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Sadaket A Malik

Pangwali has been, for questions of geographical convenience, classed as a Dialect of Chameli. It is a mixed language, some of the speakers having immigrated from the mountains of Bhaderwah Bhalessa and the neighborhood, while others came from lahul and Kulu. It is, therefore, to be expected that in many particulars Pangwali should agree with the various dialects of the Bhadrewahi group, especially the Bhalesi dialect and this is the fact. There seemed close lexical similarities of Pangwali with that of Bhalesi dialect which is presently spoken by at least one lakh population of three tehsils of Gandoh, Chilli Pingal and Kahara besides other areas upto Thathri and borders of Bonjwah where Bonjwali and Saroori started extended its frontiers. The group which is a western Pahari chain of the chenab valley as the GA Grierson has called consists

of three different forms of speech in which Western Pahari is merging into Kashmiri, and Pangwali may be taken as a member of the same group.

It illustrates the first stage of merginy, the Kashmiri influence becoming stronger as we get into Bhadrawah. Kashmiri is another language which has a great influence in this region since the people are bilingual. On the other hand Pangwili also shows signs of chameli influence, as it is spoken entirely within the chamba, Grierson has classed it as a dialect of that language.

In dealing with Bhdrawahi Bhalesi and Padri he has put it in the western pahari classification. Bhalesi and Bhaderwahi both are spoken in the present day Doda and the trio tehsils of Gandoh, Chilli pingal and Kahara upto Thathri.

Once Bhalessa was a part of the jagir of Late Raja Amar singh in Jammu region immediately to the north-west of Chamba State, and south of the Chenab river.

Grierson has called Bhalesi a form of Bhaderwahi, spoken in Bhalessa, a valley a few miles to the east of the town of Bhadrawah, and between it and the Chumba frontier.

The entire society is having the ethnic relevance. Food habits, Festivities, Dresses, Food items, Death rites are common and have distinct identities. The ethnic composition of Bhalesians comprises commonality. The languages like Pahari Bhalesi is common among all the communities and is understood by the all the people. The food items shared commonly includes the Makki ki Roti and "Sarsoon ka Saag" having the traditional ethnic relevance. The area having rich agricultural produce and food items having exception like Rajma Dal, Saag and horticulture produce like apples, apricot, and other dried fruits. The lassi is a common drink to paharis.

The pahari dress which is common includes warm clothes like Woolen coat (ooni coat) and woolen pahari trousers (Ghutna). These pagari dresses of Bhalessa are used commonly by bilingual speakers like Hindus Muslims and Gujjers. The other dresses of paharis of Bhalessa include Salwar Kameez, Woolen feran etc. The traditional grassy shoes (pulhoor) is also prevalent.

The marriage pattern of paharis of Bhalessa is common, women are the sole authority of household matters besides this they took part in daily activities of agriculture, goat, sheep and cattle, maize cultivation, grass cutting and many more. The rites of paharis are slightly different and there is no other difference in other traditions, culture, folklore, language. The language of Bhalessi is a link language between different religious beliefs. The area if Bhalessa constitute Gujjer population too, there is no such difference between the dresses, folklore, food habits between Pahari Gujjer and Hindu population of Bhalessa.

The houses of Pahari are muddy, they are plastered with mud, The paharis of Bhalessa in comparison to other paharis of Padder, Bhaderwah, Saraz, Pogal, are the same. Meanwhile the paharis of erstwhile Doda differ from other paharis of Poonch Rajouri, Karna and other parts of Kashmir. The area of Bhalessa has a gaddi population too. The gaddies of Bhalessa are inhabiting the upper reaches of Bhalessa popularly known as Dhok (Dhar). These pastoral communities are integral to the pahari culture. The area of Bhalessa is inhabited by weather-beaten bakarwal men who keep roaring in search of pastoral purpose from Kathua, Punjab and Jammu. The local pahari shepherds are a part of Pahari ethnic culture. The population of such families can be in thousands. The Pahari of Bhalessa who are shepherds are integral to the ethnic society of Bhalessa Doda.

Bhalessa region is a multilingual Kashmiri and is also spoken widely. Besides the Bhalesi being a pahari dialect of the area. Bhalesi has its own Rich words and plethora of grammar. It is listed in the First linguistic survey of India volume IX. Bhalesi dialect has some similarities with Bhaderwahi but has its own distinct phonology. Bhalesi is widely mentioned in the studies conducted by P K Kaul, Petterhook and Ghrambelley. The people belonging to Bhalessa (GandohBhalessa, Chilly Pingal, Jitota, Neeli, BathriChanga, Khaljugasar, AlniGingota, Basnota, and Kahara Tehsils speak Bhalesi and it is evident that its people are pahari speaking People (PSP).

However, Bhalesi comes under the umbrella of Indo Aryan languages and enjoys the same right as provided to the himachili, Pothwari, Kangri and others. The unique feature of Bhalesipahari language is that it is spoken by all the communities, both Hindus and Muslims so it is a link language between the two communities. Bhalesi practice distinct Pahari Culture and are more closely related to the Pahari languages spoken in Himachal Pradesh and Bhaderwahi.

The Bhalesi dialect is surrounded by the other pahari languages like Chinali, Pangwali and Chambeali to the south east, Padri to the north east, Sarazi to the west and Bhaderwahi respectively to south.

The Bhaderwahi and Bhalesidiffers in the area of preponderance of diphthongs, the dropping of /l/ between vowels, for example in Bhalesi we pronounce black as /Kalo/ in comparison to Bhaderwah we call it /Kao/.

Bhalesi is spoken in trio tehsils of Gandoh, Chilly pingal and Kahara and some parts of Thathri sub division. The trio tehsils of Bhalessa sub division enjoy distinct cultural and ethno linguistic identity and common language features. The Pahari Speaking People of Bhalessa are both the communities and both csn speak this language well. Since Bhalesi is a lingua franca of Bhalessa.

The common feature of cultural heritage of Bhalessa includes sharing of

common brotherhood The area has mixed culture. Besides Pahari Bhalesi, people are speaking several other dialects, viz Mixed Kashmiri, Gojri. The Bhalesi is a common and linked language of the area. "Kod" is a popular cultural festival celebrated in Bhalessa. Kod and its own folklore. Other festivals are "Panyaou" "kanchoth" "Basow" "Dikhneen""Malchay" "Rang", BhejaMela of Beerdevsthan is the Biggest Night mela of District Doda held at BhejaBhalessa besides KalgoniMela. Gujjar and Bakarwals are nomads.Like the Guddies they come down to plain and barren areas of Punjab during winter. During summer they go deep in the mountainous valley of Bhalessa. The Bhalesi has a rich vocabulary of its own and can be groomed so as to overcome from the list of definetely endangered status. ItsPahari Shape and family need to be retained and its script need to be revived.

Bhalesi is a dialect spoken in the northern portion of Bhadarwah, a himalayan territory situated in Jammu-Kashmir. Bhalesi is a frontier dialect, lying in the immediate vicinity of many Paharl and Kashmiri dialects, indicating some parallel dialectical tendencies. Thus the dialect betrays the tendencies to vocalic Umlaut, which is a distinctive feature of the formation of plural, a phenomenon somewhat parallel to the Umlaut of vowels so predominant in Kashmiri. Owing to its isolated geographical position, Bhalesi is an eminent pattern of dialectical preservations and innovations. Thus its vocabulary is preserved, in a slightly modified form, the Sanskrit word [vantah] ni!'. Developed into Bhalesi [bafh] 'barren,' while Bhalesi [ jAkkori] ' a female calf, well-developed ' preserves Skr. [sakvari] a cow, occurring in the Atharvaveda. Dr. Siddeshwer Varma a noted linguist and a writer undertook in 1928 a linguistic tour to Bhalessa. Some rudimentary features of the Bhalesi dialect have been described in the Linguistic Survey of India, Vol IX Part IV, but no systematic investigation of the dialect on the spot had hitherto been made. But side by side with this series of words, there is another series in which the word for the territory of Bhalessa is bhal, while the Bhalesi dialect is either called simply 'bhali or 'bhah -gAlla. Now the etymology of this word bhal is obscure. It may go back to the Skr. word bhall-'good '. Locally it is known as Bhaleymanus or Bhaleylogoonka des.

Siddeshwer varma noticed in Bhalessa two sub-dialects, one spoken in the South, the centre of which is the village Kalhotran, the other spoken in the North, the centre of which is the village Jakyas. The following are a few distinctive

The vowel system of the Northern dialect indicates a tendency to glides or diphthongal vowels of delicate pronunciation like i: i, cf. past participles. Now it is clear that Bhalesi dialect has different lexical tendencies in northern and southern portions; in the Neeli area it is somewhat slightly different from what is spoken in Jakyas or chilly pingal. Not too much dissimilarity we find but atleast in pronunciation northern Bhalesi differs from southern one in terms of vowels and past participles. The comparative analysis of the different dialects has been made by the different linguists like G A Grierson who conducted extensive study of more then 367 languages of india. A british ICS officer and the head of the First linguistic survey of India (LSI), he has spared a chapter in its Volume 9 part 4 that Bhalessi being different from Bhaderwahi to the huge extent but comes under the chain of Bhaderwahi-Bhalesi-Padri classified under the western Pahari grouping of Indo aryan language system. The Bhalessi, Bhaderwahi, PadriSaraziPougali, Gadi, Deshwali are the other dialects near to the Bhalesi. The Other languages adjoining Bhalesi are Pangwali, Chameali spoken in Pangi and Chamba where we enter a language chain of himachali, Kangri, Lahuli and the indegenous culture of Himachal Pradesh.

Bhslesi is spoken by both the communities of Bhalessai.e Tehsil Bhalessa, Tehsil Chilly pingal and Tehsil Kahara where it has a connection with Bhaderwahi and BonjwaliPadri and Sarori dialects. Bonjjwali is spoken in Bonjwah area, Saroori in Saroor and Padri being a part of BhaderwahiBhalesiPadri chain is spoken in the saffron valley of Padder. Padder is a rich land and padri has reached its extinction due to non seriousness by the speakers and non adoption by the government authorities. Same is happening to the Bhalesi Dialect, it is an endangered dialect and is reaching extinction due to lack of minority status, Pahari speaking status for it.

Bhalesi has more than 90,000 speakers, both Hindus and Muslims and is not adopted so far. The Central Institute of Indian Languages and other organisations like Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art Culture and languages has not yet established a separate section for Bhalesi. Bhalesi has not even been granted minority language status, 4 percent Pahari reservation to its people. The people of Bhalessa are veering for adoption, enrichment and propagation of Bhalesi. The indegenous language movement is in place to grant this sweet language a minority status, 4 percent reservation in Jobs, Pahari hostels, special economic package and scholarships.

With regard to the survey and census this language is excluded. The pahari speaking Board of Jammu and Kashmir need to conduct fresh survey of pahari dialects like Bhalesi, Bhaderwahi, Padri, SaraziPougali, Gadi and Deshwali.

The fact that all the areas the entire region of chenab valley right from PogalParistan to Padder and Bhalessa comes under the language classification of western pahari as elucidated in the Linguistic surveys of India and other books.

Bhalesi is an indo Aryan language spoken in trio tehsils of Gandoh, Kahara and Chilly Pingal a region which is located in erstwhile Chenab valley of Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the George Ibraham Grierson, linguistic survey of

India appointed by the British government Bhalesi is classified under western Pahari besides Bhaderwahi, Padri, Poguli and Serazi. The serazi has been kept in the Kashmiri as well as in western pahari to some extent by some linguists.