Major Ethnic Groups in Jammu and Kashmir :

The history of people of Jammu and Kashmir State is a record of constant impulses of immigration from the north-west, west, south and east directions. The alien races, ethnic groups and various religions have influenced the cultural ethos and mode of life of the people of this region.

Ethnic group, in the opinion of Jordon is a group of people possessing a common ancestry and cultural tradition with a feeling of belonging and cohesiveness, living as a minority in a larger society. Each social group is the keeper of distinctive cultural traditions and the nucleus of various kinds of social interactions. An ethnic group provides not only group identity, but also friendship, marriage patterns, business success, and the political power base.

The mosaic of ethnic group in Jammu and Kashmir State is complex and the race structure cannot be explained without understanding the pre-historic movements of people. In the process of peopling of the region, the Dards in the north-west, the Ladakhis in the east, the Gujjars and Rajputs in the south and Paharis in the south-east have closely influenced the existing ethnicity of the people. The racial composition of the State was also influenced by the immigrants from the territories of Turkmenia, Tadzkistan, Uzbaikistan, Kazakistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan (U.S.S.R.) Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

The various ethnic groups of the Jammu and Kashmir State though intermingled have their areas of high concentration. For example, Kashmiris are mainly concentrated in the Valley bottom; Dards occupy the valley of Gurez; Hanjis are confined to water bodies of Kashmir; Gujjars and Bakarwals are living and oscillating in the Kandi areas; Dogras ocoupy the outskirts of the Punjab plain, while Chibhalis and Paharis live between Chenab and Jhelum rivers. Moreover, there are numerous small ethnic g}oups like Rhotas, Gaddis and Sikhs which have significant concentration in isolated pockets of the State.

Kashmiris :

Kashmiris are well spread in various parts of the State but their major concentration lies in the Valley of Kashmir, Kishtwar, Bhadarwah, Doda and Ramban tehsils of the Jammu Division. 'Kashmiri' is a wide term which has loosely been applied for several streams of immigrated mainly from Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan, and settled in the valley. There is a close bearing of the Indo-Aryans on the racials composition of the Kashmiris. In fact, the Indo-Aryan religions and languages have substantially affected the mode of life of the Kashmiris. The influence of Sanskrit on Kashmiri language is strong and cogent to this day. Moreover, Kashmir has also received racial impulses from Indo-Greeks which have influenced the race structure of the people considerably. The influence of Dards, Ladakhis and Punjabis has also moulded the ethos of Kashmiri culture.Most of the Kashmiris live in villages and are dependent on agriculture. Paddy, orchards, saffron are the main crops grown by them while the urban Kashmiris are engaged in business, tourism, hotel-management, carpet making, silk industry, shawl-making, wood work, pieper-mache and several other handicrafts.

Dards :

Dards have a long history. Ptolemy in his book 'Almagast' has used the word Daradrai for Dards of the western Himalayas. Before embracing Islam, they were the followers of Budhism and Hinduism. At present their major concentration lies in Dardistan (Derdesa), the area to the north of Kashmir Valley, especially in the catchment of Kishanganga north of Sardi, Gurez and Tilel.In physical appearance the Dards are broad shouldered, moderately stout-built and have well proportionate bodies. In face they are not handsome, their hairs are usually black but sometime brown, in complexion they are moderately fair. Their eyes are either black or hazel. They are known for their ferocity. In the social hierarchy they are divisible into: (i) Renue (ruling class), (ii) Shins (religious sect), (iii) Yashkun (cultivators) and (iv) Dum (menial class). Dards are dependent on agriculture, pastoralism, cottage industries and trade.

Ladakhis :

Ladakhis have been named as the people of snow-living in an arid plateau, surrounded by mountains, where cultivation of crops is hampered by severe cold and non- availability of water for irrigation. Ladakhis are a mixture of Mongoloid and Aryan races. The Aryans who settled originally in the sub-continent's northern parts were the early Budhist people from Kashmir and the Dards from Gilgit. The Mongolian stock is traced to Tibet, from where the shephereds and nomads came to the valleys of Ladakh to graze their flocks. The present day population of Ladakh is the result of blending together of Dards and the Mongolians.

The recent papulation data reveals that Ladakh is inhabited by the Budhists, the Muslims, the Hindus and the Christians. The Budhists are mostly the decendents of the Mongolians and bear a close affinity in features with the Tibetans. They are reputed for religious tolerance, honesty and hard work. There are some families even now, members of which follow different religions and yet live in peace. Where the husband wife profess different faiths, the male child is regarded as a member of the community to which the father belongs while the female child is admitted to the religion of her mother.

Dogras :

On the outskirt of the Shiwaliks facing the plain of Punjab is the habitat of Dogras a distinctive ethnic group of Jammu Division. There is controversy among the social anthropologists about their origin. The major concentration of Dogras however, occurs between the two holy lakes i. e. Saroinsar and Mansar. Lake Saroinsar is at a distance of 38 kms. to the east and Mansar 64 kms to the west of Jammu city.

In the opinion of some social anthropologists 'Dogra' is form of the Rajasthani word 'Dungra' means 'hill' and when the people of Rajasthan migrated in the hilly tracks under drought conditions the Rajputs gave this name to the people of hilly country, Stein opines that the name 'Durgara' is probably a tribal designation like 'Gurjara' - original of the modern Gujjar, and similarly the word 'Durgara' has been derived from Durgara' through Prakrit Dogra. Whatsoever the controversy about the origin of the word Dogra may be they belong to the Aryan race and speak the Dogri language. Most of them have Brahmini path and have the sects of Varnashram. A substantial section of the Dogras embraced Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries. At the time of partition of the Sub-continent most of the Muslim Dogras migrated to Pakistan.

In appearance Dogras are short statured, slim and have high shoulders. Their complexion is wheatish, silghtly hooked nose, brown eyes and jet-black hairs. The lower castes of Dogras in general have blackish complex