Chitral: From Toponyms to Demonyms

The word Chitral is an anglicized form of CheThraar, with first syllable pronounced as a retroflex variation ch followed by a soft t, long a and r sounds. On the surface, it seems to have been derived from chethur, literally from the field/farm. In its local context, the word refers to a town in the south of Chitral, which has been the capital of the whole area, especially since the British domination. The language spoken by the majority of people in the valleys of Chitral is Kowar (/k/aspirated), literally language of Kow. The enthnonym kow, a word of an unknown origin, is used as a rival candidate for comparison with Kalash. According to local traditions, the ethnic origin of Kow is placed in the northern valleys of Chitral, especially in Thor-Kow and Mool-Kow valleys. There are no written sources to historically trace the emergence of Kow in the northern valleys as an ethnic group to dominate the areas where the Kalash tribe (s) reigned earlier. The more we dig in history, the fuzzier it becomes. Hence we have to

rely on toponyms, which bear linguistic clues regarding the origin of place names and their inhabitants. The place names in the valleys of Chitral have four major layers: 1) 2) 3) 4) The Sanskrit Layer The Avestan/Persian Layer The Turkish/Mongolian Layer The Islamic Layer

The Sanskrit Layer: Many villages in Chitral bear graam as suffixes (in some cases as prefixes): maragraam, Shagraam, Shograam, Mizhigraam, and Zondraangraam. Two villages in the north have the same name, Maragraam. In Sanskrit, mair refers to hills and mountains, and graam to village, city, and the like. Thus the toponym Maragraam may be read as mountain village, or village at the foot of mountain. It is important to note here that the word graam is still used in villages to demarcate social boundaries. A village in Mastuj is called Graamuli, lower village (Muli means below in Kowar). Shagraam and Shograam may be variations on the same toponym with sha/sho as prefix, probably from Shiav (god) and might be read as divine village. Mizhigraam is in

Lot-kuh valley, which is in the north of Chitral town. The prefix mizh may be read as muzha, meaning common in Kowar. Zondhraangraam has Zondray in it, which is clearly an ethnotoponym (village of Zondhray tribe), as Zondray refers to a well-known tribe in Chitral. The suffix dhoor (house in Kowar) is used with many ethnonyms to suggest the ownership of a given location in a village. Some of the examples are Sadhaan-dhoor (house of sayyds). A village if Thor-kow is called Wer Kop,