Dards of Ladakh: Socio-Religious Beliefs and Cultural Practices

Abstract

This paper focuses on exploring the socio-religious beliefs and cultural practices of the minority Dard community residing in Ladakh, a newly designated Union Territory in India. Locally referred as Brog-pa, these people claim Aryan descent and have been recognized by the Indian government as one of the tribal groups in Ladakh. Scholars suggest that the Dards were among the earliest inhabitants of Ladakh, migrating from Gilgit and occupying a significant portion of the region once. However, due to the expansion of the State of Western Tibet, they were displaced and assimilated, leading to scattered settlements along the Indus River in the western part of Leh. Today, their villages lie scattered along the river Indus in the western part of Leh. Hanu, Hanu-burma, Hanu-gongma, Dha, Beema, Garkon, Dartsit are villages in order from Leh District. People of these villages had accepted Buddhism in the late 19^th century. Along with Buddhism, they still practice the socio-religious pre-Buddhist traditions. They believe in nature worship and the deification of mountains is accompanied by holy animal the Ibex. Thus, this study covers the ritual practices, beliefs of the pre-Buddhist belief system and cultural practices of the people of Dard in Ladakh.