Caste
Although Pakistan has so many Muslims, but Caste is still matter in Pakistan. Caste system comes from India--Hindu culture. Caste is divided to be 4 classes, from the highest to the lowest :
Brahmin
Ksatria
Sudra
Paria
Cross caste Marriage is still a crucial problem not only in India, but also in Pakistan for some families, specially if the caste of the family is high. The family might make exception for the male but the rule will be strict towards female. Caste is about "blood -- the ancestor" nothing related to current economy status or profession, if there is a doctor, but his father is from low caste, then the doctor is still considered as the low caste in society.
Clan
Clan is different with caste. Clan is about family and caste is about level and power. Clan is part of caste, for one caste level has some or maybe a lot of clans ( families ). Most of Pakistanis know about their ancestors and their clan name. Some Pakistani men still use his clan name on their name but some don't. Pakistan and India have so many clans, such as "Khan", "Singh", "Rajput", and many more. The bigger clans also have sub -- clan and the caste level of the sub -- clan is still same as the main clan.
Pashtun/Pathan Tribe
Through the clan name, Pakistani can track their ancestors and to determine their caste level. Some of Pakistani clans are not originally come from Pakistan and India, some of them come from Arab, Persia, and Turk. The clans that come from outside Pakistan such as "Farooqi" and Pasha". Most of Pakistani men will have clan name as their last name, but sometimes they also put the clan name in front of their given name and use the father’s name as their last name instead of the clan name.
For example :
"Qazi Talhah"
"Qazi" is not the given name, it is clan name. The given name is "Talha".
Another example :
"Usman Ali"
"Usman and "Ali" are not the clan name. "Usman" is the given name, and "Ali" is the father's name. It's mean, he doesn't use his clan name for his last name.
Many of female babies in Pakistan don't have clan name or father’s name legally, they only have given name on birth certificate. Sometimes the female baby also has father’s name instead of clan name for her last name. It's because based on their culture the female family members can't carry the family's clan name. That's why in India and Pakistan having a son for some families is matter. Based on the culture, a daughter belongs to her husband’s family. Therefore, when she gets married her last name will change to be her husband’s name or she also can use her husband's clan name or both ( clan and husband's given name ). However, it doesn’t mean the unmarried daughters who only get given name can’t use the family’s clan name, they can use it if they want as their stage name or known name.
Kalash Tribe
For example :
Husband : "Amir Khan"
Wife : "Ayesha Amir" or "Ayesha Khan" or "Ayesha Amir Khan"
"Ayesha" is the wife's given name. "Amir" is the husband's given name and "Khan" is the husband's clan name.
In Pakistan for some families they still concern about same caste marriage in order to keep the family reputation. However, the function of caste in India is more than just for the marriage. It's also related to alliances between tribes or clans. Although caste and clan are different things, most of Pakistanis still mixed the clan and caste. They keep saying "caste" when they talk about "clan" because clan is still part of caste.
Caste can effect how the Pakistani society and family will treat the bride and groom. That's why in our community we have many bad cases happened to foreign wives rather than Pakistani wives because the foreigners have no cast and clan. Furthermore, most of them married by love marriage. So, the Pakistani family won't have much responsibility towards the family of foreign daughter in law. In the other hand, most of Pakistani women married by arrange marriage. So, the Pakistani women still have family and clan to protect her. We also still can find some cases that happened to Pakistani women who come from low caste or class are treated un--nicely in her husband's family because the husband is from higher caste.and class than hers.
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