Pakistani Cultural Regions
Sean Schwab
In the country of Pakistan, culture is a huge part of the way Pakistanis live. In
Pakistan, there are four different regional areas with different cultures. All these cultures
share the Islamic faith. These regions are the Northwest Frontier Region, Punjab, Sindh,
and Balochistan. Each one of these regions has culture differences that vary from one
other. For example, some differences in culture between the regions could be music,
food, and values. I will be talking about two regions in general. Those two regions are the
Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Region. I will discuss the cultures of these two regions
and how they compare and contrast to my lifestyle.
Let us start out with the Northwest Frontier Region. The Northwest Frontier is the
regions previous name. The currently used name for the region is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This region, clearly based off the previous name, is located in the northwest part of the
country. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa borders Afghanistan, which is northwest of the region.
According to Richard Symonds, who wrote the book, The Making of Pakistan, most of
the people who live in the Northwest Frontier are Pathan, and they speak the language of
Afghanistan, which is Pushtu (Symonds, p. 120). Symonds continues to talk about the
Pathan people by saying:
The Pathan is tall fair skinned and well built, and easily distinguishable by his
dress- baggy trousers, velvet waistcoat, and turban. He is strongly influenced by
his zeal for Islam and by his love of liberty, but has a pleasant sense of humour. In
the tribal areas he is bound by a primitive code of honour which obliges him to
give sanctuary and hospitality to anyone who demands it, and to carry on blood
feuds in retaliation for any insult to himself and his family. As a consequence, he
1
is inseparable from his rifle and likes to build his house in the shape of a fort.1
(Symonds, p.120)
I interviewed my cousin’s husband, Amjad Hayat, who was born in Pakistan.
Amjad was born in the Northwest Frontier Region. He speaks Pushton, which is the
cultural language of the Northwest Frontier. He also is apart of the Pathan tribe. During
the interview he mentioned that the spread of the Pathan people was in the Northwest
Frontier of Pakistan and in the Southeastern parts of Afghanistan. Reading about the
Pathan people is very interesting because Amjad has very similar traits to the Pathans. It
is obvious that he would have traits of his own people, but I never caught on to those
traits because I had no prior knowledge of the Pathan people. For example, he owns a
nice house that is has a fort-like look to it and has an old stonewall that sounds his land.
He is a man of honor and will protect his family most definitely. The only trait he doesn’t
have that the average Pathan has is that Amjad is not so tall. I would say that he is about
five feet and nine inches tall.
I can relate to a Pathan of Pakistan. I am not one to brag, but if the typical Pathan
is tall and well built, then I am a good example of a Pathan. I am six feet tall and weigh
about 210 pounds. I live and work on a farm so I am definitely not a weak individual. To
add, I have a sense of humor like the Pathan people and I am a very caring person who
would give hospitality to anyone who would need it. Just like theses people, I also am
very protective of my family and defend our honor if anyone would insult our name.
Symonds says that they like to build their houses like forts, and that is not my style. I like
the more average American-looking house.
2
There are traditional foods in the Pakhtunkhwa region that are made. Food can
also be a cultural distinguisher. For example, a certain culture could put more meat into
their meals or another example would be that one culture puts way more spices into their
cuisines than some other culture does. According to an article I read from the website
Pashtun called, Countries and Their Cultures, due to the religious reasons, Pathans cannot
eat pork and drink alcoholic beverages. What they usually eat are breads, rice, vegetables,
milk products, meat, eggs, fruits, and tea (n.a., n.a.). I couldn’t imagine not being about to
eat pork or drink alcoholic beverages. Pork is one of my favorite meals to eat. In a way, I
bet that it is good that your religion forbids you from drinking alcoholic beverages. For
starters, it would save you a lot of money at the bars and also your friends would love
that you could be their designated driver.
Family life is a huge deal when it comes to culture. Many cultures have different
lifestyles of the family. In some cultures, the children leave after college and hopefully
find jobs and buy their own homes. This sometimes does not happen in cultures. For
example, the Northwest Frontier region keeps the family in one huge household.
According to an article written from Everyculture.com:
The eldest male holds complete authority over the extended family. Married sons
live in their fathers' households, rather than establishing homes of their own. The
household normally consists of a man and his wife, his unmarried children, and
his married sons and their wives and children. When young women marry, they
join their husbands' households and transfer their loyalty to their husbands'
families. (n.a, n.a.) 2
3
When talking about my family life, I would move out of the house after college. It
is viewed differently in my society if you are married and live with your father. Children
usually move out and buy their own homes when they get jobs out of college. I could not
imagine living in my father’s house even after marriage. I would still care for my father
in his elder years if he needs the support but I would not want to live in a house with him,
especially if I had to live with my brother and his family.
To add to the family life, what is interesting is that my cousin’s husband Amjad
does not live with his father. Amjad lives in Ireland in a home somewhat near my
family’s houses that are in Galway, Ireland. Amjad’s father still lives in Pakistan and is a
General in the Army. It is odd that Amjad would not follow this family tradition to stay in
the father’s household with his wife and kids.
Before I start talking about another cultural region. I would like to briefly discuss
dancing throughout Pakistan as a whole. Dancing in Pakistan has a huge cultural impact
on the people. The people of Pakistan have all types of dances for different occasions.
Hina Karim, a writer for a magazine called, The Weekly Pulse, said in one of her articles:
Dances are not only for entertainment purposes but they encompass the lives of
people because dances in Pakistan are celebratory and ceremonial in nature.
Dances are traditionally part of the lives of people especially in Pakistan. Dance
for Pakistanis is so important that people can communicate with each other and
tell a story without uttering a word but rather dancing to send those messages.
(Karim) 3
Karim continues to talk about how dance and folk dance is different yet all
equally important to the culture of the Pakistan people. Folk dancing is more for
4
celebratory and is seasonal, for example; a dance would express happiness in rural folk
who had a successful harvest (Karim).
Dancing is clearly not a huge part of my lifestyle. There are no dances performed
when the calves on my farm are taken to the market for profit. Neither would there be a
dance be performed to tell a life story. I do not see how you could tell a story by dancing,
but that is why my lifestyle is different from the people of Pakistan. The only dancing
that is done in my life is for school events, weddings, and parties.
Moving along to the next culture, I will talk about the Punjab region. Punjab is the
biggest region in all of Pakistan and contributes about half of the economy (HistoryPak).
Pubjab means the land of five rivers (Maron p.62). That is an appropriate name given the
fact that it is the largest region in Pakistan. The Punjab culture is one of the world’s
oldest cultures in history (HistoryPak). The regional language spoken in this culture is
Punjabi. The Punjabi language is spoken as first language by 40% of Pakistanis
(HistoryPak).
I interviewed my cousin Ruth’s husband, Faisal Sharif, who is from the Punjab
culture. He is of Islamic religion and is an active in his faith. Faisal talked about the five
pillars of the Islamic religion that he follows. He also mentioned that he speaks Punjabi,
which is the cultural language. On top of that, he speaks the national language, which is
known as Urdu. The national language, Urdu, is spoken by every Pakistani. He continues
to say that this is how the different cultures can communicate to one another. Faisal does
not know how to speak the Pushton language of the Pakhtunkhwa culture like my other
5
cousin’s husband, Amjad Hayat, can speak, but they communicate to each other by
speaking in the Urdu language.
Now I want to get into the details of the culture such as apparel, food, music and
dancing, and other specifics of that sort. Their clothing is a mix of colors that have
characteristics of comfort and beauty. The Punjab culture is well known for the use of
phulkari, which means embroidery (HistoryPak). In most of the villages of Punjab, men
wear Pagri, dhoti/lacha, kurta, khusa and women wear gharara, or choridar pajama or
colorful shalwar kameez, paranda, choli/duppata, khusa, kola puri chappal or tillay wali
jutti (HistoryPak).
When I first read about all of these clothing worn by Punjabs, I was impressed.
There are so many types of colorful robes and trousers with embroidery on them. Where I
come from, people usually wear a t-shirt, jeans, and boots. That is the typical apparel
around farmland. I did not always live on my farm in Kentucky. I used to live in Ohio in
a nice suburb. Around there, people worn nice clothing like polos and button-ups with
khakis or pants. The average person wears Sperry’s and other types of boating shoes
around the suburb I used to live in. To me, this was the casual clothing that people worn
in my cultural area. I view what the Punjabi people wear as odd compared to what I wear.
What is funny is that I am sure they view the clothes I wear as odd and think the casual is
the colorful robes and embroidery that they wear.
In Punjab, cuisines can be made in a variety of ways. Cuisines can be vegetarian
or non-vegetarian. The usage of ghee, or clarified butter spices, is very common in
Punjab dishes (HistoryPak). The Punjab is also very fond of sweet meats as well. The
6
majority of dishes are served with rice or roti. Some famous dishes of the Punjab are Mah
Di Dal, Paratha, Makai ki rotti, and Saron Da Saag (HistoryPak).
The food of this culture sounds very delicious. I have no idea what any of it tastes
like, but butter spices and sweet meats sound like a tasty meal. I love meat so I can relate
to the Punjabi in the situation, but I am not a huge vegetable eater. I eat broccoli from
time to time and I eat carrots. That is about it.
Sports in the Punjabi region are of high interest to the people. Kabaddi and
wrestling are favorites of the Punjabi (HistoryPak). It is played at the nation level around
Pakistan. Some local sport in Punjab are Ghillidanda, khoo-khoo, yassu-panju, and ludo
(HistoryPak).
Another interesting thing about the Punjab are their rituals. They have all types of
rituals such as birth rituals and wedding rituals. In birth rituals, when the child is born, a
grandparent or elderly respected member of the family puts honey on the child’s mouth
with a finger (HistoryPak). This I called Ghutii. Another part of this ritual is that sweets
are distributed among friends and relatives and gifts are brought to the child and mother.
On the seventh day of birth, the baby’s head is shaved and the Aqiqa ceremony is held
(HistoryPak). During this ceremony, a sheep or goat is slaughtered. Punjabi weddings are
based on traditions and are conducted with strong reflection of the Punjabi culture
followed by several pre-wedding customs and rituals (HistoryPak). Punjabi weddings are
very loud, energetic, full of music, colors, fancy dresses, food and dancing.
In my life, there is only one ritual that is performed in my family that is special.
My family is Catholic and when it is time to have a child go through First Communion,
the family takes a trip to Ireland to celebrate First Communion with all of our relatives
7
that live there. Other than ritual, my family is pretty boring when it comes to traditions
and cultural difference from a normal person who lives in our society. We do not rub
honey on the head of babies, or shave the head of the baby on the seventh day of birth.
The only ritual related things done would be for your religion. In the Catholic Church,
when a baby is “born into Catholicism,” Holy Water is poured over the baby’s head and a
bib and candle are given to the parents.
I have talked about the many different cultures of Pakistan. Many of these
cultures share some common things with my personal life. A great example of the
comparisons of Pakistani culture to me would be the daily life of a Pathan in the
Northwest Frontier. I share so much in common with these people. From the genetic traits
of these people to the way they act in society. To add, similar tastes in food between
Pakistani and I are notable, but like every comparison between cultures, there are
differences. Differences such as birth rituals and dancing are not present in my lifestyle.
For this reason, it was very rewarding to research the cultures of Pakistan and relate them
to my own life. Every culture has its own uniqueness that sets them apart from other
cultures.
8
References
HistoryPak. (2014). Punjabi Culture. Retrieved October 22, 2014. from http://history
pak.com/punjabi-culture/
Karim, H. (2011). Culture: An overview of folk dances in Pakistan. Retrieved
November 4, 2014, from http://weeklypulse.org/details.aspx?contentID=618
Maron, S. (Ed.). (1957). Pakistan: Society and culture. New Haven: Human Relations
Area Files.
N.a. (n.a). Countries and their cultures. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Afghanistan-to-Bosnia-Herzegovina/Pashtun.html
Symonds, R. (1950). The making of Pakistan. London: Faber and Faber.
9