Imra (
Kamkata-vari: ''Imro'') was the chief
creator deity of the
Nuristani people before their conversion to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Imra was believed to be the creator of the earth. With his breath, it was believed, he created the three other main deities of the pantheon:
Mon
Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to:
Places
* Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar
* Mon, India, a town in Nagaland
* Mon district, Nagaland
* Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India
* Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons
* An ...
,
Gish and Bagisht.
Etymology
The name of the deity is considered a reflex of
Indo-Iranian Yama. The name ''Imro'' or ''Yum'' in
Kamkata-vari is thought to derive from a borrowing of
Sanskrit ''Yama-rāja'' "King Yama" via a
Middle Indo-Aryan form ''*Yam(a)rāy(a)'' with the characteristic northwestern sound change of ''j'' to ''y''. It is likely a cognate of the
Bangani title ''Jim Raza'' 'god of the dead'. He is also known as ''Mara'' "Killer, Death", a term derived from the
Prasun language.
Cognates of Kamkata-vari ''imro'' are found in other neighboring languages:
Waigali
Waigali (') is a language spoken by about 10,000 Nuristani people of the Waigal Valley in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province. The native name is ''Kalaṣa-alâ'' 'Kalasha-language'. "Waigali" refers to the dialect of the Väy people of the upp ...
''yamrai'', Kalash (Urtsun) ''imbro'',
Ashkun ''imra'' and
Prasun ''yumr'a'' - all referring to a "creator god".
[{{cite book , last=Minahan , first=James B. , title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia , date=10 February 2014 , publisher=ABC-CLIO , language=en , isbn=9781610690188 , page=205 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 , quote=Living in the high mountain valleys, the Nuristani retained their ancient culture and their religion, a form of ancient Hinduism with many customs and rituals developed locally. Certain deities were revered only by one tribe or community, but one deity was universally worshipped by all Nuristani as the Creator, the ]Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
god Yama Raja, called ''imr'o'' or ''imra'' by the Nuristani tribes., access-date=7 January 2021
Role in religion
This deity also acts as the guardian to the gates of hell (located in a subterranean realm), preventing the return to the world of the living - a motif that echoes the role of Yama as the king of the underworld.
[Boyce, Mary. "The Pre-ZoroastrianReligion of the Medes and the Persians". In: ''A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1982. pp. 18-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004293908_003]
Popular culture
In
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...
's 1965 short story "God Speaks" (collected in "Museums and Women")
Gish Imra is the name of one of the protagonists, the son of the assassinated leader of a Central Asian state called
Nuristan.
See also
*
Moni
*
Great Gish
References
Indo-European deities
Asian gods
Creator gods