Hindukush Kafir people

’’Note’’’: This article relates to Pre-1895 conditions of Kafirstan.

Map showing Nurestan province in Afghanistan

The former name (until 1895) of Nurestan (or Nuristan) was Kafiristan. This historic region lies on the southern slopes of Hindukush and mainly comprises basins of the Alingar, Pech, Landai Sin and Kunar rivers and the intervening mountain ranges. Its northern boundary is the main range of the Hindukush, eastern the Pakistani border, its southeastern the Kunar Valley and westernen the Kamah river. The people were formerly known as Kafirs which was a Muslim appellation for those not believing in Islam or the teachings of prophet Muhammad.

A ferocious, fiercely independent and culturally distinctive people, the Kafirs followed paganism until 1895 when they were conquered and forcibly converted to Islam by Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. Their region was renamed as Nurestan (Land of Light) and the people as Nuris (The Enlightened Ones).

Etymology of term Kafir

According to the conventional etymology, the name "Kafir" derives from Arabic Kafir, commonly translated into English as "infidels" or "idolaters". Kafiristan then would be "The Land of the Infidels". This explanation would justify the renaming of the country after its Islamization.

Many historians , however, opine that the local name "Kafir" comes from Kapiś (= Kapish), the ancient Sanskrit name of the region that included historic Kafiristan; which is also given as Ki-pin (or Chi-pin) in old Chinese chronicles. That name, unrelated to the Arabic word, is believed to have, at some point, mutated into the word Kapir. This linguistic phenomenon is not unusual for this region. The name of King Kanishaka, who once ruled over this region, is also found written as "Kanerika", an example of "ś" or "sh" mutating to "r" . In a similar way, Kapiś -- the name of the people of Kapiś/Kapiśa, is believed to have changed to Kapir and then Kafir . One of the dominant clan of the Kafirs till recently was known as Katir.

The second change from Kapir to Kafir, may have occurred spontaneously, since the exchange of "p" by "f" is fairly common in Indo-European languages . It may also have been the result of confusion or intentional wordplay with the Arabic word, since the Kafirs were indeed pagans until 1895.

The derivation of Kafiristan is now fairly easy since -stan in Iranian language means country, abode or place. Thus, Kafiristan would literally mean the land or abode of the Kafir peoples i.e people belonging to Kapiśa.

Today it is disputed if the term Kafir really defines a traditional ethnic group.

Classification of former Kafiristan Kafiri

Prior to the 1895 Islamization, the Kafiristan Kafiri were socially organized into several tribes, which were conventionally classified into two major groups, the Black-Robed (or the Siah-Posh) and the White-Robed (or the Sfed-Posh). That classification was neither scientific nor convenient. While the Siah-Posh clans had much in common in dress, language, customs and appearance among themselves, the Safed-Posh clans were not only very dissimilar from the Siah-Posh clans, but also from each other. George Scott Robertson, therefore, had reclassified the Kafiristan Kafiri more scientifically into the following divisions:

The Black-Robed (Siah-Posh) Kafirs

The Siah-Posh or black-robed Kafirs consisted of one very large and widely spread clan, the Katirs, and four smaller clans: the Kam, the Mumo (Madugalis), the Kshto (Kashtoz), and the Gourdesh (present-day Dungulio). "They were collectively known as Kamoges or Kamojis" (Ref: Nature - p 222, Nature Publishing Group).

Black-robed Katir Kafirs

The Katirs were probably the more important than all the remaining Kafir tribes put together. They owned in 1890 several valleys, had a total of about forty settlements and numbered about 40,000. Each Katir clan was independent of the others but they all acknowledged the same origin and a general relationship. The Katirs had inhabiting various valleys as Siah-Posh communities entirely independent of one another but all acknowledged a common origin and a general relationship to the others.

Katir Kafirs of Bashgul Valley

This Katir clan inhabited in 1890 the Bashgul Valley from Badawan to Sunra in the border of Madugal country. It owned twelve villages beside small settlements. Alternative names for Bashgul Katirs are Kamtoz and Lutdehchis.

Katir Kafirs of Kati Valley

The Kati or Katawar/Kataur clan were in 1890 a small independent subdivision of the Katirs, who lived in the Kati Valley. They owned two settlements in all.

Katir Kafirs of the Kulam Country

The Kulam Katirs lived around 1890 in Kulam country and owned four villages.

Katir Kafirs of Ramgul Valley

The Ramgulis or Gabariks were the most numerous division among the Katir Kafirs. In 1890 they lived in the westernmost parts of Kafiristan on the Afghan frontier. They inhabited several side tracts beside the main valley, from which they took the name of Ramgul Kafirs. Around 1890 they owned about 24 large settlements.

Black-robed Kam Kafirs

The second major clan from the Siah-Posh tribe were the Kam Kafirs (native name) (Kamoz in Pashto or Kams of George Robertson: See The Kafirs of the Hindukush, p 71). M. Elphinstone calls them Camoze, Caumojee and Camoje. Others call them Kamoges. This people had inhabited the lower Bashgul and the lateral valleys from the confines of Madugal country to the Kunar Valley. Kams had owned more than seven major and several small settlements and numbered approximately 20,000 in 1890. One of their villages was named Kamu (Kambu) and their military headquarters are also in present Nuristani time known as Kamdesh or Kambrom. The country of the Kams is also in present-day Nuristan called Kamstan.

The Kams were said to be the fiercest and most intractable of all Kafirs and the most to be dreaded for their military prowess. They had hold much better together, and it was for this reason that, though not a numerous people, they were greatly respected by the neighboring tribes as well as by Chitralis and the Pashtun people. The Kams had control the destiny of Bashgul valley and were said to be its virtual kings (George Roberston).

Black-robed Mumo Kafirs

Numerically, like in present Nuristani time, the Mumo Kafirs (alternative but not native names were Mumans or Madugal) occupied next position to Kams. They occupied a short tract of country between the Kams and the Katir of Bashgul Valley. They had in 1890 and have also in present time three large settlements and a few smaller ones.

Black-robed Kshto Kafirs

The Kshto Kafirs (alternative but not native names are Kashtoz or Kashtans) owned in 1890 one large village called Kashtan beside few small settlements. The village was close to and west of Kamdesh

Black-robed Gourdesh, Istrat or Dungulio Kafirs

There was a little colony of Siah-Posh Kafirs at Gourdesh or Istrat which was an extremely overcrowded village. The Gourdesh folk (native present-day Nuristani name is presumably Dungulio) were said to be very different from all the other Siah-Posh Kafirs and to be, in great part, a remnant of an ancient people called Aroma. They formerly hailed from Aromabrom which had been a great village up in the Arungul Valley.

Like in present-day Nuristani time, the dialectic variations of Kamkata-viri, the language spoken by all the five clans of the Siah-Posh denomination, are very slight and mutually intelligible. The Kafirs of the first four divisions of Siah-Posh denominations had a common origin.

Vasi Kafirs

The Vasi Kafirs (native name), also known as Prasungulis, lived like in present Nuristani time in a high valley called Prasengul. They were stated to be very ancient people, and probably the aborigines or otherwise the earliest immigrants of their area. The Vasi were entirely different from the Siah-Posh Kafir tribes and the Kalasha and Askunu of the White-Robed (Sfed-Posh) denomination. They owned in 1890 six large villages. Simple, timid, stolid-featured and rather clumsy, they were otherwise remarkable for their industry and powers of endurance.

Kalasha Kafirs

The Kalasha Kafirs (alternative but not native names were Wai or Waigali) were the most important clan of the former White-Robed (Sfed-Posh) denomination. Like the Kams, the Kalasha were very brave, warlike and handsome people. They were remarkable for their hospitality. The language they spoke is quite different from the Kamkata-viri on the one hand and the Vasi-vari on the other. Kalasha owned in 1890 about ten villages.

Askunu Kafirs

The Askunu Kafirs (alternative but not native names were Ashkun or Yeshkun) were a small and less known tribe of the so-called White-Robed (Sfed-Posh) group. In physical characteristics, they were friendly to the Kalasha Kafir and seem related to them, but the language of the Ashkuns was and is also in present Nuristani time quite different and mutually un-intelligible from the Kalasha-ala and the Vasi-vari. The Askunu owned around 1890 two settlements.

The combined group of the Vasi, Kalasha and Askunu Kafirs was in former times known as White-Robed (Sfed-Posh) or Red-Robed (Lal-Posh) Kafirs. But George Robertson has rejected this classification as being both inconvenient and unscientific.

Chitral Kafiri

The Chitral Kafiri or Kalasha of Chitral has a unique position in the Kafir classification. In Chitral, they are also in modern times known as “Black Kafirs”. Due to the lack of historic information and references, the exact relation of this tribe to the former Kafir people cannot be clearly ascertained. At present it’s only sure, that the Kalasha of Chitral has in contrast to the majority of the former Kafiristan Kafiri (present-day Nuristani), a different Indo-Iranian origin. These two populations descend from dissimilar branches of the Indo-Iranians, a division that goes probably back some 5,000 years. Nevertheless there are heavy Kafiristan Kafiri influences in the language, religion and culture of the Chitral Kalasha.

According to linguist Richard Strand, a professional in this area, the Kalasha of Chitral apparently adopted the name of the former Kafiristan Kalasha, who at some unknown time extended their influence into Chitral. A reference for this assumption could be the names kâsv'o respectively kâsi'o, used by the neighboring Nuristani Katir and Kam for the Kalasha of Chitral. From these the earlier name Kasivo (instead Kalasha) could be derived.

Slave population

Besides the major tribal groups of Kafirs as described above, there was a slave population, usually war captives, or purchased from other Kafir tribes. They performed menial work and included craftsmen like carpenters, blacksmiths, wood-carvers, weavers, drummers. All slaves were considered impure and were prohibited from approaching the shrine or house of a priest. House slaves lived with the family which owned them and enjoy higher status than the artisan slaves. A portion of slave population were probably the remnant of ancient people subjugated and enslaved by the following dominant Kafir tribes. All slaves seemed to wear the Siah-Posh dress.

It is sometimes assumed that the present-day Kalasha of Chitral are the remainder of their originally slave population.

Kafir languages

Previously the Hindukush Kafir languages were added to the family of Dardic or Prakrit languages. These classifications are considered as outdated. Today, all former Kafir languages are added to the new group of Nuristani languages which represents the third branch of the Indo-Iranian languages. An exception constitutes the language of the Chitral Kalasha; which is regarded to be a Dardic language.

Richard Strand, an authority in this area, defined five Nuristani languages, each spoken in several dialects. Major dialects include Kata-vari, Kamviri, and Vai-ala. Most of the Nuristanis in Pakistan speak Kamviri. These are influenced by, and sometimes classified as Dardic languages; but this is more of a geographical classification than a linguistic one.

List of present-day Nuristani languages:

• Askunu language (Ashkun) 2000 speakers
• Kamkata-viri language (Bashgali, includes Kata-vari, Kamviri & Mumviri dialect) 24,200 speakers
• Vasi-vari language (Prasuni) 2000 speakers
• Kalasha-ala language (Waigali) 2000 speakers

• Tregami language (Gambiri) 1000 speakers

Note, the Tregami are the only present–day Nuristani which haven’t a direct Kafir ancestor. They developed out from a reminder of the army of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan and some subjugated local Kafir population.

Prior this new grouping, the Kafiri comprises Kamkata-viri, Kalasha-ala and the Vasi-vari as its main dialects, where the Kamkata-viri was the most common and was spoken by the predominant Siah-Posh tribal group. Kamkata-viri had several sub-dialects but the employers of one seem to understand all the others. The other two dialects, the Kalasha-ala and Vasi-vari, have no similarity between them as also with the Kamkata-viri of the Siah-Posh. Geographically Kafiristan was located in the middle of India and Iran and thus linguistically the group of Kafiri dialects naturally had similarities with both the Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups. The dialects of the Kafiri coincide with the distribution of the Kafir tribes in Kafiristan. Kafiri had no writing system.

Kafirs maintain that very young children from any valley could acquire the Kalasha-ala language but only those born in Presun could ever converse in Vasi-vari and still only roughly. To non-Presun ears it was disconcertingly difficult and perhaps impossible to learn Vasi-vari.

Kafir marriage

In pre-1895 Kafir society, the population was polygamous as well as exogamous. Marriage within one's own and mother's clan was prohibited. A Kafir mostly had more than one wife, but rarely more than five. It was a reproach to own only one wife. Marriage was a bargain business where a wife was purchased from her parents by settling on a the price. A goat was then killed and a feast was given to formalize the marriage. Divorce, when it came up, was simple and uninstitutionalized. A husband could simply send his wife away.

Upon the death of a brother, a Kafir man was permitted to take possession of all of his dead brother's wives.

This former Kafirstan Kafir practice stands in stark contrast to the present-day marriage tradition of the Chitral Kalasha, also known as "Black Kafirs." Kalasha boys and girls can propose and arrange their own marriages, although some marriages are also arranged by families. The divorce in the Kalasha community is very simple, as a woman or man may leave his or her spouse at any time.

Kafir women

Little respect was shown to women folk except in particular cases to a few of advanced years. Usually the women were mistresses, slaves and field-workers. Physically, they were capable of enormous labour and were very enduring. The young girls were very beautiful but as they grow, their faces wear out due to harsh physical labor. While the responsibility for the defense and maintaining grazing grounds & live stock fells on the males, that of agriculture and field-work fells on the females. The women were usually considered a chattel and had no rights as against their husbands or, failing them, their male relations. They could not inherit or possess property.

Kafir religion

Before their conversion by Abdur Rahman, the Kafirs were practitioners of ancient pre-Islamic traditions. There were lingering traces of ancestor-worship and fire-worship. The Kafir religion was a blend of Zoroastrianism rituals, Hindu beliefs, Buddhist tenets and diverse ceremonies as well as paganism reminiscent of the mythology of Greece. Imra (from Hindu Yama (=Yamaraja), Zoroastrianism Yima) was the supreme god of Kafiristan. He was the god of creation. God Moni was the chief prophet of god Imra. Gish or Great Gish was the god of war, and was extremely popular among the Bashagul Katir Kafirs. H. A. Rose in his Glossary of Tribes and Castes, identifies god Gish with the Hindu god Kishna or Krishna (Krishna appears as Gisane in Armenian). Besides, there were other gods of lesser significance. They converted to Islam in the 1880s.

Kafir Characteristics

Both the Kafirs and Afghans are brigands by instinct and both are careless of human life. Perhaps the Kafirs are the worst of the two in both respects, but a Afghan makes the account more than even by his added perfidy and cunning (Robertson).

All the neighboring Musulman tribes have an intense hatred of the Kafirs because of the injuries the former have received at the hands of the Kafirs through the ages. The Kafirs love to dance to their war god Gish after killing Musulmans.

The Kafirs love to fight. Their inter-tribal hatred, sometimes, goes to the limits of absurdity, thus entirely deadening their political foresight. It is probable that there is no single tribe of Kafirs at the present day Kafirstan which is at peace with all other tribes. Some of their inter-tribal wars have continued for generations, and the one between the Kamoz and Katirs of Ramgulis went over a century.

The Kafirs are highly revengeful. For honor's sake, a man of any position in the clan (even the slave) having been killed by an outsider clan must be avenged by blood. No matter what, a murder has to be avenged under all circumstances.

Blood-feuds within a tribe do not exist, but if a fight did start, it was the duty of all witness to intervene at once. The slayer of his fellow, even by accident, has to pay a heavy compensation or else become an outcast. The stigma attaches itself to children and their marriage connexions. Kafirs have true conceptions of justice. There is no death penalty since a fighting male is too valuable a property of the whole tribe to be so wasted.

Though in his raids into hostile territories, whether of Kafirs or Musulmans, the Kafir spares neither men, nor women, nor even children and though, he holds human life as of very little account, and though in hunting, he appears to employ brutal methods of getting his game, yet he is not cruel by nature. Though highly passionate and wildly independent, the Kafir can be easily appeased. Though exasperated to such fury by centuries of persecutions by Musulmans, the Kafirs, in general, are harmless, affectionate and kind hearted people. They are indeed a model of politeness. They are merry, playful, fond of laughter and of very social and joyous disposition. The Kafirs are splendidly loyal to their friends and are accustomed to grandest acts of self-sacrifice and bravery. Kafirs are very hospitable. They are kind even to a Musulman when they admit him as their friend or guest.

The Kafirs are remarkable for their cupidity. They can be easily bribed, can do anything for money. But in matters of honor, no Kafir can ever be won by any amount of cash, whatsoever (Robertson).

Kafirs are extremely jealous of one another, no matter how they have intermarried. Kafir hates Kafir more than he hates Musulmans, which sometimes leads to internecine strife.

It is as natural for a Kafir to thieve, as it is for him to eat. The children are encouraged to steal.

Kafirs are remarkable for their reckless courage, furious bravery and towering love for freedom.

The war strategy of Kafirs is to wear down the enemy by playing purely defensive tactics. They hold positions, form little ambushes, and seek to cut off stragglers and harass the invaders in every possible way. Then when the enemy, from accumulated losses, begins to retreat, the tiger-footed Kafirs attack him on all sides like a swarm of hornets. At this point, the dogged resistance turns into furious bravery. A Kafir never fights so well as when the advantage is to his side. He plays a winning game splendidly. Each man tries to emulate the traditional heroes of his tribe and will performs some of the grandest deeds of courage and heroism to gain the admiration of his tribal fellows.

The Kafir of Bashgul is ever on the raid and on watch for a chance for a Musulman's life. The killing of Musulmans is ranked the chief object of a Kafir's life since his social position is dependent on the number of Musulmans he kills. A robe of honor (a Shawl) is awarded to those who have killed four or more Musulmans.

In Kafir opinion, a good man is one who is a successful homicide, ever ready to quarrel, of an amorous disposition, a good dancer, and a good stone-quoit player.

A Kafir exudes impression of personal dignity, self-respect, self-confidence, strength and gracefulness.

Kafir society is essentially democratic and the Kafirs are theoretically all equal.

The Kafirs, as seen above, seem to be as degraded in many respects as it is possible for this type ever to become. If it were not their splendid courage, their domestic affections and their overpowering love of freedom, the Kafirs would indeed be a hateful people. In other respects, they are what they have been made by uncontrollable circumstances. For them, the world has not grown softer as it has grown older. Its youth could not be crueler than its present maturity, but if they had been different, the Kafirs would have been enslaved centuries ago. Their present ideas and all the associations of their history and religion are simply bloodshed, assassinations and blackmailing; yet the Kafirs, though a highly wild people, are not savages. Many of them have the heads of statesmen and philosophers. Their features are Aryans and their mental capabilities are great. Their love of decoration, their carving and their architecture all point to a time when they were higher in human scale than they are at present (Roberson).

Kafiristan Kafir people and the Kambojas

The earlier view was that the Kafirs were descendants of a once powerful people who came from the west. But Anthropological data suggests that they were a remnant of original Aryan or Proto-Indo-European population of Eastern Afghanistan. They appeared to be a mixture of an extremely ancient element related to oldest known population of central Himalayas (the Presuns), the element with resemblance to the Kurds and a type with Nordic traits (the Siah-Posh/Kalasha groups) which goes back to the ancient prototype of these races preserved in the midst of Indo-Aryan ascendancy.

According to Robertson, the dominant clans of former Kafiristan, the Katir (Kamtoz), the Kams (Kamoz) and the Kalasha (Wais) were mainly descended from the ancient Aryan population of Eastern Afghanistan, who refused to embrace Islam in tenth century, and fled for refuge from victorious Musulmans to the hilly fastnesses of Kafiristan.

Parts of former Kafiristan (Nuristan) formed a portion of the Greek strapy of the Paropamisadae in the fouth and third century BCE. The people of the region were then called Kambojas and described as of mixed Indo-Iranian descent. Possibly, they occupied much wider area then and were gradually forced to their present mountainous fastnesses by the Muslim onslaught during medieval era. One of their dominant clans is still known as Kam (Kamoz), while the other is called Kamtoz, which remind us of the name Kamboja (Donald Wilber, W. K. Fraser Tytler, M. C. Gillett, Dr Raychaudhury, Herbert Harold Vreeland, Clifford R. Barnett, Dr S Chattopadhyaya etc).

Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India notes that the Siah-Posh tribe living in Hindukush descended from the ancient Kambojas.

Discussing the Kambojas, Dr Wilson also notes that there is an apparent trace of their (Kamboja's) name in the Camojes of Kafiristan who may have retreated to the mountains before the advance of the Turk tribes (See: Vishnu Purana, H. H. Wilson)

The physiognomic features and other physical characteristics of the Siahposh tribes resemble those of the Kamboj population of greater Panjab. Like the (unmixed) Kamboj, they have fairly tall stature, fair-body color, light brown or some times green eyes, brown and some times blond hair, slender and straight or acquiline noses, high physical and mental tenacity & stamina etc.

Logic of Greek influence on the former Kafiristan Kafir people

There are some points of resemblance between the former Kafirs and the ancient Greek sacrificial observances and in some of their domestic utensils like the wooden dish stand of the Kalasha Kafirs. They seemed to be fashioned in Grecian mould. The sports and games among the Kafirs (wrestling and shot put etc.) had been practiced in the ancient Olympics. Traces of Greek influence are also often quoted as visible in former Kafir music. Some further Greek cultural elements could also partly be identified in Kafiristan.

It can therefore, be fairly conjectured that some of these former Kafir tribes were still influenced, as the ancient Eastern Afghanistan population was influenced by the Greeks (Robertson).

It is also stated by some that the former Kafiristan Kafir physiognomic features are like the present-day Nuristani, particularly Indo-European.

Based on above, some writers tend to claim that the former Kafiristan Kafirs may have descended from the armies of Alexander the Great. But the above factors may only imply Greek cultural and social influence on the ancestors of the Kafirs and in no-way they establish any ethnic connection between the Kafirs and the Greeks. Others still see the Kafirs as a historical link between modern day Europeans and their Indo-European ancestors. In this case, it demonstrates that modern Europeans were largely already in their present physical form when they lived in Afghanistan, or that they possibly evolved some of these traits while living there. The evidence of Red and Blonde hair, along with their varied eye colors, (their historical isolation due to being fierce, mountainous, non-muslim tribes until the turn of the 20th century possibly helped to concentrate these genes more so then in other places like India) and their fine features, make some of them even resemble present day Europeans from Western and Northern Europe. Their hypothesized relation to the Goths would also support this notion. Further more, when the English (a German and Scandinavian people genetically) invaded Afghanistan In 1839, the Kafirs sent a deputation to Sir William Macnaghten in Jalalabad claiming relationship with the fair skinned British troops who had just invaded the country.

The Greeks or Yavanas were apparently in the minority in Indian sub-continent, and the majority of ancient Kafirs were a different race from the Yavanas. Any subsequent ancient Greek influence would have been easily adopted by the Kafir ancestors because of their geographical closeness. The ancient Greeks are known to have greatly excelled in the natural sciences and medicine, and therefore, though barbarians in Brahmanical view, they were still regarded with honor on this very count. The ancient Kambojas appear to have borrowed heavily from these scientific Greeks.

It is indisputable fact of history that the Yavanas and their good ancient neighbors, the Kambojas had shared common culture and social customs like short-cropping of their head-hair (Kamboja mundah Yavana mundah), observing only two social classes such as Arya (master) and Dasa (slave) (Yonakambojaseu annesu cha panchchantimesu janapadesu dvea vanna), and non-entertainment of the Brahmins in their countries and so forth.

The former social structure of the Kafirs also followed two social classes i.e freeman and the slaves which obviously alludes to their links to the ancient Kamboja-Yona group.

The classical expression Yonekambojesu of the Buddhist texts as well as of king Ashoka's Edicts also betrays very close relationships between the Kambojas and the Yonas or Yavanas.

Thus, the ancient Kambojas were indeed very deeply influenced by the ancient Greeks or the Yavanas, and this fact was visible in an isolated community like the Kafirs, as has been noted by George Robertson and some other observers.

It is also historically accepted that the ancient Kambojas had followed republican constitution. The isolated Kafiristan Kafir society was essentially still democratic and the Kafirs were theoretically all equal as reported by Robertson. This fact again seems to connect former Kafirs with the ancient Greeks and the Kambojas.

The shot put and wrestling argument suggested by some to establish ethnic connection between the Kafirs and the Greeks also does not carry conviction.

The ancient Kambojas and Yonas are both known to have been good wrestlers as is corroborated by Mahabharata evidence (Tara Yavana. Kamboja......niya.yuddhah. kushalah...See: MBH 12/101/5).

And, the shot put has also been very popular in Panjab including the Kamboj population since ancient times.

Similarly, the stone-quoit was also a popular game among the former Kafiristan Kafirs as it is also among the Kambojs and other people of Panjab.

The Balck-Robed (Siah-Posh) tribe of the Kafiristan Kafirs was stated by scholarship to be the descendants of the ancient Kambojas (See: references at the end).

Kafiristan Kafir people in history

The first Muslim appellation of Kafirs occurs in 1020 CE in the writings of the historians of Mahmud of Ghazni.

Musulman historian Ibn al-Hussain Baihaki makes second reference to (Siah-Posh) Katirs and calls them Hindus. He claims that 'all the Hindu Kators were brought under the rule of Sultan Masud' (1033 CE) (Early History of India, I, p 128).

Third reference occurs in Tuzak-i-Timuri where the Kafirs came into conflict with Sultan Timur (1399 CE). Timur found the Siah-Posh tribes (Katirs and Kams) apparently holding a kingdom extending from the frontiers of Kashmir to mountains of Kabul and containing numerous villages and towns with capital at Jorkal. The ruler is stated to be Adalshu, Uda or Udasu. Timur describes the Katirs as men of a powerful frame and fair complexion, idolaters for most part, and speaking a tongue distinct from Turki, Persian, Hindi or Kashmiri. Timur attacked the Katir strongholds reaching as far as Kashtur while prince Rustam advanced into the territories of the Kam Siahposh (See: Tuzak-i-Timuri p 400-408).

In fifteenth century, Sultan Mahmud, descendant of Sultan Timur led expedition against the Siah-Poshes and thereby earned the title of Ghazi.

Moghul emperor Babur notes the Panjshir Musulmans as paying tribute to their neighbors, the Siah-Posh Katir.

Moghul emperor Akbar sent his son Jahangir in 1581 against the Siah-Posh Kafirs of the mountains of Katir.

Abu'l Fazl, in his history of Timur's expeditions, speaks of the Hindúán-i-Katir, a country which is described as bounding territories of Buner, Swat and Bajaur on the north.

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.

The people are mentioned in the story The Man Who Would Be King

Following their conquest and convert to Islam in 1895 by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, the Kafiristan Kafiri people disappear. On its place the radical Islamic Nuristani culture developed out.

Ancient Roots of the Kafirs

The Kafirs people, till recently collectively known as Kamoges or Kamojis, are stated to have been remains of a considerable ancient people among whom were original Kashmerians and a greater part of Badakshan and Kabul as far as Deggan tribes, and on the southern face of the higher ridges of Himalaya extending to an unknown distance. Though whole of their pristine population being subjected to Muslim conquerors and having mixed with them, they have lost their pristine individuality of national character but still among the Kabulis, in particular, it is still not infrequent to observe heads and figures that might serve for models to the sculptors who would portray a Jupiter or a Mars according to the refined idealism of the ancient Greeks. The Kafirs have oval faces, their brows are well-arched and the nose and mouth even more refined than the Greeks. They are still fairer, generally, with lighter hair and blue eyes. Blending with nearest black-haired tribes, the ancestors of the Kamoges are believed to have given rise to ancient Persians and with the faired-haired on north, they are said to have produced the handsome tribes of the Goths (ref: The Natural History of the Human Species: Its Typical Forms, Primaeval Distribution, Filiations,...pp 403-405, Charles Hamilton Smith). The name Kamoge or Kamoji apparently reminds one of the ancient Kambojas living in Hindukush, Pamirs as well as in Badakshan. See: Kamboja Location.

See also

• Hindukush Black-Robed Kafir people
• Hindukush White-Robed Kafir people
• Katir
• Kam
• Kalasha of Chitral
• Kafiristan
• Kambojas
• Yona
• Nuristani

References

• Peoples of Nuristân. Retrieved July 08, 2006, from Richard F. Strand: Nuristan, Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush [1].
• The Kafirs of the Hindukush, 1896, Sir George Scott Robertson.
• An Account of the Kingdom of Caubol, Vol II, 1815, M Elphinstone.
• Political History of Ancient India, 1996, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee.
• Tribes of the Hindukush, 1971, John Biddulph.
• The Vishu Purana 1972, H. H. Wilson.
• Achaemenids and India, 1974, Dr S Chattopadhyaya.
• Bombay Gazetteer.
• Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1843.
• Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1874.
• Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, Dr J. L. Kamboj.
• Sidhant Kaumudi, Arathparkashka, 1966, Acharya R. R. Pandey
• Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India, 1971, N. L. Dey
• The Gates of India, 2002, Dr Thomas Holdich.
• The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush: art and society of the Waigal and Ashkun Kafirs, Max Klimburg.

External links

• The Kafirs of The Hindukush, 1896, by George Scott Robertson, Arthur David McCormick
• Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Beloochistan, pp 512-516 Appendex (D), by Joseph Pierre Ferrier
• Kafiristan: Online Encyclopedia Article
• Nuristan by Richard Strand