Nuristanis
[16][17] Noted linguist Richard Strand, an authority on Hindu Kush languages, observed the following about pre-Islamic Nuristani religion: "Before their conversion to Islâm the Nuristânis practiced a form of ancient Hinduism, infused with accretions developed locally".[18]Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer describe the Nuristanis of having traditionally practising a "primitive" form of Hinduism, up until the late nineteenth century, before their conversions to Islam.There was a supreme deity named Mara or Imra, plus a multitude of lesser gods and goddesses known locally as Mandi or Moni, Wushum or Shomde, Gish or Giwish, Bagisht, Indr, Züzum, Disani, Kshumai or Kime etc.According to Michael Witzel, some of these gods, especially Disani, Moni, and Gish, have direct parallels in Shinto, the native religion of Japan, indicating a shared history dating back to 2000 BCE.[24][25] In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great encountered them and finally defeated them after they put up a stubborn and prolonged resistance, describing them as being distinct culturally and religiously from other peoples of the region.The country into which the army of Ghazni marched appears to have been the same as that now called Kafirstan, where the inhabitants were and still are, idolaters and are named the Siah-Posh, or black-vested by the Muslims of later times.Timur's autobiography (Tuzak-i-Timuri) amply attests that he had battled both with the Katirs as well as the Kam sections of the Siah-Posh (black-robed) Kafirs of the Hindukush mountains.On the basis of local complaints of ill-treatment and extortions filed by the Muslims against the Kafirs, Timur personally attacked the Kators of the Siah-Posh group located north-east of Kabul in eastern Afghanistan.Next day, Timur ordered his troops to advance on all four sides to kill all men, enslave the women and children and plunder or lay waste all their property.In his autobiography called Tuzak-i-Timuri, Timur proudly boasts of the towers of the skulls of the Kators which he built on the mountain in the auspicious month of Ramazan A.H. 800 (1300 CE)[30] Again, according to Timur's autobiography (Tuzak-i-Timuri), a military division of ten thousand Muslim soldiers was sent against the Siah-Posh (Kam) Kafirs under the command of General Aglan Khan to either slay these infidels or else to convert them into Islam.Another detachment had to be sent under Muhammad Azad which fought gallantly and recovered the horses and the armour lost by General Aglan and came back home, leaving the Siah-Posh alone.[36] In Chitral, the Nuristanis are known either as Bashgalis (as most migrated from a valley of Nuristan called Bashgal in the Chitrali Khowar language), or alternatively as Sheikhan (a generic term for recent converts to Islam).However, there are other Nuristani tribes as well, some of the Kata of Janaderi people live in Ozhor (now Karimabad), Gobor, Buburat, Ayun, Broze and Mastuj.
NuristanAfghanistanChitralPakistanNuristani languagesPashtosecond languageSunni IslamKalashPashayiethnic groupNuristan ProvinceChitral DistrictNuristaniIndo-Iranian languagesDurand LineBritish Indian Empirethe Great GameAbdur Rahman Khanancient HinduismGeorg MorgenstierneRichard Stranddeva lok'a-Mitch WeissHinduismIndo-EuropeanPersianKhodaiiIranianDisaniShintoshamansBuddhist states and societiesFa-hsienSung YunBadakhshanKalash peopleKafiristanAlexander the GreatGenghis KhanMahmud of GhazniHindukushMuslimsKafirsMuslimtroopsautobiographyRamazanMughal periodShekhani dialectKhowar languageKamkata-vari languageSheikhaniHindu KushGeorge Scott RobertsonBashgal ValleyKalashaMumansAfghanH. W. BellewEric S. MargolisQurayshnationalPersiaCabul countryIraniansKafirstanIndiananthropologicalDravidianIndo-AryanHimalayasNordicDinaricIssa NuristaniSoviet invasion of AfghanistanAfghan Armed ForcesSaur RevolutionNangarharPanjshirMawlawiDemocratic Republic of AfghanistanY-chromosomesKarimabadMastujChitrali languagePashtunsKho peopleDardic peopleBurusho peopleGurjarDogan (deity)ABC-CLIOFranz Steiner VerlagHarvard UniversityEwans, MartinI.B. TaurisBibcodeAlbinia, AliceW. W. Norton & CompanyR. C. MajumdarArthur David McCormickJoseph Barnard DavisSanskritKambojiaPLOS ONEEthnic groups in AfghanistanBalochBrahuiGurjarsMogholPamirisPunjabisTajiksTurkicHazarasKyrgyzQizilbashTurkmensUzbeksArmeniansIndiansPakistanisRussiansCapitalDistricts