Topic:

Family historical roots in terms of race, ethnicity, religion and culture and their
evolvement

Submitted by:
Savera Niaz

Submitted to:
Aisha Zubair

National Institute of Psychology

Center of Excellence
Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad
Date: 31/03/202
Ethnicity

Our family belongs to a village near to Bharakahu, 54.4km away from Murree. The village is

named as Mera Begwal. It is a mountainous area which is developing these days. From what my

father recalls from his memory, my Great Great grandfather, Kala Khan, was born in mera

begwal so basically, we are Pakistani in terms of our ethnicity. They were living there before the

birth of Pakistan. They did not participate in the migration during the separation of Indian

subcontinent in 1947. He was raised in that village. He was inherited lands from his parents. His

source of income was farming on those lands and through selling the woods they cut on the

mountains. He had three sons Sher Zaman, Ali Akbar and Meer Zaman. Sher Zaman is my Great

Grandfather. He continued to live in the same village. He had two sons; Qurban Ali and Reham

Ali. Qurban Ali is my Grandfather. Great grandfather and grandfather both used the inherited

lands for farming as a source of income. This is how they provide to their families. My

Grandfather had four sons. Furthermore, three sons of Qurban Ali moved out of the village to

cities in search of better opportunities for earning and one stayed back. My Father was one of

them who moves out. He got selected in the army. This is how he then stayed in different cities

of Pakistan.

Race

We belong to Raja caste. Within Raja, there exists several subdivisions including Dhaniyal and

Abbasi. We belong to Dhaniyal caste. Our people prefer to do intra caste marriages. But we can

also marry in other divisions of raja.

Religion

Our Ancestors are Muslims from the beginning. We had saints in our ancestry. One of them is

Saein Sajawal. He is my mother’s uncle. His tomb is located in our village. Every year in

Ramadan, people attend his Urs. My Nani was also a spiritual person who used to claim to have

dreams of spiritual nature.

Culture

My Ancestors were landlords. They had the culture where man of the family were the bread

winners and females were responsible for taking care of the home chores as well as the

parenting of the children of the home. It still is the same except the thing that men are now

moving towards private jobs or business side for the earning. Before our father’s generation,

women were not allowed or it was not thought to be necessary for women to get education.

My Grandfather let two of his daughters to study. But they didn’t go out to seek a job. Our

father is letting all of his children to study. But still back in the village, girls are taught upto Fsc

and then parents start finding match for them. It is now assumed less strange for a female to go

out of the home to earn money.

Back in the day, mailas were organized in our village each year. They would put stalls and

jhoolas in the maillas. In addition to mailas, bull races were held. The bull race is a 100-meter

run through the muddy and watery paddy fields. The participating or contesting animals can be

bulls or water buffaloes. The fastest pairs of bulls or buffaloes are awarded in different

categories. It was an occasion of celebration and great enjoyment for the people of our village.

My parents used to tell us the stories of these days. But these types of mailas are no longer
organized. It is because of the conflicts that happened at that time between the families living

in our village. The conflict resulted in the death of an individual. After that, these types of

events were not organized.

Our parents used to play stapu, Qaidi Qaidi, kho kho, kona kona, name place animal thing and

many more. We also played these games in childhood when we used to visit our village. They

also used to play with dolls. They even used to arrange proper wedding for their dolls. But these

days, we rarely play such games. The focus has shifted towards mobile games.

Our great grandparents and grandparents all were not very much emotionally attached to their

children. But I am observing the fact that our parents are more attached to us and they do little

dhow affection to us.

The famous food items are challi, makai ki roti, lassi and saag etc.

Language

Our ancestors used to speak Hindko language. Till our father lineage, same language was taught

and spoken in daily home. But since my father moved out of the village, my only two elder

sisters know Hindko. This is also because of the fact that they had spent their early years in the

village. Rest of us can understand Hindko language but could not speak it fluently.

As time passes, culture does evolve. Because new ideas are being accepted, new practices are

normalized giving rise to new and evolved culture. But we should not lose in touch with the

things that connect us to our ancestors. Because that is our history and history should not be

forgotten since its there to teach you lessons.