Lone (caste)

Lone (Kashmiri: लोन (Devanagari), لون (Nastaleeq)), historically known as Lavanya^[1] is a Kashmiri surname found in the Indian administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani administered province of Azad Kashmir. Kashmiris with this surname are also found in other parts of India and in the Pakistani Punjabi areas of Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot.

Background[]

Scholars like Jan Gonda and Walter Roper Lawrence have stated that the Lone belong to the Vaishya order, being Hindu agriculturalists and traders prior to their conversion to Islam.^[2]

Only one Kram the Lon is generally assigned a Vaisya origin. --Sir Walter Roper Lawrence^[3]

In the view of Kalhana:

In narrating the war of extermination by which Harsa, endeavoured to rid the eastern portion of the valley of the powerful Damaras. Kalhana indiscriminately also uses the term LAVANYA to designate them. This becomes quite evident by a comparison of the verses quoted below. The same observation holds good for a series of passages in later portions of the Chronicle. The explanation is not far to seek. Lavanya, as shown in note vii. 1171, is a tribal name still surviving to this day in the Kram name Lun, born by a considerable section of the agriculturist population of Kashmir.^[4][1]

The Lone Tribe is considered to be the direct descendant of the survived Damaras who later adopted different professions and blended into the Kashmiri society.^[1]

Today The Lone tribe is based mainly in northern Kashmir, although in the past few centuries there has been gradual diffusion of the tribe throughout the valley of Kashmir and other parts of India. Some members of this caste are also found in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir, they are said to have migrated there in 1947 or in the 1990s when militancy was at its height in the valley. However, the place of origin of the tribe and the area where the tribe is said to be mostly concentrated in is the northern Kupwara district of the Kashmir Valley.^{[citation needed]}

Although the vast majority of the Lone tribe speak Kashmiri as their mother tongue, significant numbers speak Shina, especially those who live in the Gurez valley.^{[citation needed]} The majority of the people of the Lone tribe follow Islam as their religion and are predominantly Sunni Muslims.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

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