Kalash people
The Kalash, or Kalasha, are a small Indo-Aryan indigenous 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.
According to one Kalash tradition, their ancestors migrated "some centuries ago" to the Chitral Valley from the Waigal Valley, of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, or from a location further south called "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics, possibly near Jalalabad or Laghman in Afghanistan. Another tradition claims descent from the armies of Alexander who were left behind from his armed campaign, though no evidence exists for him to have passed the area.
During the Muslim rule in Chitral in the 14th century most of the Kalash gradually converted to Islam, except a small number of them who upheld their religion and customs, but they were restricted to the Kalasha Valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. Prior to the 1940s the Kalash had five valleys, the current three as well as Jinjeret kuh and Urtsun to the south.
They are considered unique among the people of Pakistan, and form Pakistan's smallest ethnoreligious group, practising what authors consider as a form of animism and ancestor worship with elements of Indo-Iranian religion.
Once the Kalasha people were living in more valleys; Jinjeret Kuh, Urtsun, Suwir Valley, Kalkatak and Damel Valley.
Location, climate and geography
The term "Kalash people" is used to refer to several distinct Nuristani speaking people, including the Väi, the Čima-nišei, the Vântä, plus the Ashkun- and Tregami-speakers, and a small group of Indo-Aryan speaking people. This specific group, the topic of this article, lives in three isolated mountain valleys located in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Bumburet, Rumbur, and Birir. These valleys open towards the Kunar River, some 20 km south of Chitral,The Bumburet and Rumbur valleys join at , joining the Kunar at the village of Ayrun and they each rise to passes connecting to Afghanistan's Nuristan Province at about 4,500 m.
The Birir Valley opens towards the Kunar at the village of Gabhirat. A pass connects the Birir and Bumburet valleys at about 3,000 m. The Kalash villages in all three valleys are located at a height of approximately 1,900 to 2,200 m.
The region is extremely fertile, with rich oak forests on the mountainsides that support intensive agriculture, much of which is carried out by hand rather than by machinery. The powerful and dangerous rivers that flow through the valleys have been harnessed to power grinding mills and to water the farm fields through the use of ingenious irrigation channels. Wheat, maize, grapes, apples, apricots and walnuts are among the many foodstuffs grown in the area, along with surplus fodder used for feeding the livestock.
The climate is typical of high elevation regions without large bodies of water to regulate the temperature. The summers are mild and agreeable with average maximum temperatures between. Winters, on the other hand, can be very cold, with average minimum temperatures between. The average yearly precipitation is.
History
Origins
The Kalash people have several traditions regarding their origins. According to one tradition, their ancestors migrated "some centuries ago" to Chitral Valley from the Waigal Valley of Nuristan in northeastern Afghanistan, or a location further south, called "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics. "Tsiyam" is said to be near Jalalabad and Lughman according to Morgenstierne.According to a tradition, the Kalash descend from the armies of Alexander who were left behind from his armed campaign, though no evidence exists for him to have passed the area.
According to Henry Walter Bellew the Kalash are the descendants of Gandhari people.
Genetic research - South Asia
A study by Rosenberg, Mahajan, et al. employing genetic testing among the Kalash population concluded that they are a distinct population with only minor contributions from outside peoples. In one cluster analysis the Kalash formed one cluster, the others being Africans, Europeans/Middle Easterners, South Asians, East Asians, Melanesians, and Native Americans.
Genetic analysis of Mitochondrial DNA by Quintana-Murci, Chaix, et al. stated that "the western Eurasian presence in the Kalash population reaches a frequency of 100%" with the most prevalent mtDNA Haplogroups being U4, R0, U2e, and J2. The study found no East or South Asian mtDNA lineages. The authors concluded that the origin of the western Eurasian maternal lineages in Kalash can be traced back to the Middle East.
Genetic analysis of Y-chromosome DNA by Firasat, Khaliq, et al. on Kalash individuals found high and diverse frequencies of these Y-DNA Haplogroups: L3a, H1*, R1a, G, J2, R*, R1*, and L*.
A 2025 study by Shahid et al published in Nature shows the following Y haplogroup frequencies in Kalash - R2, G2a2, J2b2a, J2a1, H1a1a, L1c, Q, R1a.
A study by Li, Absher, et al. with geneticists using more than 650,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms samples from the Human Genome Diversity Panel, found deep rooted lineages that could be distinguished in the Kalash. The results showed them clustered within the Central / South Asian populations The study also showed the Kalash to be a separated group, having no membership within European populations.
Lazaridis et al. note that the demographic impact of steppe-related populations on South Asia was substantial. According to the results, the Mala, a south Indian Dalit population with minimal Ancestral North Indian along the 'Indian Cline' have nevertheless ~ 18 % steppe-related ancestry, showing the strong influence of ANI ancestry in all populations of India. The Kalash of Pakistan are inferred to have ~ 50 % EMBA steppe-related ancestry, with the rest being of Iranian Neolithic, Onge and Han.
According to Narasimhan, Patterson, et al., the Kalash were found to possess the highest ANI ancestry among the population samples analysed in the study.
Genetic research - descent from Alexander's soldiers
A study by Ayub, Mezzavilla, et al. found no evidence of their claimed descent from soldiers of Alexander. The study, however, found that they shared a significant portion of genetic drift with MA-1, a 24,000 year-old Paleolithic Siberian hunter-gatherer fossil and the Yamnaya culture. The researchers thus believe they may be a drifted Ancient Northern Eurasian stock from which some of the modern European and Middle Eastern population also descends. Their mitochondrial lineages are predominantly from western Eurasia. Due to their uniqueness, the researchers believed that they were the earliest group to separate from the ancestral stock of the modern population of the Indian subcontinent estimated around 11,800 years ago.The estimates by Qamar, Ayub, et al. of 20%–40% Greek admixture in the Kalash has been dismissed by Kivisild, Rootsi, et al. stating that:
The study came to the conclusion that the Kalash population estimate by Qamar, Ayub, et al.
Discover magazine genetics blogger R. Khan has repeatedly cited information indicating that the Kalash are part of the South Asian genetic continuum, with no Macedonian ethnic admixture, albeit shifted towards the Iranian people.
A study by Firasat, Khaliq, et al. concluded that the Kalash lack typical Greek Haplogroups such as Haplogroup 21. Furthermore, autosomal analysis gave no indication that Kalash were genetically related to Greeks.
Islamic rule
Nader Shah
formed the Rais dynasty of Chitral. The Rais invaded southern Chitral, which was then under Kalasha rule. Kalasha traditions recount severe persecution and massacres at the hands of the Rais. Many Kalash fled the Chitral valley; those who remained while still practising their faith had to pay tribute in kind or with corvée labour. The term "Kalash" was used to denote "Kafirs" in general; however, the Kalash of Chitral were not considered "true Kafirs" by the Kati who were interviewed about the term in 1835.The Kalash were ruled by the Mehtar of Chitral from the 18th century onward. They enjoyed a cordial relationship with the major ethnic group of Chitral, the Kho, who are Sunni and Ismaili Muslims. This multi-ethnic, multi-religious State of Chitral ensured that the Kalash were able to live in peace and harmony and practice their culture and religion. They were protected from Afghan raids by the Chitralis, who also generally did not allow missionaries to Kalash. Instead, the Chitralis allowed the Kalasha to look after their matters themselves.
However, in the 1890s Amir Abdur-Rahman of Afghanistan converted the Nuristani, neighbours of the Kalash in the region of former Kafiristan west of the border, to Islam on pain of death, and their land was renamed; earlier, the people of Kafiristan had paid tribute to the Mehtar of Chitral and accepted his suzerainty. This ended with the conclusion of the Durand Agreement, under which Kafiristan fell into the Afghan sphere of influence.
20th century
Prior to the 1940s the Kalash had five valleys, the current three as well as Jinjeret kuh and Urtsun to the south. The last Kalash person in Jinjeret kuh was Mukadar, who passing away in the early 1940s found himself with no one to perform the old rites. The people of Birir valley just north of Jinjeret came to the rescue with a moving funeral procession that is still remembered fondly by the valleys now converted Kalash, firing guns and beating drums as they made their way up the valley to celebrate his passing according to the old custom.The Kalash of Urtsun valley had a culture with a large Kam influence from the Bashgul Valley. It was known for its shrines to Waren and Imro, the Urtsun version of Dezau, which were visited and photographed by Georg Morgenstierne in 1929 and were built in the Bashgul Valley style unlike those of other Kalash valleys. The last Shaman was one Azermalik who had been the Dehar when George Scott Robertson visited in the 1890s. His daughter Mranzi who was still alive into the 1980s was the last Urtsun valley Kalash practising the old religion. She had married into the Birir Valley Kalash and left the valley in the late 1930s when the valley had converted to Islam. Unlike the Kalash of the other valleys the women of Urtsun did not wear the Kup'as headdress but had their own P'acek, a headress worn at casual times, and the famous horned headress of the Bashgul valley, which was worn at times of ritual and dance. George Scott Robertson put forth the view that the dominant Kafir races like the Wai were refugees who fled to the region. The Kafirs are historically recorded for the first time in 1339.
Being a very small minority in a Muslim region, the Kalash have increasingly been targeted by some proselytising Muslims. Some Muslims have encouraged the Kalash people to read the Koran so that they would convert to Islam. The challenges of modernity and the role of outsiders and NGOs in changing the environment of the Kalash valleys have also been mentioned as real threats for the Kalash.
During the 1970s, local Muslims and militants tormented the Kalash because of the difference in religion and multiple Taliban attacks on the tribe lead to the death of many, their numbers shrank to just two thousand.
However, protection from the government led to a decrease in violence by locals, a decrease in Taliban attacks, and a great reduction in the child mortality rate. The last two decades saw a rise in numbers.
In recent times the Kalash and Ismailis have been threatened with death by the Taliban. The threats caused outrage and horrified citizens throughout Pakistan and the Pakistani military responded by fortifying the security around Kalash villages, the Supreme Court also took judicial intervention to protect the Kalash under both the ethnic minorities clause of the constitution and Pakistan's Sharia law penal code which declares it illegal for Muslims to criticise and attack other religions on grounds of personal belief. The Supreme Court termed the Taliban's threats against Islamic teachings. Imran Khan condemned the forced conversions threat as un-Islamic.
In 2017, Wazir Zada became the first Kalasha man to win a seat in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He became the member of the Provincial Assembly on a minority reserved seat.
In November 2019, the Kalash people were visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as part of their Pakistan tour and they saw a traditional dance performance there.