History of Kafiristan

[Pakistani E]

As Samandri pointed in an earlier post, they once resided in the wider region extending up to C and E Afghanistan. The western kin of the Kalash were only finally defeated and assimilated by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan in the late 1800s, and "Kafiristan" subsequently came to be known as Nuristan. The Kalash across the Durand Line however survived, as they officially came within British borders.




That would be interesting. Interest in our tribes and history is rather limited so it is hard to get enough people together to initiate discussions on such topics. However @Atanz and @Samandri and some other fellows whose names I cant remember now, possess a lot of knowledge about our history, and if they are willing then we should certainly go down that route. I myself am a Kamboh/Kamboj and can shed light on our history.

Maybe a more knowledgable member can get the ball rolling, perhaps we can concentrate on major tribal groupings to begin with and expand out. We can certainly start off with the Kamboh/Kamboj. But hopefully more people can join in. Pakistan in general, and Punjab in particular is so diverse it is hard to find origional history of the various tribes. It's even more frustrating when certain local tribes start claiming arab background like the Awans.

@Pakistani Exile @Kambojaric What I am trying to say is that those areas of central and eastern afghanistan were inhabited not necessarily by the Kalash but by the forefather of Chitralis, Kohistanis, Pashia and Gilgitis, the question is are these groups related to Nuristanis/Kalash?

Ah I understand what you mean now. Well I am not sure about the rest, but HarappaWorld put together various admixture results from Kalasha and Burusho populations. I think the "Caucasian" element was elevated among the Kalashas while the Burushos had a much higher N.E Asian admixture.

I am trying to find more DNA studies of the other mentioned groups. Will report back when I do. But I think the other groups have more N.E/East Asian admixture than the Kalashas.

@django

This is what I was looking for: The ones beginning with "b" represent Burusho, while "k" represents Kalasha admixture results, using the HarappaWorld admixture calculator.

 

[Kambojaric]

@Pakistani Exile @Kambojaric What I am trying to say is that those areas of central and eastern afghanistan were inhabited not necessarily by the Kalash but by the forefather of Chitralis, Kohistanis, Pashia and Gilgitis, the question is are these groups related to Nuristanis/Kalash?

Probably yes. The Kalasha language is part of the Dardic language sub-group. Their religious beliefs too show some similarities with the beliefs of even Muslim Burushos and Gilgits. Take for example the belief in mountain fairies which is part of Kalasha religion but also seems to be the belief of Muslims of the region.

The shamans in Kalash reside in the village of their origin and are mortal beings. The people of the village believe in the supernatural qualities possessed and claimed by the shamans. The trance is then followed by the fumigation of juniper leaves and often by sprinkling of the scarified animal blood, offerings and prayer. The deities and fairies communicate with the shamans and deliver a supernatural message [9]. The shamans are approached for the cure of natural illnesses and misfortune.

http://www.idosi.org/wasj/wasj29(3)14/17.pdf

Now compare with the local Muslims in this documentary (3 minutes onwards)

Edit: Pakistani Exile's admixture table shows a definite genetic link between Muslims of the region and Kalash as well so yes they must be related.

Maybe a more knowledgable member can get the ball rolling, perhaps we can concentrate on major tribal groupings to begin with and expand out. We can certainly start off with the Kamboh/Kamboj. But hopefully more people can join in. Pakistan in general, and Punjab in particular is so diverse it is hard to find origional history of the various tribes. It's even more frustrating when certain local tribes start claiming arab background like the Awans.

Tell me about it. As said I would be very interested if people did take interest in this topic but it is usually hard to get together enough people to discuss such topics. Il start researching this topic though and hopefully write a detailed post on my tribe's history soon. We'l see if people do participate then. At least I know one person is interested

 

[Pakistani E]

Tell me about it. As said I would be very interested if people did take interest in this topic but it is usually hard to get together enough people to discuss such topics. Il start researching this topic though and hopefully write a detailed post on my tribe's history soon. We'l see if people do participate then. At least I know one person is interested

Goodluck! I look forward to your post. As I said before, my knowledge isn't that great in this topic, but I am always willing to learn.