Please introduce yourself and tell us about your community.
Zubair Torwali is a writer and activist for the rights of all the marginalised linguistic communities of north Pakistan. He is the founder of the civil society organisation Idara Baraye Taleem o Taraqi, and the author of Muffled Voices: Longing for a Pluralist and Peaceful Pakistan (2015), among others. He lives in Bahrain, Pakistan.
The Torwali language and people: https://aeon.co/essays/how-dardistan-became-one-of-the-most-multilingual-places-on-earth
The Torwali language is said to have originated from the pre-Muslim Dardic communities of Pakistan (Viaro & Inam-ur-Rahim, 2002). The people who speak the language are called Torwalik or Torwal (Grierson, 1929). The area where Torwali is spoken is also known as Torwal by other Dardic communities like Gawri and Kohsitani. In Torwali folk literature, the entire area is referred to Tu:aal (Torwal). For instance in this Torwali couplet: Du zar Tu:aal hu shid egi Saidu si Bachaa, Thamurd Jaen Chi Dherina wa ni hi yi Panah ” (Torwali Z. , 2016) “Two thousand Torwal as well as the Ruler of Saidu knew, that (she) is still alive—didn't sink into the earth.” An another old couplet in Torwali says “Tu:aal Shid Hu Maasho Aa Khae Burai Ingola, Mhery Sha-e Theli Hey Mhi Sherin Lupata (Gul, 2017)”. “Auntie, Torwal came to know [of my love]; how I hide my beloved. Now let me put it [beloved] on my head as it is now my sweet dupatta”. George A. Grierson has also shown the area from Madyan town to the boundary of Kalam as Torwal in his map of the area. (Grierson, Torwali, 1929) Aurel Stein (Stein, Reprint 2000, p. 89), however, mentions the entire area beyond Churrai (Madyan) as Swat Kohistan or Torwal in his book On Alexander’s Track to the Indus. A history of the Pushtuns known as “Towarikh Hafiz Rahmat Ali” i.e. Histories of Rahmat Ali, written by ancient scholars and reproduced by a person Mirza Muhammad Ismail Qandahari in 1864 CE for the orientalist , H.W. Roverty (Tahir, 1979), and compiled by Pir Muazzam Shah states that the entire Swat to Torwal and Tirat (Shah, 1979)…….. were under the rule of Khan Kaju. The Torwal area was brought under the Swat State by 1922 (Barth, 1956) after a number of small scale wars with the Torwali people, though they used to be wild but had no cohesion (Hay, 1934). Dr. Leitner mentions the area as Torwal in his travel account, ‘A Rough Account, collected in 1886, of Itineraries in the “Neutral Zone” between Central Asia and India’ (Chaghatai, 2002) and states, ‘There are many wealthy people in Branihal [today’s Bahrain], which may be considered to be the capital of Torwal’.
Like other Dardic communities, the Torwali people do not know where they and their language originated. Majority of the Torwali attributed their descent to Arabs by ‘boasting and Arab origin’ (Hay, 1934) and call themselves Kohistanis , an identity given by the Pathans (Barth, 1956) who captured their lands and converted them to Islam.. This can be due to the fact that “ the Dards unfortunately did not succeed in arousing comparable interest” (Jetmar, 1961); and their history and origin remained shrouded in the debris of history. Although few reports have been done by the British colonial officers during their service in the mountains but that was more superficial. (Jetmar, 1961). References Barth, F. (1956). Indus and Swat Kohistan-an Ethnographic Survey (Vol. II). Oslo: Forenede Trykkerier. Chaghatai, M. I. (2002). Writings of Dr. Leitner: Islam, Education, Dardistan, Politics and Culture of Northern Areas. Lahore, Pakistan: Government College Research and Publication Society & Sang-e-Meel Publications. Grierson, G. A. (1929). Torwali An Account of a Dardic Language in Swat-Kohistan. UK: Asian Educational Services. Gul, S. (2017, August 26). (Z. Torwali, Interviewer, & Z. Torwali, Translator) Bahrain Swat, Pakistan. Hay, R. W. (1934). The Yousafzai State of Swat. 241. Jetmar, K. (1961, February ). Ethnological Research in Dardistan 1958 preliminary report. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 105(1), 79-97. Shah, P. M. (1979). Tuwarikh Rahmat Khani. (P. Academy, Trans.) Peshawar: Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. Stein, A. (Reprint 2000). On Alexander's Track to the Indus. New Delhi, India: Bahvana Books & Prints. Tahir, M. N. (1979). Preface to Tuwarikh Rahmat Khani. (P. Academy, Trans.) Peshawar: Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. Torwali, Z. (2016, September 22). (N. A. Torwali, Interviewer) Viaro, A., & Inam-ur-Rahim. (2002). Swat: an An Afghan Society in Pakistan. Geneva, Switzerland: City Press and Graduate Institute of Developmental Studies.
Tell us about your language (for example: where your language is spoken, how many speakers there are, does your language have a writing system/script?).
Torwali [trw] A Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan family, Torwali is spoken in the Bahrain and Chail areas of District Swat in Northern Pakistan. According to some estimates the Torwali people count themselves more than 120,000 while recent research counts the number of speakers of the Torwali language around 130,000 . ‘Possibly half of them live in the heartland, which is located in northern Pakistan, in the Swat River Valley in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province ’.
Rigorous work on the revitalization of Torwali language has been carried out since 2004 and under this program a mother-tongue-based ‘MLE program that was established in 2005 by IBT, a registered community-based organization, which includes a large volume of locally produced curriculum and resources, two glossaries (not full dictionaries) have been produced and published by Torwali speakers’.
So far considerable written material has been produced in Torwali which include books on the folk Torwali poetry, folktales, daily usage trilingual book, small dictionaries for students and ‘also several biographies about well-known historical figures which were written by respected scholars in Urdu have been translated into the Torwali language’ . The organization, Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi (IBT) has also produced six music videos that portrayed traditional Torwali musical songs that had been adapted to incorporate some contemporary sounds. These videos are watched and liked widely, even among the Torwali diaspora, and greatly appreciated by Torwali speakers everywhere. A local cable TV station, which includes some Torwali programming, was established with help and support from IBT. Most of the activities described above have happened since the year 2006. In 2021 IBT also published a Torwali poetry collection by a Torwali poet, a translation with brief explanation of the last ten surahs (chapters) of the Holy Quran with the six basic kalmas of Islam and namaaz (the five times prayers of Muslims). IBT also published a journal, Sarbuland, in Urdu on the languages, histories, myths, cultures and societies of northern Pakistan.
According to researchers and writers ‘The Torwali language revitalization and development program stands out as one of the prominent and large-scale programs in Pakistan ’. IBT has also won the Lingua Pax International Award 2021 for its extra ordinary work . Though Torwali has now better literacy among its speakers yet it is too low for a sustainable community. About 19 percent of the population can now read or write it.
Tell us more about your cultural practices (example: share music and songs, poetry, art, food, dance, stories, and traditional practices).
Please look into this YouTunbe channel. It is mine. There are many Torwali songs, music, talks and interviews plus documentaries in it.
What are your hopes and desires for the future of your language(s) and the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032?
I am hopeful given the achievements we have so far achieved that my language and the languages of North Pakistan will get enough attention from the government and international organizations and researchers. In the next ten years we plan to publish more, implement other literacy programs in our community and will be able to produce dictionaries, course books and other materials.
Are there any individuals (advocates, activists) or specific projects in your community that you would like to highlight or share?
We are IBT (Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi) an organization in the areas of research, advocacy, education, publications and media campaigns for the Torwali and such other languages. There are several activists, writers, researchers and social leaders associated with this organization.
Are there any resources or links you would like to share for people to learn more about your language, culture, history and community? Please list them here.
Publications 2022 Torwali, Zubair (June). “Mother Language Education: The Torwali Multilingual Education Model” https://criterion-quarterly.com/mother-language-education-the-torwali-multilingual-education-model/
2022 Torwali, Zubair (June) “The Polyglots of Dardistan” Aeon Magazine . https://aeon.co/essays/how-dardistan-became-one-of-the-most-multilingual-places-on-earth
2021 Torwali, Zubair (Dec 2021), “The Dards, Dardistan and its linguistic tapestry” Bi-annual research journal, “Pashto” V. 50, Issue 662, Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar, Pakistan Link: http://www.pashto.org.pk/index.php/path/article/view/233
2021 Torwali, Zubair (Sept.2021), “Attempting Inclusive Education” in the book ‘Reforming School Education in Pakistan & The Language Dilemma” by Zubeida Mustafa, Published by Paramount Books (Pvt.) Ltd., Karachi Pakistan. https://paramountbooks.com.pk/product/reforming-school-education-in-pakistan-the-language-dilemma
2021 Torwali, Zubair. (June 2021), “My Dardistan and its linguistic tapestry’ Criterion Quarterly, Vol. 16, Issue. 2. https://criterion-quarterly.com/my-dardistan-and-its-linguistic-tapestry/
2021 Torwali, Zubair. (Apr. 2021). “The Torwali Multilingual Education Model”, Academia Letter, Link: https://www.academia.edu/47515025/The_Torwali_Multilingual_Education_Model
2021 Torwali, Zubair. (Apr 2021), ‘Culture and music of Dardistan’ Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 16, Issue. 1 https://criterion-quarterly.com/culture-and-music-of-dardistan/
2021 Torwali, Zubair. 2021. (ed) ‘Surbuland’ a research book in Urdu on the sociology, languages, histories and cultures of High Asia.
2021 Torwali, Zubair. 2021. (Translated Torwali poetry book “Inaan’ into Urdu).
2021 Torwali, Zubair. 2021. ‘Preserving and Promoting the Endangered Languages of North Pakistan in a Digital Age’. The SDC Anthology 2020 by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan. https://sdpi.org/sdpiweb/publications/files/SDC-Anthology-2020.pdf
2020 Torwali, Zubair. 2020. ‘Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, over the last two decades’ Vol. 15, Issue 4. Criterion Quarterly, Islamabad. https://criterionquarterly.com/education-inkhyber-pakhtunkhwa-pakistan-over-the-past-two-decades/
2020 Torwali, Zubair. 2020. “Adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) to Torwali”. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 64 (August):241-48. https://doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.64.2020.583.
2020 Torwali, Zubair, Countering the challenges of globalization faced by endangered languages of North Pakistan, Language Documentation and Description journal Volume 17 http://www.elpublishing.org/itempage/181
2020 Compiled Torwali -English Dictionary for students—online.
2020 Torwali-Urdu-English talking dictionary online edition.
2020 Compiled Torwali -English Dictionary for students—online.
2020 Torwali-Urdu-English talking dictionary online edition.
2019 Torwali, Zubair. Anonymous poems of Torwali translated in English for the book, ‘Poems on the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Endangered Languages’. (ed) Chris McCabe. London.
2019 Torwali, Zubair. Early Writing in Torwali,. London: Routledge, Book chapter.
2019 Torwali, Zubair. Revitalization of Torwali music and culture, WeMountains, Swat.
2018 Torwali, Zubair. Language Revitalization — A Case Study of Torwali. Criterion. Vol. 12. Issue 4. Islamabad.
2018 Torwali, Zubair. Strengthening Language and Identity a Case of Torwali Language. Dimension Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Issue# XIII, pp. 21-39.
2017 Torwali, Zubair. Bahadar’s Almanac, Langscape Magazine, Vol. 6. Issue 2. p. 42--46, Terralingua, Canada.
2017 Torwali, Zubair. Language Revitalization: a Case Study of Torwali. Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 12. Issue. 4. Islamabad.
2017 Torwali, Zubair. Reversing Language Loss through an Identity Based Educational Planning: The Case of Torwali language, Eurasian Journal of Humanities Vol. 1. Issue 2, p 23--39. Malaysia.
2016 Torwali, Zubair. The Issues of Linguistic Diversity in Pakistan’s Education Policies. Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 11. Issue. 4. Islamabad.
2016 Torwali, Zubair. Land and Forest Governance in Swat. Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 11. Issue 3. Islamabad.
2016 Torwali, Zubair. Threats and Revival of Endangered Music. Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 11, Issue.1.Islamabad.
2015 Torwali, Zubair. Muffled Voices: a longing for a pluralist & peaceful Pakistan. Lahore: Book. Multilines Publishers.
2015 Torwali, Zubair. Vestiges of Torwali Culture. Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Swat.
2015 Torwali, Zubair. The Ignored Dardic Culture of Swat. Journal of Language and Culture. https://academicjournals.org/journal/JLC/article-abstract/CBBA2D553114
2015 Torwali, Zubair. The Ignored Dardic Culture of Swat. THAAP Journal, p. 161--174. Lahore.
2015 Torwali, Zubair. The Ignored Dardic Culture of Swat. Criterion Quarterly. Vol. 10. Issue. 1. Islamabad.
2012 Torwali, Zubair. Malakand Division: Conflict, Floods and Response. Criterion Quarterly. Vol 7, Issue 2. Islamabad.
2012 Torwali, Zubair. Inaan: Torwali classic poetry. Book. Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Swat.
2008 Torwali, Zubair. Torwali Alphabet Book. Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Swat.
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