral, Ushojo speakers in the Swat Valley, and Kalkoti speakers in Dir.^[10] Many Shina people have also migrated to Karachi and Islamabad for employment, carrying out business, and education purposes, and many of them have permanently settled in these cities.^[12]

The Shina people are believed to have expanded into the Gilgit region from their original homeland in Shinkari, located in the Kohistan region along the Indus River, around the 6th or 7th century CE.^[13] Following their migration to Gilgit, Shina-speaking communities gradually settled in parts of Chitral, the Nagar Valley, Baltistan, and areas of Ladakh, including Kargil. Some accounts suggest that the Shina were among the early settlers of Ladakh and ruled parts of the region prior to the Tibetan invasions. The last king of Shina ethnicity in Ladakh is said to have been Tatah Khan (also known as Tratryi). A number of place names in the Kargil region are believed to have Shina linguistic origins, and some historians propose that the name "Kargil" itself may be derived from a Shina personal name, "Kargi". Today, Shina-speaking communities in Ladakh are primarily found in the Drass region, Kargil town, and the Batalik sector.^[14]

The Shina people historically practised Hinduism,^{[15][16][8][6]} as well as Buddhism.^[6][15][17] However, both Hinduism and Buddhism were relegated to being the religion of the ruling and upper class although Hinduism had more success among the masses.^[18] Their chief peculiarity was their feeling towards the cow, which they held in abhorrence and was considered by them as unclean.^[19][20] Even after the majority of the ethnic group's conversion to Islam, orthodox Shins would continue to neither eat beef, drink cow's milk nor touch any vessel containing it, because a dead cow or a suckling calf is considered especially unclean, so that purification was necessary even if the garments touched it.^[21] In Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar, the Hindu Shins formerly practised sati, which ceased before A.D. 1740.^[22] 1877, in that region, marked the last year that Shina men underwent Hindu cremation rites.^[22]

The Shina were exposed to Islam around the 12th century. Waves of conversions occurred during the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries. By the late 19th century, most Shina were adherents of Islam.^[18] Many castes of the Shina people, such as the Açar'îta caste, converted to Islam in the 19th century coinciding with Pashtunization and this faith is now observed by the majority of the ethnic group.^[23][24] A small minority of related ethnic groups, chiefly the Brokpa community, continue to practice Buddhism and Hinduism, though the majority of them are adherents to Islam.^[6][17]

Mah Noor et al. (2019) found west Eurasian mtDNA in 89% (8/9) of Shina samples, which included 11.1% (one sample each) from the following haplogroups, H14a, T1a, H2a, T2, U7, U5b and HV2. Besides, 11.1% (1/9) of the samples belonged to haplogroup M54, which is of South Asian origin. The obtained mtDNA sequences of Shina were compared with surrounding north-western Pakistani population groups. The haplogroups frequencies, phylogenetic tree and network analysis identified the west Eurasian ancestral origin of Shina group with nearby maternal ancestral relationships with the Kashmiri population. However, no close genetic relationship of Shina was depicted with nearby residing Kho population group.^[25]

The Shina festival of Chili marks the commencement of wheat sowing, as with other celebrations in the Indian subcontinent, including Lohri and Makar Sakranti. Chilli also formerly had a connection with the worship of the cedar.^[26] Cedar worship is prevalent among historic the Hindu communities of Himalayas, from the Hindu Kush region to Himachal and Uttarakhand. It is known as Deodar, which is derived from the Sanskrit word Devadaru, which means "wood of the gods" and is a compound of the words deva (god) and dāru (wood, etym. tree). The Cedar is also sacred in Kafiristan.^[27]

• Hasan Raheem, singer-songwriter
• Usman Wazeer, International Boxer

• Shina language
• Gilgit Scouts