Friday, October 10, 2014

KALASHA – THE WHITE TRIBE OF PAKISTAN

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The Kalasha are indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Pakistan. They speak the Kalasha language, from the Dardic family of the Indo-Iranian languages, and are considered a unique tribe among the Indo-Aryan peoples of Pakistan.
They are related to the Nuristani people of the adjacent Nuristan (historically known as Kafiristan) province of Afghanistan. An autochthonous and polytheistic by the late 19th century much of Nuristan had converted to Islam, while the Kalasha of Chitral maintain their own separate cultural traditions.
The culture of Kalash people is unique and differs completely from the various ethnic groups surrounding them. They are polytheists and nature plays a highly significant and spiritual role in their daily life.
As part of their religious tradition, sacrifices are offered and festivals held to give thanks for the abundant resources of their three valleys. Kalasha Desh (the three Kalash valleys) is made up of two distinct cultural areas, the valleys of Rumbur and Brumbret forming one and Birir valley the other, Birir valley being the most traditional of the two.
Kalash mythology and folklore has been compared to that of ancient Greece, but they are much closer to Indo-Iranian (Vedic and pre-Zoroastrian) traditions. Some of the Kalash people in their own traditions claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great’s soldiers, however, extensive genetic testing has shown no connection.
The Kalash’s origins have fascinated anthropologists due to the unusually high frequency of light hair, skin, and eyes (particularly green). Some Pashtuns and Persians too have been known to have blond hair or green eyes (such as Sharbat Gula).
In the mountains of the Hindu Kush in Pakistan, six thousand or so people live who look and sound very different from their neighbors.  They claim to have lived in the area for thousands of years and they look to all intents and purposes, European.  
 Image Credit Flickr User Manalahmadkhan 
Image Credit Flicks User Saad Sarfraz Sheikh
Many of the Kalash are blond haired and blue eyed, somewhat of an 
anomaly in Pakistan!  Some believe that they are descendants of 
Alexander the Great’s army though their true ethnic origins are still unproven. 

They have a significantly different outlook on life from the Muslims 
surrounding them – they are polytheistic and have a completely different folklore
 (which has been compared to that of ancient Greece).   
DNA testing has not, however, produced any connection to Greek people. 
Yet although there is no genetic support for a Greek origin, the tests
 on the Kalash also showed no detectable East or South Asian lineages. 

Taking in to account genetic drift it was then thought that the Kalash 
blood line originated in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and 
the Caucasus. However, another series of tests suggested that
 perhaps the Kalash are in fact aboriginal to the area with only 
negligible contributions from external peoples. In other words,
 the jury is still out as to where they actually come from but it 
might well be exactly where they are right now. 
Hiten Raja 
 They live in Kalasha Desh – which translates as the three valleys 
of the Kalash – and that is the limit of their people’s range. There are 
only around five thousand speakers of the language, Kalasha, left which 
in terms of a language means that it is critically endangered. However, 
it is thought that the language probably never had more than a few tens
 of  thousands of speakers at any one time.


As their numbers are very small, the culture of the people who 
surround them have had an impact. Many of the Kalash in two 
of the valleys have converted to Islam, probably around fifty percent. 
They still practice many of the traditional aspects of Kalash life 
though the non-converts call them ‘sheiks’.  A third valley,
 known as Birir, still clings to the traditional way of Kalash life. 
Image Credit Flickr User Manalahmadkhan
By some standards, the Kalash are very poor and it is true that they are subsistence farmers. Kalash houses are typically made from Deodar trunk to an ancient design. They appear singly or stacked up against each other up vertiginous hillsides.
Image Credit Flickr User Gregory Strauch

Image Credit Flickr User Yodod
Yet even though the houses often look precarious, they are built on solid stone foundations. Many have inbuilt beehives, given the villagers access to honey close by. Life is, however, hard. Outbreaks of cholera still happen regularly in these remote villages.
Image Credit Flickr User GroudReporter
In stark contract to the culture of Pakistan the Kalash do not separate the sexes or disapprove of contact between men and women of different families.  However, there is the ‘bashelini’ – a house in the village where menstruating women are sent until they regain ‘purity’ and rituals must be performed before she can return to her husband.
Image Credit Flickr User GroundReporter
Elopement is regular in Kalash society and – strangely – it occurs often among married women.  The woman herself will ask the prospective groom and offer her hand, informing the new man how much her previous husband paid for her.  
Image Credit Flickr User GroundReporter
The Kalash have, for however long they have been in the Hindu Kush, made their livelihood by herding goats and farming. Yet tourism does not play a major part in their lives with many urban Pakistanis making the journey from the big cities to meet their light colored rustic neighbors.
Image Credit Flickr User Saad Safraz Sheikh
Image Credit Flickr User Yodod
The Kalash are protected by the government of Pakistan but their future is uncertain – particularly if the religion declines in to theocracy.  There have been recent Taliban incursions and a Greek aid worker was kidnapped in 2009 (she was returned unharmed four months later after an outcry). However, their relative isolation may well ensure the Kalash survive.
Image Credit Flickr User Yodod

Kalasha – The White Tribe of Pakistan

The Kalasha of Chitral or simply Kalasha, are an ethnic group living in the Hindu Kush region of Pakistan. They are [probably] an ancient Dard people who speak the Kalasha-mun language, have light skin, eyes, and hair, similar to what one would find in Southern Europe.
Many Kalash claim that they are the direct descendants of either Greek settlers, Alexander the Great’s army, or even Alexander himself. The claims are questionable, as there is proof of their existence before Alexander’s invasion of the Persian Empire.
One theory suggests that similarities in the culture of the Kalasha and Greek people stem from the expansion of Proto-Indo-Europeans.
It is important to note that there is no current connection between the Kalasha of Chitral and the Kalasha of Nuristan. These two populations descend from different branches of the Indo-Iranians, a division that goes back some 5,000 years.
According to linguist [Richard Strand], a professional in this area, the people of Chitral apparently adopted the name of the former Kafiristan Kalasha, who at some unknown time extended their influence into Chitral.
There is still controversy over what defines the ethnic characteristics of the Kalasha and what exactly is their number. An estimate puts current population of ethnic Kalasha around six thousand; who continue to worship their polytheistic gods, while many thousands more have converted to Islam (whether genuine or for economic and social gain), yet still live within the Kalasha villages and maintain their language and their traditional centuries old way of life.

Introduction to Kalasha Tribe of Pakistan

Introduction to Kalasha Tribe of Pakistan

One of the major attractions for the tourists, historians, sociologists and anthropologists, professional photographers and archeologists of the world, is the Kalash valleys (Chitral district) in the North-West part of Pakistan. Kalash valleys, which have earned world fame because of their specific culture, are the home of Kafir Kalash or wearers of the black robes, a primitive pagan tribe. The Kalash people live in the three sub-valleys of Kalash; Bumboret, Rumbor and Birir. The Kalasha are ancient tribe of Pakistan and they have their own way of life, their own religion, language, rituals and their own identity. This part of Pakistan is considered to be a well preserved ethnic and cultural museum.Owing to this value, Kalasha culture has been listed by UNESCO for consideration as World Heritage Site. The Kalasha culture is unique as well as amazing one, from all over the world tourist come here to see their natural beauty and unique culture and each year many historians, anthropologists and photographers from all over the world focus the Kalasha society.

The Kalasha tribe is observing the great demographic change; their population is under threats for many years. Their population was 10,000 in 1959 showed 63% decrease per annum due to the pressure of people from the urban centers of the country, shrinking it to 3700 souls in 2009.

The Kalasha society is observing cultural change, that is drastic cultural and social change.

The cultural change affected at large scale:
  • Family breakup and disturb the family system
  • Permanent loss of rituals
  • Loss in cultural participation in daily practices
  • Loss in cultural participation in communal events