Kalash and his history

Kalasha

Kalasha Valleys (Kalasha-mondr: Kaĺaśa Desh; Urdu: وادی کیلاش) are the valleys of Chitral District in northern Pakistan. The valleys are surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range. The inhabitants of the valley are Kalash people, who have a unique culture, language and follow a form of the ancient Hindu religion.     

Climate is typical of high altitude areas without large reservoirs of water to regulate temperature. Summers are mild and adapt to average 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 annual rainfall is 700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 inches). 

Historically, goat herders and farmers have been moving towards a cash-strapped economy, whereas in the past, wealth was measured in livestock and crops. Tourism is now a major part of Kalash's economic activities. To cater to these new visitors, small stores and guesthouses have been set up, providing new luxury for valley tourists. Kalash people and their culture. Since the construction of the first jeepable road in the Kalasha valleys in the mid-1970s, people have been engaged in other occupations such as tourism and also in services such as army, police and border force.   

HISTORY  

 

The Kalash have no written record of their ancestors and origins, all Kalash stories have been passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. To date, no researcher or scholar has come to know the true nature of Kalash. The history of Kalash dates back to 327 BC. The Kalasha kings Blasing and Rajwai ruled over Chitral for about 1100 years. From the Blazing Bruce, they ruled the northern areas of Gilgit-Varshik Gum (Kashmir) and the Rajwai family from Avon to Asmar Afghanistan. Both were famous kings of Kalash whose tribes and clans still exist in the Kalash valleys. The kingdom of Kalash in Chitral was ended by Raees in 1320 AD. Multiple research is needed to find out the origin and history of Kalash people and culture.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 In 2017, Wazirzada became the first Kailasha man to win a seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly. He became a member of the Provincial Assembly (PA) in the minority reserved seat.

In November 2019, the people of Kalash were seen by HRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as part of their tour of Pakistan, where they saw a traditional dance performance. 

KALASH CULTURE

   

Kailasha culture is unique and tourists from all over the world come here to see the beauty of this unique culture. Every year many historians, anthropologists, sociologists and photographers from around the world focus on Kalasha society. The numerical strength of the people of Kalasha is only 4,000 (as estimated in 2010).                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The history of Kalasha is controversial. Nowadays there are many assumptions about the origin of the Kalasha tribe of Chitral. So far two major assumptions have been made about the origin of the Kalash: Indo-Aryan and Greek. George Morgenstern, RCF, supports Indo-Aryan race hypothesis. Schumberg, Carl Jetmar and Peter Parks. Other hypotheses, on the other hand, give the impression that Kalasha is a relatively recent newcomer or originally Greek. This hypothesis was developed by H. Siiger and is supported by two French anthropologists, Jeans Yves Loude and Viviane Lievre.                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 Captain John Wood wrote a book, A Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Source of the River Oxus by the Route of the Indus, Kabul and Badakhshan, published in 1841. Captain Wood, however, did not visit Kafiristan (the land of the infidels). He gathered valuable information about the area. Race and society. He could hardly believe that infidels were of European descent. He proposed a new idea that the infidels belonged to the Tajiks of Badakhshan.       

 The people of Kalash, also known as Kafir (non-believers), Black Rob and Black Posh, live in the three sub-valleys of Kalash. Bambort, Rimbor and Barrier, in the modern district of Chitral, Pakistan. The Kalasha are an ancient tribe of Pakistan and have their own way of life, religion, language, customs and identity. This part of Pakistan is considered a well preserved ethnic and cultural museum. Because of this value, Kailash culture has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

 The people of Kalash have a well-known relationship with Alexander the Great, based on Rudyard Kipling's famous story "The Man Who Would Be King". However, it lies between Kalasha in Nuristan, then known as Kafiristan in nearby Afghanistan. The story was made in the 1975 film The Man Who Would Be King starring Sean Connery and Michael Kane.

The first episode of the 2004 BBC television series Himalaya features a brief tour of Kalash with Michael Palin. The program highlighted some of the cultural background and current customs, including the claim of being a descendant of Alexander the Great, as well as some fascinating scenes from Kalash Watan. 

Religion  

 The Kalash people are primarily followers of the traditional Kalash religion, with some observers labeling it as hostile, but others as "a form of ancient Mat Indian," although a large number of people have converted to Islam. According to Mautzel, a Sanskrit linguist, the traditional Kalash religion "shares many myths, rituals, traits and echoes many parts of the Rig Vedic religion". Kalash culture and belief system from different ethnic groups around them but the same ones that the Nuristanis in neighboring Northeast Afghanistan practiced before forcibly converting to Islam.

Different authors have described the Kalash faith in different ways. Barbara A. West, a professor of social anthropology at the University of Rochester, writes in Kalash's Encyclopedia of Pakistan and Oceania that her "religion is a form of Indian religion that recognizes many gods and spirits." He said that "their Indo-Aryan language ... the religion of Kalash originated from the Indian religion from their Indian neighbors rather than from the religion of Alexander the Great and his army". Journalist Freud Bezhan, joining all these parties, described the Kalash religion as "influenced by infidel and hostile beliefs in shaping the ancient Indian religion." M. Witzel describes both the Vedic and Vedic influences on the form of ancient Hinduism that followed Kailash.