The Lasis () are a
Sindhi ethnic
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
community or group of Sindhi tribes in
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...
, Pakistan. They form 4.56% of the total population of the province as of 2017, and are the predominant group in the lowlands of former princely state of
Lasbela. Now divided into two districts of Balochistan i.e.
Lasbela and
Hub, some area is in
Gwadar
Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...
district called
Ormara. Lasis are also called as
Jamote, a term used in
Kalat and
Kachhi regions, They occupy a high social position and have traditionally been engaged as agricultural landlords. They speak the
Lasi dialect of
Sindhi Language. Although social stratification is found in individual tribes, there is no social hierarchy or rigid tribal structure.
The Lasis are assumed to be related to
Jats
The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in ...
.
Tribal distribution
According to the 1998 Census of Pakistan, all the tribes other than Baloch, Brahui, Med, Khoja and Hindus who have settled in Lasbela are known as "Lasi". The
principal Lasi tribes are only five in number. The Jamot, Runjhas, Sheikh, Angaria and the Burra. Together they are called the Panjraj and constitute a tribal confederation.
The tribes include the
Abras, Angarias (12.5%), Burras (9.0%), Dambis, Gidris, Gungas (13.0%), Gwaranjos,
Jamots (14.8%), Kundolas, Mandras (6.6%), Mangias (4.0%), Mashwanis, Masunis, Mushanis, Runjhas (14.3%), Samots, Shahoks (4.4%), Sheikhs (5.4%), Sithars, and the Zuars.
Some other tribes settled in the Las Bela district include Afghan, and Baluch. The main Lasi tribes claim descent from the
Soomras and
Sammas of
Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
.
Etymology
The word ''Lasi'' is a
Sindhi language
Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...
word meaning ''plain''.
References
Bibliography
*
*{{Cite book, last = Siddiqi, first = Akhtar Husain, title = Baluchistan (Pakistan) : its society, resources, and development, date = 1991, location = Lanham, Md., publisher = University Press of America, isbn = 978-0-8191-8226-5, url-access = registration, url=https://archive.org/details/baluchistanpakis00sidd
Social groups of Balochistan, Pakistan
Sindhi tribes