[L1]End of Introduction?

Then starts a new chapter (heading).

 

 

The food contained no spices. Stone salt was melted by rubbing it in the saag dish. Wheat bread and meat was served only in times of festivities such as marriages and bilaeth. Bilaeth is a term used for large meal gatherings during certain rituals such as demanding God’s grace in after life. In Bilaeth pure ghee with honey was also served as an alternative of meat. The food was served in vessels made of either wood or mud. Utensils made of copper and other metals were very rare. Pots made of mud were used for cooking, keeping water and other liquids.

Tea was not common here in the past. Often melted clarified butter, ghee, was poured into the dish with the help of pans. A special pot dhoan was also used as a pot for carrying water or ghee.

The food was put into one of the large pots and people in groups ate from it. The corn cakes were soaked in the sauce. Some ghee was sprinkled over it and this was considered very delicious meal. Mostly there were woolen mats to set upon while setting to eat. Wooden seats were also used (Figure 3).

 

 

Furniture

In the past, furniture was made simply. Beds were made of wood stalks and ropes. These ropes, made from animal hides, were braided together to make the beds tight. Chairs were not common, used mostly by wealthy families. There were two kinds, both called shaen. Both sat low to the ground, about six inches, and made from rope. One kind included a straight back, made from engraved wooden planks. A simpler version had no back. Shaens large enough for two people were also made (Figure 4).

 

 

Maize grains were stocked in a large wooden box called ashaan. The flour was stocked in a smaller wooden box. These smaller boxes were often engraved with beautiful symmetrical figures. These were called taen. Taens were also used for keeping clothes. There were also taen for keeping money. In those days silver or copper coins were used as currency. There were no carpets. Woolen woven rugs were used instead. These were called poray. Then came a more refined woolen woven mat called lamsay. The rugs made of grass were also common in the past. 

Shaens are still in use but asshaan only in more isolated villages situated far away from main roads. Mostly they are replaced by aluminum chests. The taen are no more in use. Rich luxury furniture such as sofa sets and dining sets is probably going to be common.

 

 Clothing

Dress was usually  very  simple.  Men  used  a  couple  of dresses. One was new for special events while the other one was for daily use.

There was no use of turbans. Hard oval leather caps were worn by men. These were wrapped with long stripes of cloth. Common people could not wear such caps. Pokhols, woolen caps folded many times up to the blade; and Kurakuli, hard conical caps made of fur animal hides came later. A kind of winter coat called goan was worn by men. This was woolen and hand-woven. For sleeping the people used a mat made of goat wool. This was called pelaes. Women used to wear Shalwar Kameez. The shirt was embroidered with coloured thread and small pieces of silver.

These shirts had large wide sleeves and embroidered collar. The women’s trousers were folded many times like the Balouch traditional men trousers are. On the head the women wore a black blanket called taa. This was both for decency, purdah and protection in cold climate. The old ladies also wrapped their heads with small scarves of black cloth called shaeghaen (Figure 5). Women used to braid their hair into a large braid. To keep hair open was not considered graceful. On special occasions women also wore colourful shawls as this Torwali old couplet tells us:

[Huramza mozi ye  daryiab  si  lal  thua.  Dhuth  lhaghur asheem o sha zed zarin shawl thua.]

[[To the rival Huramza is like a pearl from the sea. She has red soft lips and wears a crimson shawl on head]

 

 

Footwear

There were no boots except the barge like shoes called kho?ore. The rich men and women both used to wear them. They were decorated with silk thread. A type of wooden shoes was also used and  an alternative to slippers. These were called kharpa.

Men also wore thawat in winter. The thawats were not shoes but animal hides which men wrapped around their feet up to knees. These were especially used when there was snow. A kind of special shoes made up of hay (rice crop hay) was also in use. These were also made for a bride. More braided these shoes were more graceful they were considered. The number of braids could exceed seven.

Several of these old shoe models are no longer used.  goan, khazore, kharpa and thawat are no more in use. The embroidered shirts are not used. The headwear, pakhol is there but its use is not common; and is gradually replaced by white caps mostly made in Dir. Karakuli is now used by the few notables only. However, it is still regarded as a sign of grace.

 

Rituals

Marriage

Marriages were normally held in an early age. It was usually as low as thirteen years both for girls and boys. A girl could never propose her mate. Boys could do so through their mother. Even the girl’s wish was not enquired. Her wish was what her parents especially father wanted to be. For proposing a delegation from the boy’s family went to demand the relation. An engagement was made and the boy and girl were betrothed through nikah (marriage bond). Some time after this engagement marriage was organized. There were no dolies in first. These wedding cradles came later to the culture. The bride was led to the bridegroom’s house by a close relative. This was usually done late evening or early morning. The dowry contained a wooden chest in which the bride’s clothes were carried to her husband’s house. The dowry also contained cattle, goat, cow or a bull. As there was no separate room for the newly married couple, hence the bride was seated on a mat stretched in a corner of the big multiple purpose room. The bride was also accompanied by one of her female close relative such as mother’s sister, brother’s wife and rarely by father’s sister. This is still done. This special companion was/is called saet. Property right  of  the  bride  upon  the bridegroom called mehr (dower) was common but not practiced. The wife usually conceded the property of meher to her husband. Its amount was also little. The mehr in the form of jewelry was not much. The ornaments used then were of silver. It was not refined as it now. Gold was not used. There were no written agreements regarding mehr and nikah.

Now dowry is very large. It includes a lot of furniture and daily-use items. Gold jewelry is common, and its quantity is determined during engagement negotiations. People now tend to write agreements regarding mehr that include house, land and jewelry. In both the bride and bridegroom’s houses, a communal meal was/is served to close relatives and friends in the village. The meal consists of a single dish and rarely includes wheat bread.

People were invited to the marriages by special envoys called kotwaal. Their job was not only to invite people at the time of marriages, but they also informed people of someone’s death, a large meals and ashar (a local festival that will be described subsequently). These envoys, along with blacksmiths, drummers, pipers, barbers and circumcision surgeons were considered low caste even though they played an important role in the community. They are called Qasab Go, which literally means artisans. A formal of procession, called jaen, was usually organized by a close relative or friend of the bridegroom to his house soon after the marriage. It included scores of people waving large, colorful folded flags, called tugh. It was a way to honor the bridegroom. The more tughs visible in the procession meant the more social prestige of the family of the bridegroom or the bride as this Torwali ?o indicates:

 

Kamal Tugh-a si bor sawad Anath si bawa

Mhi ghinu si samaam shid nu thu Aphara

 

[Kedam (a village name) was made a bouquet of Tughs (flags) by Anath’s father. It is the arrangement to marry me, and my detested friend is not informed]. i.e. The arrangement for my wedding is made so graceful by the great number of people with colorful flags who attended the occasion and my disloyal friend is not aware of it.

 

 

Local musicians accompanied this procession, playing their instruments. The piper played his pipe that was called surni while the drummer played his drum, it was called dhumaam. All these instruments were locally made. 

 

This procession also had cattle with them as a gift for the groom. No such procession exists now. In villages where there is the wedding cradle there exists the procession, jaen. The tughs are no more there. After a few, mostly seven days the bride’s companion was/is led back to her home with many gifts including raw and cooked food. This was called  satama.  When the  bride was sent to her husband house by her parents after her coming on satama the practice was/is called rukhsati i.e, seeing off.

There was a consistent custom of sending gifts, usually food items, to the married woman by her parents on special occasions as Eid. This custom is still practiced by mothers now. The gifts thus sent with the bride or her companion when the latter was ‘seen off’ by the groom’s house, were/are distributed among the neighbors as Naman. Naman usually consists of wheat bread fried in ghee mixed with gur (raw sugar), fruits, checkins and other food items. Now the rich people make some jewelry for the Saet aw well.

 

Welcome and greeting rituals 

Barbarye was a common word to greet each other. Kherset aap was/is another word for greeting. Usual Pakistani peace greeting, salam, has by now replaced barbarye. The younger women used to bow when greeting the old ladies. They even touched their feet. The old lady in turn kissed the younger one on forehead. This practice is rarely observed now.

 

Social gatherings

People used to gather to a common-house usually owned by the chief of the village. This was called bhetak; and sometimes, hujra. People also used to sit around the fire pit in mosques when it was winter. In the mosques the elderly used to tell folk stories; share their experiences and discuss local politics.

In the bhetak people entertained themselves by music. It was very simple. The instruments used were sitar or rabaab and a mud pitcher with a neck.                                   

The open end of the pitcher was tightly covered with either hide or other flexible material. Torwali zo was then the only song sung in hujras. Besides music jokes, anecdotes and riddles were also means of entertainment in the hujras. The hujra and mosque-fire-pits gatherings are not in existence now. Music is there but its use is less. The Torwali old zo gradually vanishes and is replaced by parody of Urdu and Pashto famous songs.

 

 Festivals

There were no festivals except the two eid celebrations of the Islamic calendar. New clothing and eid greetings were common. No greeting cards were used. The village chiefs were visited and greeted on eid days. This trend gradually loses its importance. A small margin of people also exchanges greeting cards.

A   kind of common festivity  was  in  practice.  It  was performed in the time of reaping and sowing crops, cutting hay, threshing maize grains from the cobs and building a house. It was called asher. People gathered to work. It was circulated among the villagers. During this event music was played by the professional. The workers used to sing Torwali zo while working. For ashar of threshing maize grains special type of Torwali verse was made by poets. It was /is called phal. phal was/is sung differently from zo. Two examples of phal:

Yeyi sanam yeyi aaj me pande sanam yeyi-a

He yae Badakhshan si gha peshpesh te qadam deyi-a

[There comes, comes my beloved along the way today. She takes steps like the mare from Badakhshan]

Hi shala si ka na thu a thung de de kiy juda.

Isi misaal alimo si ga sanam zid palara

[Heart is not like a piece of wood that I should chop with an axe. Its like alimo (a creeper/vine) went coiled around my beloved]

The ashar is not very common today.

 

  Honour and family grace rituals

Tribal fights and generation to generation enmities were common upon issues such as land, girl elopement etc. As there were no courts the land related issues were settled by force. Before the government of waali (before 1925) the local jirga had the function of both police and court. After the Waali’s government hakims (judges) were there to settle the disputes. In his government police was very powerful as everybody was used to fear the policeman called the nowker.

In case of a girl’s elopement by a boy the couple was sought; and on finding shot to death. An enmity was going between the two families for generations. Often people tried to mediate and reconcile the dispute. The procedure for the reconciliation was to punish the boy’s family indirectly. As the girl’s elopement was considered a severe disgrace, her family was compensated by giving them some cash and a girl as well. This girl, in many cases would not be of age in the time of reconciliation. Only after the settlement the eloped girl, now married, was allowed by her father’s family to enter their house. This was called dar. To have dar means to have reconciliation. If the mediation failed to bring a settlement to the dispute there would be a prolonged enmity between the families till there was a vengeance.

Now an elopement or court marriage cases reconciliation method is the same but no prolonged enmity. Only a stand-off between the families exists for a long time. People go to police in such cases. Honor killing is almost ended. It happens very rarely. The penalty for the reconciliation is the same as it was before.

 

Rites of passage

Birth

In the time of male childbirth a feast was held in the house. This was to celebrate the birth. In this feast there was merry making, dancing, music and a meal. Relatives and neighbours came to congratulate the new birth. They brought gifts containing food items also.

Female childbirth was not celebrated, rather mourned. The mother was despised by her relatives and was considered responsible for the female childbirth. Even the husband would not enter the house. The mother was not treated well during her recovery period.

Now attitude of the people is changed to some extent but still male birth is considered superior to that of female. The new birth is congratulated as well. But the female birth gets less celebration. Mother of a female child is not now cursed by relatives. Gifts are now common on such occasions.

 

Circumcision

The child was circumcised at the age of two to five years. The professional drum player called dom did it.  He was at the same time a musician and a surgeon of this special operation. In this time common meal was served to relatives and neighbours. Greetings and congratulations were also there.  It is called sunnat in Torwali. Now children are usually circumcised at an early age. Doctors perform this operation.

 

Puberty

Here puberty means an age at which fasting and praying becomes obligatory on the child. This was not a special event in the life span and nothing has changed in this rite. However, in some families fasting of the child, even if he/she is underage, is now celebrated. This has obviously come from cities where the rich religious people do that.

 

Marriage

It has already been described in the previous pages.  It was a custom that the young girl would adhere to the boy who tore her shirt.

 

Old age

This was, and is, considered  an  honour  by  the  people, though not by old people. An old person was respected and was not supposed to do manual work.

Very back in the history, more than a few centuries ago, there was a custom that old person was thrown from a rock called maazulu/maaslu baat. Along with the person a large basket made of the stems of certain shrubs, containing round pieces of maize or barley bread was also thrown into the river. It is a myth and there seems no evidence of it. But there are places—rocks and cliffs—in theTorwali  speaking area, which have names like maaslu/maazlu or maarthalu. These words seem to be the derivatives of Maash Thalu i.e. to throw man.

The famous place near Mingora where now lies the public park is called Fiza Gut but in Pashto it isQaza Gut. Qaza means death and Gut, in Pashto, is stone or rock. Maybe the stone/rock has the same story as the maaslu/maazlu baat. If it is true, this is another evidence to the claim that Swat actually belonged to the Torwali people.

 

Anniversaries

No birthday was celebrated. Now a very small number of population in the town celebrates it. Death anniversaries were common. A large meal was / is served on the death day by the relatives each year. This was / is called tilaen.

 

Death

When somebody died, a large number of people would go to his or her house; the women for mourning and the men for burial. The women cried in musical accents. The Islamic rites of bath, coffin and prayers were fulfilled and the dead body was laid to rest. There was a large meal served while the dead body was still lying at home.  After the burial there were seven smaller meals by the relatives in the successive evenings. These were called niyashams meaning simply evenings. There were considerably bigger meals in the evening of each Thursday for successive seven weeks. These were called shugaer, Fridays. It is perhaps due to the sacredness of Friday in the religion. Another reason is that here people regard the night with the next day. Friday night means the night following Saturday. In the time of the last Friday meal of chehlum was served. It is called dubeshum, fortieth. People would come to the house of the dead for three days and condoled with the relatives. The people gathered in the funeral were also paid either in cash or in kind such as gur, soap etc. This is called iskhaat.

Now there are more changes. The mass meal at the time of the burial is no more. Some people still hold the Evenings and Fridays giving a basis to this practice from their particular religious creed. The tilaen is rarely practiced. The iskhaat is not common but a few rich families still practice it; and most often distribute cash among the people (men and women) who gather for the funeral.

The dead is buried in rectangular wooden casket about 5 feet deep. The casket is open on two sides. The dead is laid on the ground inside the casket and on its upper side wooden planks are nailed. The tombs are some-times surmounted with wooden structure around it as well (Figure 6).

 

 [L1]References below:

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ii) is that all?

iii) place of edition missing

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