Drogpa tribals in Kargil claim to be descendents of Aryans

KARGIL - Drogpa tribals, who reside in the villages near Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil District, claim to be the descendants of Aryan race.

There are four villages of Drogpas in the Kargil district around 260 kilometres from Srinagar.

These people trace their ancestors to the Indus Valley and their villages boast of extensive anthropological and ethnographic links.

Harvest festivals are the main celebrations in these villages, during which the Drogpas wear colourful and traditional outfits.

“Our traditional attire is the first recognition of the Aryan race. You can see that our outfit is different from the outfit worn by people in other villages. Secondly, our language is different, rest our lifestyle is also different from them,” said Aryan Dola, an elder of the Drogpa Aryan Community.

“There are four villages near this area, which have our Aryan tribe and our families marry within the tribe itself. These relationships are practised for the next seven generations and thus we believe,” he added.

There are about 2,500 Drogpa families living in these four villages.

“Many Aryans lived here in the ancient time but now there are very few of us left here. Our culture and tribe is coming to an end. There are only three villages where Aryan tribe still exists. The government must help our tribe so that we don’t become extinct,” said Sonam Dorjey, a Drogpa Aryan lady.

The Drogpas have been an attraction for tourists and anthropologists, because of their colourful lifestyle, sheepskin clothing, rich jewellery.

“If you look at our history, then you will find that there are words that are similar to English, Urdu and Sanskrit. Many Sanskrit words have also originated from the Aryan language. Our counting and Kashmiri’s counting are also the same. You can assume that they had some relations with the Aryan race in the past,” said Sewan Rigzin a Drogpa man. By Fayaz Ahmad (ANI)