Languages

Punjabi

Punjabi (??????) is spoken as a first language by more than 44% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact numbers of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to find since there are many dialects / languages, such as Saraiki, which some regard as part of Punjabi and others regard as separate language. When taking into account Hindko, Potwari, Pahari, Saraiki, Punjabi dialects are thus spoken by almost 60% of the population in Pakistan. The standard Punjabi dialects is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts of the Pakistani Punjab which was used by Waris Shah (1722–1798) in his famous book Heer Ranjha and is also now days the language of Punjabi literature, film and music; such as Lollywood. Other dialects are Multani or Saraiki in the West and South, Pothowari & Hindko in the North, Dogri in the mountain areas and Shahpuri in the Sargodha district.

Punjabi is descended from Prakrit in the Vedic period (1700 B.C.), Pali, Old Persian and Apabhramsha in the Ashoka period (273 B.C. - 232 B.C.) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani in the Muslim period (711 A.D. - 1857 A.D.) Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The Great poetry written by Sufi saints has been the folklore of the Punjab and is still sung with great love in any part of Punjab.

The Punjabis found in Pakistan are composed of various social groups, castes and economic groups. Muslim Rajputs, Jat, Tarkhans, Dogars, Gujjars, Gakhars, Khatri or Punjabi Shaikhs, Kambohs, and Arains, comprise the main tribes in the north, while Awans, Gilanis, Gardezis, Syeds and Quraishis are found in the south. There are Pashtun tribes like the Niazis and the lodhis, which are very much integrated into Punjabi village life. People in major urban areas have diverse origins, with many post-Islamic settlers tracing their origin to Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, Arabia and Central Asia.

Punjabi Dialects

• Majhi, "the standard Punjabi language", spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The main districts are Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and to some extent in Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab and Gurdaspur and Amritsar in Indian Punjab.
• Malwi, spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main districts are Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, etc.
• Doabi (regional language), spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej, in the districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur.
• Potohari Potohari is widely spoken in Jehlum, Gujjar Khan, Rawalpindi, Kahuta, Taxilah and Attock districts.

Census History of Punjabi Speakers in Pakistan

Year	Population of Pakistan	Percentage	Punjabi Speakers
1951	33,740,167	57.08%	22,632,905
1961	42,880,378	56.39%	28,468,282
1972	65,309,340	56.11%	43,176,004
1981	84,253,644	48.17%	40,584,980
1998	132,352,279	44.15%	58,433,431

In the National Census of Pakistan (1981) Saraiki, Pothohari and Hindko (Before categorized as "Western Punjabi") got the status of separate languages thats why number of Punjabi speakers got decreased.

Provinces of Pakistan by Punjabi speakers (2008

Rank	Division	Punjabi speakers	Percentage
	Pakistan	76,335,300	44.15%
1	Punjab	70,671,704	75.23%
2	Sindh	3,592,261	6.99%
3	Islamabad Capital Territory	1,343,625	71.66%
4	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	396,085	0.97%
5	Balochistan	318,745	2.52%
6	Federally Administered Tribal Areas	12,880	0.23%

Punjabi Writers

The famous Punjabi writers from Pakistan include:
Shareef Kunjahi
Mir Tanha Yousafi
Sanawar Chadhar
Abid Tamimi
Anwar Masood
Afzal Ahsan Randhawa
Aatish
Shaista Nuzhat

Punjabi Sufi Poets

Bulleh Shah

Syed Waris Shah

Baba Farid Ganj Shakar

Sultan Bahu

Pashto

Pashto (????) Pashto is spoken as a first language by 15.5% (28-30 millions) of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. The Pashto has rich written literary traditions as well as an oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the Northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in the southern areas. Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689) and Rahman Baba (1633–1708) were the most famous poets in the Pashto language. In the last part of 20th century, Pakhto or Pashto has produced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi and Amir Hamza Shinwari. There are also many Pakistani's from the adjacent regions of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan who are conversant in Pashto and count it as their second language. They are not included in the overall percentage. Karachi is the biggest Pashto speaking city in the world although the Pashto speakers constitute only about 20% of Karachi's population.

Geographic distributio

Pashto is a language spoken in South-Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as well as by the Pashtuns throughout the world.

In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language of about 15.42% of Pakistan's 170 million people. It is the main language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and northwestern Balochistan, but also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province as well as by Pashtuns who are found living in different cities throughout the country. Modern Pashto-speaking communities are also found in the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh.

As the national language of Afghanistan, Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact numbers of speakers are unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 35-60% of the total population of Afghanistan.

Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in northeastern Iran, primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen, near the Afghan border, and in Tajikistan. There are also communities of Pashtun communities descent in the southwestern part of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sizable Pashto-speaking communities also exist in the Middle East, especially in the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Qatar, Australia, Japan and Russia etc.

Regional language in Pakistan

In Pakistan, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In 1984, Pashto was permitted to be used as the medium of instruction in primary schools.

Pashto Poets

Pir Roshan

Khushal Khan Khattak

Ahmad Shah Durrani

Abdul Hamid Baba

Balochi

Balochi (?????) is spoken as a first language by about 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan province. The name Balochi is not found before the tenth century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from the Kurdistan region of northeastern Iraq and northwestern Iran. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi is a sub-dialect of Rakshani. Other sub-dialects are Kalati (Qalati), Chagai-Kharani and Panjguri. Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi is very different from the rest. Balochi language is very close to the Persian itself. The name Balochi or Baluchi is not found before the 10th Century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from northern Iran region of Caspian Sea. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub dialect of Rakshani. Other sub - dialects are Qalati, Chagai Kharani, and Makrani. The Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi are distinct dialects.The Kethran language in North East Balochistan is also a variant of Balochi.It is one of the 9 distinguished languages of Pakistan. Since Balochi is a very poetic and rich language and have a certain degree of affinity to Persian and Urdu, Balochi poets tend to be very good poets in Urdu as well and Ata Shaad, Gul Khan Nasir and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.

Balochi is closely related to other Northwestern Iranian languages such as Kurdish. It has influences on other languages in Pakistan, including Sindhi.

Writing system

Before the 19th century, Balochi was an unwritten language. The official written language was Persian, although Balochi was still spoken at the Baloch courts. British linguists and political historians wrote form with the Roman script, but following the creation of Pakistan, Baloch scholars adopted Urdu Arabic script. The first collection of poetry in Balochi, Gulbang by Mir Gul Khan Nasir was published in 1951 and incorporated the Urdu Arabic Script. But it was much later that Sayad Zahurshah Hashomi wrote a comprehensive guidance on the usage of Urdu Arabic script and standardized it as the Balochi Orthography in Pakistan. This earned Sayad Hashomi the title of 'the Father of Balochi'. Sayad's guidances are widely used in Eastern and Western Balochistan. In Afghanistan, however, Balochi is written in a modified Arabic script based on what is used for Pashto.

Sindhi

Sindhi (????) is spoken as a first language by 15.5% of Pakistanis , mostly in Sindh. It has a rich literature and is used in schools. It is an Indo-Iranian (Indo-European) language, derived from Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic languages. Sindhi absorbed many Persian words as it was lingua franca of the region for the last 2,000 years, probably since the time the area was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The the Arabs ruled Sindh for more than 150 years after Muhammad bin Qasim conquered it in 712 AD, remaining there for three years to set up Arab rule. Consequently, the social fabric of Sindh contains elements of Arabic society. Sindhi is spoken by over 36 million people in Pakistan, and is the official language of Sindh province. It is widely spoken in the Lasbela District of Balochistan (where the Lasi tribe speaks a dialect of Sindhi), many areas of the Naseerabad and Jafarabad districts of Balochistan, and by the Sindhi diaspora abroad. Sindhi language has six major dialects: Sireli, Vicholi, Lari, Thari, Lasi and Kachhi. It is written in the Arabic script with several additional letters to accommodate special sounds. The largest Sindhi-speaking cities are Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Larkana and Nawabshah. Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature. Shah Abdul Latif Bhita'i (1689–1752) is one of its greatest poets, and wrote Sassi Punnun and Umar Marvi, folk stories, in his famous book "Shah Jo Risalo".

Geographical distribution

Sindhi is spoken in Sindh and Balochistan in Pakistan. Sindhi is taught as a first language in the state schools of interior Sindh and some in Karachi and as a second language in Karachi and Balochistan in Pakistan. It is also spoken by Sindhi tribes living in Kutch.

It it also spoken in India, especially in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra.It is also spoken in Ulhasnagar near Mumbai which is the largest Sindhi enclave in India.

Sindhi has a vast vocabulary and a very old literary tradition. This trend has made it a favourite of many writers and consequently a vast volume of literature and poetry have been written in Sindhi.

Sindhi Poets

Shaikh Ayaz

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai

Sachal Sarmast

Adal Sumro

Saraiki

Saraiki literature is the literature of the Saraiki language, which is mostly spoken in central Pakistan. The main Saraiki-speaking areas are Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Mianwali and Bhakkar. Saraiki is also spoken widely in the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan.

 

Poetry

During last two centuries, the Saraiki region has produced many notable poets. Khawaja Ghulam Farid Kotmithan Rajanpur, Sachal Sar Mast, and Hazrat Pir Mitha, Ashaq Buzdar from Rajanpur (write book asan qaidi takht lahore de) Shaker Shujaabadi Multan, Tariq from layyah are some famous Saraiki poets. Historically, the most celebrated poet in the Saraiki language is Khawaja Farid (1845–1901). His poems were written in a form of verse known as kafi, a form rooted in a tradition of singing of poetry.

• Ghulam Fareed
• Sachal Sarmas 
• Shakir Shuja Abaadi
• Sain Ahmad Khan

Ghulam Fareed

Sachal Sarmas

Shakir Shuja Abaadi

Sherko Bekas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Novelist

Ismail Ahmedani - probably the most celebrated novelist and fiction writer. Ahmedani has done much to promote the Saraiki language as a language for modern fiction writing. Ismail Ahmedani died at Karachi on 6 June 2007 and buried in his home village of Rasoolpur.

Singers

• Mansoor Malangi
• Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi
• Pathanay Khan
• Salamat Ali Khan

Mansoor Malangi

Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi

Pathanay Khan

Salamat Ali Khan

 

Hindko

Hindko is the sixth main regional language of Pakistan. It forms a subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by Hindkowans in Pakistan and some Pashtun tribes in Pakistan. The language is spoken in the areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including Hazara), Punjab (including Attock), and Pakistan Administered Kashmir.

Writers and Poets

The Gandhara Hindko Board is a leading organisation that has been active in the preservation and promotion of the Hindko language and Hindkowan culture since 1993. The board was launched in Peshawar in year 1993 to preserve and promote Hindko language—the second language of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Many organisations like Bazm-e-Ilm-o-Fun Abbottabad and Halqa-e-Yaraan Shinkyari are contributing in their own way to the cause of promoting Hindko language and literature. Mr. Asif Saqib, Prof. Sufi Abdur Rasheed, Col. Fazal-e-Akbar Kamal, Mr. Sharif Hussain Shah, Prof. Muhammad Farid, Prof. Yahya Khalid, Mr. Nazir Kasalvi and Muhammad Hanif have contributed a lot in this regard. Mr. Sultan Sakoon has written the First Hindko dictionary that has been published by Gandhara Hindko Board. Mr Sultan Sakoon stands out for his literary contribution as he is a prolific writer and his books including those on Hindko proverbs and Hindko riddles have been published.

 

• Bataan Mulakataan
• Gandhara Hindko
• Gandhara Hindko Book
• Paash

Bataan Mulakataan

Gandhara Hindko

Gandhara Hindko Book

Paash

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singers

• Afshan Zaibi
• Sanam Afreen
• Iftikhar Gohar
• Shakeel Awan

 

Afshan Zaibi

Sanam Afreen

Iftikhar Gohar

Shakeel Awan

 

Kashmiri

Is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001

Kashmiri Poetry

KASHMIR, which is known as the 'paradise on earth', has been the abode of eminent scholars, savants, historians and poets.

 

• Rehman Rahi
• Zinda Koul
• Mahmud Gami Book
• Amin Kamil

Rehman Rahi

Zinda Koul

Mahmud Gami Book

Amin Kamil

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singers

• Bano
• Gulzar Hajam
• Sushma Kalla
• Ghulam Nabi Sheikh

 

Bano

Gulzar Hajam

Sushma Kalla

Ghulam Nabi Sheikh

 

Brahui

Brahui is of uncertain origin despite the fact that the bulk of the language shares lexical similarities to Balochi as well as Sindhi. In colonial times, many British linguists tried to make the claim of a possible Dravidian language origin but this has not been conclusively proven despite ongoing research in the language for a century now. spoken in southern Pakistan, may have evolved from the original languages ofIndus valley civilizations at Mehrgarh . However it is heavily influenced by Balochi and Pashto. It is spoken in central and east centralBalochistan. The Mengals are a famous Brahvi tribe. Around 1-1.5% of Pakistani population has Brahui as their first language. It is one of the nine distinguished languages of Pakistan.

 

Brahui

Brahui

Brahui

Brahui