The Burusho or Brusho people live in the Hunza, Nagar, and Yasin valleys of northern Pakistan. There are also 300 Burusho in Srinagar, in Indian Kashmir. They are predominantly Muslims. Their language, Burushaski, has not been shown to be related to any other.[1]
The Hunza people, or Hunzakuts, descend from the principality of Hunza. They live alongside the Wakhi and the Shina. The Wakhi reside in the upper part of Hunza locally called Gojal. Wakhis also inhabit the bordering regions of China, Tajikstan and Afghanistan and also live in Gizar and Chitral district of Pakistan. The Shina-speaking people live in the southern part of Hunza. They have come from Chilas, Gilgit, and other Shina-speaking areas of Pakistan.
The Hunzakuts and the region of Hunza has one of the highest literacy rates as compared to other similar districts in Pakistan. Hunza is a major tourist attraction in Pakistan, and many Pakistani as well as foreign tourist travel to the region to enjoy the picturesque landscape and stunning mountains of the area. The district has many modern amenities and is quite advanced by Asian standards. Local legend states that Hunza may have been associated with the lost kingdom of Shangri La. The people of Hunza are by some noted for their exceptionally long life expectancy[2], others describe this as a longevity myth and cite a life expectancy of 53 years for men and 52 for women, although with a high standard deviation. [3]
Origins
Flag of Hunza.
As is common throughout Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, legend records that the Hunza descend from soldiers in the army of Alexander the Great.[4] This is maintained by some Burusho leaders even today. In 2008, Prince Ghazanfar Ali Khan and Princess Rani Atiqa visited the Republic of Macedonia, claiming descent from the Alexandran army.[5] However, DNA tests of Y haplogroup frequencies incorporating published data from European and West Asian populations show that, while there appears to be a small male Greek genetic component to the Pashtun, there is no evidence for a similar ancestry for the Burusho.[6] The Burusho, the Dravidian speaking Brahui, and the Sino-Tibetan speaking Baltis did not stand out from the other Pakistani populations in haplogroup analyses,[7] though the Burusho do appear to have an East Asian contribution.[8]
H. Sidky, "The Greek Kingdom of Bactria: From Alexander to Eucratides the Great", University Press of America, July 2000
H. Sidky, "Alexander the Great, the Graeco-Bactrians, and Hunza: Greek Descents in Central Asia", Central Asiatic Journal
Frank L. Holt, "Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia (Mnemosyme, Bibliotheca Classica Batava, Supplementum Centisimum)", Brill Academic Publishers, May 1993
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