Hindko is an ancient language spoken in northern Pakistan. The word "Hindko" literally means (in the hindko language), "Indian Mountains", "Hind" meaning Indian or referring to India (Hindustan) and "Ko" meaning Mountains. It is spoken in the areas of the North West Frontier Province (including Hazara), Punjab and Kashmir by an estimated 2.2 million people. They are commonly referred to as Punjabi Pathans or simply Pathans.

During the pre-Buddhist era in what is today Pakistan, the language of the masses was refined by the ancient grammarian Panini who set the rules of a structurally rigorous language called Sanskrit which was used principally for scriptures (analogous to Latin in the Western world). Meanwhile, the vernacular language of the masses, Prakrit developed into many tongues and dialects which spread over the northern parts of South Asia. Hindko is believed to be closely related to Prakrit. Due to the geographic isolation of the regions,

The main group who speak Hindko are referred to by many academics (and in publications such as the Encyclopædia Britannica) as Punjabi Pathans as they show substantial intermingling with Pashtuns who comprise the majority in most of the regions inhabited by northern speakers of Hindko. Many claim descent from Pashtun groups of a wide variety and often adhere to Pashtunwali and are almost entirely Sunni Muslim. In more recent times, many Punjabi Pathans have become bilingual in Pashto or Punjabi as well depending upon where they reside.

See also

• List of Hindko language writers and experts