Peripatetic groups of Afghanistan

The Baluch (Baluč) should not be confused with either the much larger ethnic group of the Baluch people (even though they speak the same language),[7] or with one of the subgroups of the peripatetic Vangawala.[8] The Baluch were also known as Chalu, Herātī and Jat-Baluch.[9] Numbering approximately 2,500 individuals in the 1970s, they claim to have ultimately migrated from Balochistan. For a long time they were in association with the Jamshidi tribe, for whom they worked as blacksmiths and jewellers. This relationship came to an end with the droughts of the middle of the 1960s, the ensuing poverty reportedly driving them to prostitution and the provisions of entertainment, which were their chief occupations in the 1970s. Only some of the men played music, but all of the women were engaged in singing, dancing and prostitution.[10] The latter activity was at that time stigmatised and illegal, but unlike many prostitutes in the settled areas, the Baluch women did not try to conceal their identity in public and dressed and behaved in a way that made them immediately recognisable as such. Women received clients in their summer camps, their husbands (or fathers if unmarried) setting the price and collecting the official earnings. Although some women did not like the job, many said they thought it was an easy way to get pleasure and money. The men stated they would have preferred it if their wives did not have to work as prostitutes, but they nonetheless were happy that they themselves did not have to work. Both the men and the women held their clients in "infinite contempt" and often referred to them as "the dogs".[11] Polygyny was common in the group.[12]

The Ghorbat (Ġorbat) are the most widely dispersed peripatetic community, consisting of about 600 nuclear families as of the 1970s. Their origin is ultimately west-Iranian,[13] and they speak local varieties of Persian in addition to Ghorbati (also known as Magadi or Qāzulāgi), a secret language with a heavy Persian base.[14]

These four communities claim descent from ancestors who migrated in the 19th century from the Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan areas of eastern Balochistan (nowadays Pakistan). The Jalali and the Pikraj give successive droughts and famines as the reason for their migration, while the Shadibaz and the Vangawala state that their ancestors were fleeing from blood feuds ultimately triggered by the abduction of kinswomen.[15] All four groups speak closely related varieties of the Indo-Aryan Inku language, which is likely related to the Saraiki of their areas of origin.[16]

The Jalali (Jalāli) were found in northeastern Afghanistan and numbered around 500 people divided into four lineages. Some were beggars, the better-off were peddlers of haberdashery. The women commonly sold fruit door to door, while some men were musicians or had monkeys which they trained "to dance and perform tricks".[16]

The Pikraj (Pikrāj) numbered approximately 2,000 people in 1976. They wandered around the whole of Afghanistan north of the Hindukush. The major male occupation was trade in donkeys and horses, though some additionally fixed broken porcelain, and other – metal jewellery. In most places, the women peddled haberdashery and trinkets.[17]

The Shadibaz (Šādibāz), also known as Shadiwan (Šādiwān), had a population of about 1,500 individuals divided into three descent groups. Their name, literally meaning "monkey-players" in the local Persian variety, reflects their main occupation, which consisted in training monkeys and then using them for performances. As this had started becoming less profitable, the men had increasingly been taking up other occupations like selling cloth, or working as agricultural labourers. The women on the other hand peddled glass and plastic bangles.[18]

The Vangawala (Vaŋgāwālā) are known in Pashto as Bangṛiwāl or Banguḍifruš and in Dari as Čurifrūš. Comprising 3,000 people spread across five descent groups (Baluč, Čenār, Malek, Pešāwri, and Rati), they lived south of Hindukush and east of Helmand valley. Some families used to spend the winter in or near Peshawar in Pakistan. The women sold bangles, for which they were well known, while the men had various occupations: in some groups they engaged in small trade, in others they took up seasonal agricultural jobs, in others still they were smugglers, farmers, animal dealers, or performers specialising in juggling, magic or snake-charming.[19]

The Jōgī, or Jugī, are found in northern Afghanistan and are organised into four subgroups. Likely of Central Asian origin, they relate that their ancestors once travelled freely between Bukhara and Afghanistan. There are also Jogi groups still living in parts of neighbouring Tajikistan.[20] In addition to Uzbek and Dari,[21] they speak a language of their own called Mogatibey, alternatively known as Qāzulāgi and Ghurbati, which appears to be a secret language.[22]

The Mussali were concentrated in parts of Laghman Province, where they provided their labour during the busy late spring harvest season.[5]

There are several unrelated groups of Sheikh Mohammadi (Šayx Mohammadi), and there is disagreement among them about which one can rightfully identify as such. The one thing they do have in common is their secret language Ādurgari, which is used in the presence of strangers. Otherwise they speak Pashto and Dari. The Sheikh Mohammadi claim descent from a legendary Sheikh Mohammad, also referred to as Sheikh Rohāni Bābā, who according to tradition lived in East Afghanistan and had magical powers.[23][24]