Bhadralium

The mother tongue Bhadralium is spoken by the community living in an area known as Tipri village in the Doda district. Tipri is located approximately 40 kms from Doda. It is perched on a rocky slope accessed by a very difficult road from the township of Thathri, located about 25-30 km from Doda. Neighboring villages include /zadaːnuː/, /chibaː/, /dabraːnuː/, and /bãdikra/. According to the Sarpanch of the village the population of the village is about six thousand and forty percent of it speak Bhaderwahi. There were no more than three hundred households in the entire village with over ten members in each of them. This places the estimate of the population to be around three thousand. Out of these, only about 40 to 50 households (almost all of which occur in a single cluster near the entry of the village by a rough road) speak Bhadralium as their mother tongue placing their population at about five hundred.

Bhadralium, and Kashmiri, with Kashmiri functioning as lingua franca. The Muslims speak Kashmiri among themselves and with the Hindus. They know little Bhadralium. The Hindu population has Bhadralium as its language, but use Kashmiri as well while interacting with the Muslims. This association of Kashmiri with the Muslim community and of a different language (in this case, Bhadralium) with the neighboring Hindu community is an interesting phenomenon prevalent throughout the mountains around Doda. In fact, to the Hindu community in a village, the term ‘Kashmiri’ includes both the language and the religion of the neighboring community. Bhadralium has no written texts, but quite a bit of folklore and folk songs.

Origin

As far as the origin of the community is concerned, one of the informants, Bhod Raj Sharma claimed that they were originally the inhabitants of Rainawari, Srinagar. To escape the tyranny of the Mughal rulers of the valley, they migrated to Kishtawar and from there a man named Ramanand migrated along with his family to the place now called as Tipri. He is the progenitor of the community. But this account of the origin of the community does not have any documentary evidence.

Religion

The religion of the community appears to be Shaivite Hinduism. The statues of lord Shiva and goddess Parvati are the most prevalent ones. The symbols of Trishul, snake and Om are prominent. These symbols are found round the doorways of houses, temples and shrines. The pictures and symbols of other gods and goddesses like Shakti or Shairo Wali Mata and Lord Ganesha are also found but are not as prevalent as the statues, pictures and symbols of Shiva and Parvati.

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