Kalash people in the context of "Ethnic groups in Pakistan"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Kalash people in the context of "Ethnic groups in Pakistan"
Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Kalash people

The Kalash (Kalasha: کالؕاشؕا, romanized: Kaḷaṣa), or Kalasha, are a small Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The term is also used to refer to several distinct Nuristani speaking people, including the Väi, the Čima-nišei, the Vântä, plus the Ashkun- and Tregami-speakers.

According to one Kalash tradition, their ancestors migrated "some centuries ago" to the Chitral Valley from the Waigal Valley, of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, or from a location further south called "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics, possibly near Jalalabad or Laghman in Afghanistan. Another tradition claims descent from the armies of Alexander who were left behind from his armed campaign, though no evidence exists for him to have passed the area.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Kalash people in the context of Ethnic groups in Pakistan

Pakistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. The major Pakistani ethnolinguistic groups include Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis, Muhajirs, Balochs, Hindkowans/Hazarewals, Brahuis, and Kohistanis as well as Shina, Baltis, Kashmiris, Paharis, Chitralis, Torwalis, Hazaras, Burusho, Wakhis, Kalash, Siddis, Uzbeks, Nuristanis, Pamiris and various other smaller minorities.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Kalash people in the context of Kafiristan

Kāfiristān, or Kāfirstān (Pashto: کاپیرستان; Dari: کافرستان; lit. 'Land of Infidels'), is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and its surroundings. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, the basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech (Kamah), Landai Sin and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges. It is bounded by the main range of the Hindu Kush on the north, Pakistan's Chitral District to the east, the Kunar Valley in the south and the Alishang River in the west.

Kafiristan took its name from the enduring kafir (non-Muslim) Nuristani inhabitants who once practised what authors consider as a form of animism and ancestor worship with elements of Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion; they were thus known to the surrounding predominantly Sunni Muslim population as Kafirs, meaning "disbelievers" or "infidels". They are closely related to the Kalash people, an independent people with a distinctive culture, language and religion, who reside in the Chitral District of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Ethnic groups in Pakistan ← Kafiristan
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Kalasha language → Indo-Aryan people → Indigenous people → Chitral District → Khyber Pakhtunkhwa → Pakistan → Nuristani language → Askunu language → Tregami language → Chitral Valley → Waigal District → Nuristan Province, Afghanistan → Jalalabad → Laghman Province → Alexander the Great →