Beneath Sanskrit and Persian: Tracing the forgotten Dardic kinship between Shina and Kashmiri

While the precise origin of the Kashmiri language remains unclear, it is an indisputable and evident fact that, over the centuries, Kashmiri has both absorbed influences from a multitude of languages and, in turn, exerted its own influence on other linguistic traditions.

The European scholar G.T. Vigne observed that the Kashmiri vocabulary comprises approximately 50% words of Sanskrit derivation.

It is estimated that 35-45 per cent of Kashmiri words are of Persian origin. Kashmiri incorporates a substantial vocabulary from Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, and English as well.

The Kashmiri language has also been influenced by tongues from distant regions, such as Russian.

For instance, the Kashmiri word Samovar (səme’var) is of Russian origin. Consider also Turkic loanwords found in Kashmiri, such as topp (cannon/gun), suba (province/district), and qenchi (scissors; from Turkic qayci).

The influence of languages spoken in the vicinity of Kashmir is also clearly apparent.

Kashmiri incorporates words from Balti, Ladakhi, and Shina. Conversely, Kashmiri words are also found embedded within these languages.

The speakers of the Shina language inhabit the region north of Kashmir, from Gurez extending to Gilgit and lower Hunza.

While the Kashmiri populace refers to them as Dards, the community itself identifies as Shina.

Numerous Kashmiri words are found in the Shina language, though this percentage is significantly higher in the Gurezi and Astori dialects of Shina compared to other Shina dialects.

This is attributable to the fact that the people of Gurez historically maintained stronger connections with Kashmir than with Gilgit.

Consequently, Gurezi Shina incorporates numerous Kashmiri phrases, idioms, and lexical items, such as phĕshil (bad omen), wālwāsh (a trap), traṭh (thunderbolt), ʦhaṭh (freezing wind), nav (boat), and handur (glacier in Kashmiri, Pile of snow fallen from a roof in Shina).

Conversely, certain Shina words are also present in Kashmiri.

Although fewer in number compared to loanwords from other languages, the influence and cultural significance of these Shina-derived terms may be even more profound.

Apparently, the Kashmiri word mouj (mother) is derived from the Shina word aaji (mother), and this lexeme is prevalent across all dialects of Shina.

Similarly, the Kashmiri word mol, meaning father, corresponds to the Shina word malu (father).

In most Indo-Aryan languages, the word for mother is typically maa, mader or mata.

The term mata exists in Sanskrit, and these forms do not contain the “j” sound. This particular phonetic feature is found only in Shina and Kashmiri.

However, Dr Muzaffar Khan maintains that moj is unrelated to Aryan forms like mater or mata; however, he connects the origin of the word mouj to the Gondi language (a South-Central Dravidian language, spoken by about three million Gondi people).

In Maqalaat, Professor Mohiuddin Hajini writes that in ancient times, before the Sanskrit overlay took place, Kashmiri must have contained a far greater number of Dardic words.

Consider this Kashmiri idiom: “chimro kaer cxaapin,” which signifies undertaking an exceedingly difficult task or becoming entangled in a dire predicament.

The literal meaning of the phrase is “to chew iron bangles.” Here, chemr denotes iron (from Shina chemr).

However, the contemporary Kashmiri word for iron is shëshitir.

This idiom is documented in the Kashmiri dictionary published by the Cultural Academy, which notes that chemr now survives only within this specific phraseological expression.

This linguistic relic suggests that chemr might have once been a synonym for Iron (shëshitir), or alternatively, that it was introduced to the valley centuries ago from Shina-Dardic regions or by Shina settlers.

Furthermore, Dr Muzaffar A. Khan, in Notes on Kashmiri Language, mentions several Burushaski words that are used in Kashmiri.

These words are also used in Shina and most likely entered Kashmiri through Shina, just as many Arabic words entered Kashmiri via Persian.

For example: dako (a wooden beam supporting a roof), ghuro, meaning light brown (ghurut in Kashmiri), and tal, which in Shina, Burushaski, and Kashmiri means “ceiling.”

In Shina, phiolu refers to the wooden implement used for clearing snow from rooftops. In Kashmiri, this tool is called phyohu.

Grierson, in his dictionary, describes it as “a kind of paddle or broad spade used for removing snow from house-roofs, or for scraping up mud in the streets.”

Likewise, the Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy’s Kashmiri dictionary identifies its origin as Dardic (Shina).

Turning to mythical beings, the neighbouring Pahadi regions do not seem to preserve these figures as prominently as Kashmir does.

But in the Shinaki (Shina-speaking regions), however, stories of Rantas, Rachi, Rachalo, and Roi are richly woven into the cultural fabric.

It remains unclear whether these legends travelled from the northern highlands, historically associated with the Pishachas—into Kashmir, or spread from Kashmir to those regions.

It seems likely that the Kashmiri Rih corresponds to the Shina Roi.

In Gilgit, tales of Rontos (Rantas’s husband), are still current, whereas in Kashmir, the figure of Rantas’s husband is no longer remembered.

Rantas is a mythical female hag in Kashmiri folklore. This terrifying figure is believed to enchant and abduct men on moonless nights, driven by sorrow over her lost husband.

In Astor, however, it is believed that the husband of Rantas is alive and alerts people prior to a Rantas attack.

The linguistic and mythological evidence points towards a deep, ancient connection between Kashmiri and Shina.

Shina loanwords in core vocabulary—kinship terms (mouj/mol), domestic tools (phyohu), and fossilised idioms (chemr)—reveal a Dardic substrate beneath Kashmir’s later Sanskrit overlay.

The presence of Burushaski words like tal that entered Kashmiri through Shina further illustrates Shina’s role as a linguistic bridge between regions.

This pattern of mediated borrowing mirrors how Persian later served as a conduit for Arabic vocabulary into Kashmiri.