Swati people (Pakistan)

{{Short description|Ethnic group mostly in Hazara District, Pakistan}} {{pp-protect|small=yes}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=November 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Swati | languages = Hindko, Urdu | religions = Islam | related_groups = Indo-Aryan peoples, Dardic Peoples }}{{For|the African ethnic group|Swazi people}} '''Swatis '''({{langx|ur|{{nq|سواتی}}}}) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Hazara division in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

== History == They were displaced following the Pashtun Esapzai occupation of Swat in the 16th century and forced to settle in Kohistan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weinreich |first=Matthias |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAWhEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 |title='We Are Here to Stay': Pashtun Migrants in the Northern Areas of Pakistan |date=21 November 2022 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-110588-8 |pages=16 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sierakowska-Dyndo |first=Jolanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMxBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 |title=The Boundaries of Afghans' Political Imagination: The Normative-Axiological Aspects of Afghan Tradition |date=11 August 2014 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6572-2 |language=en|quote=of peoples that had lived there before the time of Afghan occupation... are Swati people.|page=54}}</ref> In historic accounts, Pashtuns referred to Swatis as "Dehgan"; this was not an ethnic designation but simply referred to the fact that they were villagers.<ref name="dard">{{Cite book |last=Arlinghaus |first=Joseph Theodore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aultAAAAMAAJ&q=sultan+swat+dardic |title=The Transformation of Afghan Tribal Society: Tribal Expansion, Mughal Imperialism and the Roshaniyya Insurrection, 1450-1600 |date=1988 |publisher=Duke University |language=en|page=177|quote= The Afghans referred to the Shalmanis, Swatis, Gibaris, Tirahis, and certain other peoples of the Peshawar area as Dehgan peoples. This is not an ethnic designation, but simply refers to the fact that they were villagers or peasants. Linguistic evidence points to their being Dardic peoples related to speakers of Pashai, Khowar, Shina, Burushashki and Kashmiri.}}</ref> They are also sometimes called Tajiks, a common ethnonym used by Pashtuns to describe their Dardic neighbours.<ref name="s">{{Cite web |title=DARDESTĀN |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dardestan-|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|quote=As use of Dardic languages has declined, ethnonyms have shifted. In the west the residents of Kabul Kōhestān became Islamicized in the early 19th century, and Pashto speakers now call them Tajiks, after the Persian speakers across the Hindu Kush mountains in Central Asia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schoeberlein |first=John Samuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvraAAAAMAAJ&q=dardic+tajiks |title=Identity in Central Asia: Construction and Contention in the Conceptions of "Özbek", "Tâjik", "Muslim", "Samarqandi" and Other Groups |date=1994 |publisher=Harvard University |pages=137 |language=en|quote=The ethnic groups speaking Dardic languages in Afghanistan called themselves “Tājiks".}}</ref> Khan Khel Swati is a sub-section in various sections of all three branches of the Swati.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1883 |title=Hazara Gazetteer |url=https://ia801503.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/25/items/gaz-hazara-1883/GazetteerHazara1883_jp2.zip&file=GazetteerHazara1883_jp2/GazetteerHazara1883_0095.jp2&id=gaz-hazara-1883&scale=8&rotate=0 |page=73 |quote=Gibari Deshrais : Jehangiris, Arghushal Malkals, Iznali Mandravis}}</ref>

== Origins == The Swati people are of Dardic origins, originally speaking Dardic languages such as Gibri and Yadri and were native inhabitants of Swat valley.<ref name="dard" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucci |first=Giuseppe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFZiuAAACAAJ |title=On Swāt: The Dards and Connected Problems |date=1977 |publisher=IsMEO |page=34 |language=en |quote=The language of the Swatis being Dardic they were not separately named, but comprised in the denomination of Dards...}}</ref> Hemphil (2009) rejects Ibbetson's (1916:95-6) assertion of Swatis as a "race of Hindu origin" from peninsular India, suggesting, instead, that Swatis show a higher affinity to their neighbours in the northwest and with people in the Indus valley, to the south.<ref>Hemphill, Brian E. (January 2009). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313444560_The_Swatis_of_Northern_Pakistan-emigrants_from_Central_Asia_or_colonists_from_peninsular_India_A_dental_morphometric_investigation "The Swatis of Northern Pakistan—Emigrants from Central Asia or Colonists from Peninsular India?: A Dental Morphometric Approach"- ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'', 138.] ''ResearchGate''. Retrieved 1 August 2023. Please note: Although ''ResearchGate'' is considered "Generally unreliable" (see WP:RSP), this paper was uploaded by its author.</ref>

== Notable people ==

* Azam Swati * Chaudhry Aslam Khan * Haris Rauf * Laiq Muhammad Khan * Muhammad Yousuf

==References== {{Reflist}}{{Ethnic groups in Pakistan}} Category:Pakistani names Category:Mansehra District Category:Battagram District Category:Ethnic groups Category:Social groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan Category:Swatis