EXPLORING RULI: AN INDIGENOUS NOTION OF FEMALE AUTHORITY AMONG BURUSHO IN CENTRAL HUNZA

The society of Hunza has always depicted a romantic picture to the researchers who had been interested in exploring diverse nature of human culture. Amidst extreme climate, harsh geographic conditions and extreme poverty the populations of Hunza developed elaborate patterns for subsistence in order to ensure survival in a deadly precarious milieu. In such socio-economic and ecological conditions the people developed a shared labor mechanism by men, women and children that defined their due role and status in the society. The current research is a diachronic qualitative analysis of indigenous concepts regarding female role and authority in the society of Hunza. It is an ethnographic study conducted among burusho (people speaking Burushaski) in Aliabad, Hunza. It explores the pivotal role of females locally termed as ruli.