The Kalash (Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush, settling in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalash language, a member of the Dardic family.
Not to be confused are the Nuristani people, who are also occasionally referred to as Kalasha.
There is some controversy over what defines the ethnic characteristics of the Kalash. Although quite numerous before the 20th century, the non-Muslim minority has seen its numbers dwindle over the past century. A leader of the Kalash, Saifulla Jan, has stated, "If any Kalash converts to Islam, they can't live among us anymore. We keep our identity strong."[1] Thousands have converted to Islam, yet still live nearby in the Kalash villages and maintain their language and many aspects of their ancient culture. In fact, sheikhs, or converts to Islam, make up more than half of the total Kalasha-speaking population.Language
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The language of the Kalash is a Dardic language of the Indo-Iranian group; itself part of the larger Indo-European family. It is classified as a member of the Chitral sub-group, the only other member of that group being Khowar. The Norwegian Linguist Georg Morgenstierne who studied both languages wrote that in spite of similarities Kalasha is in independent language in its own right, not a mere dialect of Khowar.[4] [5]
Until the latter 20th century, Kalash was an undocumented language. More recently, through the work of a Greek NGO and local Kalash elders seeking to preserve their oral traditions, a new Kalasha alphabet has been created. Taj Khan Kalash has also been influential in the development of the new alphabet. Having moved to Thessaloniki, Greece to study linguistics in the Aristotle University, he and the Greek NGO Mesogaia took on the task of compiling the script and creating The Alphabet Book, a primer used to teach the alphabet to the Kalash children. Badshah Munir Bukhari unicode the Kalasha Language in 2005.
[edit] Customs
Kalash women usually wear long black robes, often embroidered with cowrie shells. For this reason, they are known in Chitral as "The Black Kafirs". Men have adopted the Pakistani shalwar kameez, while children wear small versions of adult clothing after the age of four.
In contrast to the surrounding Pakistani culture, the Kalash do not in general separate males and females or frown on contact between the sexes. However, menstruating girls and women are sent to live in the "bashaleni", the village menstrual building, during their periods, until they regain their "purity". They are also required to give birth in the bashaleni. There is also a ritual restoring "purity" to a woman after childbirth which must be performed before a woman can return to her husband.[6] The husband is an active participant in this ritual.
Marriage by elopement is rather frequent, also involving women who are already married to another man. Indeed, wife-elopement is counted as one of the "great customs" (ghōna dastūr) together with the main festivals.
Girls are usually married at an early age. If a woman wants to change husbands, she will write a letter to her prospective husband offering herself in marriage and informing the would-be groom how much her current husband paid for her. This is because the new husband must pay double if he wants her. For example, if the current husband paid one cow for her, then the new husband must pay two cows to the original husband if he wants her.
Wife-elopement may lead in some rare cases to a quasi-feud between clans until peace is negotiated by mediators, in the form of the double bride-price paid by the abductor to the ex-husband. [7]
Kalash lineages (kam) separate as marriageble descendents have separated by over seven generations. A rite of "breaking agnation" (tatbře čhin) marks that previous agnates (tatbře) are now permissible affines (därak "clan partners).[8] Each kam has a separate shrine in the clan's Jēṣṭak-hān, the temple to lineal or familial goddess Jēṣṭak.
[edit] Festivals
The three main festivals of the Kalash are the Joshi festival in late May, the Uchau in autumn, and the Caumus in midwinter.[9]
Joshi is celebrated at the end of May each year. The first day of Joshi is "Milk Day", on which the Kalash offer libations of milk that have been saved for ten days prior to the festival.
Chaumus (ghona chawmos yat) is celebrated for ten days around winter solstice, at the beginning of the month chawmos mastruk. It marks the end of the year's fieldwork and harvest, and it is the most important of the year's festivals. It involves much music, dancing, and the sacrifice of many goats. It is dedicated to the demi-god Balimain who is believed to visit from the mythical homeland of the Kalash, Tsyam, for the duration of the feast. Food sacrifices are offered at the clans' Jeshtak shrines, dedicated to the ancestors.
The Kalash also celebrate the Festival of the Budulak. In this festival, a strong teenage boy is sent up into the mountains to live with the goats for the summer. He is supposed to get fat and strong from the goat milk. When the festival comes he is allowed for a 24-hour period only to have sexual intercourse with any woman he wants, including even the wife of another man, or a young virgin or his own mother if he wants her. Any child born of this 24-hour rampage is considered to be blessed. The Kalash claim to have abolished this practice in recent years due to negative world-wide publicity. However, few believe them and most believe that they still do this, although very secretly.
[edit] Mythology
Kalash culture and belief system differs drastically from the various ethnic groups surrounding them. There is a creator deity called Dezau (the Indo-European sky god *Dyaos, later Gk. Zeus and Latin Ju-piter) or Khodai besides lesser deities, semi-gods and spirits. The Kalash pantheon is thus the last untouched, living representative of Indo-European mythology.
Tsyam is the mythological homeland of the Kalash, connected with Balomain, the heroic demi-god revered at Chaumus. Mahandeo is the god of crops, and also the god of war. Jestak is the goddess of domestic life, family and marriage. Dezalik is the goddess responsible for the Bashaleni lodge and childbirth. These deities have shrines throughout the valleys, where they frequently receive goat sacrifices.The dead are buried above ground in ornamented wooden coffins. Wooden totems or effigies are erected at the graves of wealthy or honoured people.[10]
[edit] History
The Kalash have been ruled by the Mehtar of Chitral since the 1700s and have enjoyed a cordial relationship with the major ethnic group of Chitral, the Kho who are Sunni and Ismaili Muslims. The multi-ethnic and multi-religious State of Chitral ensured that the Kalash were able to live in peace and harmony and practice their culture and religion. The Nuristani, their neighbors in the region of former Kafiristan east of the border, were invaded in the 1890s and converted to Islam by Amir Abdur-Rahman of Afghanistan and their land was renamed Nuristan.
Prior to that event, the people of Kafiristan had paid tribute to the Mehtar of Chitral and accepted his suzerainty. This came to an end with the Durand Agreement when Kafiristan fell under the Afghan sphere of Influence. Recently, the Kalash have been able to stop their demographic and cultural spiral towards extinction and have, for the past 30 years, been on the rebound. Increased international awareness, a more tolerant government, and monetary assistance has allowed them to continue their way of life. Their numbers remain stable at around 3,000. Although many convert to Islam, the high birth rate replaces them, and with medical facilities (previously there were none) they live longer. Also, Muslim converts often secretly convert back to the Kalash religion, due to the availability of Kalash women which the Muslims do not have.
Allegations of "immorality" connected with these practices have led to the forcible conversion to Islam of several villages in the 1950s, which has led to heightened antagonism between the Kalash and the surrounding Muslims. Since the 1970s, schools and roads were built in some valleys.[11]
Rehman and Ali (2001) report that pressure of radical Muslim organizations is on the increase:
Ardent Muslims on self-imposed missions to eradicate idolatry regularly attack those engaged in traditional Kalash religious rituals, smashing their idols. The local Mullahs and the visiting Tableghi Jammaites remain determined to 'purify' the Kafirs.[12]
[edit] Location, climate and geography
Located in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, the Kalash people live in three isolated mountain valleys: Bumboret (Kalash: Mumret), Rumbur (Rukmu), and Birir (Biriu). These valleys are opening towards the Kunar River, some 20 km south (downstream) of Chitral,
The Bumboret and Rumbur valleys join at 35°44′20″N, 71°43′40″E (1640 m), joining the Kunar at the village of Ayrun ( 35°42′52″N, 71°46′40″E, 1400 m) and they each rise to passes connecting to Afghanistan's Nuristan Province at about 4500 m.
The Birir valley opens towards the Kunar at the village of Gabhirat ( 35°40′8″N, 71°45′15″E, 1360 m). A pass connects the Birir and Bumboret valleys at about 3000 m. The Kalash villages in all three valleys are located at a height of approximately 1900 to 2200 m.
The region is extremely fertile, covering the mountainside in rich oak forests and allowing for intensive agriculture, despite the fact that most of the work is done not by machinery, but by hand. 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 (generally used for wine), apples, and walnuts are among the many foodstuffs grown in the area, along with surplus fodder used for feeding the livestock.[13]
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 23° and 27°C (73° - 81°F). Winters, on the other hand, can be very cold, with average minimum temperatures between 2° and 1°C (36° - 34°F). The average yearly precipitation is 700 to 800mm (28 - 32 inches).
