Brahui people

The origin of the word "Brahui" is uncertain.[1]

Mikhail Andronov hypothesised a derivation from Dravidian (lit. Northern hillmen); however, Josef Elfenbein found it unconvincing and hypothesised a derivation from Saraiki brāhō.[1][lower-alpha 1] The term was perhaps used to distinguish the Brahui, who had migrated into Sindh and became Muslims c. 1,000 years ago.[2]

The number of Brahui tribes have fluctuated across the centuries.[1] At the time of Nasir Khan I, the Brahuis had eight nuclear tribes and seven peripheral tribes; by the time of the last Khan, twelve peripheral tribes had been added.[1][lower-alpha 2] The only census that ever recorded the Brahui as an ethnic group was conducted in 1911 in British India.[2] However, since most Brahui describe themselves as Baloch to outsiders, the recorded count is an underestimate.[2] Elfenbein, referencing estimations from 1996, notes that there are c. 700,000 Brahui tribesmen.[2]

The origins of Brahuis remain unclear.[1] Brahui lore, which speaks of a migration from Syria to Kalat, followed by displacement of the incumbent (Hindu) Sewa dynasty, is a piecemeal borrowing from Baloch traditions; historical ballads, etc., are nonexistent in the language.[1] Thus, says Elfenbein, reconstructions of Brahui pre-history can only depend on linguistics and genetics.[1] The fact that other Dravidian languages only exist further south in India has led to two hypotheses either the Brahuis are a relict population of Dravidians remaining from a time when Dravidians were more widespread in mainland India or they migrated to Baluchistan from South India sometime in the last two millennia.[3]

Noting extensive phonological similarities with Malto and Kurukh, Dravidian languages spoken as geographical isolates across Eastern India, many linguists, Including Murray Barnson Emeneau, Elfenbein, Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, et al. speculate that the three groups might have had a common stage before migrating in different directions.[1] Both Kurukhs and Maltos speak of an eastward migration from Karnataka in their lore, and Brahuis' self-identification as migrants from Syria can be interpreted as an Islamized version of the same event.[3] However, the Brahuis do not have any significant Dravidian genetic component and are largely indistinguishable from surrounding Indo-European speakers (Balochi, Makrani. This suggests the passage of sufficient time since the admixture event, thereby supporting the relict hypothesis.[4]

The Brahuis have traditionally been nomads; the state-formation in the form of a confederacy, the Khanate of Kalat appears to have been a response to the increasing penetration of Mughal governance, especially under Shah Jahan, into their traditional grazing lands and migratory routes.[1]

The Khanate was established by Ahmad Khan I, a Brahui chieftain, in 1660s and derived its power from a complex system of inter-tribal alliances with the Balochs and Dehwaris; notwithstanding nominal suzerainties to Persia and Afghanistan at times, the kingdom gained in size and reached its zenith under Nasir Khan I in late eighteenth century.[1] However, British incursion into the subcontinent coupled with territorial losses to Persia compelled Kalat to accept a protectorate status; in the aftermath of the Partition, the Khanate was absorbed into Pakistan notwithstanding popular protests.[1]

According to Elfenbein, only about 15% of the Brahui tribesmen are primary speakers of the Brahui language; only two nuclear tribes speak Brahui as a primary language.[2] Half of the rest may be secondary speakers of Brahui with Balochi as the primary language, while the other half are estimated to speak no Brahui "at all".[2]

The Brahui language belongs to the Dravidian language family and is, hence, a geographical isolate.[2] It has extensively borrowed from Balochi and other languages of the area; David W. McAlpin found the language to be an "etymological nightmare".[5] There are three dialects with no significant variation: Sarawani (spoken in the north), Jhalawani (spoken in the southeast), and Chaghi (spoken in the northwest and west).[5]

No significant corpus of literature exists; the first known work to be written in Brahui was Tuḥfat al-aja īb (lit. Gift of Wonders), a translation from Persian by Malikdad Gharsin Qalati, c. 1759-1760, a court poet of Nasir Khan I.[1][2] The Perso-Arabic script currently in use was developed c. 1900 out of the efforts of Mulla Nabo-Jan and Maulana Fazl Mohammed Khan Darkhani for spreading Islamic revivalist ideas.[1][2] Literacy rates among Brahuis remained very low as the late as 1990s.[5]

• Brahui language

• Stocksia brahuica Benth., a flowering plant belonging to the family Sapindaceae, named after the Brahui people.