The Mixed Dances of Indigenous Pashtun Society:

Exploring the social History of Zhob Valley

Abstract

The hegemonic narratives regarding traditional Pashtun society as violent, misogynist and patriarchal have been prevailing through contemporary electronic and print media, text books and social media which has reproduced the colonial and orientalist’s stereotypes regarding traditional Pashtun society. The ways of Pathans (Pashtuns) are most of the time structured around a set of hierarchical binaries and the inherent strengths, aesthetics and values stemmed in creative expression are always made invisible. This paper is going to unveil the mixed dance of men and women during marriages and cultural festivals held in the public spaces of Zhob valley of Northern Balochsitan. It will be revealing to know that this practice of men-women mixed dances was  also common in and North and South Waziristan of KP province. The mixed dance known as “Braga Aamai” and “Bragai-Attan” in Zhob valley and Waziristan respectively had various modalities of couple dances and men-women poetical- dance competitions and creative expression. Unpacking the practice of these mixed dances helps out the historians and folklorists to unearth the social and cultural histories which remained part of the unprecedented reservoir of oral tradition.