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 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 agricultural population of Kashmir.[4][1]

Another tradition about the origin of Lone tribe is that their ancestors were a mountain martial tribe that came from Lohrin area of modern day Poonch together with Lohara royal dynasty of Kashmir in early 1000 AD and were stationed in the northern outskirts of Kashmir in Kupwara and surrounding areas to protect the Kashmiri Lohara dynasty's northern borders from the incursions of the dardic tribes (Shins) of the north.

Today The Lone tribe is based mainly in northern Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan although in the past few centuries there has been gradual diffusion of the tribe throughout the valley of Kashmir. Some members of this caste are also found in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir. 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.

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 and neighboring Astore district of Gilgit Baltistan. The majority of the people of the Lone tribe follow Islam as their religion and are predominantly Sunni Muslim.

References
  1. Kalhana (1989). Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir: Vol 1 & 2. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 306. ISBN 978-81-208-0370-1.
  2. Kashmiri literature. Harrassowitz. 1973. ISBN 9783447021296. Retrieved 25 March 2007. The Lone are converts from the Rajputs ( because they were protects some kings that time and were stationed on mountains area) Hindu community.
  3. The Valley Of Kasmir by Walter R Lawrence Chapter XII Page 306
  4. Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir, Page 306
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