The Last Of The Aryans

Deep in the mountains of Ladakh are a handful of villages that are home to purpotedly the last surviving purebloodline of Aryans. This is an account of their stories, traditions, practices, and way of life.

- Rashi Arora

A round five hours from Leh by road, in the remote valley of Ladakh, is the unexplored village of Garkone. Besides the breathtaking landscape of the place, what makes it unique is the fact that Garkone, along with a handful of other villages in the area, is home to a unique community called Brokpas.

The Brokpas (Brok means hillock and Pa means inhabitant) believe they are the last ‘pure specimens’ of Aryan blood, and are regarded as the master race by many across the world. Legend has it that the Brokpas are the direct descendants of the Dards, of Indo-Aryan stock left behind by Alexander the Great, when he abandoned his mission at the banks of the River Indus in 326 BCE.

It was to document the last remaining Brokpas that I had set off on this trip. The purpose was to collaborate with people from different artistic backgrounds to create a community-based project that aims to document the oral history, folklore, food, language, religion, myths, culture, and traditions of the Brokpa community.

The area inhabited by the Brokpas is laid out as a cluster of four villages—Garkone, Darchik, Dah, and Hanu—perched on top of the rugged cliffs of Batalik sector, with the Indus flowing by. Three religions are primarily practised here—Islam, Buddhism, and Bon. Post the Kargil War, only two of the four Aryan villages now fall in the inner line drawn by the Indian Army, and are accessible by civilians after clearance from the Home Ministry. Garkone is about 13 kilometres south from the district headquarter of Kargil. It has 90 houses belonging to the seven original families.