Genealogy of the People of Açharê't


The descent charter of the people of Açharê't (the açhar'îta or S'îng) begins with the ancestor maCô'k, who was driven out of cilâs in the Indus Valley in a power struggle, and branches out to encompass the various agnatic descent groups of today. The charter down through one line of each descent group (indicated by the plural ending -ê' or the Pashto word x'êl ‘troop') or inheritance group (kumb'a or kô'r ‘house', also a Pashto word) is shown below.

The transition from native pre-Islamic to Pashto Islamic forms is evident in the 8th to 7th ascending generations of the diagram below (ca. 1820-1840 AD). It is currently fashionable to replace the native plural ending -ê' of the eponymous ancestor's name with the Pashto word x'êl ‘troop' (from Arabic). Thus, the baDîlê' ‘The Sledgehammers' [a name borrowed from Kâmviri] become baDîl x'êl ‘Sledgehammer's Troop(er)', the gôbanêkê' ‘The gôbanô'ks' become gôbanêk x'êlgôbanô'k's Troop(er)', etc.

The discrepencies between this version of the descent charter and those reported by Alberto Cacopardo in his important forthcoming book Gates of Peristan (co-authored with his brother Augusto) indicate, aside from true loss of knowledge, a possible competition for "genealogical hegemony" among agnatic groups, with concomitant claims for inheritance and social superiority. Similar claims for the authenticity of one group's version over another's occur among the Kom and, undoubtedly, among the other ethnic groups of the region. In pre-Islamic Nuristân there was the institution (e.g., among the Kom) of the n'om Zu˜ vilâli ‘Name-Wailing Recitress', certain women who cried out a dead man's pedigree at his funeral. They were the main repositories of genealogical history, and their public performances probably checked the tendency for discrepant versions to proliferate. With the advent of Islâm, the "kâfir" funerary rights were swept away along with the rest of the former religion, and these women were relegated to silence. Since then, genealogical knowledge among the Kom has been kept mostly by interested men of various descent groups, and the tendency toward a proliferation of versions for political reasons has apparently increased.

In this and subsequent descent diagrams the scale on the left indicates the number of generations above that of current young adults (generation "0" = 1980 A.D.) in the longest generational line. Corresponding dates are, of course, rough approximations to reality; they are calculated based on a generation of 20 years, which accords well enough with observed rates in the region.


Gener-
ations
Ago
 
Agnatic Ancestors
ca.
|






| |
17 1640 maCô'k lâph'ur
(settled in l'aspur)
|





| | |
16 1660 Cô'k ?
(settled in kalâ's)
?
(settled in sâ'w)
|
15 1680 bôTâ'
|
14 1700 mitra'i
|
13 1720 baDil âw'al (baD'îl)
|
12 1740 zariN âw'al (zar'îN)
|
11 1760 kôTbaRô' kharaT m'îr
(an indentured servant from mum'oRm in Nuristân)
kharaTê',
kharaT x'êl
| |





|
| | |
10 1780 sur kh'ôN
surkhâNê',
surkhâN x'êl
girS'îng
girSîngê',
girS'îng x'êl
lâwr'ûk
| |




|
| | | | |
9 1800 phaT'ak
phaTakê',
phaTak x'êl
zar'îN
zariNê',
zariN x'êl
baD'îl
baDîlê',
baDîl x'êl
(includes adopted kâl'êSi)
gabar'ûT gulš'ai
| | | | |
| | |

|
| | | | | |
8 1820 hâydar âl'i âzamat šâ' râja kh'ôN šêt'ûn
šêtân_kô'r
mangal bê'k nilš'ai
| | | | | |
7 1840 musâ' mhamat šâ' malak mham'at talab d'în ("mulâ'")
mulâ_kô'r
mîr mâhd'î
mîrmhâdi_kô'r
kh'emu
| | | | | |
6 1860 malik šâ' mehrabâ šâ' šêr âl'i pasambê' šâ zam'ân bêz'ôt
| | | | | |
5 1880 šêr âl'i sêd wal'i mîr âl'am mîr jah'ân muqâr'ab ar'ab
| | | | | |
4 1900 mhamat šâl'i guldâli šâ' ** sêd âl'am sêt karam j'ân sêd ul-âm'îr * râm d'în
| | | | | |
3 1920 sêd âwat xâ'n rahama t šâ' âdam xâ'n rahîm ulâ' mahmad zam'ân mhamat qâd'im
| | | | | |
2 1940 Gâzi ud'în xâ'n * šêr mhamat šâ' fazil wâh'id ata ulâ' mahmat tâh'ir mhamat anbiâ'
| | | |
1 1960 siraj ud'in mukâram šâ' zafar ulâ' Golâm maham'at
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0 1980 burhân ud'in golâb maham'at

* Author's informants, August, 1985.
** Author of the genealogy discussed in Cacopardo & Cacopardo (forthcoming).



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First posted 28 Nov. 1998      Last modified 27 June 2000

Copyright © 1998-2000 by Richard F. Strand