Chitral’s ancient Kalash tribe on the cusp of change

The Kalash tribe of the Hindukush Range is considered among the most ancient in the world.

Comprising of 4,000 people, it is, however, on the crossroads of change as the number of people practicing Kalash religion has dwindled fast in the past three decades due to the ongoing cultural change.

In the current times, the people of Chitral have become more inclined towards modern education, leaving their old culture behind as they slowly move away from religion especially the young educated class.

“Earlier agriculture and cattle herding was the way of life and heads of cattle are central to the Kalash religion too. This has changed now. There is no agriculture, no cattle. Now men and women both prefer salaried jobs which was unthinkable a decade ago,” said a local person belonging to the Kalash tribe and rights activist Lok Rehman while talking to The Express Tribune.

“I think modern education has changed everything. If you are educated you have a lot of privileges. Now Kalash families are competing with each other in education. They are sending their children to cities to get better education. These younger generations have no links with their roots because there is no religious education in schools and universities,” he said, adding that education has brought a whole new cultural revolution to the valley.

“It was unthinkable in the past to abandon the traditional architecture. But this has been happening now. The educated classes are constructing modern buildings to live comfortably,” he said.

Rehmat also said that there was a time when the people of Kalash were distinguished due to their own names but this difference was no more there.

“The original Kalash names are written in Roman and they are difficult to pronounce. When the children are sent to schools, teachers often change their names for convenience,” he said.

Rehmat said that the Kalash religion itself was under threat as the local clerics are no more and new generation of clerics is not properly trained.

“It is highly probable that our religion will be just limited to a few festivals in the end,” he said. “There used to be a ritual of dancing by women and men in July and August in the night called Rat Nat but it does not take place anymore.”

“Do you believe that some Kalash girls are now practicing hijab despite the fact that there is no concept of hijab in our religion. The traditional cap worn by Kalash women is no longer there and now our girls wear a shawl under the influence of our Muslim neighbours,” he argued.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2021.