[2] The region is defined mainly on the basis of linguistics where the majority of people speak Sarazi as their mother tongue.

It is widely spoken as a lingua franca alongside Hindi/Urdu, but as a first language it is primarily associated with the Hindu population.

[2][1] In the past, Doda was largely inhabited by a Sarazi population before people started settling there from Kashmir and other adjoining areas.

[3] Historians disagree as to why the Kashmiri population settled in Saraz during the 17th and 18th centuries.

[4] However, Sumantra Bose says it was repression by the feudal classes elsewhere that drew people to Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar.