Hunza people

Burusho people

A Hunza Rajah and Tribesmen in 19th century.
Total population
87,000 (2000)
Regions with significant populations
Chitral District, Hunza, Pakistan
Languages
Burushaski, Khowar
Religion
Ismaili Islam, historically shamanism

The Burusho or Brusho people live in the Hunza, Nagar and Chitral District, and valleys of Gilgit–Baltistan in northern Pakistan. They are predominantly Muslims. Their language, Burushaski, has not been shown to be related to any other.

The Hunzakuts or Hunza people, are an ethnically Burusho people indigenous to the Hunza Valley, in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan. They are descended from inhabitants of the former principality of Hunza. A popular belief among some Burusho clans is that they are the descendants of the Macedonian soldiers who came to the region with Alexander the Great's army in the 4th century BC.

To date no comprehensive DNA research has been conducted on a sizable or for that matter over a heterogeneous populas factoring various subsets of tribes existing in the region for over a couple of millennia. No conclusive evidence has been made either connecting genetic or linguistic roots to any ethnic groups present within the immediate region. The historical area of Hunza, and present Northern areas of Pakistan has over the centuries seen mass migrations, conflicts and resettling of various tribes and ethnicities of which the Dardic Shina race is the most prominent in regional history. People of the region have for centuries recounted their historical traditions down from one generation to the next, In an effort to preserve their ancestry. There are four major yet genealogically diverse clans in the historic area of Hunza that trace their paterlineal ancestry to varying ethnics groups. The Khurukutz, local history links them to the communities now settled in the Pamir region of the Wakhan corridor. The Buroong are said to have migrated up from the Indus region of the subcontinent. Diramiting, and Barataling, trace their roots to the balkan/east European ethnic diaspora. In addition to the clan system, Burusho society is divided into classes, including the Thamo being the royals followed by the Wazir family governing the state; the Trangfa & Akabirting being the head men of each village; the Bare and Sis groups that were the combat fighters; the Baldakuyos that were teamsters and carriers for other groups; and the Bericho that were the musicians, Another offshoot of the Bericho have migrated to the present Indian held Kashmir. Together the Hunza people are predominantly Shia Muslims of the Nizari Ismaili tradition.