The north-west frontier province of the Indian sub-continent is home to the Kalash tribe. These dwellers within the heart of the lofty Hindu Kush are members of the Dardic, an Indo-Aryan race. Today, the tribe is part of much controversy on account of established ethnic characteristics. The Kalash tribespeople are non-Muslims, who follow the dictate that if any Kalash ever converts to Islam, he or she or the family has to leave the tribe. They maintain a strong 'individual' identity of language and an age-old culture. However, the Kalash language is now the language of more than 90% sheikhs, the official converts to Islam. The tribe derived its name from the former Kafiristan region, Kalasha.
Culture:
Kalash culture differs among the various ethnic groups. These polytheists are highly spiritual and believe in the power of religious traditions such as sacrifices and festivals to appease the forces of nature. Much of their mythology and folklore are quite similar to those of ancient Greece and the Indo-Iranian traditions.
Language:
The Kalash language is Dardic and part of the Indo-European linguistic family. Kalasha is an independent language and not a dialect of Khowar, as many claim. The language is considered 'endangered' by UNESCO, with only about 5000 people now communicating in the language. Oral traditions are now being preserved via the recent Kalasha alphabet created.
Traditions:
The women wear black robes, embroidered with cowrie, while the men wear a shalwar kameez. The Kalash tribespeople are more liberal towards women, compared to their counterparts in Pakistan. However, their villages do have what is referred to as a 'bashaleni', a building constructed for temporary housing of menstruating girls and women and childbirth. Wife-elopement is considered as a custom dictate and a celebration called 'ghōna dastūr'. Kam or Kalash lineages observe the rite of breaking agnation or 'tatbře čhin', the official adoption of affines or clan partners. Each clan has its own shrine dedicated to the familial goddess Jēṣṭak, called the Jēṣṭak-hān.
Festivals:
The Kalash tribespeople celebrate three main festivals: Joshi, in late May; Uchau, in autumn and Caumus, in midwinter. They believe that the god Sorizan protects their herds during fall and winter, while the responsibility is that of god Goshidai, until the Pul or full-moon festival. The most important Kalash festival is Chaumos, a festival that marks the winter solstice. It is celebrated to officially mark the end of all fieldwork and harvest activity. The people indulge in live music and dance and of course, animal sacrifice. At the celebrations, while the declared 'pure' men sing songs of the clan's past, the 'impure' resort to passionate and obscene lyrics. During the festivities of Budulak, a prepubescent male child is sent into the mountains to live with the goats during the entire summer. The tribesmen believe that feeding extensively on goat milk makes the boy strong.
Religion:
Kalash religion and belief system strongly resembles those of the Indo-Aryans and pre-Zoroastrian Iranians. They believe in a number of deities, demi-gods and spirits and a whole pantheon. Some of their principle gods are:
- Indr or Varendr: The rainbow and slayer of vṛtra or resistance.
- Jesṭan: Indra's demon-like counterpart.
- Munjem Malik: Lord of Middle Earth.
- Mahandeo: God of crops and war, and a celestial negotiator.
- Jestak: The goddess of domestic life.
- Dezalik: The goddess of childbirth.
- Suchi: The mountain fairies.
These deities are believed to be appeased with goat sacrifices. The Kalash priests or ištikavans are protectors of the shrines constructed around wooden or stone altars. Horses, cows and goats are sacrificed regularly. Wine is considered a sacred drink and prepubescent boys are treated with great respect.
The Kalash tribe is believed to comprise migrants from Afghanistan and regions of South Asia. The tribe was earlier ruled by the monarch of Chitral and enjoyed cordial relationships with the Kho, a major ethnic group from Chitral. Today, the Kalash tribe lives in peace and harmony, amidst the dictates of its own unique culture and religion. They are now part of a cash-based economy, capitalizing on tourism and trade.
The Kalash tribe, numbering approximately 3,000, are the smallest group amongst the religious minorities of Pakistan. Unlike the other minorities, they live exclusively in a particular geographical area; the three valleys of Birir, Bumburet and Rumbur known locally as Kafirastan. Kafirastan is situated in the Hindu Kush between the Afghan border and Chitral valley. Until 1896 Kafiristan also included present day Nuristan in Afghanistan, inhabited by the ‘Red Kafirs’, whereas the Kalash were called the ‘Back Kafirs’.
Kalash myths tell that they originally came from Tsiam, thought to be near Yarkand. The Kalash oral tradition also tells that the Kalash are descended from Alexander the Great’s brave general Shalak Shah of Tsiam, to whom Alexander gave the Chitral valley as a reward. Kalasha language is of great interest to linguists as it belongs to the ancient Dardic branch of the Indo-European languages, suggesting a Central Asian origin. Around 1500 AD the Kalash were dominant throughout southern Chitral; the Kalasha oral tradition mentions eight great Kalasha kings. Local people outside the valleys often find remnants of buildings revealing evidence of former Kalash settlements.
When the Kalash migrated from Nuristan in 1896 under threats from Afghan King Abdur Rehman , they found the Chitralis much more tolerant & peaceful .. The refugees were given land by the Chitrali ruler Aman ul Mulk in the upper parts of the Kalash
The Nurastani
The Nuristani tribe are a proud race living in the Hindukush Mountain in northern Afghanistan along the Chitral border. This is a world of extreme isolation in the remotest corner of the Hindukush where caravan routes passed to the east and west of the area avoiding it, with only one road a dirt track leading halfway up the Bashgal valley.
This tribe enjoyed centuries of independence living as warriors and hunters, first with spear and bow and later with rifles. For eight or nine centuries they held out against the tide of Islam, raiding Muslim settlements and caravans until at the end of the last century they came under the suzerainty of Afghanistan. The original name of Kafirastan 'land of the infidels' was then changed for Nuristan.
Their way of life, architecture, traditional culture and language are remnants of the former Red Kafir traditions . They still live in villages of 100 to 200 wooden houses remarkable both inside and out for neatness and cleaness, are clustered together, clinging precariously to the steep- sided valleys , the women still till their fields by hand, while the men look after their live stock and irrigation channels.
They breed cattle sheep and all their agricultural products are of fine quality, their cattle which in appearance and size compare favourably with English breeds are much sought after by their neighbours.
The history of The Kalash Tribe from Pakistan....
The Kalash language is called Kalasha, which is an archaic type of Indo- European language (Dardic subgroup). Which has a rich tradition of folklore, epics, love songs and idioms demonstrating a high standard of indigenous wisdom and human experience.
This knowledge is believed to be at the verge of extinction. The new generation of Kalash does not know much about their non-material culture and heritage.The Kalasha follow a Polytheist religion based on ancestor worship, as well as 12 gods and goddesses dominated by the main god, Mahandeo.
There are three theories about the origin of the Kalash. Some historians believe the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great.
Other historians say the Kalash are indigenous to Asia and come from what is now the Nuristan area of Afghanistan.
Other historians say the Kalash ancestors migrated to Afghanistan from a distant place in South Asia, which the Kalash call “Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics.
However, it is established that the Kalash migrated to Chitral from Afghanistan in the 2nd century B.C. By the 10th century A.D., the Kalash ruled a large part of present-day Chitral. Razhawai, Cheo, Bala Sing and Nagar Chao were famous Kalash rulers in the 12th through 14th centuries A.D.
Their fellow tribesmen in Afghanistan were known as Red Kafirs.
The thriving Kalash culture began to fall in 1320 A.D. when Shah Nadir Raees subjugated and converted the people to Islam.
The villages of Drosh, Sweer, Kalkatak, Beori, Ashurate, Shishi, Jinjirate and adjacent valleys in southern Chitral were last Kalash villages subjected to mass conversion in the 14th century.
The Kalash were living in just three Chitral valleys, Bambourate, Rumbur and Birir, by the time Amir of Afghanistan forcefully converted to Islam the Red Kafirs on the other side of the border in 1893. Villages of the converted Red Kafirs in Chitral are known as Sheikhanandeh – the village of converted ones.
The Kalash, as well as the Sheikh community, are popular with domestic and foreign tourists because of their unique culture.
The Kalash area is a hub of eco- tourism activities. With the opening of the Lawari tunnel on the road to Peshawar and the proposed road to Tajikistan, the Kalash and Chitral will be linked with the cultural centers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia by all-weather land routes
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