Khowar is the language of the Kalash tribe, spoken in Chitral, which is in the far Northwest corner of Pakistan; a beautiful valley in the Hindukush range of Mountains. Khowar is classified as an Indo-European language of the Dardic Group. However, only Kalashamun is closely related to Khowar. It is spoken as the primary language by 250,000 people in Chitral. There are also pockets of speakers in Gilgit. It is clear that the current Chitralis have lived in their mountain home for 3,000 to 4,000 years.The people of Chitral are called Kho. Traditionally they are peaceful and law abiding citizens.

Khowar has 42 phonemes. Several of these are not found in any other language of the region. The letters /t/, /th/, /d/, /l/, /sh/, /ch/, /chh/, and /j/ all have two different forms, one retroflexed and the other dential-veolar non-retroflexed. Every Chitrali who learned the language on his mother's knee can readily distinguish these forms, whereas others can never learn them, regardless of how long they have lived in Chitral.

Khowar does not have a written form in common use. Before 1947, written communications in Chitral were in Farsi, which explains the large number of Farsi loan words. Today, written communications are in Urdu. Several attempts have been made to introduce a Urdu or Roman based writing script into Khowar, but these have never gained widespread acceptance.

Alexander the Great encountered them when he visited the area. The proof of this is that in the histories of Alexander the Great it is written that he encountered strange wooden boxes, which his troops chopped up to be used as firewood. These "boxes" were actually coffins for their dead following the custom which the Kalash Kafirs of Chitral still have of leaving their dead outside in wooden coffins. He also described them as a light skinned race of European type people, which is exactly what they are. This further proves that the same people were there then as are there now.

The Kalash Kafir religion which is still practiced today by about 3,000 people in Chitral has a resemblance to the ancient Greek religion of gods and goddesses. This has led some to speculate that the Kalash got their religion from the invading Greeks. This is unlikely. The Greeks merely passed through in 327 B.C., probably within 50 miles of Chitral, but did not enter Chitral itself and did not stop or stay for long. What is likely is that the Kalash religion and the Greek religion have a common origin. Both came from some proto-Indo European religion which was carried along with the Indo European language when the Chitralis first got there some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.

The Chitralis are still speaking today one of the oldest Indo-European languages in a relatively undiluted form. This is not surprising in view of the remoteness of their area. They are so far up in the Hindu Kush mountains that it would be almost impossible for an invader to conquer them. By far the lowest pass into Chitral is Lowari Top, which is over 10,000 feet high, too high for an invading army easily to cross. The path up the Kunar river from Jalalabad becomes so narrow below Ashret that no invading army has ever tried it. There have been several attempts to invade Chitral within relatively modern historical times. One group came across Boroghol Pass, were defeated and went back. Another group came across Urtsun Pass. The British in 1895 simultaneously came across Shandur Pass and Lowari Top in a mission to rescue a group British hostages which had been taken. They conquered the area, which is the reason why Chitral is now part of Pakistan.

The world's highest polo playground is located here. It is surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountains in the world. The history of this annual polo tournament at the Shandur Top dates back to 1936 when a British Political Agent, Major Cobb organised the first polo tournament here. Major Cobb was fond of playing polo under full moon and he developed a polo ground near Shandur that was named after him and is still known as 'Major Cobb Moony Polo Ground'. Polo fans gather at Shandur from all over the world to participate in the spectacular polo events during this tournament.

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Assault on the Indigenous
Kalash People of Chitral, Pakistan

Dear Friends:

We the Indigenous Kalash people of Chitral are under siege due to the
onslaught of tourism and hotel businesses. The Pakistan Tourism
Development Corporation (PTOC), along with Pakistan Internation
Airlines (PIA), are both corporations that are using the Kalash people
as free commercial material to promote tourist
business around the world.

The numbers of tourists are increasing every year, making our lives
miserable; however, the assault does not stop here. The rich businessmen
from mainland Pakistan* saw the tourism potential. They began to
build hotel/motels in the tiny Kalash valley by taking over the
indigenous people's lands. The hotel owners cut down the orchards
and dismantled sacred landmarks of the Kalash people for hotel/motel sites.

The hotels are contaminating the potable water, polluting the Kalash
valleys with empty cans, bottles, broken glass, and plastic waste left
behind by the tourists in the hotels. The Kalash valleys are tiny and
there is no place to dump the refuse, so hotel owners are dumping the
garbage into the drinking water, which comes from glacial melting.

The tremendous pressure from the tourists upon the Kalash people is
unbearable, but the worst part is played out by the inconsiderate mainland
Pakistani hotel owners who have put irreversible, deterioratmg effects
on the Kalash environment!

Food, fuel, firewood and other daily necessities are becoming scarce
to our people, due to big buying demands from the hotel owners.
The prices of commodities have risen considerably, bringing hardship
upon the indigenous people. Cameras aiming at them, the tourists jump out
of jeeps and turn the peacful valley into a zoo. It is becoming almost
impossible for us to keep our identity, traditions, and values intact,
which we have done for thousands of years. The Indigenous Kalash people
are on the brink of extinction, due to the constant onslaught of tourists
and greedy hotel owners from Pakistan.

We, the Kalash people, appeal to the you, our indigenous brothers and
sisters, and all people worldwide, for your help. Please appeal to the Pakistani
government to help us remove these hotels from our midst.

We also appeal to the PTDC hotel and all tour guides to advise tourists
to boycott these hotels and help us to return the valley of Chitral
to their rightful owners, the Kalash people!

Sincerely,

Ms. B, Lakshan

% Peshawar Flying Club
GPO Box: 5
Peshawar NWFP, Pakistan

Mr. M. Ayub

Village Batrick, Bomborat, Chitral, Pakistan

Mr. S. Malik
P. O. Box 535
Pelham, NY 10803
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*Mainland Pakistan refers to the people of Punjab, Sindh and Peshawar

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Other Links to the Kalash People