Kalash Pakistani people with Slavic appearance. Kalash

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Everything in the life of the Kalash living in northern Pakistan in the Hindu Kush mountains is different from that of their neighbors: both faith, and way of life, and even the color of their eyes and hair. This people is a mystery. They themselves consider themselves descendants of Alexander the Great.

Who are your ancestors?

The ancestors of the Kalash are argued over and over again. There is an opinion that the Kalash are local aborigines who once inhabited the vast territories of the southern valley of the Chitral River. And today numerous Kalash toponyms have been preserved there. Over time, the Kalash were forced out (or assimilated?) From their original territories.

There is another point of view: the Kalash are not local natives, but came to the north of Pakistan many centuries ago. These could be, for example, the tribes of northern Indians living around the 13th century BC. in the south of the Urals and in the north of the Kazakh steppes. Their appearance resembled the appearance of modern Kalash - blue or green eyes and fair skin.

It should be noted that external features are not characteristic of everyone, but only of a part of the representatives of the mysterious people, however, often this does not prevent them from mentioning their proximity to Europeans and calling the Kalash the heirs of the "Nordic Aryans". However, scientists believe that if you look at other peoples who have been living in isolated conditions for thousands of years and are not too willing to record strangers as relatives, then Nuristani, Darts or Badakhshans can also find "homozygous inbreeding (related) depigmentation." They also tried to prove that the Kalash belonged to European peoples at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, as well as at Southern California and Stanford Universities. The verdict - the genes of the Kalash are really unique, but the question of the ancestors was still open.

beautiful legend

The Kalash themselves willingly adhere to a more romantic version of their origin, calling themselves the descendants of the warriors who came to the mountains of Pakistan after Alexander the Great. As befits the legend, it has several variations. According to one, Macedonian ordered the Kalash to remain until their return, but for some reason he did not return for them. Faithful soldiers had no choice but to develop new lands.

pagans

Everyone who comes to this amazing land must first sign papers prohibiting any attempts to influence the identity of a unique people. First of all, we are talking about religion. There are many among the Kalash who continue to adhere to the old pagan faith, despite numerous attempts to convert them to Islam. Numerous posts on this topic can be found on the net, although the Kalash themselves evade questions and say that they "do not recall any tough measures."

Sometimes, the elders assure, a change of faith occurs when a local girl decides to marry a Muslim, but this happens, according to them, infrequently. However, researchers are sure that the Kalash succeeded in avoiding the fate of their Nuristani neighbors, who were forcibly converted to Islam at the end of the 19th century, only because they inhabited the territory that fell under the jurisdiction of the British.

The origin of the polytheism of the Kalash causes no less controversy. Attempts to draw analogies with the Greek pantheon of gods are considered by most scientists to be unfounded: it is unlikely that the Kalash supreme god Dezau is Zeus, and the patroness of women Dezalik is Aphrodite. The Kalash have no clergy, and everyone prays on their own. True, it is not recommended to address the gods directly, for this there is a dehar - a special person who, in front of a juniper or oak altar, decorated with two pairs of horse skulls, makes a sacrifice (usually a goat). It is rather difficult to list all the Kalash gods: each village has its own, and besides this, there are many demon spirits, mostly female.

About shamans, meetings and seeing off

The life of the Kalash is unthinkable without numerous feasts. Visiting tourists are unlikely to immediately be able to understand what event they are attending: a birth or a funeral. Kalash are sure that these moments are equally significant, and therefore it is necessary in any case to arrange a grandiose holiday - not so much for themselves, but for the gods. You need to rejoice when a new person comes into this world so that his life is happy, and have fun at the funeral - even if the afterlife turns out to be serene. Ritual dances in a sacred place - Dzheshtak, chants, bright clothes and tables bursting with refreshments - all these are the invariable attributes of the two main events in the life of an amazing people.

This is the table - they eat at it

Most Kalash are engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. There are few examples when one of them managed to change their usual way of life. The legendary Lakshan Bibi, who became an air pilot and created a fund to support the Kalash, is widely known. The unique people are of genuine interest: the Greek authorities are building schools and hospitals for them, and the Japanese are developing projects for additional energy sources. By the way, the Kalash learned about electricity relatively recently.

In vino veritas

Search a woman

Kalash women are on the sidelines, doing the most “ungrateful work”. But that's where the similarity with neighbors ends. They decide for themselves whom to marry, and if the marriage turns out to be unhappy, then divorce. True, the new chosen one must pay the ex-husband a "forfeit" - a double dowry. Kalash girls can not only get an education, but also, for example, get a job as a guide. For a long time, the Kalash have also had original maternity homes - “bashals”, where “dirty” women spend several days before the onset of childbirth and about a week after.

Relatives and curious people are not only forbidden to visit expectant mothers, they are not even allowed to touch the walls of the tower.
And what kalashki are beautiful and elegant! The sleeves and hems of their black dresses, for which Muslims, by the way, call the Kalash "black infidels", are embroidered with multi-colored beads. On the head is the same bright headdress, reminiscent of the Baltic corolla, decorated with ribbons and intricate beadwork. On the neck - a lot of strings of beads, by which you can determine the age of a woman (if you can count, of course). The elders cryptically remark that the Kalash are only alive as long as their women wear their dresses. And finally, one more "rebus": why is the hairstyle of even the smallest girls - five braids that begin to weave from the forehead?

Any traveler who goes to Pakistan, at sight Kalash(local people numbering at most 6 thousand people) there is a cognitive dissonance. In the very heart of the Islamic world, the pagans managed to survive and preserve their traditions, who, moreover, look just like our Alyonkas and Ivans. They consider themselves the heirs of Alexander the Great and are sure that their family will exist as long as local women wear national dresses.

Kalash people are cheerful and cheerful. There are many holidays in their calendar, among which the main ones are birthdays and funerals. Both events are celebrated on the same scale, they believe that both earthly and afterlife should be serene, and for this you need to properly appease the gods. During the celebrations, ritual dances are arranged, songs are sung, the best outfits are demonstrated and, of course, the guests are treated deliciously.

The Kalash pantheon is difficult to correlate with the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, although they also have the supreme god Desau and many other gods and demon spirits. Communication with the gods takes place through a dehara, a priest who performs sacrifices at a juniper or oak altar decorated with horse skulls.

Greek culture had a great influence on the Kalash: their houses, according to the Macedonian custom, are made of stones and logs, the facades of buildings are decorated with rosettes, radial stars and intricate Greek patterns. Greece still actively supports the people today: relatively recently, schools and hospitals were built for the Kalash. And 7 years ago, with the support of Japan, local villages were electrified.

Kalash have a special relationship with women. Girls can independently choose a chosen one and even get a divorce if the marriage turned out to be unhappy (on one condition: the new lover must pay compensation to her ex-husband in double the size of the bride's dowry). Childbirth and menstruation are events perceived in the Kalash culture as “dirty”, therefore, these days women are in special “bashal” houses, which are forbidden for anyone to approach.

The daily activities of the Kalash are agriculture and cattle breeding. Their daily food is bread, vegetable oil and cheese. These people zealously guard their faith and stop all attempts to convert them to Islam (the only exception is for girls who marry non-Christians, but such cases are rare). Unfortunately, the Kalash lifestyle has recently been of great interest to numerous tourists, and local residents admit that they are already quite tired of constant photography. They are most comfortable in winter, when the mountain roads are covered with snow and curious uninvited guests stop reaching out to their villages in a string.

According to another, several soldiers, due to injuries unable to continue moving along with Alexander's army, were forced to remain in the mountains. Faithful women, of course, did not leave their husbands. The legend is very popular with travelers-researchers who visit the Kalash and numerous tourists.
Everyone who comes to this amazing land must first sign papers prohibiting any attempts to influence the identity of a unique people. First of all, we are talking about religion. There are many among the Kalash who continue to adhere to the old pagan faith, despite numerous attempts to convert them to Islam. Numerous posts on this topic can be found on the net, although the Kalash themselves evade questions and say that they "do not recall any tough measures."

Kalash shamans can predict the future and punish sins. The most famous of them is Nanga dhar - legends were made about his abilities, telling how in one second he disappeared from one place, passing through the rocks, and appeared with a friend. Shamans are trusted to administer justice: their prayer is supposedly capable of punishing the offender. On the humerus of a sacrificial goat, a shaman-ashzhiau (“looking at a bone”) specializing in predictions can see the fate of not only an individual, but also entire states.
The life of the Kalash is unthinkable without numerous feasts. Visiting tourists are unlikely to immediately be able to understand what event they are attending: a birth or a funeral. Kalash are sure that these moments are equally significant, and therefore it is necessary in any case to arrange a grandiose holiday - not so much for themselves, but for the gods. You need to rejoice when a new person comes into this world so that his life is happy, and have fun at the funeral - even if the afterlife turns out to be serene. Ritual dances in a sacred place - Dzheshtak, chants, bright clothes and tables bursting with refreshments - all these are the invariable attributes of the two main events in the life of an amazing people.

A feature of the Kalash is that, unlike their neighbors, they always used tables and chairs for meals. They build houses according to the Macedonian custom - from stones and logs. Do not forget about the balcony, while the roof of one house is the floor for another - you get a kind of "Kalash skyscrapers". On the facade there is stucco molding with Greek motifs: rosettes, radial stars, intricate meanders.
Most Kalash are engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. There are few examples when one of them managed to change their usual way of life. The legendary Lakshan Bibi, who became an air pilot and created a fund to support the Kalash, is widely known. The unique people are of genuine interest: the Greek authorities are building schools and hospitals for them, and the Japanese are developing projects for additional energy sources. By the way, the Kalash learned about electricity relatively recently.

The production and consumption of wine is another distinctive feature of the Kalash. Prohibition throughout Pakistan is no reason to abandon traditions. And after making wine, you can also play your favorite gal - a cross between bast shoes, golf and baseball. The ball is hit with a club, and then they are looking for it together. Whoever found it twelve times and returned first "to the base" won. Often, residents of one village come to visit their neighbors to fight in a gala, and then have fun celebrating - and it doesn’t matter if it’s a victory or defeat.
Kalash women are on the sidelines, doing the most “ungrateful work”. But that's where the similarity with neighbors ends. They decide for themselves whom to marry, and if the marriage turns out to be unhappy, then divorce. True, the new chosen one must pay the ex-husband a "forfeit" - a double dowry. Kalash girls can not only get an education, but also, for example, get a job as a guide. For a long time, the Kalash have also had original maternity homes - “bashals”, where “dirty” women spend several days before the onset of childbirth and about a week after.
Relatives and curious people are not only forbidden to visit expectant mothers, they are not even allowed to touch the walls of the tower.
And what kalashki are beautiful and elegant! The sleeves and hems of their black dresses, for which Muslims, by the way, call the Kalash "black infidels", are embroidered with multi-colored beads. On the head is the same bright headdress, reminiscent of the Baltic corolla, decorated with ribbons and intricate beadwork. On the neck - a lot of strings of beads, by which you can determine the age of a woman (if you can count, of course). The elders cryptically remark that the Kalash are only alive as long as their women wear their dresses. And finally, one more "rebus": why is the hairstyle of even the smallest girls - five braids that begin to weave from the forehead?

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the province of Nuristan, several tiny plateaus are scattered.
Locals call this area Chintal.
A unique and mysterious people live here - Kalash, who came here for several thousand years.

Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this Indo-European people managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash profess not the Abrahamic cult at all - Islam, but the primordial, folk faith ...
If the Kalash were a large people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but today no more than 6 thousand people have survived - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

They were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism.
They lead a secluded life. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages (however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages of neighboring peoples).

It is widely believed in Pakistan that the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (in connection with which the government of Macedonia built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia ќe gradi kulturen tsentar kaјnzi to Pakistan”).

Scientists attribute Kalash to the white race - this is a scientific fact.

The faces of many Kalash are purely European. The skin is white, unlike Pakistanis and Afghans. And bright and often blue eyes are like the passport of an unfaithful kafir.
Kalash eyes are blue, gray, green and very rarely brown.

According to another version, the Kalash are the descendants of the people who settled in the mountains of Tibet in the process of a large migration of peoples during the Aryan invasion of Hindustan.
The Kalash themselves do not have a single opinion about their origin, but in conversations about this issue with strangers, they often prefer the version of Macedonian origin.

The legend says that two warriors and two girls who broke away from the Greek army came to these places. The men were injured and could not move. It was they who laid the foundation for the Kalash people.

A more accurate explanation of the origin of this people could be given by a detailed study of the Kalash language, which, unfortunately, is still poorly understood. It is believed that it belongs to the Dardic language group, but on the basis of what this assignment was made is not entirely clear, because. more than half of the words from the vocabulary of the Kalash language have no analogues in the languages of the Dardic group and the languages of the surrounding peoples.

There are publications that directly state that the Kalash speak the ancient Greek language, but it is not known whether this is so. The fact is that the only one who helps the Kalash today to survive in extreme high-altitude conditions is the modern Greeks, with whose money a school, a hospital, a kindergarten were built, and several wells were dug.

A study of the Kalash genes did not reveal anything concrete.
Everything is very incomprehensible and unsteady - they say that the Greek influence can be from 20 to 40%. (Why was research carried out if the similarity with the ancient Greeks is already visible?)

The religion of most Kalash is paganism; their pantheon has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon.
Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamirs, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.

There is one more touch that does not fit into the culture and way of life common to the Muslims of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Kalash always made for themselves and used furniture.
They eat at the table, sitting on chairs - excesses that were never inherent in the local "natives" and appeared in Afghanistan and Pakistan only with the arrival of the British in the 18th-19th centuries, but never took root.
And Kalash from time immemorial used tables and chairs ...

But even now, Kalash are on the verge of extinction. Many are forced to assimilate (through marriage) with Pakistanis and Afghans, converting to Islam - it's easier to survive and get a job, education, position.

The life of modern Kalash can be called Spartan. Kalash live in communities.

They live in houses built of stone, wood and clay.
The roof of the lower house (floor) is also the floor or veranda of another family's house. Of all the amenities in the hut: table, chairs, benches and pottery. The Kalash know about electricity and television only by hearsay.

A shovel, a hoe and a pick - they understand and are more familiar. They draw their livelihood from agriculture.

Kalash manage to grow wheat and other crops on lands cleared of stone.
But the main role in their livelihood is played by livestock, mainly goats, which give the descendants of the ancient Aryans milk and dairy products, wool and meat.

In the house, men sit at the head of the table and make all significant decisions in the family (in the community).

Towers are built for women in each settlement - a separate house where the women of the community give birth to children and spend time on "critical days".
A Kalash woman is obliged to give birth to a child only in the tower, and therefore pregnant ladies settle in the "maternity hospital" ahead of time.
No one knows where this tradition came from, but there are no other segregation and discrimination tendencies against women among the Kalash, which infuriates and makes Muslims laugh, who, because of this, treat Kalash as people not of this world.

The Kalash are busy with agriculture. Gender equality is accepted in families.
A woman is free to leave her husband, but at the same time, her previous husband must receive a double ransom from the new one.
Of the oppression of women, there is only the isolation of women in a separate house during menstruation and childbirth.
It is believed that at this time the woman is unclean, and she must be isolated, it is forbidden to communicate with her, and food is passed to them through a special window in this house.
The husband is also free to leave his unloved wife at any time.

Kalash do not know days off, but they cheerfully and hospitably celebrate 3 holidays: Yoshi - the sowing festival, Uchao - the harvest festival, and Choimus - the winter holiday of the gods of nature, when the Kalash ask the gods to send them a mild winter and good spring and summer.

During Choimus, each family slaughters a goat as a sacrifice, the meat of which is treated to everyone who comes to visit or meet on the street.

The Kalash language, or Kalasha, is the language of the Dardic group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
The basic vocabulary of Sanskrit is very well preserved in the Kalash language.

Their religion is reminiscent of the transformed Zoroastrianism and the cults of the ancient Aryans, which were brought here from the north by the prophet Zarothushtra about 1500 years before Christ. .

The main, "metropolitan" of the infidels was a village called "Kamdesh".
The houses were richly decorated with intricate wood carvings. The field work was done not by men, but by women, although the men had previously cleared the field of stones and fallen logs.
Men at that time were engaged in sewing clothes, ritual dances in the countryside and solving public affairs.

The main object of worship was fire.
In addition to fire, the infidels worshiped wooden idols, which were carved by skilled craftsmen and exhibited in sanctuaries.
The pantheon consisted of many gods and goddesses.
The god Imra was considered the main one. Also very revered was the god of war Gisha.
Each village had its own petty patron deity. The world, according to beliefs, was inhabited by many good and evil spirits fighting each other.

Among the most important rituals were the selection of elders, the preparation of wine, sacrifices to the gods and burial.
Like most rituals, the choice of elders was accompanied by massive goat sacrifices and plentiful treats.
Elections of the chief elder (jasta) were made by elders from among the elders. These elections were also accompanied by the recitation of sacred hymns dedicated to the gods, sacrifices and refreshments to the assembled elders in the candidate's house.

The Kalash have sacred places for dancing - Dzheshtak.
Those that we saw are decorated in the Greek style - columns and paintings.
The main events in the life of the Kalash take place there - commemorations and sacred rites.
Their funeral turns into a noisy celebration, accompanied by feasting and dancing, which lasts for several days and is attended by hundreds of people from all villages.

Shamans played an important role in the life of the Kalash.
The most famous of them - Nanga dhar - could pass through the rocks and instantly appear in other valleys. He lived for more than 500 years and had a significant impact on the customs and beliefs of this people. “But now the shamans have disappeared,” the elder told us sadly. Let's hope he just didn't want to give us all the secrets.

In parting, he said: “Where I came from, I don’t know. I don't know how old I am either. I just opened my eyes in this valley."

Whether the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great is also not known for certain.

What is indisputable is that they are clearly different from the surrounding peoples. Moreover, in a recent study - a joint effort of the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, the University of Southern California and Stanford University - to collect and process a huge amount of information on the genetic relationships of the planet's population, a separate paragraph is devoted to the Kalash, which says that their genes are really unique and belong to the European group.

For us, after meeting with the Kalash, it no longer mattered whether they were related to Alexander the Great or not. Apparently, because for a moment we ourselves became Kalash - among the huge mountains, stormy rivers, with their dances in the night, with the sacred hearth and sacrifices by the rock.

In parting, we asked the elder about the meaning and features of the Kalash national dress, for which the Muslims called them "black kafirs", that is, "black infidels."

He began to patiently and in detail explain, but then he thought for a moment and said the following:

“You ask what is special about the clothes our women wear? Kalash are alive as long as women wear these dresses.”

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the province of Nuristan, several tiny plateaus are scattered.

Locals call this area Chintal. A unique and mysterious people live here - Kalash.

Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this Indo-European people managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash do not profess the Abrahamic cult at all - Islam, but the primordial, folk faith ... If the Kalash were a large people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but no more than 6 Kalash have survived today thousand people - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

Kalash (self-name: kasivo; the name "Kalash" comes from the name of the area) - a people in Pakistan living in the highlands of the Hindu Kush (Nuristan or Kafirstan). Number - about 6 thousand people. They were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess a tribal cult. Now they lead a secluded life. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages (however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages of neighboring peoples). It is widely believed in Pakistan that the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (in connection with which the government of Macedonia built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia ќe gradi kulturen tsentar kaјnzi to Pakistan”). The appearance of some Kalash is characteristic of the northern European peoples, among them blue-eyedness and blondism are often found. At the same time, some of the Kalash also have an Asian appearance that is quite characteristic of the region.

The religion of most Kalash is paganism; their pantheon has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon. The claims of some journalists that the Kalash worship "ancient Greek gods" are unfounded. At the same time, about 3 thousand Kalash are Muslims. The conversion to Islam is not welcomed by the Kalash, who are trying to preserve their tribal identity. Kalash are not descendants of the warriors of Alexander the Great, and the northern European appearance of some of them is explained by the preservation of the original Indo-European gene pool as a result of refusing to mix with the alien non-Aryan population. Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamirs, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.

nordic kalash

Scientists attribute Kalash to the white race - this is a scientific fact. The faces of many Kalash are purely European. The skin is white, unlike Pakistanis and Afghans. And bright and often blue eyes - like the passport of an unfaithful kafir. Kalash eyes are blue, gray, green and very rarely brown. There is one more touch that does not fit into the culture and way of life common to the Muslims of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kalash always made for themselves and used furniture. They eat at the table, sitting on chairs - excesses that were never inherent in the local "natives" and appeared in Afghanistan and Pakistan only with the arrival of the British in the 18th-19th centuries, but never took root. And Kalash from time immemorial used tables and chairs ...

Horse warriors Kalash. museum in Islamabad. Pakistan

At the end of the first millennium, Islam came to Asia, and with it the troubles of the Indo-Europeans and, in particular, the Kalash people, who did not want to change the faith of their ancestors to the Abrahamic "teaching." The local Muslim communities persistently tried to force the Kalash to accept Islam.

And many Kalash were forced to submit: either live by adopting a new religion, or die.

In the 18th-19th centuries, Muslims slaughtered thousands of Kalash. Those who did not obey and at least secretly performed pagan cults, the authorities, at best, were driven from fertile lands, driven into the mountains, and more often they were destroyed. The brutal genocide of the Kalash people continued until the middle of the 19th century, until the tiny territory that the Muslims called Kafirstan (the land of the infidels), where the Kalash lived, fell under the jurisdiction of the British Empire. This saved them from complete extermination. But even now, Kalash are on the verge of extinction. Many are forced to assimilate (through marriage) with Pakistanis and Afghans, converting to Islam - it's easier to survive and get a job, education, position.

Kalash village

The life of modern Kalash can be called Spartan. Kalash live in communities - it's easier to survive. They live in houses built of stone, wood and clay. The roof of the lower house (floor) is also the floor or veranda of another family's house. Of all the amenities in the hut: table, chairs, benches and pottery. The Kalash know about electricity and television only by hearsay. A shovel, a hoe and a pick - they understand and are more familiar. They draw their livelihood from agriculture. Kalash manage to grow wheat and other crops on lands cleared of stone. But the main role in their livelihood is played by livestock, mainly goats, which give the descendants of the ancient Aryans milk and dairy products, wool and meat.

In everyday life, a clear and unshakable division of duties is striking: men are the first in labor and hunting, women only help them in the least labor-intensive operations (weeding, milking, household chores). In the house, men sit at the head of the table and make all significant decisions in the family (in the community). Towers are built for women in each settlement - a separate house where the women of the community give birth to children and spend time on "critical days". A Kalash woman is obliged to give birth to a child only in the tower, and therefore pregnant ladies settle in the "maternity hospital" ahead of time. No one knows where this tradition came from, but there are no other segregation and discriminatory tendencies against women among the Kalash, which infuriates and makes Muslims laugh, who, because of this, treat Kalash as people not of this world ...

Some of the Kalash also have an Asian appearance quite characteristic of the region, but at the same time they often have blue or green eyes.

Marriage. This sensitive issue is decided exclusively by the parents of the young. They can also consult with the young, they can talk with the parents of the bride (groom), or they can solve the problem without asking the opinion of their child.

Kalash do not know days off, but they cheerfully and hospitably celebrate 3 holidays: Yoshi - the sowing holiday, Uchao - the harvest holiday, and Choimus - the winter holiday of the gods of nature, when the Kalash ask the gods to send them a mild winter and good spring and summer.
During Choimus, each family slaughters a goat as a sacrifice, the meat of which is treated to everyone who comes to visit or meet on the street.

The Kalash language, or Kalasha, is the language of the Dardic group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Distributed among the Kalash in several valleys of the Hindu Kush, southwest of the city of Chitral in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Belonging to the Dardic subgroup is questionable, since slightly more than half of the words are similar in meaning to words in the Khovar language, which is also included in this subgroup. Phonologically, the language is atypical (Heegård & Mørch 2004).

The basic vocabulary of Sanskrit is very well preserved in the Kalash language, for example:

In the 1980s, the development of writing for the Kalash language began in two versions - based on Latin and Persian scripts. The Persian version turned out to be preferable, and in 1994 an illustrated alphabet and a book for reading in Kalash based on Persian graphics were first published. In the 2000s, an active transition to the Latin script began. In 2003, the alphabet "Kal" as "a Alibe" was published. (English)

Religion and culture of the Kalash

The first explorers and missionaries began to penetrate into Kafiristan after the colonization of India, but the English doctor George Scott Robertson, who visited Kafiristan in 1889 and lived there for a year, provided really voluminous information about its inhabitants. The uniqueness of Robertson's expedition is that he collected material on the rites and traditions of the infidels before the Islamic invasion. Unfortunately, a number of collected materials were lost while crossing the Indus during his return to India. However, the surviving materials and personal memories allowed him to publish in 1896 the book "Kafirs of the Hindu Kush" ("The Kafirs of Hindu-Kush").

The pagan temple of the Kalash. in the center of the ancestral pillar

On the basis of Robertson's observations of the religious and ceremonial side of the life of the infidels, one can quite reasonably assert that their religion is reminiscent of transformed Zoroastrianism and the cults of the ancient Aryans. The main arguments in favor of this statement are the attitude towards fire and the funeral rite. Below we will describe some of the traditions, religious foundations, religious buildings and rites of the infidels.

Ancestral pillar in the temple

The main, "metropolitan" of the infidels was a village called "Kamdesh". The houses of Kamdesh were arranged in steps along the slopes of the mountains, so the roof of one house was a courtyard for another. The houses were richly decorated with intricate wood carvings. The field work was done not by men, but by women, although the men had previously cleared the field of stones and fallen logs. Men at that time were engaged in sewing clothes, ritual dances in the countryside and solving public affairs.

The priest at the fiery altar.

The main object of worship was fire. In addition to fire, the infidels worshiped wooden idols, which were carved by skilled craftsmen and exhibited in sanctuaries. The pantheon consisted of many gods and goddesses. The god Imra was considered the main one. Also very revered was the god of war Gisha. Each village had its own petty patron deity. The world, according to beliefs, was inhabited by many good and evil spirits fighting each other.

Birth post with swastika rosette

For comparison - a traditional pattern characteristic of the Slavs and Germans

V. Sarianidi, relying on the testimony of Robertson, describes the religious buildings as follows:

"... the main temple of Imra was located in one of the villages and was a large structure with a square portico, the roof of which was supported by carved wooden columns. Some of the columns were entirely decorated with sculpted ram heads, others had only one animal head carved in a round relief, horns which, wrapping around the trunk of the column and crossing, rose up, forming a kind of openwork grid.In its empty cells there were sculptural figures of amusing little men.

It was here, under the portico, on a special stone, blackened from gore, that numerous animal sacrifices were made. The front facade of the temple had seven doors, famous for the fact that each of them had another small door. The large doors were tightly closed, only two side doors were opened, and even then on especially solemn occasions. But the main interest was in the doors, decorated with fine carvings and huge relief figures depicting the seated god Imru. Particularly striking is the face of God with a huge square chin, reaching almost to the knees! In addition to the figures of the god Imra, the facade of the temple was decorated with images of huge heads of cows and rams. On the opposite side of the temple, five colossal figures were installed supporting its roof.

Sacrifice to the gods at the temple

Walking around the temple and admiring its carved "shirt", let's look inside through a small hole, which, however, must be done stealthily so as not to offend the religious feelings of the infidels. In the middle of the room, in the cool twilight, you can see a square hearth right on the floor, at the corners of which there are pillars, also covered with amazingly fine carvings, which represent the image of human faces. On the opposite wall from the entrance there is an altar framed with images of animals; in the corner under a special canopy stands a wooden statue of the god Imra himself. The remaining walls of the temple are decorated with carved hats of irregular hemispherical shape, planted on the ends of poles. ... Separate temples were built only for the main gods, and for minor ones they built one sanctuary for several gods. So, there were small temples with carved windows, from which the faces of various wooden idols looked out.

Ancestral pillar

Among the most important rituals were the selection of elders, the preparation of wine, sacrifices to the gods and burial. Like most rituals, the choice of elders was accompanied by massive goat sacrifices and plentiful treats. Elections of the chief elder (jasta) were made by elders from among the elders. These elections were also accompanied by the reading of sacred hymns dedicated to the gods, sacrifices and refreshments to the assembled elders in the candidate's house:

"... the priest present at the feast is seated in the center of the room, a magnificent turban is wrapped around his head, richly decorated with shells, red glass beads, and juniper twigs in front. His ears are studded with earrings, a massive necklace is put on his neck, and bracelets are on his hands. A long shirt, reaching to the knees, falls loosely over embroidered trousers tucked into boots with long tops, a bright silk Badakhshan robe is thrown over this garment, and a ritual dance hatchet is clutched in one hand.

Ancestral pillar

Here one of the seated elders slowly gets up and, having tied a white cloth around his head, steps forward. He takes off his boots, washes his hands thoroughly, and proceeds to sacrifice. Having stabbed two huge mountain goats with his own hand, he deftly places a vessel under the stream of blood, and then, going up to the initiate, draws some signs on his forehead with blood. The door to the room opens, and servants bring in huge loaves of bread with sprigs of burning juniper stuck in them. These loaves are solemnly carried around the initiate three times. Then, after another plentiful treat, the hour of ritual dances begins. Several guests are given dancing boots and special scarves with which they tighten their lower backs. Pine torches are lit, and ritual dances and chants begin in honor of the many gods.

Another important rite of the Kafirs was the rite of making grape wine. A man was chosen to make wine, who, having thoroughly washed his feet, began to crush the grapes brought by women. Grapes were served in wicker baskets. After a thorough crush, the grape juice was poured into huge jugs and left to ferment.

Temple with ancestral pillars

The festive ritual in honor of the god Gish proceeded as follows:

"... in the early morning, the thunder of many drums wakes up the inhabitants of the village, and soon a priest appears in the narrow crooked streets with frantically ringing metal bells. A crowd of boys moves after the priest, to whom he from time to time throws handfuls of nuts, and then with feigned ferocity rushes to drive them away. Accompanying him, the children imitate the bleating of goats. The priest's face is whitened with flour and smeared with oil on top, he holds bells in one hand, an ax in the other. Wriggling and writhing, he shakes the bells and the ax, making almost acrobatic numbers and accompanying them with terrible screams. Finally the procession approaches the sanctuary of the god Guiche, and the adult participants solemnly form a semicircle near the priest and those accompanying him.Dust swirled to the side, and a herd of fifteen bleating goats, urged on by the boys, appeared. Having done their job, they immediately run away away from the adults to get busy children's pranks and games ....

The priest approaches a burning bonfire of cedar branches, giving off thick white smoke. Nearby are four pre-prepared wooden vessels containing flour, melted butter, wine and water. The priest carefully washes his hands, takes off his shoes, pours a few drops of oil into the fire, then sprinkles the sacrificial goats with water three times, saying: "Be clean." Approaching the closed door of the sanctuary, he pours out and pours out the contents of wooden vessels, uttering ritual incantations. The young guys serving the priest quickly slit the goat's throat, collect the splashed blood in vessels, and the priest then splashes it into a burning fire. Throughout this procedure, a special person, illuminated by the reflections of fire, sings sacred songs all the time, which gives this scene a touch of special solemnity.

Suddenly, another priest rips off his hat and, rushing forward, begins to twitch, shouting loudly and waving his arms wildly. The head priest tries to appease the dispersed "colleague", finally he calms down and, waving his arms a few more times, puts on his hat and sits down in his place. The ceremony ends with the recitation of verses, after which the priests and all those present touch their foreheads with the ends of their fingers and make a kiss sign with their lips, meaning a religious greeting to the sanctuary.

By evening, completely exhausted, the priest enters the first house that comes across and gives his bells for safekeeping to the owner, which is a great honor for the latter, and he immediately orders to slaughter several goats and arrange a feast in honor of the priest and his entourage. Thus, for two weeks, with slight variations, the celebrations in honor of the god Guiche continue.

Kalash cemetery. The graves strongly resemble northern Russian tombstones - dominoes

Finally, one of the most important was the burial rite. The funeral procession at the beginning was accompanied by loud female weeping and lamentations, and then ritual dances to the beat of drums and the accompaniment of reed pipes. Men, as a sign of mourning, wore goat skins over their clothes. The procession ended at the cemetery, where only women and slaves were allowed to enter. The deceased infidels, as it should be according to the canons of Zoroastrianism, were not buried in the ground, but left in wooden coffins in the open air.