Hindko and Gujari. c - SIL International

Gujari 143
3.5 Summary
In this examination of two Gujar communities, many
similarities and differences are seen. In both areas, the Gujar
people are a low socioeconomic status minority in a region with
a more dominant culture and language. Both groups maintain
their Gujar identity and language and see themselves as part of a
larger Gujar community. Both groups are settled, yet their
lifestyles involve certain migratory aspects. Many Peshmal
Gujars move their families south in the winter for economic
reasons and to get out of the cold and snow. Mittikot Gujars
practice more traditional transhumance patterns in a seasonal
shift up and down the mountain. Neither are nomadic pastoralists
such as some of the Ajars of Swat or the Bakarwals of Kashmir.
Both the Peshmal and Mittikot communities have large
segments of the population which are uneducated. In Peshmal
there is more of an even split between educated and uneducated
males than there is in Mittikot where fewer males are formally
educated. In both groups more males are receiving education
now than in the past. Women remain the markedly uneducated
population in both communities, although in Mittikot a small
percentage of girls are beginning to receive education.
The most far-reaching difference between the two Gujar
communities is the nature of the dominant ethnic group in each
region. As the principal researcher in this study points out, the
Gujars have conformed to the surrounding culture. Peshmal
Gujars live in the west in the midst of a more conservative,
Pashtoon culture. They are relatively less economically
dependent on the Pashtoons. For example, Peshmal Gujars own
their own land, in contrast to Mittikot Gujars whose summer
settlement belongs to Swati landlords. While some Mittikot
Gujars are employed in landlords’ homes, Pashtoon culture
discourages outsiders from working for Pashtoons in their
homes. Because of this independence, then, the Peshmal Gujars
seem to be better off. They are more economically self-sufficient
and see themselves as more or less equal to the Pashtoons.
Another effect of the conservative Pashtoon culture is that
Peshmal Gujar women observe rather strict purdah. It is