THE OROSHORIS

Habitat. The Oroshori, or Roshorvi, live in the Pamir Mountains on the upper reaches of the River Bartang and its tributaries the Kudara and Tanymas, uphill from the Bartangi-speaking villages from Gudara (Kudara) to Oroshor (Roshorv), and in Yapshorv. Administratively, these settlements belong to the Savnobi village Soviet of the Rushani District of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of the Tadzhik SSR. Motorized access to the district centre is best managed from the east via Murgabi.

Population. According to the linguist H. Kurbanov the population of the Oroshori ranks a little above 2000 (1972). The Oroshori were compelled to leave their biggest village in the spring of 1911 when they were resettled to the upper reaches of the River Gunti, in the midst of the Shughni.

Language. The Oroshori language belongs to the Northern or Shughi-Roshani subgroup of the Pamir Group of the Iranian languages of the Indo-European family. Linguistically it occupies a position between the Bartangi and Sarikoli languages, being somewhat closer to the former. In some treatments the Oroshoris are regarded as a territorial subgroup of the Bartangs. The closest neighbours of the Oroshori are the Kirgiz. There is evidence of mutual linguistic influence.

The first records of Oroshori language and customs date from 1914 when a report on the expedition to the Pamir by the linguists R. Gauthiot and I. Zarubin was published. No systematic research on a larger scale followed. Thus, the Oroshori are the least studied of the peoples of the Pamirs. As to their language, only some textual publications by I. Zarubin have appeared (1927 and 1930).

In the middle of the 1950s the Oroshori of the upper villages beyond Shipandzh were made to resettle in the Vakhsh valley (in a manner alike the Yazgulami and the Roshani), because of the low fertility of the soil in their native area. The climate of the Bartang valley is indeed among the roughest in the Pamirs. There is little arable land, vast areas being covered by either sand or marshes.

REFERENCES

Курбанов, Язык рошорвцев (к характеристике шугнано-рушанской группы памирских языков). Автореферат кандидатской диссертации, Москва 1972

oroks | oroshoris | pamir_peoples

CONTENTS

The Peoplesof the Red Book

THE OROSHORIS

REFERENCES

The Peoples
of the Red Book