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The Kalash
Obscured by time, the roots of the Kalash are steeped in myth and legend.
Descended, they maintain, from the armies of Alexander the Great, at one time their ancestors ruled all the way from the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, to Swat and Chitral in a land known as Kafiristan – literally Land of the Unbelievers. It was here that Rudyard Kipling set his famous short story, The Man Who Would Be King. But when Afghanistan’s eastern border was finally agreed upon in 1893 – cutting right through Kafiristan – the ruthless Amir of Kabul seized the opportunity to invade the land on his side of the border, convert the infidels and change its name to Nuristan – Land of Light. In what was probably the last forced mass conversion in history, Kafiristan was reduced to the lands of the Kalash.
Worshipping a plethora of ancestral gods, the Kalash hold colourful religious festivals of music and dance, they drink wine, sacrifice animals and – though these practices have largely been forgotten – are still known to place effigies over the graves of their dead and judge a man by the size of the parties he gives.
Though the men now wear the standard Pakistani shalwar kameez, the women still dress in traditional garb; voluminous black dresses held tight round the waist with thick red belts, flamboyant head-dresses made of wool, decorated with cowry shells, old buttons, beads and bells and, perhaps most striking of all, around their necks great strands of coloured beads.
Practising the ancient agricultural system of transhumance, the Kalash divide the summer months between herding their goats in the high pastures and tending their crops of wheat and maize in the valleys. Apricots, mulberries and walnuts are collected and dried for winter while the grapes are made into wine.
During the seventies, when local Muslims forced a number of conversions upon the Kalash, their numbers shank to just two thousand. However, with protection from the government, a decrease in voluntary conversion and a great reduction in the child mortality rate, the last two decades have seen their numbers double.
If you'd like to see a short video of the Kalash festival of Joshi, please click here