Kalash people

This article is about the Kalasha of Chitral. For the Kalasha of Nuristan, see Nuristani people. For other uses, see Kalash (disambiguation).

Kalash
Kalash girls photographed in April 2016
Total population
c. 3,800[1]
Regions with significant populations
Kalasha Valleys, Chitral District, Pakistan
Languages
Kalasha, Khowar
Religion
Majority: Animism and ancestor worship[a] with elements of ancient Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion[b]/
Minority: Islam[2]
Related ethnic groups
Nuristanis, other Indo-Aryan peoples

The Kalash (Kalasha: کالؕاشؕا, romanised: Kaḷaṣa), or Kalasha, are a small (ca. 3000) Indo-Aryan[c] indigenous (minority) 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.[web 1]

According to one Kalash tradition, their ancestors migrated to Chitral Valley from Nuristan or a location further south,[web 2][3] called "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics,[4] and possibly located near Jalalabad and Lughman (Afghanistan). Another tradition claims descent from the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, which emerged following Alexander's expedition into the region. While these kingdoms exerted influence over parts of modern-day Pakistan, no evidence exists to suggest that they directly controlled or significantly impacted the Chitral Valley.[web 3][web 4][d][5]

They are considered unique among the people of Pakistan,[web 2][web 1][6] and form Pakistan's smallest ethnoreligious group,[web 5] practicing what authors consider as a form of animism and ancestor worship[a] with elements of Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion.[b]

  1. ^ "The last of the Kalasha". 24 February 2019.
  2. ^ Ahmed 1986, p. 23–28.
  3. ^ Nicolaisen, Johannes; Yde, Jens (1963). Folk: dansk etnografisk tidsskrift. Dansk etnografisk forening.
  4. ^ East and West. Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. 1992.
  5. ^ Cacopardo, Augusto (2011). "Are the Kalasha Really of Greek Origin? The Legend of Alexander the Great and the Pre-Islamic World of the Hindu Kush". Acta Orientalia. 72: 47–92. doi:10.5617/ao.4847.
  6. ^ Cacopardo 2016, p. 28.


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