Book Description

"As a son of renowned historian Mr. Sonam Phuntsog specialising on ethnic tribes, ancient art and culture of Ladakh , I was always interested in the rich and unique history of the region. I first got opportunity to closely interact with the distinct Dard(Brokpa) tribe during my first tenure as a teacher at the Govt. Primary School in Dah in 1997. The village is known as the last reserve of the ancient Aryan tribe which first inhabited the Indus Valley in about 2nd century B.C. In recent Years, the culture has been influenced by indigenous Ladakhi Buddhist and Islamic cultures. According to an another folklore, the tribe is descendants of the army of Alexander the Great who left some troops back following the conquest of India in 327 B.C. This and several other legends continue to surround this unique race that resembles Europeans rather than mountainous Ladakhis or people from mainland India. The people of the tribe dress is a unique fashion which is distinct from their colourful attire and adornment. Both men and women wear flowers and jewelery weaved in their headgear called 'Mun-tho-To'. I too developed an interest in the culture of the community and began researching on the history and legend, through verbal conversations. Unfortunately, the research remained incomplete as I was transferred out of Dah village. In 2013, Fate brought me back to the village as a Head master of the same School and I once again enthusiastically revived my research project. I began visiting annual festivals, historical sites of the Brokpa tribe from Batalik to Dah-Hanu villages, documenting conversations and verbal history from the elders and women-part of which is published in the local fortnightly Reach Ladakh in April 2015. Sadly, as modernisation, advancement in technology and communications reached the once isolated part of Ladakh, the tribe's once well preserved culture and history has slowly began to deteriorate. The younger generation is giving up the traditional appearance and habits in favour of modern dressing and prefers to make way to cities of Leh, Jammu, Delhi and even Nepal. Lack of written documentation on the culture of the tribe is now threatening to swallow the last remnants of its tradition. It is in this background I aim to congregate the rich and vast history of the tribe into a written format of a book, to preserve it for many more generations to come. I could not complete my work even in my second tenure in the region. And in 2019 March I was again transferred to Govt. Higher secondary School Biama and which helped me to add few more chapters in my book."