Revival of Oral Histories in Burushaski Language

MaryamShah     

    Burushaski is one of the six main languages spoken in the Gilgit Baltistan region. It is spoken in Hunza valley and some are dialects are spoken in Nagar and Yasin valley. Apart from the Northern Areas of Pakistan, with some 90,000 speakers, there are no traces of this language anywhere else in the world. However, some studies, mainly the research of Professor Ilija Casule of Macquarie University, show that this language has an Indo-European origin. He links the native speaker of Burushaski to a migration that started in the Balkans and moved to the East some 3000 years ago. 

    Burushaski has no standard writing system. Some scholars are of the view that it had its script many years ago, but has been lost with time and the Perso-Arabic writing system is in use since the 1940s. No written literary traditions in Burushaski are found, but there was a focus on oral traditions which used to be passed down through generations. However, as the Hunza region saw development, exposure to technology, and the outside world, this tradition of passing on stories and folklore orally from generation to generation declined. Focus on Urdu and English for education reduced the use of Burushaski even in everyday conversation. Bedtime stories for kids in Burushaski were replaced with stories in English and Urdu. Most stories were known by our grandmothers and grandfathers, as we lost them, we lost those stories. The stories were forgotten and the new generation rarely knew about more than one famous story. Lack of written literature and script added to the loss of these tales as well as histories. The books that have some texts, in Perso-Arabic script, are rare and not readily available for everyone to learn and know about our history in our language. 

Shahzada Bahram ke Burum Pf'ut- Folk tale with translation

    The above image is from the republished volumes of the book by Lieutenant-Colonet D.I.R Lorimer by Aga Khan Cultural Services Pakistan. Colonel Lorimer was based in Gilgit between  1920 and 1924. His book is one of the earliest and important explorations of the Burushaski Language. 

    Luckily, today’s generation is aware of the need for preserving and recording these narrations. Efforts for the revival and preservation of oral histories have started. People have started to record the dying oral histories in audio, visual, and textual form. Many people are coming together to collect stories from older generations and present them on different platforms. Initiatives on an individual and collective level have started such as Facebook groups and websites. YouTube channels are also being launched to revive and pass on this tradition.

    People from the field of arts are contributing to these initiatives by adding audio and visual representation to oral histories. For example, Giri e Bait is a heart-wrenching folk tale, not known by many,  of a young ibex and its mother. There are several variations of this poem describing a hunting scene from the perspective of the Markhor. This story depicts the power of love and sacrifice and was also told to discourage hunters from hunting females, particularly pregnant Markhor.  

    Listen to the story narrated by an old lady who has known it since she was very young, recorded by the Mountain Heritage Archives initiative in 2014. (https://web.facebook.com/mountainheritagearchives)

This folktale has many versions, and in the olden days, people would enact this song during festivals and people could not hold back their tears. Recently, an animated video has also been developed on the same story. 

These collective and individual initiatives, although have just begun, but are a ray of hope for the revival of oral history and stories in the Burushaski language.