Pahari
The Pahari, an ethnic group in northern South Asia numbering about 17 million, are culturally and linguistically distinct from their neighbors to the north and south. They live in a crescent-shaped area of the lower Himalayas extending from Kashmir to central Nepal and bordered on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. They speak Pahari, an Indo-European language, which differs in dialect from east to west.
The Pahari live near water sources in small villages of around three hundred people. Men build and maintain the rows of rectangular, multistory houses of stone and adobe with traditional, ornately carved doors and appointments. They also maintain the livestock, which live on the ground floor of houses, near the kitchen and central living area. Hillsides are terraced and irrigated for agriculture, the Pahari's main economic activity. Wheat and barley are grown in the spring, and millet, maize, lentils, vegetables, and wet and dry rice are grown in the fall. Secondary income comes from the sale of buffalo- and cattle-milk products to neighboring populations as well as the sale of ginger, apricots, apples, and opium.
Pahari social organization is based on a hierarchical, male-centered, in-marrying caste system. Of the three caste categories (varnas) with descending orders of ritual purity in India—the Brahmans (priestly castes), the Kshatriya (royal, administrative, and warrior castes), and the Achut (performers of the most polluting tasks)—about 75 to 90 percent of the Pahari are Kshatriya. The Brahmans and Kshatriya own most of the land, and the low castes are their landless bonded labor. Only heads of high-caste households sit on village councils. These councils rule on matters of policy and social control. They also adjudicate cases of low-caste dispute and infraction. Commonly, punishment is violent physical sanction.
The governments of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal allow elected Paharis to sit on governmental committees that deal with official matters. The Achut caste and women have seats reserved for them on these councils. Pahari women are active in economic and religious activities and in social relationships within villages. They work in agriculture, prepare all food, and handle household duties. Marriage takes place near the time of puberty, with a bride-price paid to the bride's family. Men are allowed to take more than one wife, although this option is practically open only to wealthy men. Women can divorce their husbands, although a woman must return the bride-price and forfeit her children to her husband. Children are raised together, despite sex, in a permissive, relaxed, and primarily female environment. At the age of eight, male children transfer to male care. High-caste boys are the only Pahari children who receive formal education.
Although overwhelmingly Hindu, Pahari religious traditions reflect their alpine existence. The Pahari virtually ignore Hindu dietary restrictions (except for the ban on beef), a number of great deities, most purity rituals, and caste-based restrictions on women. Animal sacrifice is still practiced, and Brahman priests, shamans, diviners, exorcists, and curers of either sex are all active in Pahari villages. Medicine incorporates herbal and ritual specialists, Ayurvedic medicine, and Western science to battle illness and disease. Nevertheless, the mortality rate (especially among infants) is extremely high.
Further Reading
Berreman, Gerald D. (1972) Hindus of the Himalayas: Ethnography and Change. 2d ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Raha, Manis Kumar, ed. (1987) The Himalayan Heritage. Delhi: Gian Publishing House.
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