Edited by: P. N. Pushp and K. Warikoo Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation Har-Anand Publications

Samskrita as the name suggests, means "put together, constructed", "well formed", "perfected" (sam + s - krta or samskrta). (The formation of samskr in place of samkr is on the analogy of pariskara and upaskara). Presumably "well formed" suggests two factors:

(i) Some speech was existent before that was well formed (samskrta). Attention may be invited to some sutras from the Astaddhyai of Panini:
Mayura vamsakayasca (2.1.72)
mundascasau kambajas'ceti-kambaja-munda. Similarly, may yavanamunda be referred to. Panini also took care of peculiar forms which had been in usage. For example: Kumarah sramanadibhih is compounded as Kumarasra-mana (2.1.70).
(ii) The language after being refined becomes well-formed. For instance, Panini (in 4.3.127-28) refers to the formation of the Sakala in forming alternative words in adjective. For instance:
samgha - 'nka - laksanesva -
an -yan, inam an. (4.3.127)

Regarding the advent of the Aryans it is linguistically accepted that they came through Iran. It is needless to enter into the discussion about the homeland of Aryans in the context of the present study of the Garkhuns. Garkhuns reside in the western-most part of Ladakh in Kashmir on the bank of the river Indus at an altitude of about six thousand feet. To reach the area one should cross stiff, barren hill tracks towards the North Western Ladwags.

The word Garkhun appears to be Tibetan word dgar khun. Here dgar suggests separated out of the word dgar ba. Here dagar ba means to separate, confine, fold up (Jaske Dic. p. 83) in respect of men, cattle, goods. The final part of the word khun is probably built up 'khun, which means a note of groaning, to groan like animals. They themselves, however, interpret as agar khun, which suggests a resident of tent, like Brog pa nomads. Agar means camp and khung means hollow cavity. Unfortunately Garkhuns of the above mentioned area fail to recollect their origin now. As regards their physique and features of the body of men and women, a Garkhun does not belong to Mongoloid group.

Mongoloids have the following distinction in physical features:-
 

Skin	Yellow, Brown
Eyes and hair	Dark brown, black (epicanthitic fold)
Hair	Straight
Body hair	Slight
Prognathism  (Mouth and Jaw)	Slight
Paws	Small
Head	Upright

The Garkhuns, however, have different physical structure with bright skin, tipped nose, black hair, white eyes and so on. Moreover in food habits and other material needs, the Garkhuns maintain their special characteristics. It is a wonder that a pocket of small non-Mongoloid group living among the Mongoloids may be found in the remote area. It is striking to note that their speech does not belong to the Bhotia group of languages as spoken by the Mongoloids in Ladakh and adjacent areas.

Before we discuss the language traits of the Garkhuns, some peculiarities of Ladakhi speech may not be irrelevant. In Ladakh the language is called Bodhi, sometimes Bhoti. Bodhi is a corrupt form of Tibetan Compound Bod-yi in which the Buddhist literature is preserved. Bhoti refers to the language by the Bhot people. In general Bodhi or Bhoti is monosyllabic, but it betrays a tendency towards bysyllabic or polysyllabic too. It is to be noted that the Bodhi speech does not always observe sound sintrification as is found in the central Tibetan speech which is regarded as the standard Tibetan speech. As a result, the preceding letter is prefixed and conjoined letters retain their sound in pronunciation. For example - Skardu, Jangskar, Spituk, Kharkhel (Kargil) may be cited. In spite of the spread of the Arabic language the Bodhi influence prevails.

In contrast to that, the Garkhun speech is sometimes inflectional and polysyllabic like Sanskrit. A comparative chart of counting of numbers as found in the Garkhun and Bhoti speeches is shown below:

The above comparison clearly shows that the Garkhunpas follow the counting in Sanskrit though the Ladakhis recount the numerals in Tibetan. The pronunciation of the later speech varies from that of the standard Tibetan.

 While counting the twelve months, the Garkhunpas follow the Ladakhi expression as: 
 

dawa Langpo	1st month
nyispa	2nd month
sumpa	3rd month
zipa	4th month
hugapa	5th month
tukpa	6th month
dunpa	7th month
trgyapa	8th month
rdgupa	9th month
chapa	10th month
chuchik	11th month
chunyispa	12th month

It is evident from the instances detailed in the appendix, which were collected during field work in the area, that Sanskritic impact is still at work in the spoken language among the Garkhun Community in the Western Himalayas.

That the community did not spread in other regions of India, may be explained by the following conjectures:

1. Garkhunpa, as the name implies, is the settler in the remote area, which is almost inaccesible even today. Pony is the means of communication in those stiff areas.
2. The speech used by them obviously remains concerned in a small area. Although they are accustomed to communicate in Bodhi (the general spoken language of Leh area) for their general communication in market, they do not preserve Kanjur or Tanjur as their sacred books in spite of their religious nomenclature being Buddhist.
3. They are not Mongoloid. Obviously they express their rigidity in preservation of blood purity or racial solidarity. No inter-marriage with the Mongoloids generally occurs. The kins and descents are limited within themselves.
4. Economically they are pastoral with small attempts to cultivate barley and other cereal crops for their own use. They exchange mostly animal hides and animal products. The recent endeavours by the government to introduce horticulture has not been successful due to harsh climatic condition.

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