CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Dard Aryan Tribe belongs from Ladakh Region of Jammu & Kashmir. They were recently in the news when seminar on the cultural traditions of Dard Aryans of Laddakh was organised during Dard Aryan Festival (Aryan Utsav) held in Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) from 16-21 January, 2019.

Detailed explanation-2: -Concept: They are a Buddhist group living 200 km from Leh are the villages of Dha, Hanu, Garkone and Darchik (villages together called “Aryan valley”) on both sides of the Indus River. The word ‘Dard’ is derived from a Sanskrit word, ‘Daradas’, which means people who live on hillsides.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Dard Aryans inhabit Dha, Hanu, Beema, Darchik and Garkone villages in Leh and Kargil districts. The villages are together called the Aryan Valley. The people of this region are completely different from those in other parts of Ladakh. They have unique physical features, social life, ethnic culture, and language.

Detailed explanation-4: -Dha and Hanu are located in the Brokpa region of Leh and are famously known as the ‘Last Aryan Villages of India’. Legend has it that when Alexander, the conquerer, came to the Indus Valley and then moved on to Beas, he left a few of his clansmen behind who settled down here.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan.