Purigpa

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Purigpa
Total population
39,101 (2011)
Regions with significant populations
India
Languages
Purgi language
Religion
Predominately Shia Islam (97.5%)
Minority Sunni Islam (2.5%)[1][2]
Related ethnic groups
Other Dardic People and Tibetan People

The Purigpa are a community found in Kargil district, Ladakh, India and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Out of 39,000 Purigpas, 38,000 are Muslim. The remaining few are mostly Buddhist. In 2011, there were 992 Buddhists among the Purigpas.[3]

Social status

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As of 2001, the Purigpa were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination.[4] As of 2011 Population Census of India, Purigpa population stood at 39,101 with 20,119 males and 18,982 females. The adult sex ratio stood at 943 and child sex ratio at 971. They boasted a literacy rate of 67.5 per cent, which was better than the average tribal literacy rate of 50.6 per cent in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.[5][6]

History and culture

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The Purigpa have varied origins and are descendants of Tibetans and Dards. These two groups began intermingling from the 10th century onward.[1]

The Purigpa are primarily Shia Muslims of the Twelver sect while a minority practice Sunni Islam.[1][7] The Purigpa first converted to lslam under the influence of Noorbakshia preachers who arrived via Baltistan beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries.[1][7]

Purigpa traditional dress include the goncha (a type of robe) and staples of the local diet include consumption of tsampa and butter tea. Most Purigpa are farmers and the usage of the Tibetan calendar for agricultural purposes is still common.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Gellner, David N. (2013). Borderland Lives in Northern South Asia. Duke University Press. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-8223-7730-6.
  2. ^ Mukherjee, M. M. (30 January 2017). Exploring "The Himalayas": The Land of High Passes, Ladakh. Partridge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4828-8630-6.
  3. ^ "Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXIII JK-HP-ST". Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. ^ "List of Scheduled Tribes". Census of India: Government of India. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  5. ^ "12 Major Tribes of Jammu and Kashmir". Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  6. ^ Statistical Profile of Scheduled Tribes in India (https://tribal.nic.in/ST/StatisticalProfileofSTs2013.pdf)
  7. ^ a b Grist, Nicola (1995). "Muslims in Western Ladakh". The Tibet Journal. 20 (3): 59–70. ISSN 0970-5368.
  8. ^ Dollfus, Pascale (2021). "Indigenous People of Ladakh". Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
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