Hindko and Gujari. c - SIL International

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Calinda E. Hallberg and Clare F. O’Leary
Rajasthani, a mixed language in which, as has been
shown elsewhere, the influence of the Inner Group of
Indo-Aryan languages weakens as we go westwards. In
the north-east of Rajputana, in Alwar and Mewat, the
influence of the Inner Group is strongest.
Grierson (LSI IX:16) proposes that some Mewat Gujars moved
up the Jamna Valley and settled in the Panjab plains, mixing with
the local people and losing their local language. Others settled in
the submontane area of Gujrat, Gujranwala, and Kangra. They
retained some of their own language resulting in a broken
mixture of Panjabi and Hindostani. And still others went further
into the mountains of Kashmir and westward.
1.4 Population
Official population figures for Gujars in Pakistan are not
available, particularly for Gujars who have maintained the Gujari
language, as opposed to those who have not. There is a large
number and high concentration of Gujari-speaking Gujars in the
eastern area of north Pakistan, particularly in Azad Jammu and
Kashmir and also in the Kaghan Valley in Hazara. J.C. Sharma
(1982) guessed that there may be around 200,000 Gujari
speakers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In 1989, a Pakistani
Gujar writer and radio-broadcaster interviewed for this study
estimated the population to be around 700,000 for that same area.
The 1981 census figure for Azad Jammu and Kashmir is
1,980,000, representing all language groups in the region. In the
western region of Pakistan (Swat, Dir, Chitral) and also in Indus
Kohistan and Gilgit Agency, Gujars tend to be fewer in number,
living in scattered pockets. The issue of Gujari speakers versus
ethnic Gujars who no longer maintain the Gujari language seems
to be especially significant in areas of the Panjab and southern
Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Gujars are known to live beyond the borders of Pakistan,
both to the east and west. Hasan (1986) explains that there are
Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh Gujars widely spread over northern and
central India. Muslim Gujars are primarily located in Jammu and