The Jadgal (also known as Nummaṛ or az-zighālī) are a Sindhi-

Baloch Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch and in other ways, may refer to: * Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan * Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan * Balouch, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan * Baloch (s ...

ethno-linguistic group who speak the Jadgali language. They are found in the Balochistan region of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

History

Jadgals originally came from Sind and spoke the

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a scheduled language, withou ...

, before it started diverging into another language. Many historians believe that the Jadgal were the original natives of Balochistan before the Baloch arrived. The Arwal and Manjotha tribes of Dera Ghazi Khan are of Jadgal origin. When the Arabs arrived in modern day Sind and Baluchistan, they met the Jadgal at the coast of Makran where the Arab name of ''az-zighālī'' comes from. Many Jats in Pakistan are actually of Jadgal origin. In 1811,

Saidi Balochi A Ṣa‘īdī (, Coptic: ⲣⲉⲙⲣⲏⲥ ''Remris'') is a person from Upper Egypt (, Coptic: ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ ''Maris''). Etymology The word literally means "from Ṣa‘īd" (i.e. Upper Egypt), and can also refer to a form of music orig ...

s as well as Jadgal mercenary troops were killed in a battle with the Wahhabis in a battle against the Sultanate of Oman.

Demographics

Around 100,000 Jadgals live in Pakistan according to a 1998 census conducted by Pakistan. In Iran, the

Sardarzahi Sardarzahi or Sardarzāi (Persian: سردارزهی) ( Balochi: سددازهی) ( حمید الله سردارزهی) refers to sardars , rulers or Hakomzāts in south eastern province of Baluchistan of Iran. Sardarzahis were originally from Jadga ...

ethnic group is of Jadgal origin, claiming to be from Sindh. The rest of the Jadgals number around 25,000 according to a 2008 census conducted by Iran. All of the Jadgals in Iran live in the Sistan and Baluchistan province.

Language

Most Jadgals speak their native Jadgali language. It is one of the Sindhi languages and one of the only two native

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

spoken in Iran. Many linguists believe that the

Lasi language Lasi, or Lassi, () is an Indo-Aryan language of Pakistan belonging to the Sindhi group and commonly counted as a dialect of Sindhi itself. It is spoken by the Lasi people of Lasbela District in Balochistan. Dispute Lasi has been disputed whet ...

of the Lasi people may be related to Jadgali.

References

{{improve categories, date=September 2022 Sindhi people Balochistan Iranian people Pakistani people