TURBANS, SKIRTS AND SPIRIT: Folk Models of a Punjabi Muslim Brotherhood

An exploration of the historical process of how a peasant group of the western Punjabi plains (of Pakistan & India), the Nunari, has come to define itself, & how it has been defined by others, as a qaum (people or nation). At least three different but cogent folk models of a "people" are employed by the Nunaris in specific historical & social contexts to describe the nature of social relationships. The agnatic descent model articulates their solidarity as a qaum from the natural blood ties that form a unity of humanity; a second model also reflects the context of Muslim society & cosmology; & a third model clearly establishes the Nunari as a Muslim community, united by a common spirituality. It is suggested that, while these models have some structural similarities to the analytic models of anthropologists & sociologists, they are most illuminating in their articulation of what is generally viewed as disparate domains of kinship & religion. Models of Nunari identity are also models of broader human identities & illustrate how, in Muslim terms, the social order is essentially a spiritual one. It is contended that the Nunari models reflect notions of ethnicity or peoplehood that provide means by which the Nunari can exhibit flexibility & can respond to circumstances that may call for them to invoke one or another model of their identity. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Map, 51 References. S. Millett