My first encounter with the Brokpa happened during the Ladakh Festival which is held during the first two weeks of September. It opens in Leh, with a spectacular procession through the streets. Villagers are dressed in traditional costumes, and gather at the polo grounds below the Leh Palace. The Drokpa, or Brokpa, descend from the Dards, an Aryan tribe that moved into western Ladakh from the Hindu Kush mountains (Pakistan) centuries ago. The Brokpa broke away from the Islamic faith, and converted to Buddhism; but a wilder form of Buddhism, that carried animistic beliefs, from the early Bon religion. Offerings of sacrificial goats and sheep to appease their gods and demons, are still commonly practiced. Although numbering less than 2000, the Brokpa have their own language, communicating in an archaic Shina language, which is taught verbally, with no written alphabet