By Tarunjit Singh Butalia | Pakistan |

Picture a Sikh, a rare sight in the remote northern mountains of Pakistan, attending a polo game. Suddenly, he spots a player with the traditional Sikh last name, Singh. This unexpected encounter sets the stage for a fascinating journey of discovery.

Three weeks ago, Tarunjit embarked on a vacation trip with friends to Booni in the Upper Chitral region of Pakistan. This place, with its breathtaking beauty and the locals seemingly immersed in a deep sense of peace, is a sight to behold. It is no wonder that Chitral is often associated with happiness.

We visited many places, such as Qaqlasht Meadows, Torkho Valley, Shindoor Top, and other gems of nature in Upper Chitral.

One day, on returning to Booni early from a half-day trip, we stopped by to watch a polo game at the Booni Polo Ground. Locals all dressed up in their best, with shining athletic horses with neatly tied ponytails, were ready to play free-style polo as the sun set over the looming mountains.

As the game proceeded, Tarunjit spotted one player at half-time wearing a polo shirt with “Singh Polo Club” printed on it. He was taken aback as only Sikhs use this as their middle or last religious name, but there were no Sikhs in Booni.
During the game break, he approached the player with the polo shirt. Tarunjit was nervous and excited at the same time.

As the game progressed, Tarunjit approached a Singh Polo Club player during the break. He revealed to Tarunjit that they were descendants of Sikhs who settled in the Upper Chitral valley in the early 1850s. This revelation left Tarunjit in a state of surprise and piqued his curiosity, as it was not documented in any books of Sikh history, despite his extensive reading.

Now Tarunjit’s curiosity was in full high gear. He delved into research, but found nothing other than the Sikh regiment from the famous 1895 siege of Chitral – some of whom settled later in the city of Chitral and married local women.

One of the best polo players on the Booni polo team is Bashir Singh. The next day, Tarunjit met him and Babbar Singh, a well-known Chitrali singer with a melodious voice. Both of them were Ismaili Muslims, understood spoken Punjabi but could not speak it.

Tarunjit then asked to meet with an elder of the community to gain a better understanding of their history.

Babbar Singh drove Tarunjit from Booni to the nearby rural riverside village of Singhandae (village of Singhs) near Awi. Tarunjit was astounded to learn that over 250 Singh families lived in Singhandae.

In the village, Tarunjit met with Meer Wali Khan Singh, an uncle of Babbar Singh, who was a knowledgeable retired school principal. He had detailed family trees going back to the 1850s. He shared that the Singhs of Booni did not descend from the early 1800 Sikh traders of Chitral or the Sikh regiment that participated in the 1895 siege of Chitral. The 1901 census of Chitral, carried out by the British, indicated that approximately 20% of the population was Sikh. They left for India in 1947 or converted to Islam.

The first Singh to arrive in the upper Chitral Valley was Gulab Singh, a Sikh soldier from Kashmir. He came to the Mehtaar of Chitral in the 1850s and settled there. The Mehtaar soon realized his leadership skills, and he was appointed the Hakam (ruler) of the upper Chitral region from Rashun to Gasht near Laspur.

Gulab Singh maintained the Sikh religious identity and was followed by Rabat Singh then Budad Singh and then Bahadur Singh – all of them mantained the Sikh religious identity.

Mehndi Singh, the son of Bahadur Singh, was first in the family to convert to Sunni Islam but kept the ancestral family name of Singh.

The Singhs of Booni are all descended from Mehndi Singh. They converted to Ismaili Islam in the last 75 years. They still retain the Singh last name and are well aware, as well as proud, of their Sikh heritage.

Today, over 500 Ismaili Singh families call upper Chitral their home, with the largest population of about 250 families in Singhandae. Other villages with significant Singh populations in order to decreasing Singh population are Mehragram, Rashun, Parwak, Dukandeh, and Gasht.

Their facial features are quite Chitrali, but their eyes still reveal their past hidden Punjabi ethnic and Sikh heritage.

Tarunjit was the first Sikh to visit the village of Singhandae since 1947. He found the Ismaili Muslim Singhs of Booni to be well integrated in Chitrali society. They are entirely Chitrali now, but fondly honor their Sikh ancestors by maintaining their last name as Singh while being practising Isamialis.

Bashir Singh is one of the top polo players from Booni, and Babbar Singh is the most renowned Chitrali singer there. Yet, the most well-known Singh of Singhandae is a woman, Suriya Bibi, Deputy Speaker of KP Assembly and the first woman ever elected on a general seat in the history of Chitral.

For more photos, see the original entry entitled ‘The Lost Ismaili Singhs of Upper Chitral’ here.

Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, a US-based interfaith activist and scholar with deep roots in East and West Punjab in South Asia, had served as Research Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. In 2021, he published My Journey Home: Going Back to Lehnda Punjab, based on a visit to his ancestral home in Pakistan more than 70 years after his grandparents left it in 1947.

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