Kalash people
The Kalash (Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush mountain range. They live in the Chitral district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalash language, a member of the Dardic language family of Indo-Aryan.
 An old Kalash woman in tradational outfit. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ca. 6,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Chitral District | |
| Languages | |
| Kalash, Persian, and Urdu | |
| Religion | |
| kalash ReligionPolytheism (ca. 3,000), Islam (ca. 3,000)[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pashayi people and Nuristani people |
There are only about 3000 Kalash polytheists and 3000 Kalash Muslims. The Kalash people live in three isolated valleys. They claim to have a Greek origin. The Kalash have a polytheist religion, while neighboring peoples are Muslims. If a Kalash person converts to Islam, that person is kicked out from Kalash society. This is the reason why the Kalash religion still exists and this is the only way to make it exist also in the future. The Kalash are also known for their human features. It can vary from someone with light brown skin, brown eyes, and black hair to someone with white skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair.
Related pages
References
- Ahmed, A.S., 1986. The Islamization of The Kalash Kafirs. Pakistan Society: Islam, Ethnicity and Leadership In South Asia. page 23-28.
Other websites
General Information
- Picturesque Pakistan Archived 2007-07-27 at the Wayback Machine Extensive, general Kalash information
- Site Shara Forum for Chitral and the Kalasha
- Kalash: The descendants of Alexander's soldiers Archived 2007-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Reaching out to Alexander’s sons The Kalash, Pakistan’s remaining pagans, find unlikely savior in British senior citizen
- The Kalash: The Lost Tribe of Alexander the Great
Resource
- Kalasha People Online Archived 2011-02-24 at the Wayback Machine A blog used by Kalasha and their New Alphabet to write Kalashamondr (Kalasha language)
- Frontier Language Institute Archived 2006-04-30 at the Wayback Machine Kalasha dictionary
Media
- Kalash Valleys Archived 2007-06-01 at the Wayback Machine A plethora of high quality pictures of the Kalash people and their homeland.
- Youtube: Kalash Image and video montage
- The Alphabet Book Trailer Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine Promotional trailer for the feature documentary "The Alphabet Book" Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine