The origin of the localNuristani people has been disputed, ranging from being the indigenous inhabitants forced to flee to this region after refusing to surrender to invaders, to being linked to various ancient groups of people and theTurk Shahi kings.[3][4] Some Nuristanis claim being descendants of the Greek occupying forces of Alexander the Great. It was formerly calledKafiristan (Pashto:كافرستان) ("Land of the Infidels") until the inhabitants wereforcibly converted from ananimist religion[5][pages needed][6] with elements from Indo-Iranian (Vedic- orHindu-like) religion infused with local variations,[7][8][f] toIslam in 1895, and thence the region has become known as Nuristan ("Land of Light").[9] The region was located in an area surrounded by Buddhist and Hindu civilizations which were later taken over by Muslims.[10]
The primary occupations are agriculture, animal husbandry, andday labor. Located on the southern slopes of theHindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of the country, Nuristan spans the basins of theAlingar,Pech,Landai Sin, andKunar rivers. Most of Nuristan is covered by mountainousforests and it has a rich biodiversity with a domestically uniquemonsoon climate by air coming from theIndian Ocean.[11] As of 2020, the entirety of Nuristan is now a protectednational park.[12][13]
The surrounding area fell toAlexander the Great in 330 BC. It later fell toChandragupta Maurya. TheMauryas introducedBuddhism to the region, and were attempting to expand their empire to Central Asia until they faced local Greco-Bactrian forces.Seleucus is said to have reached apeace treaty with Chandragupta by giving control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants.[14]
Before their conversion to Islam, the Nuristanis practiced ananimist religion[5][6] with elements fromIndo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion infused with locally developed accretions.[7][8][6][f] They were called "kafirs" due to their enduring paganism while other regions around them became Muslim. However, the influence from district names in Kafiristan of Katwar or Kator and the ethnic nameKati has also been suggested.[15]
The area extending from modern Nuristan toKashmir was known as "Peristan", a vast area containing a host of "Kafir" cultures and Indo-European languages that became Islamized over a long period. Earlier, it was surrounded by Buddhist areas. The Islamization of the nearbyBadakhshan began in the 8th century and Peristan was surrounded by Muslim states in the 16th century with the Islamization ofBaltistan. The Buddhist states temporarily brought literacy and state rule into the region. The decline of Buddhism resulted in it becoming heavily isolated.[10]
There have been varying theories about the origins of Kafirs including the Arab tribe ofQuraish, orGabars of Persia, the Greek soldiers of Alexander as well as the Indians of eastern Afghanistan.George Scott Robertson considered them to be part of the old Indian population of Eastern Afghanistan and stated they fled to the mountains after the Muslim invasion in the 10th century. He added they probably found other races there whom they killed off and enslaved or amalgamated with them.[3]
Oral traditions of some of the Nuristanis place themselves to be at the confluence ofKabul River andKunar River a millennium ago. These traditions state they were driven off fromKandahar to Kabul toKapisa toKama with the Muslim invasion. They identify themselves as late arrivals in Nuristan, being driven byMahmud of Ghazni who after establishing his empire forced the unsubmissive population to flee.[6]
The name Kator was used by Lagaturman, last king of the Turk Shahi. Apparently due to its usage by the last Turk-Shahi ruler, it was adopted as a title by the ruler of the north-west region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising Chitral and Kafiristan. The title "Shah Kator" was assumed byChitral's ruler Mohtaram Shah who assumed it upon being impressed by the majesty of the erstwhile pagan rulers of Chitral.[4] The theory of Kators being related to Turki Shahis is based on the information ofJami- ut-Tawarikh andTarikh-i-Binakiti.[16] The region was also named after its ruling elite. The royal usage may be the origin behind the name of Kator.[17]
The high god of the pre-Islamic Nuristani religion was the godImra, derived from the Hindu godYama, and was also calledMara.[18] Another god was Indr, derived fromIndra. He was seen as the brother of the god Gisht and father of Pano and the goddess Dishani.[19] There were also many other minor gods worshiped in the region.[20]
The region wasinvaded by forces of Afghan AmirAbdur Rahman Khan in 1896 and most of the people were converted either by force or did so to avoid thejizya:[21]
The region was renamed Nuristan, meaningLand of the enlightened, a reflection of the "enlightening" of thepagan Nuristani by the "light-giving" of Islam.
Nuristan was once thought to have been a region through which Alexander the Great passed with a detachment of his army; thus thefolk legend that the Nuristani people are descendants of Alexander (or "his generals").
In the 19th century, theEmirate of Afghanistan incorporated Nuristan into its territory via military conquest; this occurred around the same time as the beginning ofEuropean influence in Afghanistan. During this period, one of the most well known Afghan generals from this period, Abdul Wakil Khan, was born in Nuristan. He fought against the insurgent forces ofHabibullāh Kalakāni and was buried on the same plateau where Afghan kingAmanullah Khan is buried.[citation needed]
A U.S. soldier moving along a path overlooking the mountainside village of Aranas while on patrol in 2006Members of theAfghan National Army (ANA) during a U.S.-led patrol in Wadawu valley during Operation Silver Creek in August 2009
Nuristan is one of the poorest and most remote provinces of Afghanistan. Prior to the takeover of the Taliban in 2021, fewNGOs operated in Nuristan because of theinsurgency and a lack of safe roads. Some road construction projects were launched linking Nangarej toMandol andChapa Dara to Titan Dara.[23] The Afghan government also worked on a direct road route toLaghman province, in order to reduce dependence on the road through restiveKunar province to the rest of Afghanistan. Other road projects were started aimed at improving the primitive road fromKamdesh toBarg-i Matal, and fromNangalam in Kunar province to the provincial center at Parun.
Since Nuristan is a highly ethnically homogeneous province, there are few incidents of inter-ethnic violence. However, there are instances of disputes among inhabitants, some of which continue for decades. Nuristan has suffered from its inaccessibility and lack of infrastructure. The government presence is under-developed, even compared to neighboring provinces. Nuristan's formal educational sector is weak, with few professional teachers. Due to its proximity to Pakistan, many of the inhabitants are actively involved in trade and commerce across the border.
In the following year, in early October, more than 350 insurgents backed by members of theHezb-e Islami Gulbuddin and other militia groups fought U.S.-led Afghan security forces in theBattle of Kamdesh at Camp Keating in Nuristan. The base was nearly overrun; more than 100 Taliban fighters, eight U.S. soldiers, and seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed during the fighting.[25][26][27][28] Four days after the battle, in early October 2009, U.S. forces withdrew from their four main bases in Nuristan, as part of a plan by GeneralStanley McChrystal to pull troops out of small outposts and relocate them closer to major towns.[29] The U.S. has pulled out from some areas in the past, but never from all four main bases.[30] A month after the U.S. pullout the Taliban was governing openly in Nuristan.[25] According toThe Economist, Nuristan is "a place so tough that NATO abandoned it in 2012 after failing to subdue it."[31]
^Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.
In 2002 the first gender assessment of women's conditions in Nuristan was completed.[44] The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 17.7% in 2005 to 17% in 2011.[45] The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 8.7% in 2005 to 45% in 2011.[45]
The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 2% in 2005 to 12% in 2011.[45] The percentage of births attended by a skilled birth attendant increased from 1% in 2005 to 22% in 2011.[45]
Nuristan is where three young diplomats, American, English, and German visited in 1960 "...to penetrate a land that few westerners had set eyes on." Their book isA Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the Mysterious Afghan Hinterland by Joseph T. Kendrick (Author), Nicholas Barrington (Author), Reinhard Schlagintweit (Author), Sandy Gall (Foreword).
Ansary (2014): "Kafiristan, "Land of the Infidels," because the people there practiced an animist religion involving elaborate graves decorated with images carved of wood."
Ruhland (2019, p. 107): "Their traditional shamanic religion is probably rooted in Indo-Iranian, pre-Zoroastrian Vedic traditions."
"an ancient, common substrate (TUITE 2000, cf. BENGTSON 1999, 2001, 2002). These must be separated from whatmay appear to be Vedic."
"A few key features that highlight the position of Hindukush religion in between the IIr. [Indo-Iranian], BMAC and Vedic religions will be summarized and discussed in some detail, as they by and large even now remain unknown to Vedic specialists, in spite of BUDDRUSS 1960 and the selective summary "d'un domaine mal connu des indianistes" by FUSSMAN (1977: 21-35), who, even with an "esprit hypercritique comme le nôtre" (1977: 27), overstresses (post-Vedic) Indian influences (1977: 69; for a balanced evaluation of the linguistic features, see now DEGENER 2002). However, both Hindukush and Vedic mythology, ritual, and festivals, in spite of many layers of developments and mutual influences, tend to explain each other very effectively; cf. the similar case of Nepal (Witzel 1997c: 520-32)."
Vinogradov & Zharnikova (2020, p. 182): "... the pagan Kafir pantheon, which has preserved the relics of the most ancient Indo-Iranian mythological concepts."
Minahan (2014, p. 205): "Living in the high mountain valleys, the Nuristani retained their ancient culture and their religion, a form of ancient Hinduism with many customs and rituals developed locally. Certain deities were revered only by one tribe or community, but one deity was universally worshipped by all Nuristani as the Creator, the Hindu god Yama Raja, calledimr'o orimra by the Nuristani tribes."
Barrington, Kendrick & Schlagintweit (2006, p. 111): "Prominent sites include Hadda, near Jalalabad, but Buddhism never seems to have penetrated the remote valleys of Nuristan, where the people continued to practise an early form of polytheistic Hinduism."
^abDr. Hussain Khan. "The Genesis of the Royal Title".Journal of Central Asia.14. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia,Quaid-i-Azam University: 111, 112.
^Deena Bandhu Pandey (1973).The Shahis of Afghanistan and the Punjab. Historical Research Institute; Oriental Publishers. p. 65.
^Dr. Hussain Khan. "The Genesis of the Royal Title".Journal of Central Asia.14. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia,Quaid-i-Azam University: 114.
^ab"Nurstan Provincial Profile"(PDF). Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved14 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977):An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization.LINK
Richard F. Strand. (1997–present)Richard Strand's Nuristan SiteLINK. The most accurate and comprehensive source on Nuristan, by the world's leading scholar on the languages and ethnic groups of Nuristan.
Jettmar, Karl (1986)The Religions of the Hindukush: Vol 1: The Religions of the Kafirs: The Pre-islamic Heritage of Afghan Nuristan.
Edelberg, Lennart (1984) "Nuristani Buildings" Jutland Archaeological Society Publications, Vol. 18, 1984.
Edelberg, Lennart &Schuyler Jones (1979) "Nuristan" Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria
Jones, Schuyler (1992) "Afghanistan" Vol. 135 of the World Bibliographical Series, Clio Press, Oxford.
Jones, Schuyler (1974) "Men of Influence in Nuristan: A Study of Social Control & Dispute Settlement in Waigal Valley, Afghanistan." Seminar Press, London & New York.
Wilber, Donald N. (1968)Annotated Bibliography of Afghanistan. Human Relations Area Files, New Haven, Conn.
Jones, Schuyler (1966) An Annotated Bibliography of Nuristan (Kafiristan) and the Kalash Kafirs of Chitral, Part One. Royal Danish Academy of Sciences & Letters, Vol. 41, No. 3.
Kukhtina, Tatiyana I. (1965) Bibliografiya Afghanistana: Literatuyra na russkom yazyka. Nauka, Moscow.
Akram, Mohammed (1947) Bibliographie de l'Afghanistan, I, ouvrages parus hors de l'Afghanistan. Centre de Documentation Universitaire, Paris.
Robertson, Sir George S. (1900) The Kafirs of Hindu-Kush.
