Kohistan region, Pakistan in the context of Dir Kohistan

Pashtunistan (Pashto: پښتونستان, lit. 'land of the Pashtuns') or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, and identity have been based. Alternative names historically used for the region include Pashtūnkhwā or Pakhtūnkhwā (پښتونخوا), or simply the Pashtun Belt.

During British rule in India in 1893, Mortimer Durand drew the Durand Line, fixing the limits of the spheres of influence between the Emirate of Afghanistan and British India during the Great Game and leaving about half of historical Pashtun territory under British colonial rule; after the partition of British India, the Durand Line now forms the internationally recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The traditional Pashtun homeland stretches roughly from the areas south of the Amu River in Afghanistan to the areas west of the Indus River in Pakistan; it predominantly comprises the southwestern, eastern and some northern and western districts of Afghanistan, as well as most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan in Pakistan. The region is bordered by Punjab and Hazara to the east, Balochistan to the south, Kohistan and Chitral to the north, and Hazarajat and Tajik-inhabited territory to the west.

Kohistan District, also known as Indus Kohistan (Kohistani: سندھُ کوستَیں) and Hazara Kohistan, was a district within the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Consisting of eastern portion of the larger Kohistan region, it was bifurcated into two districts in 2014: Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan. In 2017, the Lower Kohistan District was further bifurcated and a district Kolai-Palas was established. It has an area of 7,492 square kilometres (2,893 sq mi) and a population of 472,570 according to the 1998 Census.

Geographically, Kohistan stretched from Gilgit-Baltistan in the north to the Mansehra District in the east to the Battagram District and Shangla and Swat districts in the west.

The Sultanate of Swat was a medieval kingdom of Dardic origin centred around the city of Manglawar between the 12th and 16th centuries. It was strongest of the several Dardic-speaking states in the region, encompassing the present-day Malakand, Buner, Swat and Dir valleys, as well as the Kohistan region.

During the most of 15th century, the kingdom bordered Kashmir Sultanate to the east, Delhi Sultanate to the south, Timurid Empire to the west and the kingdom of Chitral to the north. The last notable ruler was Sultan Awes Jahangiri, during whose reign Swat was ultimately conquered between 1510 and 1518 after a series of battles by Yousafza'i Pashtuns under the leadership of Malik Ahmad Baba. This led to the Pashtunization of the Swat and Dir regions. Some accounts trace the origins of Shah Mir dynasty of Kashmir from these rulers of Swat.

Balawaristan (Urdu: بلاورستان, lit. 'Land of heights'), is a term coined by Nawaz Khan Naji, founder of the Pakistani political party Balawaristan National Front (BNF), for a proposed autonomous province or a sovereign state consisting of Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral and Kohistan regions in Pakistan as well as Indian-controlled Ladakh. Although the name, first used in 1989, does not have any historical basis, it sounds similar to Baloristan, which has been documented in Chinese sources to describe Baltistan and Gilgit Valley from the 8th century CE.

BNF activists affirm that Balawaristan is not a part of Kashmir and has a unique identity. They also consider the people of Gilgit Baltistan to be the fourth party in the Kashmir dispute, the other three being Pakistan, India and Kashmir.