Hunza: the Cultural Ecology of a Hydraulic Kingdom
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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms international A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9427797 Irrigation and state formation in Hunza: The cultural ecology of a hydraulic kingdom Sidky, M. Homayun, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1994 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 IRRIGATION AND STATE FORMATION IN HUNZA: THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF A HYDRAULIC KINGDOM DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio state University By M. Homayun Sidky, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1994 Dissertation Committee: 'Approved by A. R. Walker E . E . Borguignon J. C. Messenger a/jt-tv" Advisor R. H. Moore DepartmefltwOf Anthropology Copyright by . Homayun Sidky 1994 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatful to The Ohio State University for awarding me a Presidential Scholarship that enabled me to conduct the research for this dissertation. I wish to thank Dr. Anthony R. Walker for his tolerant and patient supervision of this dissertation, for his constant support and encouragement beyond the call of duty, and for his suggestions and constructive criticisms. I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their insights, helpful suggestions, and support. I wish to express my gratitude for the support given to me during my course of study at The Ohio State University by Dr. C. M. Chen, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology. Finally, I wish to express my thanks to my Hunzakut friends who opened their hearts and homes to me during my brief stay in their country. VITA November 11, 1956 .............. Born - New York, New York 1978 ............................ B.A., Rocky Mountain College, Billing, Montana 1985 ............................. M.A. Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida PUBLICATIONS 1994 Shamans and Mountain Spirits in Hunza. Asian Folklore Studies 53:67-96. 1993a Irrigation and the Political Evolution of the High-Mountain Kingdom of Hunza. Asian Affairs 80:131-144. 1993b The Bitan of Hunza. Asian Culture Quarterly 21(1):78-86. 1993d Subsistence, Ecology, and Social Organization Among the Hunzakut: A High-Mountain People in the Karakorams. Eastern Anthropologist (46) 2:145-170. 1990 Malang, Sufis, and Mystics: An Ethnographic and Historical Study of Shamanism in Afghanistan. Asicin Folklore Studies 49 (2):275-301. 1989 Shamanism in Afghanistan. In Anthropology: Unity in Diversity, M. Sidky et al., eds. Occasional Papers of the Department of Anthropology No. 4. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Anthropology Studies in Cultural Ecology, Anthropology of Religion, Central Asia TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................... ii VITA .................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ...................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................... vi LIST OF PLATES ...................................... vii PREFACE ............................................. ix CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION: HUNZA AND THE STUDY OF STATE FORMATION.......................... 1 Introduction .............................. 1 Hunza: Geographical and Historical Background ................................ 2 The People and their Ethnolinguistic Affiliations................ 9 Hunza and the Coming of I s l a m ............. 18 Subsistence, Economy, and Social Organization ................................ 19 The Hunza S t a t e ........................... 26 The Anthropological Study of Irrigation . 32 Focus of the Present Study ............... 43 II. HUNZA: THE ECOLOGICAL SETTING ............... 44 The Physical Environment, Climate, and the Growing Season .......... 44 Land and Water: Hydraulic Ecology and Mountain Oasis Environments ............... 53 Soils, Soil Management, and Land-Use P a t t e r n s .................................... 68 III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUNZA'S HYDRAULIC WORKS AND RISE OF THE HUNZA STATE ..................... 74 IV. HYDRAULIC AGRICULTURE AND STATE AGRO-MANAGERIAL CONTROLS ................... 121 The Agricultural Cycle and State Regulation of Crop P r o d u c t i o n ............................ 121 iv Rituals and Ecological Regulation .......... 141 Hunzakut Agricultural Production .......... 147 V. LIVESTOCK HUSBANDRY ......................... 162 Livestock, Rituals, and Transhumant Pastoralism ...................... 162 Large Ruminants: C a t t l e .......................166 Small Ruminants: Goats and Sheep ............. 170 Transhumant Pastoralism and the Ritual Regulation of Alpine Grasslands ............. 177 Pastures, Pastoral Ideology, and Environmental Conservation ................... 179 Pastoral Production ......................... 188 VI. CROP-LIVESTOCK INTERACTIONS ................... 195 VII. CONCLUSION: IRRIGATION AND STATE FORMATION ....................................... 210 LIST OF REFERENCES........................................214 V LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Estimates of present-day population size and size of arable lands in villages in the Hunza Valley ............................... 149 2. Area under cereal production and estimated outputs of grain and straw on a 2 ha farm . 197 3. Estimated nitrogen requirements of the various crops on a 2 ha fa r m ...................198 4. Estimated outputs from various fodder sources ............................... 201 5. Estimated manure production capacity of Hunzakut ruminants (DM) and total outputs from livestock on a 2 ha f arm ................................. 205 6. Estimated nitrogen obtained from all sources on a 2 ha f a r m ................................. 207 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE 1. Map 1. Hunza's location between Central and South Asian................................ 3 2. Map 2. Village settlements along the Hunza Valley .................................... 11 3. Map 3. Central Hunza's major hydraulic works ............................. 82 4. Map 4. Expansion of Silim Khan's Political Control in the Hunza V a l l e y .................. 104 5. Map 5. Territorial expansion of the Hunza state during the reign of Silim Khan III . 106 6. The Hunzakut agricultural and ritual cycle . .132 7. The Hunzakut pastoral cycle ................. 172 8. Map 6. Central Hunza's upland pastures . .181 9. The flow of nutrients and materials in a Hunzakut farm .................................. 208 vii LIST OF PLATES PLATES PAGE I. Old road to Hunza ........................... 4 II. Central Hunza Valley ........................ 12 III. Ethnic groups in Hunza .................... 13 IV. Hunzakut Children ............................ 17 V. Around a Hunzakut Village ................... 24 VI. Royal Hunza .................................. 27 VII. Hunza*s terrain .............................. 45 VIII. Topographical shading ........................ 52 IX. Hunzakut farmlands .......................... 55 X. Ultar glacier ................................ 57 XI. Bulolo snowbed .............................. 58 XII. Irrigation channels .......................... 59 XIII. Field irrigation ............................ 61 XIV. Supervising water distribution ............. 64 XV. Irrigation channels clinging to precipitous cliffs above Ultar side-valley ............. 86 XVI. Hunzakut villager transporting boulder for irrigation channel wall ..................... 87 XVII. Activities during public festivals ........... 133 XVIII. Hunzakut livestock .......................... 164 XIX. Sheep and Goats Grazing ........................ 176 viii XX Summer P a s t u r e s ................................. 183 XXI Dairy production ............................ 189 XXII. Fodder collection and production ........... 200 ix PREFACE The present study is based on ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and ecological data gathered between November 1990 and August 1991 in Hunza, a remote high-mountain region of the Western Karakorams straddling Central and South Asia. The study focuses on the process of state formation in Hunza during the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Hunza offers an extraordinary opportunity for the study of