126-715: The Nuristanis are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan . Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian languages . In the mid-1890s, after the establishment of the Durand Line when Afghanistan and the British Indian Empire reached an agreement regarding the Indo-Afghan border as
252-504: A host of men, a band of comrades as well as a swarm or flock of animals. In Classical Greek , the word took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as " nation , tribe, a unique people group"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or " barbarous " nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan"). In
378-593: 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
504-509: A few more decades, before finally converting to Islam as well. The final known non-converted Kafir was settled in a Chitrali village known as Urtsun. This Kafir's name was Chanlu, and he converted in 1938, several months after being interviewed about the cosmology of the Kati. In Chitral, the Nuristanis are known either as Bashgalis (as most migrated from a valley of Nuristan called Bashgal in
630-421: A focus on the interface between groups. "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries", therefore, is a focus on the interconnectedness of ethnic identities. Barth writes: "... categorical ethnic distinctions do not depend on an absence of mobility, contact, and information, but do entail social processes of exclusion and incorporation whereby discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership in
756-529: A form of ancient Hinduism , infused with accretions developed locally". They acknowledged a number of human-like deities who lived in the unseen Deity World (Kâmviri d'e lu; cf. Sanskrit deva lok'a- ). Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer describe the Nuristanis of having traditionally practising a "primitive" form of Hinduism , up until the late nineteenth century, before their conversions to Islam . Certain deities were revered only in one community or tribe, but one
882-562: A formal tribal structure as the Pashtuns do, however they do designate themselves by the names of the local regions they are from. In total, there are 35 such designations: five from the north–south valleys and 30 from the east–west valley. Some of these tribes include: Ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include
1008-405: A long period. Earlier, it was surrounded by Buddhist states and societies which temporarily extended literacy and state rule to the region. The journey to the region was perilous according to reports of Chinese pilgrims Fa-hsien and Sung Yun . The decline of Buddhism resulted in the region becoming heavily isolated. The Islamization of the nearby Badakhshan began in the 8th century and Peristan
1134-503: A mercurial character. Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness". He agrees with Joan Vincent's observation that (in Cohen's paraphrase) "Ethnicity ... can be narrowed or broadened in boundary terms in relation to the specific needs of political mobilization." This may be why descent is sometimes a marker of ethnicity, and sometimes not: which diacritic of ethnicity
1260-510: A narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, depending on group identification, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry. By way of assimilation , acculturation , amalgamation , language shift , intermarriage , adoption , and religious conversion , individuals or groups may over time shift from one ethnic group to another. Ethnic groups may be divided into subgroups or tribes , which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from
1386-631: A number of other deities, semi-gods and spirits. The Kalash pantheon is thus one of the few living representatives of Indo-European religion. They believed in many deities, whose names resembled those of Iranian and old Vedic sources. There was a supreme deity named Mara or Imra , plus a multitude of lesser gods and goddesses known locally as Mandi or Moni , Wushum or Shomde, Gish or Giwish, Bagisht, Indr , Züzum, Disani , Kshumai or Kime etc. According to Michael Witzel, some of these gods, especially Disani, Moni, and Gish, have direct parallels in Shinto ,
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#17327719496271512-612: A people of a common language , culture , common sets of ancestry , traditions , society, religion , history, or social treatment. The term ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation , particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism . Ethnicity may be construed as an inherited or societally imposed construct. Ethnic membership tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage , ancestry, origin myth , history , homeland , language , dialect , religion, mythology , folklore , ritual , cuisine , dressing style , art , or physical appearance . Ethnic groups may share
1638-519: A preoccupation with scientists, theologians, and the public. Religious institutions asked questions about whether there had been multiple creations of races (polygenesis) and whether God had created lesser races. Many of the foremost scientists of the time took up the idea of racial difference and found that white Europeans were superior. The ethnicity theory was based on the assimilation model. Park outlined four steps to assimilation: contact, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation. Instead of attributing
1764-412: A process known as ethnogenesis, a period of several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry (which is then sometimes cast in terms of a mythological narrative of a founding figure ); ethnic identity is reinforced by reference to "boundary markers" – characteristics said to be unique to the group which set it apart from other groups. Ethnicity theory argues that race
1890-748: A prominent expert on languages of the Hindu Kush, spent three decades in the Hindukush. He noted the following about the pre-Islamic Nuristani religion: Before their conversion to Islâm the Nuristânis practised a form of ancient Hinduism, infused with accretions developed locally. They acknowledged a number of human-like deities who lived in the unseen Deity World (Kâmviri d'e lu ; cf. Sanskrit deva lok'a- )." The historical religious practices of neighbouring Pahāṛi peoples of Nepal , Kashmir , Uttarakhand , and Himachal Pradesh are similar to those of
2016-406: A prominent location for war, which has led to the death of many indigenous Nuristanis. Nuristan has also received abundance of settlers from the surrounding Afghan regions due to the borderline vacant location. Noted linguist Richard Strand , an authority on Hindu Kush languages, observed the following about pre-Islamic Nuristani religion: "Before their conversion to Islâm the Nuristânis practiced
2142-519: A stand-in for "paganism" in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an "ethnic character" (first recorded 1953). The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972. Depending on context, the term nationality may be used either synonymously with ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). The process that results in emergence of an ethnicity
2268-521: A stubborn and prolonged resistance, describing them as being distinct culturally and religiously from other peoples of the region. Nuristanis were formerly classified into "Siah-Posh ( black-robed ) and "Safed-Posh ( white-robed )/Lall-Posh ( Red-Robed ). Timur fought with and was humbled by the Siah-Posh. Babur advised not to tangle with them. Genghis Khan passed by them. In 1014, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked them: Another crusade against idolatry
2394-404: A woman after childbirth which must be performed before a woman can return to her husband. The husband is an active participant in this ritual. Girls are initiated into womanhood at an early age of four or five and married at fourteen or fifteen. If a woman wants to change husbands, she will write a letter to her prospective husband informing him of how much her current husband paid for her. This
2520-471: Is 700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 inches). The Kalash people have several traditions regarding their origins. According to one tradition, their ancestors migrated to Chitral Valley from Nuristan 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. Another tradition has it that the Kalash descend from
2646-443: Is a social category and is only one of several factors in determining ethnicity. Other criteria include "religion, language, 'customs', nationality, and political identification". This theory was put forward by sociologist Robert E. Park in the 1920s. It is based on the notion of "culture". This theory was preceded by more than 100 years during which biological essentialism was the dominant paradigm on race. Biological essentialism
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#17327719496272772-409: Is because the new husband must pay double if he wants her. 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. Wife-elopement may lead in some rare cases to a quasi-feud between clans until peace is negotiated by mediators, in the form of
2898-423: Is called ethnogenesis , a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. The term may also be used with the connotation of something unique and unusually exotic (cf. "an ethnic restaurant", etc.), generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who arrived after the dominant population of an area was established. Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership,
3024-420: Is called ethnogenesis. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention. Ethnic groups can form a cultural mosaic in a society. That could be in a city like New York City or Trieste , but also
3150-416: Is made up of two distinct cultural areas, the valleys of Rumbur and Bumburet forming one, and Birir Valley the other; Birir Valley being the more traditional of the two. The Kalasha language, also known as Kalasha-mun, is an Indo-Aryan language whose closest relative is the neighbouring Khowar language . Kalasha was formerly spoken over a larger area in south Chitral, but it is now mostly confined to
3276-655: Is not a noun in Britain. In effect there are no "ethnics"; there are only "ethnic relations". In the U.S., the OMB says the definition of race as used for the purposes of the US Census is not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference". Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and actions by
3402-442: Is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. Kanchan Chandra rejects the expansive definitions of ethnic identity (such as those that include common culture, common language, common history and common territory), choosing instead to define ethnic identity narrowly as a subset of identity categories determined by
3528-431: Is the belief that some races, specifically white Europeans in western versions of the paradigm, are biologically superior and other races, specifically non-white races in western debates, are inherently inferior. This view arose as a way to justify enslavement of African Americans and genocide of Native Americans in a society that was officially founded on freedom for all. This was a notion that developed slowly and came to be
3654-678: 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 to 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 (Kalash: Mumuret ), Rumbur ( Rukmu ), and Birir ( Biriu ). These valleys open towards
3780-649: The Afghan Armed Forces . Led by the Koms tribe, the Nuristani were the first citizens of Afghanistan to revolt against Saur Revolution in 1978. They played an important role in the conquering of some provinces, including Kunar , Nangarhar , Badakhshan , and Panjshir . Thereafter, Nuristan remained a scene of some of the bloodiest guerrilla fighting with the Soviet forces from 1979 through 1989. Following
3906-570: The Ashkun - and Tregami -speakers. According to one Kalash tradition, their ancestors migrated to Chitral Valley from Nuristan Province, Afghanistan or a location further south, called "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics, and possibly located near Jalalabad and Lughman in Afghanistan. Another tradition claims descent from the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, which emerged following Alexander's expedition into
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4032-463: The Caribbean and South Asia . Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were künstlich (artificial, i.e. a social construct ) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared Gemeinschaft (community). Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. This
4158-637: The Kunar River , some 20 km south (downstream) of Chitral , The Bumburet and Rumbur valleys join at 35°44′20″N 71°43′40″E / 35.73889°N 71.72778°E / 35.73889; 71.72778 (1,640 m), joining the Kunar at the village of Ayrun ( 35°42′52″N 71°46′40″E / 35.71444°N 71.77778°E / 35.71444; 71.77778 , 1,400 m) and they each rise to passes connecting to Afghanistan's Nuristan Province at about 4,500 m. The Birir Valley opens towards
4284-671: The Mughal period . In 1839, the Kafirs sent a deputation to Sir William Macnaghten in Jalalabad claiming relationship with the fair skinned British troops who had invaded the country At the time of the Afghan conquest of Kafiristan, a small number of Kom and Kati Kafirs fled east to Chitral (modern Pakistan) where they were allowed to settle by the Mehtar. There they practised their faith for
4410-455: The New World were multi-ethnic from the onset, as they were formed as colonies imposed on existing indigenous populations. In recent decades, feminist scholars (most notably Nira Yuval-Davis) have drawn attention to the fundamental ways in which women participate in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national categories. Though these categories are usually discussed as belonging to
4536-638: 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
4662-465: 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
4788-481: The towers of the skulls of the Kators which he built on the mountain in the auspicious month of Ramazan A.H. 800 (1300 CE) Again, according to Timur's autobiography ( Tuzak-i-Timuri ), a military division of ten thousand Muslim soldiers was sent against the Siah-Posh (Kam) Kafirs under the command of General Aglan Khan to either slay these infidels or else to convert them into Islam. Tuzak-i-Timuri frankly admits that
4914-657: The "Kafir" people in general; however, the Kalasha of Chitral weren't considered to be "true Kafirs" by the Kati people who were interviewed about the term in 1835. The Kalash were ruled by the Mehtar of Chitral from the 18th century onward. They 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
5040-544: The 1890s and their land was renamed. 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. 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
5166-569: The 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a tribe, race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning. The sense of "different cultural groups", and in American English "tribal, racial, cultural or national minority group " arises in the 1930s to 1940s, serving as a replacement of the term race which had earlier taken this sense but was now becoming deprecated due to its association with ideological racism . The abstract ethnicity had been used as
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5292-513: 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
5418-654: The Chitrali Khowar language ), or alternatively as Sheikhan (a generic term for recent converts to Islam). The exact population size of Nuristanis in Chitral is unknown, but members of the community estimate that they number at least 12 000. All of them are speakers of the Kamkata-vari language , also known locally as Sheikhani . Prior to 1895, the Kafirs of the Hindu Kush were classified into two groups:
5544-610: The Greeks. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen ,
5670-610: 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 (at K = 7). The study also showed the Kalash to be a separated group, having no membership within European populations. Lazaridis et al. (2016) note that the demographic impact of steppe related populations on South Asia
5796-727: The Indian subcontinent estimated around 11,800 years ago. The estimates by Qamar, Ayub, et al . (2002) of 20%–40% Greek admixture in the Kalash has been dismissed by Kivisild , Rootsi, et al . (2003) stating that: The study came to the conclusion that the Kalash population estimate by Qamar, Ayub, et al . is unrealistic and is likely also driven by the low marker resolution that pooled southern and western Asian-specific Y-chromosome Haplogroup H together with European-specific Haplogroup I , into an uninformative polyphyletic cluster 2. Discover magazine genetics blogger R. Khan has repeatedly cited information indicating that
5922-535: 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 . (2006) concluded that the Kalash lack typical Greek Haplogroups such as Haplogroup 21 (E-M35) . Furthermore, autosomal analysis gave no indication that Kalash were genetically related to Greeks. Shah Nadir Rais (1698-1747) formed
6048-524: 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 (mtDNA) by Quintana-Murci, Chaix, et al . (2004) stated that "the western Eurasian presence in the Kalash population reaches a frequency of 100%" with the most prevalent mtDNA Haplogroups being U4 (34%), R0 (23%), U2e (16%), and J2 (9%). The study asserted that no East or South Asian lineages were detected and that
6174-641: The Kalash mythology and folklore are closely related to the Vedic mythology , and it's religion has also been compared to that of ancient Greece , due to the hypothesis that the Kalsh are descendants of Alexander the Great's soldiers. Kalash culture and belief system differ from the various ethnic groups surrounding them, but are similar to those practised by the neighbouring Nuristanis in northeast Afghanistan before their forced conversion to Islam. Richard Strand ,
6300-458: The Kalash people in that they "ate meat, drank alcohol, and had shamans". In addition, the Pahāṛi people "had rules of lineage exogamy that produced a segmentary system closely resembling the Kalasha one". The neighbouring Nuristani people of the adjacent Nuristan (historically known as Kafiristan ) province of Afghanistan once had the same culture and practised a faith very similar to that of
6426-456: 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
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#17327719496276552-668: The Kalash population is composed of maternal western Eurasian lineages (as the associated lineages are rare or absent in the surrounding populations). The authors concluded that a western Eurasian maternal origin for the Kalash is likely. Genetic analysis of Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) by Firasat, Khaliq, et al . (2007) on Kalash individuals found high and diverse frequencies of these Y-DNA Haplogroups: L3a (22.7%), H1* (20.5%), R1a (18.2%), G (18.2%), J2 (9.1%), R* (6.8%), R1* (2.3%), and L* (2.3%). A study by Li, Absher, et al . (2008) with geneticists using more than 650,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) samples from
6678-580: The Kalash villages and maintain their language and many aspects of their ancient culture. By now, sheikhs , or converts to Islam, make up more than half of the total Kalasha-speaking population. Kalasha 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
6804-514: The Kalash were able to live in peace and harmony and practice their culture and religion. The Kalasha were protected by the Chitralis from Afghan Raids, who also generally did not allow missionaries in Kalash. They allowed for the Kalasha to look after their matters themselves. The Nuristani , their neighbours in the region of former Kafiristan west of the border, were converted, on pain of death, to Islam by Amir Abdur-Rahman of Afghanistan in
6930-401: The Kalash were found to possess the highest ANI ancestry among the population samples analysed in the study. A study by Ayub, Mezzavilla, et al . (2015) 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
7056-690: The Kata Family and Janaderi Branch. However, there are other Nuristani tribes as well, some of the Kata of Janaderi people live in Ozhor (now Karimabad ), Gobor, Buburat, Ayun, Broze and Mastuj . There is a very popular rock associated with this tribe located in Karimabad (Juwara) called kata bont (Kata is the name of the tribe; bont meaning "stone" in the Chitrali language ). The Nuristani do not have
7182-801: The Katirs as well as the Kam sections of the Siah-Posh (black-robed) Kafirs of the Hindukush mountains. Timur invaded Afghanistan in March 1398. On the basis of local complaints of ill-treatment and extortions filed by the Muslims against the Kafirs , Timur personally attacked the Kators of the Siah-Posh group located north-east of Kabul in eastern Afghanistan. The Kators left their fort Najil and took refuge at
7308-517: The Kunar at the village of Gabhirat ( 35°40′8″N 71°45′15″E / 35.66889°N 71.75417°E / 35.66889; 71.75417 , 1,360 m). 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, covering the mountainside in rich oak forests and allowing for intensive agriculture, although most of
7434-462: The Rais Dynasty of Chitral. The Rais carried out an invasion of Southern Chitral which was back then under Kalasha rule. Kalasha traditions record severe persecution and massacres at the hands of Rais. They were forced to flee the Chitral valley and those that remained while still practising their faith had to pay tribute in kind or with Corvée labour. The term "Kalasha" was used to denote all
7560-626: The Ramgul Valley, in the westernmost part of Kafiristan on the Afghan frontier. All Siah-posh groups of Kafirs were regarded as of common origin. They all had a common dress and customs and spoke closely related dialects of Kati . Nicholas Barrington et al. reported that the Waigulis and Presungulis referred to all Siah-posh Kafirs as Katirs. While the Kamtoz of the lower Bashgul valley were
7686-591: The Siah-Posh, or black-vested by the Muslims of later times. In Nardain there was a temple, which the army of Ghazni destroyed; and brought from thence a stone covered with certain inscriptions, which were according to the Hindus, of great antiquity. The first reference to Siah-Posh Kafirs occurs in Timur's invasion of Afghanistan in 1398 CE. Timur's autobiography (Tuzak-i-Timuri) amply attests that he had battled both with
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#17327719496277812-477: The Siah-Poshes as he does for the Katirs and numerous other communities of India proper. Also, he gives no further details of his conflict with the Siah-Poshes in his Tuzak-i-Timuri after this encounter, which clearly shows that the outcome of the fight against the Siah-Poshes was very costly and shameful for Timur. Other references to these Kafirs are made in the fifteenth and later in sixteenth century during
7938-721: The Siah-posh (black clad) and the Safed-posh (white clad) Kafirs, also known as the Lal-posh (red-clad), so-called because of the colour of the robes they wore. But the British investigator George Scott Robertson who visited Kafiristan and studied the Kafirs for about two years (1889–1891) improved upon the old classification by recognising that the Safed-posh Kafirs were actually members of several separate clans, viz,
8064-462: The United States that the ethnicity theory was exclusively based on the immigration patterns of the white population and did take into account the unique experiences of non-whites in the United States. While Park's theory identified different stages in the immigration process – contact, conflict, struggle, and as the last and best response, assimilation – it did so only for white communities. The ethnicity paradigm neglected
8190-405: The Waigulis, Presungulis or Viron, and the Ashkuns. The later three groups of the Kafirs used to be collectively known as Sped-Posh Kafirs. The term Siah-posh Kafirs used to designate the dominant group of Hindu Kush Kafirs inhabiting the Bashgal Valley . The Siah-posh Kafirs have sometimes been confused with Kalasha people of the neighbouring Chitral region in Pakistan . The Siah-Posh tribe
8316-994: The added value of being able to describe the commonalities between systems of group identity in both tribal and modern societies. Cohen also suggested that claims concerning "ethnic" identity (like earlier claims concerning "tribal" identity) are often colonialist practices and effects of the relations between colonized peoples and nation-states. According to Paul James , formations of identity were often changed and distorted by colonization, but identities are not made out of nothing: Categorizations about identity, even when codified and hardened into clear typologies by processes of colonization, state formation or general modernizing processes, are always full of tensions and contradictions. Sometimes these contradictions are destructive, but they can also be creative and positive. Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have
8442-429: The age of four. In contrast to the surrounding Pakistani culture, the Kalasha 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
8568-508: 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 (1834-1892) the Kalash are the descendants of Gandhari people . A study by Rosenberg, Mahajan, et al . (2006) employing genetic testing among the Kalash population concluded that they are a distinct (and perhaps aboriginal ) population with only minor contributions from outside peoples. In one cluster analysis (with K = 7),
8694-449: The belief of common descent. Jóhanna Birnir similarly defines ethnicity as "group self-identification around a characteristic that is very difficult or even impossible to change, such as language, race, or location." Different approaches to understanding ethnicity have been used by different social scientists when trying to understand the nature of ethnicity as a factor in human life and society. As Jonathan M. Hall observes, World War II
8820-406: The boundaries of the nation-state. Kalash people The Kalash ( Kalasha : کالؕاشؕا, romanised: Kaḷaṣa ), or Kalasha , are a small Indo-Aryan indigenous (minority) 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
8946-573: The context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined. In the 19th century, modern states generally sought legitimacy through their claim to represent "nations". Nation-states , however, invariably include populations who have been excluded from national life for one reason or another. Members of excluded groups, consequently, will either demand inclusion based on equality or seek autonomy, sometimes even to
9072-422: The course of individual life histories." In 1978, anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that the identification of "ethnic groups" in the usage of social scientists often reflected inaccurate labels more than indigenous realities: ... the named ethnic identities we accept, often unthinkingly, as basic givens in the literature are often arbitrarily, or even worse inaccurately, imposed. In this way, he pointed to
9198-526: The cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits. Because serious errors of this kind are habitually committed when the term "race" is used in popular parlance, it would be better when speaking of human races to drop the term "race" altogether and speak of "ethnic groups". In 1982, anthropologist David Craig Griffith summed up forty years of ethnographic research, arguing that racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for different ways people from different parts of
9324-444: 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
9450-451: The distant past. Perspectives that developed after the 1960s increasingly viewed ethnic groups as social constructs , with identity assigned by societal rules. The term ethnic is ultimately derived from the Greek ethnos , through its adjectival form ethnikos , loaned into Latin as ethnicus . The inherited English language term for this concept is folk , used alongside
9576-452: The distinctions of ethnicity and race that function to set off categories of workers from one another. It is, nevertheless, the process of labor mobilization under capitalism that imparts to these distinctions their effective values. According to Wolf, racial categories were constructed and incorporated during the period of European mercantile expansion , and ethnic groupings during the period of capitalist expansion . Writing in 1977 about
9702-555: The double bride-price paid by the new husband to the ex-husband. Kalash lineages ( kam ) separate as marriageable descendants that 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"). Each kam has a separate shrine in the clan's Jēṣṭak-hān , the temple to lineal or familial goddess Jēṣṭak . Kalasha traditional music mainly consists of flute-like instruments (usually high in pitch), singing, poetry, clapping and
9828-530: The extent of complete political separation in their nation-state. Under these conditions when people moved from one state to another, or one state conquered or colonized peoples beyond its national boundaries – ethnic groups were formed by people who identified with one nation but lived in another state. In the 1920s, Estonia introduced a flexible system of ethnicity/nationality self-choice for its citizens, which included Estonians Russians, Baltic Germans and Jews. Multi-ethnic states can be
9954-414: The fact that identification of an ethnic group by outsiders, e.g. anthropologists, may not coincide with the self-identification of the members of that group. He also described that in the first decades of usage, the term ethnicity had often been used in lieu of older terms such as "cultural" or "tribal" when referring to smaller groups with shared cultural systems and shared heritage, but that "ethnicity" had
10080-591: The fallen monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the United States. Current topics are in particular social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers, multiple cultural identities and the formation of Salad bowl and melting pot . Ethnic groups differ from other social groups, such as subcultures , interest groups or social classes , because they emerge and change over historical periods (centuries) in
10206-596: The following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified: In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by Armenian citizenship, having Armenian heritage, native use of the Armenian language , or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church . Ethnography begins in classical antiquity ; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus , Herodotus laid
10332-702: 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 (PA) 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. The Kalash have fascinated anthropologists due to their unique culture compared to
10458-672: The foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world c. 480 BC . The Greeks had developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes . Although there were exceptions, such as Macedonia, which was ruled by nobility in a way that was not typically Greek, and Sparta, which had an unusual ruling class, the ancient Greeks generally enslaved only non-Greeks due to their strong belief in ethnonationalism. The Greeks sometimes believed that even their lowest citizens were superior to any barbarian. In his Politics 1.2–7; 3.14, Aristotle even described barbarians as natural slaves in contrast to
10584-558: The genes. Examples of various approaches are primordialism, essentialism, perennialism, constructivism, modernism, and instrumentalism. Ethnicity is an important means by which people may identify with a larger group. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. The process that results in emergence of such identification
10710-433: The kernel of a nation which must be defended in times of conflict, or in iconic figures such as Britannia or Marianne . Ethnicity is used as a matter of cultural identity of a group, often based on shared ancestry, language, and cultural traditions, while race is applied as a taxonomic grouping, based on physical similarities among groups. Race is a more controversial subject than ethnicity, due to common political use of
10836-654: The latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan (in the sense of disparate "nations" which did not yet participate in the Christian ecumene ), as the Septuagint used ta ethne 'the nations' to translate the Hebrew goyim "the foreign nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews". The Greek term in early antiquity ( Homeric Greek ) could refer to any large group,
10962-446: The latter, but soon recanted and attacked the regiment of Muslim soldiers during night. The latter being on guard, fought back, killed numerous Kators and took 150 as prisoners and put them to death afterwards. Next day, Timur ordered his troops to advance on all four sides to kill all men, enslave the women and children and plunder or lay waste all their property . In his autobiography called Tuzak-i-Timuri , Timur proudly boasts of
11088-399: 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 23 and 27 °C (73 and 81 °F). Winters, on the other hand, can be very cold, with average minimum temperatures between 2 and 1 °C (36 and 34 °F). The average yearly precipitation
11214-485: The marginalized status of people of color in the United States to their inherent biological inferiority, he attributed it to their failure to assimilate into American culture. They could become equal if they abandoned their inferior cultures. Michael Omi and Howard Winant 's theory of racial formation directly confronts both the premises and the practices of ethnicity theory. They argue in Racial Formation in
11340-483: The modernist understanding of ethnicity as proposed by Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson see nations and nationalism as developing with the rise of the modern state system in the 17th century. They culminated in the rise of "nation-states" in which the presumptive boundaries of the nation coincided (or ideally coincided) with state boundaries. Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation , developed in
11466-568: The most numerous, the Kam of the upper Bashgul valley were the most intractable and fierce and dreaded for their military prowess. General Issa Nuristani was second in command following the King during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , being the commander of the 1st Central Army Corps. Before his assassination, General Issa called the Nuristani people in a " Jihad " against the Soviet Army and
11592-468: The native religion of Japan , indicating a shared history dating back to 2000 BCE. Each village and clan had its guardian deity, with shamans advising those seeking help and priests officiating at religious services. The cult centered on the sacrifice of animals, mostly goats. The area extending from modern Nuristan to Kashmir was known as "Peristan", a vast area containing a host of Nuristani cultures and Indo-European languages that became Islamized over
11718-551: The parent group. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a panethnicity and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity . Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis . Although both organic and performative criteria characterise ethnic groups, debate in the past has dichotomised between primordialism and constructivism. Earlier 20th-century "Primordialists" viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since
11844-450: The problem of racism became the sole responsibility of already disadvantaged communities. It was assumed that if a Black or Latino community was not "making it" by the standards that had been set by whites, it was because that community did not hold the right values or beliefs, or were stubbornly resisting dominant norms because they did not want to fit in. Omi and Winant's critique of ethnicity theory explains how looking to cultural defect as
11970-433: The public, political sphere, they are upheld within the private, family sphere to a great extent. It is here that women act not just as biological reproducers but also as "cultural carriers", transmitting knowledge and enforcing behaviors that belong to a specific collectivity. Women also often play a significant symbolic role in conceptions of nation or ethnicity, for example in the notion that "women and children" constitute
12096-399: The regiment was badly routed by a small number of Siah-Posh Kafirs. The Muslim forces had to flee from the battle-field leaving their horses and armour. Another detachment had to be sent under Muhammad Azad which fought gallantly and recovered the horses and the armour lost by General Aglan and came back home, leaving the Siah-Posh alone. Timur does not boast of any killings or imprisonment of
12222-683: The region of Kafiristan became part of the Great Game and for a period of time, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan conducted a military campaign to secure the eastern regions and followed up his conquest by imposition of Islam; the region thenceforth being known as Nuristan , the "Land of Light". Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practised a form of ancient Hinduism . Non-Muslim religious practices endure in Nuristan today to some degree as folk customs. In their native rural areas, they are often farmers, herders, and dairymen. The Nuristan region has been
12348-543: The region. While these kingdoms exerted influence over parts of modern-day Pakistan, no evidence exists to suggest that they directly controlled or significantly impacted the Chitral Valley. They are considered unique among the people of Pakistan, and form Pakistan's smallest ethnoreligious group , practicing what authors consider as a form of animism and ancestor worship with elements of Indo-Aryan ( Vedic Hinduism-like ) religion. The term "Kalash people"
12474-495: The related word "Kafir" means one who does not believe in Islam. The majority were converted to Islam during Abdur Rahman Khan 's rule around 1895. The province is now known as Nuristan and the people as Nuristanis. However, among the rural population many old customs and beliefs like occasional production of wine have continued. In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great encountered them and finally defeated them after they put up
12600-432: The rest in that region. The culture of the Kalash people differs in many ways from the many contemporary Muslim ethnic groups surrounding them in northwestern Pakistan. 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)
12726-571: The result of inherited traits and tendencies. With Weber's introduction of the idea of ethnicity as a social construct, race and ethnicity became more divided from each other. In 1950, the UNESCO statement " The Race Question ", signed by some of the internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Gunnar Myrdal , Julian Huxley , etc.), said: National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not necessarily coincide with racial groups: and
12852-432: The result of two opposite events, either the recent creation of state borders at variance with traditional tribal territories, or the recent immigration of ethnic minorities into a former nation-state. Examples for the first case are found throughout Africa , where countries created during decolonization inherited arbitrary colonial borders, but also in European countries such as Belgium or United Kingdom . Examples for
12978-450: The rhythmic playing of drums, which include the: While a minority of the Kalash has converted to Islam, the Kalash people are primarily practitioners of the traditional Kalasha religion, which is a form of animism and ancestor worship mixed with elements from ancient Indo-Aryan Vedic Hinduism. According to Witzel, the Kalash religion contains both pre-Vedic and Indo-Iranian elements, but very little post-Vedic influences. Elements of
13104-588: The second case are countries such as Netherlands , which were relatively ethnically homogeneous when they attained statehood but have received significant immigration in the 17th century and even more so in the second half of the 20th century. States such as the United Kingdom , France and Switzerland comprised distinct ethnic groups from their formation and have likewise experienced substantial immigration, resulting in what has been termed " multicultural " societies, especially in large cities. The states of
13230-420: The source of inequality ignores the "concrete sociopolitical dynamics within which racial phenomena operate in the U.S." It prevents critical examination of the structural components of racism and encourages a "benign neglect" of social inequality. In some cases, especially those involving transnational migration or colonial expansion, ethnicity is linked to nationality. Anthropologists and historians, following
13356-407: The state or its constituents. In the 20th century, people began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups or between members of an ethnic group and the state can and should be resolved in one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to this view,
13482-441: The state should not acknowledge ethnic, national or racial identity but rather instead enforce political and legal equality of all individuals. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka , argue that the notion of the autonomous individual is itself a cultural construct. According to this view, states must recognize ethnic identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within
13608-512: The study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently. According to Eriksen , these debates have been superseded, especially in anthropology , by scholars' attempts to respond to increasingly politicized forms of self-representation by members of different ethnic groups and nations. This is in the context of debates over multiculturalism in countries, such as the United States and Canada, which have large immigrant populations from many different cultures, and post-colonialism in
13734-524: The term in social studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Barth went further than Weber in stressing the constructed nature of ethnicity. To Barth, ethnicity was perpetually negotiated and renegotiated by both external ascription and internal self-identification. Barth's view is that ethnic groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a priori to which people naturally belong. He wanted to part with anthropological notions of cultures as bounded entities, and ethnicity as primordialist bonds, replacing it with
13860-446: The term. Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California, Berkeley) argues that "racial/ethnic identity" is one concept and concepts of race and ethnicity cannot be used as separate and autonomous categories. Before Weber (1864–1920), race and ethnicity were primarily seen as two aspects of the same thing. Around 1900 and before, the primordialist understanding of ethnicity predominated: cultural differences between peoples were seen as being
13986-534: The top of the hill. Timur razed the fort to ground, burnt their houses and surrounded the hill where the Kator had collected for shelter. The relic of the historic fort is said to still exist a little north to Najil in the form of a structure known as Timur Hissar (Timur's Fort). After a tough fight, some of the Kators were defeated and were instantly put to death while the others held out against heavy odds for three days. Timur offered them death or Islam . They chose
14112-468: The usage of the term "ethnic" in the ordinary language of Great Britain and the United States , Wallman noted The term "ethnic" popularly connotes "[race]" in Britain, only less precisely, and with a lighter value load. In North America, by contrast, "[race]" most commonly means color, and "ethnics" are the descendants of relatively recent immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. "[Ethnic]"
14238-448: The ways in which race can complicate a community's interactions with social and political structures, especially upon contact. Assimilation – shedding the particular qualities of a native culture for the purpose of blending in with a host culture – did not work for some groups as a response to racism and discrimination, though it did for others. Once the legal barriers to achieving equality had been dismantled,
14364-532: The western side valleys having lost ground to Khowar. There is some controversy over what defines the ethnic characteristics of the Kalash. Although there was a larger population in 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 cannot live among us anymore. We keep our identity strong." About three thousand have converted to Islam or are descendants of converts, yet still live nearby in
14490-743: The withdrawal of the Soviet troops in 1989, the Mawlawi Ghulam Rabbani was declared as governor of the Kunar Province. The Nuristanis inspired others to fight and contributed to the demise of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992. In a 2012 research on Y-chromosomes of five Nuristani samples, three were found to belong to the Haplogroup R1a , and one each in R2a and J2a . Most Nuristanis are from
14616-419: 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 , apricots and walnuts are among the many foodstuffs grown in the area, along with surplus fodder used for feeding
14742-442: The world have been incorporated into a global economy: The opposing interests that divide the working classes are further reinforced through appeals to "racial" and "ethnic" distinctions. Such appeals serve to allocate different categories of workers to rungs on the scale of labor markets, relegating stigmatized populations to the lower levels and insulating the higher echelons from competition from below. Capitalism did not create all
14868-427: 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
14994-483: Was a turning point in ethnic studies. The consequences of Nazi racism discouraged essentialist interpretations of ethnic groups and race. Ethnic groups came to be defined as social rather than biological entities. Their coherence was attributed to shared myths, descent, kinship , a common place of origin, language, religion, customs, and national character. So, ethnic groups are conceived as mutable rather than stable, constructed in discursive practices rather than written in
15120-429: Was at length resolved on; and Mahmud led the seventh one against Nardain, the then boundary of India , or the eastern part of the Hindu Kush; separating as Firishta says, the countries of Hindustan and Turkistan and remarkable for its excellent fruit. The country into which the army of Ghazni marched appears to have been the same as that now called Kafirstan, where the inhabitants were and still are, idolaters and are named
15246-407: Was completely surrounded by Muslim states in the 16th century. The Kalash people of lower Chitral are the last surviving heirs of the area. The region was called Kafiristan because while the surrounding populations were converted to Islam , the people in this region retained their traditional religion, and were thus known as "Kafirs" to the Muslims. The Arabic word "Kufr" means disbelief and
15372-407: Was contrary to the prevailing naturalist belief of the time, which held that socio-cultural and behavioral differences between peoples stemmed from inherited traits and tendencies derived from common descent, then called "race". Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Fredrik Barth , whose "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries" from 1969 has been described as instrumental in spreading the usage of
15498-657: Was divided into Siah-posh Katirs or Kamtoz, Siah-posh Mumans or Madugals, Siah-posh Kashtoz or Kashtan, Siah-posh Gourdesh or Istrat, and Siah-posh Kams or Kamoze. The Siah-posh Katirs were further divided into the Katirs, who occupied twelve villages of the lower Bashgul (Kam) country, the Kti or Katawar, who lived in two villages in the Kti Valley, the Kulam, and the Ramguli, the most numerous group, living in twenty four villages in
15624-525: 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
15750-581: Was substantial. According to the results, the Mala , a south Indian Dalit population with minimal Ancestral North Indian (ANI) 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 (~29 %), Onge (~16 %) and Han (~5 %). According to Narasimhan, Patterson, et al . (2019),
15876-596: Was universally revered as the creator: the Hindu god Yama Râja called imr'o in Kâmviri. There is a creator god, appearing under various names, as lord of the nether world and of heaven: Yama Rājan, or Māra ('death', Nuristani), or Dezau (ḍezáw) whose name is derived from Indo-European *dheiǵh- i.e. "to form" (Kati Nuristani dez "to create", CDIAL 14621); Dezauhe is also called by the Persian term Khodaii . There are
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