Kyrgyz in Pakistan
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Kyrgyz in Pakistan
| image =
| caption =
| poptime =
| popplace = Chitral (Broghil Valley)
Gilgit-Baltistan (Gojal)
| langs = Kyrgyz (Pamir Kyrgyz){{·}} Urdu
| rels = Sunni Islam
}}
The Kyrgyz in Pakistan number around 6,000,{{Cite web |title=Kyrgyz Language (KIR) – L1 & L2 Speakers, Status, Map, Endangered Level & Official Use {{!}} Ethnologue Free |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kir/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Ethnologue (Free All) |language=en}} most of whom reside in the far north of the country, specifically in the Broghil Valley of Chitral and Gojal in Gilgit-Baltistan. Kyrgyz is the only Turkic language native to Pakistan.Asim, M. (2019) “Tajik and Kyrgyz Settlements around Broghil Pass; Impact on Khowar Culture in Khyber Pakhunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan,” Pak-Iran Intellectuals Forum. The Kyrgyz in Pakistan speak the Pamiri Kyrgyz dialect, also known as Black Kyrgyz ({{Lang|kir|قاره قیرغیز}}). Historically, they have been a dominant group in the Gojal Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan.{{Cite journal |last=Callahan |first=Ted |date=2007 |title=The Kyrgyz of the Afghan Pamir Ride On |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43123791 |journal=Nomadic Peoples |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=39–48 |issn=0822-7942}}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-11 |title=Artist from Kyrgyz Republic and Gilgit-Baltistan come together to celebrate the region's shared heritage |url=https://pamirtimes.net/2023/05/11/artist-from-kyrgyz-republic-and-gilgit-baltistan-come-together-to-celebrate-the-regions-shared-heritage/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=PAMIR TIMES |language=en-US}}
Pakistan's Broghil Pass, located between Chitral and the Wakhan Corridor, has been an important route for the Kyrgyz people. Some Kyrgyz in Pakistan trace their origins to Uzgen in western Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, many who had previously settled in the Little Pamir valley of the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan fled to Pakistan following the Saur Revolution in 1978, leaving behind much of their wealth and livestock.{{Cite web |url=http://www.juldu.com/Pamir/HERMANN%20KREUTZMANN.pdf |title=Hermann Kreutzmann (2003) Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot |access-date=2011-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173840/http://www.juldu.com/Pamir/HERMANN%20KREUTZMANN.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}
History
Kyrgyz have had a long history in Pakistan. Historically, Kyrgyz nomads dominated the Gojal Valley of Pakistan.Asim, M. (2019). Tajik and Kyrgyz Settlements around Broghil Pass; Impact on Khowar Culture in Khyber Pakhunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. Pak-Iran Intellectuals Forum. During the 1980s, as many as 1,129 Kyrgyz refugees in Pakistan were subsequently allowed asylum and resettlement in eastern Turkey.[https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5028394443 The Kyrgyz of the Afghan Pamir Ride On: Ted Callahan]{{Cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-minorities-make-themselves-heard|title=Afghanistan: Minorities make themselves heard - Afghanistan}}
Up to this day, Kyrgyz farmers and herders from Pamir (Afghanistan) frequently visit the bordering Hunza valley of Pakistan to engage in livestock breeding and limited barter trade with entrepreneurs.
Like other Central Asian expatriates, many Kyrgyz migrants apply for Pakistani nationality and identity cards, often deliberately losing or hiding their passports in the process.{{cite news|url=https://www.nation.com.pk/13-Jan-2010/illegal-immigrants-a-grave-security-threat|title=Illegal immigrants a grave security threat|work=The Nation|date=13 January 2010|access-date=6 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916113838/http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/13-Jan-2010/Illegal-immigrants-a-grave-security-threat|archive-date=16 September 2011|url-status=live}} According to Pakistani interior officials, they take advantage of their cultural assimilation by introducing themselves as Pakistan-based Pashtuns living in other countries who came to the country to spend vacation and "lost their credentials."
The Kyrgyz in Pakistan have an active involvement in trade and maintain a broad network of business companies in various states, including neighbouring China.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105081244/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-243844524.html?key=01-42160D517E1A106A1B0E061A046A4B2E224E324D3417295C30420B61651B617F137019731B7B1D6B39 Pakistani businessman to build natural juice factory in Jalal-Abad: AKIpress News Agency] December 8, 2010 They also have played an extensive role in promoting and assisting the development of tourism in Kyrgyzstan.{{cite news|url=http://www2.asiaplus.tj/en/news/1/35869.html|title=Kyrgyz from Pakistan intend to assist in development of tourism in the country|work=Asia Plus (Tajikistan)|date=31 July 2008}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Many of the Pakistanis in Kyrgyzstan who fled the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots brought back Kyrgyz spouses and families to Pakistan with them.{{cite news|url=http://criticalppp.com/archives/13131|title=Safe return of Pakistanis from Kyrgyzstan|work=Critical PPP|access-date=2010-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726014635/http://criticalppp.com/archives/13131|archive-date=2011-07-26|url-status=usurped}}
One of the obstacles faced by their Kyrgyz relatives included registration of travel documents; most did not have proper documentation and some were issued visas by the Federal Investigation Agency for only three days, resulting in people being declared illegal immigrants.{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/22332/seeking-refuge-in-pakistan/|title=Seeking refuge in Pakistan|work=The Express Tribune|date=19 June 2010|author=Tariq Ismail}}
In October 2010, several dozen Kyrgyz nationals, mostly diplomats living in Islamabad and other cities, took part in voting for the parliamentary elections running in Kyrgyzstan. The polling was organised at the local embassy.{{cite news|url=http://pakobserver.net/201010/10/detailnews.asp?id=56326|title=Kyrgyz in Pakistan to vote today|work=Pakistan Observer|author=Akhtar Jamal|date=10 October 2010}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Wakhan Kyrgyz refugees
Kyrgyz from Wakhan region of Afghanistan moved to Pakistan in the 1970s. Nearly 1,100 of these were accepted by Turkey to settle in Ulupamir (or “Great Pamir” in Kyrgyz), their resettlement village in Van Province.[http://www.eurasiareview.com/20052012-turkey-kyrgyz-nomads-struggle-to-make-peace-with-settled-existence/ Turkey: Kyrgyz Nomads Struggle To Make Peace With Settled Existence]
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: adaptation to closed frontiers and war, M. Nazif Mohib Shahrani
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=XRXVbGwPgqIC&dq=Kyrgyz+in+Pakistan&pg=PA222 The Kyrgyz – Children of Manas. Кыргыздар – Манастын балдары]
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120314171423/http://www.kyrgyzembassy.com.pk/consul_en_5.html Embassy of Kyrgyzstan, Islamabad]
{{Immigration to Pakistan}}
Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan