Customary practices among Indigenous Torwali community of Swat
By Usman Torwali
In the lap of Hindukush, nestled in the picturesque landscape of tall wavering alpine trees, snow-caped mountains, pastures, cascading tributaries to the dignified river Swat lies a community of indigenous Torwali people. The Torwali community, for centuries in the remote valleys of Swat thrived under the uncertainties of natural disasters in the form of avalanches, sliding, heavy snowfall and the dramatic transformation of weather patterns rendering absolute droughts and flashfloods. On the other hand, cultural and political influence of the dominant Pashton ethnicity posed threats to the long-cherished traditions, norms and customs of this indigenous community. Torwali people have unique lifestyle characterized by a distinct wedding ceremony, traditional councils–yarak, ploughing, seasonal migration, and collective dhar to lend, a specific community membership only retained for the indigenous people who are actively participating in the community service for instance the construction of paths, mosques, water channel and bringing down timber.
For centuries Torwali people’s sustenance was based on agriculture, however, technological innovation and infrastructure construction has boasted local tourism industry, fisheries, hoteling and retail industry. Thousands of tourists visit Tap Si Ban, meadows Mankiyal vally, annually and enjoy the scenic views, zigzagging freshwater streams, towering trees, snowy edges, and naturally laid green carpet amidst the freezing breeze in the scorching heat of June and July. The tourists’ flux nonetheless borne inconveniences for the local herdsmen and natural beauty as visitors leave behind a great chunk of plastic bags and dirt degrading the environment. Locals of these attractions are also offended over the visitor’s immoral attitude towards the women living there, as often teasing them have been reported.
These herdsmen are non-nomadic transhumant Torwali people who climb these pastures for three or four months with cattle and the nomadic non Torwali herdsmen who come with comparatively larger livestock and graze their animals for whole summer. Non Torwali herdsmen pay qalang, literally means lease payment, to the villagers who claim belonging to the meadows. In September and October these nomadic herdsmen escort their livestock to the plain areas of KP and Punjab. Torwalis, however, come down to their villages. All members of the respective village help in the migration of Torwali people to pastures and back by moving household stuff and ration for four to eight hours on the rocky steep mountaneous paths. This is a customary practice known as Hashar. Hashar is a collective service in the village. It is an obligatory and reciprocal custom. Anyone in the respective lud, group, calls for Hashar, from each family unit an individual would have to take part in it. Hashar is also done for grass cutting, harvesting crops and construction of house.
Besides Tap Si Ban there are numbers of other tourist attractions in the Torwali belt including Chugail meadow, Shetangoot, Bair Bhogo, Kondol, Danghara and many other pastures in the Daral valley of the Torwali land. In the months of June, July and August these places are best attraction points for trekking, sightseeing and adventures. Visitors enjoy lakes, dense jungle, meadows, springs, snow peaks and wildlife. Many Torwali herdsmen sped whole summer in these meadows grazing their livestock. Earlier when agriculture was the source of sustenance alone, no one in the village was left behind, the summer was spent in the pastures. The whole village as a community shifted to their respective pastures. Ramait, one of the primitive villages, would migrate to Tab Si Ban for grazing cattle herds. And for harvesting Kharif crops they settled back in the village.
In the community people are empathetic, living the lives of all. They think and act collectively. The more people are exposed to freedom and individualism the more they lose the collective sense of togetherness. Rituals pass on values and orders on which a community is based. Rituals are symbols and these symbols perpetuate acts that transform individuals into a community. In the far-flung mountains of Swat Torwali community is a living example of togetherness. Symbols of acts are respected. No individual goes unnoticed of the community. Each person has a role in the collective action of the community and thus not considers himself aloof or apart of the indigenous fellow beings. Torwali language, too, is a symbol of identity and recognition. In the fast-paced commercial city of Karachi any person found speaking Torwali brings the communal oneness backs and is regarded as part of a single body.
Historically, village life in the Torwali community was self-sufficient. There was a blacksmith, barber, Kakhai and Malan in each village with their respective duties. Blacksmith used to make and sharpen agricultural tools including sickle, plough wedges, and axes. Kakhai maintained water channels and regulated the irrigation system. He also had to fill the leakages, reconstruct the damaged portions of water channel. Barber cut hairs and shaved bears. Malan was a religious scholar performing congregational prayers, funeral prayers, marital nikah and specified jurisprudent interpretations. They were paid for maize or wheat Khodol annually according to the agricultural land one owned. This practice was called Khilen. Khodol is a grain measurement tool used for measuring wheat and maize. Except for a few commercial towns Kakhai, Blacksmith and Malan are found in each village in the community even today. Villagers who perform prayers must bring woods for mosque as in winter mosques are kept warm. This practice is known as dhar.
For conflict resolution a traditional council for reconciliation consisting of elders and influentials in the area has been operative since centuries. It is called Yarak. Pushto Jirga and Yarak have similarities however conflict resolution in Yarak was never made on harsh lines. The elders of Yarak, unlike Jirga, never penalized the aggrieved party with death in elopement cases rather they were pushed eight villages away from their native village and never allowed to settle back until darkau, compensation based on honoring the aggrieved family, was given. The compensation sometimes entailed Swara but most of the time cow, land or any other precious possession would settle the matter instead of honor killing. This practice seems to have been enculturated into the Torwali way of life from the Pashtun culture when commercial contacts and communications were made. Today very few honor killing cases are reported over the years in Torwali community.
In ploughing and wedding ceremonies the oneness of community can be witnessed as well. When Rabi crops are harvested for Kharif cultivation “hath se shaayo” is made— meaning inaugurating plowing the field; and it is done by a noble elder for better agricultural yield. Previously it was also done by a woman. It is also done during the harvest of crops and grass, so that the weather remains suitable. In ploughing days, the weaker faction or those who would not have had oxen are helped by the villagers. Their fields were also ploughed for cultivation. For larger fields two or more animal traction are run. And in each lud respective villagers help each other. Moreover, at wedding ceremonies each lud member brings compulsory timber for the wedding function. Respective lud villagers are available in the entire wedding ceremony for the arrangements and organization of the guests. In funerals too the bereaved family is not allowed to do anything rather the respective lud does things from the digging of grave to the third day condolence prayers.
Torwali community historically faced multiple challenges however their sheer resilience has paid off. But recent challenges are more lethal for the Torwali culture, identity and even economy. The hydropower projects by the public company Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) in the Torwali areas ignore the unique identity of the Torwali people and misrepresent them by calling them Pushtun tribes. One of such projects is the World Bank funded Madyan Hydropower Project designed to divert the River Swat into tunnels in the Torwali belt also poses threats to local economy which is by and large based on tourism. Environmental degradation and the destruction of ecosystem and biodiversity are the byproducts of the proposed hydropower project. Moreover, the cultural domination by the majority culture also change etymologies and triggers a disregard for local language preservation are what threatens the indigeneity of Torwali people. This internal colonialization is also underpinned by land acquisition for commercial purposes including hoteling and the making of colonies for the proposed hydropower project. Government must protect the indigeneity of Torwali people by preserving their cultural heritage and provide more livelihood opportunities by boasting local tourism industry instead of destroying it by diverging river Swat into tunnels.