NURISTANI PEOPLE

(Redirected from Nuristani)

The 'Nuristani people' are an ethnic group in the Nurestan Province of Afghanistan. They are also occasionally called 'Kalasha' people though this
name is more appropriate for the Kalash of neighbouring Chitral Province in Pakistan, half of whom are non-muslim, unlike the Nuristanis, who were converted to Islam around
1895. Both groups are known for characteristics like fair skin, light eyes, and blonde hair. The physical features may reflect their kinship to ancient Indo-European Tokhars who once lived in the Tarim Basin and may have spoken the now extinct Tocharian language.
Some Kalasha people claim descent from the Greeks after Alexander the Great's campaign and during the Indo-Greek Kingdom, although this has not been proven. Other people, such as the Iranian Scythians also trekked into this region during their migration from Central Asia into the Indian subcontinent some 2,200 years ago.
The Nuristani's were formerly classified into "Siah-Posh (''black-robed'') Kafirs" and "Sped-Posh (''white robed'')/Lall-Posh (''Red-Robed'') Kafirs" (The Gates of India, p 270, Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich). Timur fought with and was humbled by the Siah-Posh Kafirs (Ref: Tuzak-i-Timuri, pp 401-08; The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol VI, 1977, p 117, Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Achut Dattatraya Pusalker, Asoke Kumar Majumdar). Babur advised not to tangle with them. Genghis Khan passed by them. In fourth century BCE, Alexander the Great also encountered them and reduced them after stubborn fight.
The word Kafir means "non-believer" in the Islamic tradition, and
the Nurestan province was known as Kafiristan, before the majority were converted to Islam
during Abdur Rahman Khan's rule around 1895. They are now known as Nuristani.

Contents

Nuristanis and the Soviet invasion

Nuristani tribes

External links

See also

Nuristanis and the Soviet invasion

General Issa Nuristani was second in command following the King during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Before his assassination, General Issa called the Nuristani people in a "Jihad" against the Soviet Army. The Nuristani people were among the first in Afghanistan to rise against the Soviet invasion.
Most of the former Hindukush Kafir people are today's Nuristanis. They are such devout Muslims now that, led by the Koms, these former Kafirs were the first citizens of Afghanistan to successfully revolt against the communist overthrow of their government in 1978. Thereafter, Nuristan remained a scene of some of the bloodiest guerrilla fighting with the Soviet forces from 1979 through 1989. The Nuristanis inspired others to fight and contributed to the demise of the Afghan communist regime in 1992 [1].

Nuristani tribes

★ Kata

★ Kom

★ Mumo

★ Kshto

★ Dungulio

★ Kalasha (of Nuristan) (related to Kalash of Pakistan)

★ Tregami

★ Vasi

★ Askunu

★ Sanu

★ Gramsana

External links

★ Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu Kush

See also

★ Demographics of Afghanistan

★ Nuristani languages

★ Hindukush Kafir people

★ Garhwali

★ Indo-Greek Kingdom

★ Greco-Bactrian Kingdom