Kalash tribe. Are the Kalash descendants of the Macedonian army? Kalash horse warriors

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the Nuristan province, are several tiny plateaus scattered. Locals call this area Chintal. A unique and mysterious people live here - the Kalash. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this people of Indo-European origin managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash do not profess Islam at all, but polytheism (polytheism), that is, they are pagans. If the Kalash were a numerous people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but today there are no more than 6 thousand Kalash people left - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

Kalash (self-name: kasivo; the name “Kalash” comes from the name of the area) is a people in Pakistan living in the highlands of the Hindu Kush (Nuristan or Kafirstan). Number of people: about 6 thousand people. Were almost exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism. They lead a secluded lifestyle. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages ​​(however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages ​​of neighboring peoples).

In Pakistan, there is a widespread belief that the Kalash are the descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (due to which the Macedonian government built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia is a cultural center in Pakistan”). The appearance of some Kalash is characteristic of Northern European peoples; blue-eyedness and blondness are common among them. At the same time, some Kalash have an Asian appearance that is quite characteristic of the region.

The religion of most Kalash is paganism; their pantheon has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon. Claims by some journalists that the Kalash worship “ancient Greek gods” groundless. At the same time, about 3 thousand Kalash are Muslims. Conversion to Islam not welcome Kalash trying to preserve their tribal identity. The Kalash are not descendants of the warriors of Alexander the Great, and the Northern European appearance of some of them is explained by the preservation of the original Indo-European gene pool as a result refusal to mix with the newcomer non-Aryan population. Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamiris, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.

Scientists classify the Kalash as a white race - this is a fact. The faces of many Kalash are purely European. The skin is white, unlike Pakistanis and Afghans. And the light and often blue eyes are like the passport of an infidel-kafir. Kalash eyes are blue, gray, green and very rarely brown. There is one more touch that does not fit into the culture and way of life common to Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kalash were always made for themselves and used as furniture. They eat at the table, sitting on chairs - excesses that were never inherent to the local “aboriginals” and appeared in Afghanistan and Pakistan only with the arrival of the British in the 18th-19th centuries, but never took root. And from time immemorial, the Kalash have used tables and chairs...

Kalash horse warriors. museum in Islamabad. Pakistan.

At the end of the first millennium, Islam came to Asia, and with it the troubles of the Indo-Europeans and in particular the Kalash people, who didn't want to change the faith of our ancestors to the Abrahamic “teaching of the book.” Surviving in Pakistan professing paganism is almost hopeless. Local Muslim communities persistently tried to force the Kalash to convert to Islam. And many Kalash were forced to submit: either live by adopting a new religion, or die. In the 18th-19th centuries Muslims thousands of Kalash were slaughtered. Those who did not obey and even secretly practiced pagan cults were, at best, driven from the fertile lands by the authorities, driven into the mountains, and more often - destroyed.

The brutal genocide of the Kalash people continued until the middle of the 19th century, until the tiny territory that Muslims called Kafirstan (land of the infidels), where the Kalash lived, came under the jurisdiction of the British Empire. This saved them from complete extermination. But even now the Kalash are on the verge of extinction. Many are forced to assimilate (through marriage) with Pakistanis and Afghans, converting to Islam - this makes it easier to survive and get a job, education, or position.

Kalash village

The life of modern Kalash can be called Spartan. Kalash live in communities- easier to survive. They live in houses that they build from stone, wood and clay. The roof of the lower house (floor) is also the floor or veranda of another family's house. Of all the amenities in the hut: a table, chairs, benches and pottery. The Kalash know only by hearsay about electricity and television. A shovel, a hoe and a pick are more understandable and familiar to them. They draw their living resources from agriculture. The Kalash manage to grow wheat and other grain crops on lands cleared of stone. But the main role in their livelihood is played by livestock, mainly goats, which provide the descendants of the ancient Aryans with milk and dairy products, wool and meat.

In everyday life, a clear and unshakable division of responsibilities is striking: men are the first in labor and hunting, women only help them in the least labor-intensive operations (weeding, milking, housekeeping). In the house, men sit at the head of the table and make all the decisions that are significant in the family (in the community). For women in each settlement, towers are built - a separate house where the women of the community give birth to children and spend time on “critical days”. A Kalash woman is obliged to give birth to a child only in the tower, and therefore pregnant women settle in the “maternity hospital” in advance. Nobody knows where this tradition came from, but the Kalash do not observe other segregation and discriminatory tendencies towards women, which infuriates and makes Muslims laugh, who because of this treat the Kalash as people not of this world...

Some Kalash have an Asian appearance that is quite typical for the region, but they often have blue or green eyes.

Marriage. This sensitive issue is decided exclusively by the parents of the young. They can consult with the newlyweds, they can talk with the parents of the bride (groom), or they can solve the problem without asking the opinion of their child.

The Kalash do not know days off, but they cheerfully and hospitably celebrate 3 holidays: Yoshi - the sowing festival, Uchao - the harvest festival, and Choimus - the winter festival of the gods of nature, when the Kalash ask the gods to send them a mild winter and a good spring and summer.

During Choimus, each family slaughters a goat as a sacrifice, the meat of which is treated to everyone who comes to visit or meets on the street.

The Kalash language, or Kalasha, is the language of the Dardic group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Distributed among the Kalash in several valleys of the Hindu Kush, southwest of the city of Chitral in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Belonging to the Dardic subgroup is questionable, since slightly more than half of the words are similar in meaning to equivalent words in the Khovar language, which is also included in this subgroup. In terms of phonology, the language is atypical (Heegård & Mørch 2004).

The Kalash language is very well preserved basic Sanskrit vocabulary, For example:

Russian Kalasha Sanskrit

head shish shish

bone athi asthi

urine mutra mutra

village grom gram

loop rajuk rajju

smoke thum dhum

oil tel tel

meat mos mas

dog shua shva

ant pililak pipilika

son putr putr

long driga dirgha

eight asht ashta

broken chhina chhinna

kill nash nash

In the 1980s, the development of writing for the Kalash language began in two versions - based on Latin and Persian graphics. The Persian version turned out to be preferable and in 1994, for the first time, an illustrated alphabet and a book for reading in the Kalash language based on Persian graphics were published. In the 2000s, an active transition to the Latin font began. In 2003, the alphabet “Kal" as "a Alibe" was published. (English)

Religion and culture of the Kalash

The first explorers and missionaries began to penetrate Kafiristan after the colonization of India, but the truly voluminous information about its inhabitants was provided by the English doctor George Scott Robertson, who visited Kafiristan in 1889 and lived there for a year. The uniqueness of Robertson's expedition is that he collected material on the rituals and traditions of the infidels before the Islamic invasion. Unfortunately, a number of collected materials were lost while crossing the Indus during his return to India. However, the surviving materials and personal memories allowed him to publish the book “The Kafirs of Hindu-Kush” in 1896.

Pagan temple of the Kalash. in the center is the Ancestral Pillar.

Based on observations of the religious and ritual side of the life of infidels made by Robertson, one can quite reasonably assert that their religion is reminiscent of transformed Zoroastrianism and cults of the ancient Aryans. The main arguments in favor of this statement can be the attitude towards fire and funeral rites. Below we will describe some of the traditions, religious foundations, religious buildings and rituals of the infidels.

Ancestral pillar in the temple

The main, “capital” village of the infidels was a village called “Kamdesh”. The houses of Kamdesh were arranged in steps along the mountain slopes, so the roof of one house was the yard of another. The houses were richly decorated intricate wood carvings. It was women, not men, who did the field work, although the men first cleared the field of stones and fallen logs. Men at this time were engaged in sewing clothes, ritual dances in the village square and solving public affairs.

Priest at the fire altar.

The main object of worship was fire. In addition to fire, the infidels worshiped wooden idols, which were carved by skilled craftsmen and displayed in sanctuaries. The Pantheon consisted of many gods and goddesses. The god Imra was considered the main one. The god of war, Gisha, was also highly revered. Each village had its own small patron god. The world, according to beliefs, was populated by many good and evil spirits fighting with each other.

Family pole with swastika rosette

For comparison - a traditional pattern characteristic of the Slavs and Germans

V. Sarianidi, based on the testimony of Robertson, describes religious buildings as follows:

"...the main temple of Imra was located in one of the villages and was a large structure with a square portico, the roof of which was supported by carved wooden columns. Some of the columns were entirely decorated with sculpted heads of rams, others had only one animal head and horns carved at the base which, wrapping around the trunk of the column and crossing each other, rose up, forming a kind of openwork grid. In its empty cells there were sculptural figures of funny little men.

It was here, under the portico, on a special stone, blackened with dried blood, that numerous animal sacrifices were performed. The front facade of the temple had seven doors, famous for the fact that on each of them there was another small door. The large doors were tightly closed, only the two side doors were opened, and then only on special occasions. But the main interest was the door leaves, decorated with fine carvings and huge relief figures depicting the seated god Imru. Particularly striking is the face of the god with a huge square chin reaching almost to the knees! In addition to the figures of the god Imra, the façade of the temple was decorated with images of huge heads of cows and rams. On the opposite side of the temple, five colossal figures were installed supporting its roof.

Having walked around the temple and admired its carved “shirt,” we will look inside through a small hole, which, however, must be done furtively so as not to offend the religious feelings of the infidels. In the middle of the room, in the cool twilight, you can see a square hearth right on the floor, at the corners of which there are pillars, also covered amazingly fine carving, which is an image of human faces. On the wall opposite the entrance there is an altar framed with images of animals; in the corner under a special canopy stands a wooden statue of the god Imra himself. The remaining walls of the temple are decorated with carved caps of irregular hemispherical shape, placed on the ends of poles. ... Separate temples were built only for the main gods, and for minor ones, one sanctuary was built for several gods. Thus, there were small temples with carved windows from which the faces of various wooden idols looked out.”

The most important rituals included the selection of elders, the preparation of wine, sacrifices to the gods and burial. Like most rituals, the selection of elders was accompanied by mass sacrifices of goats and abundant food. The election of the chief elder (jasta) was carried out by the elders from among the elders. These elections were also accompanied by the recitation of sacred hymns dedicated to the gods, sacrifices and refreshments for the assembled elders in the candidate's house:

“...the priest present at the feast is seated in the center of the room, a lush turban is wrapped around his head, richly decorated with shells, red glass beads, and juniper branches in front. His ears are adorned with earrings, a massive necklace is worn around his neck, and bracelets are placed on his hands. A long shirt, reaching to the knees, hangs loosely over embroidered trousers, tucked into boots with long tops. A bright silk Badakhshan robe is thrown over this clothing, and a dance ritual hatchet is clutched in the hand.

Family pillar

Here one of the sitting elders slowly stands up and, tying his head with a white cloth, steps forward. He takes off his boots, washes his hands thoroughly and begins the sacrifices. Having slaughtered two huge mountain goats with his own hands, he deftly places a vessel under the stream of blood, and then, approaching the initiate, draws some signs on his forehead with blood. The door to the room opens, and the servants bring in huge loaves of bread with sprigs of burning juniper stuck into them. These loaves are solemnly carried around the initiate three times. Then, after another hearty meal, the hour of ritual dancing begins. Several guests are given dance boots and special scarves, which they use to wrap around their lower backs. Pine torches are lit and ritual dances and chants begin in honor of the many gods."

Another important ritual of the infidels was the ritual of preparing grape wine. To prepare the wine, a man was chosen, who, after thoroughly washing his feet, began to crush the grapes brought by the women. Bunches of grapes were presented in wicker baskets. After careful crushing, the grape juice was poured into huge jugs and left to ferment.

Temple with ancestral pillars

The festive ritual in honor of the god Gish proceeded as follows:

“... early in the morning, the villagers are awakened by the thunder of many drums, and soon a priest with madly ringing metal bells appears in the narrow crooked streets. Following the priest, a crowd of boys moves, to whom he throws handfuls of nuts from time to time, and then rushes to drive them away with feigned ferocity. Accompanying him, the children imitate the bleating of goats. The priest's face is whitened with flour and smeared with oil, he holds bells in one hand, and an ax in the other. Writhing and writhing, he shakes the bells and ax, performing almost acrobatic performances and accompanying them with terrible screams. The procession approaches the sanctuary of the god Guiche, and the adult participants solemnly position themselves in a semicircle near the priest and those accompanying him. Dust swirls to the side, and a herd of fifteen bleating goats appears, driven by the boys. Having completed their task, they immediately run away from the adults to get busy. children's pranks and games...

The priest approaches a burning fire made of cedar branches producing thick white smoke. Nearby there are four pre-prepared wooden vessels with flour, melted butter, wine and water. The priest thoroughly washes his hands, takes off his shoes, pours a few drops of oil into the fire, then sprinkles the sacrificial goats with water three times, saying: “Be clean.” Approaching the closed door of the sanctuary, he pours out the contents of the wooden vessels, reciting ritual spells. The young boys serving the priest quickly cut the throat of the kid, collect the splashed blood into vessels, and the priest then splashes it into the burning fire. Throughout this entire procedure, a special person, illuminated by the reflections of the fire, sings sacred songs all the time, which gives this scene a touch of special solemnity.

Suddenly another priest rips off his hat and, rushing forward, begins to twitch, screaming loudly and waving his arms wildly. The chief priest tries to calm down the angry “colleague”; finally he calms down and, waving his hands a few more times, puts on his hat and sits down in his place. The ceremony ends with the recitation of poetry, after which the priests and all those present touch their foreheads with the tips of their fingers and make a kiss with their lips, signifying a religious greeting to the sanctuary.

In the evening, completely exhausted, the priest enters the first house he comes across and gives his bells for safekeeping to the owner, which is a great honor for the latter, and he immediately orders the slaughter of several goats and a feast in honor of the priest and his entourage. So, for two weeks, with slight variations, celebrations in honor of the god Guiche continue."

Kalash cemetery. The graves strongly resemble northern Russian tombstones - domovinas

Finally, one of the most important was the burial ritual. The funeral procession was initially accompanied by loud women's crying and lamentations, and then by ritual dancing to the beat of drums and the accompaniment of reed pipes. Men, as a sign of mourning, wore goat skins over their clothes. The procession ended at the cemetery, where only women and slaves were allowed to enter. The infidels, as it should be according to the canons of Zoroastrianism, did not bury the deceased in the ground, but left them in wooden coffins in the open air.

These, according to Robertson's colorful descriptions, were the rituals of one of the lost branches of an ancient, powerful and influential religion. Unfortunately, it is now difficult to verify where is this a scrupulous statement of reality, and where is artistic fiction?.

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Sent by V. Lavrova.

The Kalash are a small Dardic people inhabiting two valleys of the right tributaries of the Chitral (Kunar) River in the mountains of the southern Hindu Kush in the Chitral district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (Pakistan). The native language - Kalasha - belongs to the Dardic group of Indo-Iranian languages. The uniqueness of the people, surrounded on all sides by Islamized neighbors, lies in the fact that a significant part of them still professes a pagan religion, which developed on the basis of the Indo-Iranian religion and substratum beliefs.

History and ethnonym

The Dard peoples inhabiting Chitral usually unanimously consider the Kalash to be the aborigines of the region.

The Kalash themselves have legends that their ancestors came to Chitral through Bashgal and pushed the Kho people north, to the upper reaches of the Chitral River. However, the Kalash language is closely related to the Khowar language. Perhaps this legend reflects the arrival in the 15th century. in Chitral by a militant Nuristani-speaking group that conquered the local Dardo-speaking population. This group separated from the Vaigali language speakers, who still call themselves kalašüm, passed on their self-name and many traditions to the local population, but were assimilated by them linguistically.

The idea of ​​the Kalash as aborigines is based on the fact that in earlier times the Kalash inhabited a larger area in Southern Chitral, where many place names are still of a Kalash character. With the loss of militancy, the Kalash in these places were gradually supplanted or assimilated by speakers of the leading Chitral language, Khovar.

Spiritual culture

The Kalash are the only people in the region who have partially preserved their traditional religion and have not completely converted to Islam. The religious isolation of the Kalash began in the beginning. XVIII century, when they were subjugated by the mekhtar (ruler) of Chitral and found themselves under cultural pressure from the related Kho people, who had by that time converted to Islam. In general, Chitral politics was characterized by relative tolerance, and the Islamization of the region, carried out by Sunni mullahs and Ismaili preachers, was rather spontaneous and gradual. When carried out in the 19th century. Durand's line of Kalash remained in British possession, which saved them from the mass forced conversion to Islam carried out in 1896 by the Afghan emir Abdur Rahman in neighboring Nuristan.

Nevertheless, cases of conversion of Kalash to Islam occurred throughout the modern history of the people. Their number increased after the 1970s, when roads were built into the region and schools began to be built in Kalash villages. Conversion to Islam leads to a severance of traditional ties, as one of the Kalash elders Saifullah Jan says: “If one of the Kalash converts to Islam, they can no longer live among us.” As K. Yettmar notes, Kalash Muslims look with undisguised envy at Kalash pagan dances and cheerful celebrations. Currently, the pagan religion, which attracts the attention of numerous European tourists, is under the protection of the Pakistani government, which fears the extinction of the tourism industry in the event of the final “triumph of Islam.”

Nevertheless, Islam and the Islamic culture of neighboring peoples have a great influence on the life of the pagan Kalash and their beliefs, filled with plots and motifs of Muslim mythology. The Kalash adopted men's clothing and names from their neighbors. Under the onslaught of civilization, the traditional way of life is gradually being destroyed, in particular, “holidays of merit” are disappearing into oblivion. Nevertheless, the Kalash valleys still represent a unique reserve that preserves one of the most archaic Indo-European cultures.

Religion

Traditional Kalash ideas about the world are based on the opposition of holiness and impurity. Mountains and mountain pastures have the highest holiness, where the gods live and “their livestock” - wild goats - graze. Altars and goat sheds are also holy. Muslim lands are unclean. Uncleanness is also inherent in a woman, especially during periods of menstruation and childbirth. Defilement brings everything related to death. Like the Vedic religion and Zoroastrianism, the Kalash religion provides for numerous cleansing ceremonies.

The Kalash pantheon (devalog) is generally similar to the pantheon that existed among the Nuristani neighbors, and includes many deities of the same name, although it is somewhat different from the latter. There are also ideas about numerous lower demon spirits, primarily female.

Kalash sanctuaries are altars built in the open air from juniper or oak boards and furnished with ritual carved boards and idols of deities. Special buildings are built for religious dances. Kalash rituals consist primarily of public feasts to which the gods are invited. The ritual role of young men who have not yet known a woman, that is, possessing the highest purity, is clearly expressed.

The pagan deities of the Kalash have a large number of temples and altars throughout the valley where their people live. They present them with sacrifices mainly consisting of horses, goats, cows and sheep, the breeding of which is one of the main industries of the local population. They also leave wine on the altars, thereby making a sacrifice to the god Indra, the god of grapes. Kalash rituals are combined with holidays and are generally similar to Vedic ones.

Like the bearers of Vedic culture, the Kalash consider crows to be their ancestors and feed them from their left hands. The dead are buried above the ground in special wooden coffins with ornaments, and rich representatives of the Kalash also place a wooden effigy of the deceased above the coffin.

The word gandau Kalash refers to the tombstones of the Kalash valleys and Kafiristan, which differ depending on what status the deceased achieved during his lifetime. Kundrik is the second type of anthropomorphic wooden sculptures of ancestors among the Kalash. It is a statue-amulet that is installed in the fields or in a village on a hill - a wooden pole or a pedestal made of stones.

Threat of extinction

At the moment, the culture and ethnicity of the Kalash are in danger of extinction. They live in closed communities, but the younger population is increasingly forced to assimilate by marrying into the Islamic population, this is due to the fact that it is easier for a Muslim to find work and feed his family. In addition, the Kalash receive threats from various Islamist organizations.

• Terentyev M.A. Russia and England in Central Asia. - SPb.: Type. P.P. Merkulyeva, 1875. - 376 p.
• Metcalf D. Lost in the steppes of Central Asia. - Almaty: VOX POPULI, 2010. - 288 p.

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the Nuristan province, are several tiny plateaus scattered.
Locals call this area Chintal.
A unique and mysterious people live here - the Kalashi, who came here several thousand years ago.

Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this people of Indo-European origin managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash do not profess the Abrahamic cult - Islam, but the primordial, folk faith...
If the Kalash were a numerous people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but today there are no more than 6 thousand Kalash people left - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

They were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism.
They lead a secluded lifestyle. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages ​​(however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages ​​of neighboring peoples).

In Pakistan, there is a widespread belief that the Kalash are the descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (due to which the Macedonian government built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia is a cultural center in Pakistan”).

Scientists classify the Kalash as a white race - this is a scientific fact.

The faces of many Kalash are purely European. The skin is white, unlike Pakistanis and Afghans. And the light and often blue eyes are like the passport of an infidel.
Kalash eyes are blue, gray, green and very rarely brown.

According to another version, the Kalash are the descendants of the people who settled in the mountains of Tibet during the great migration of peoples during the Aryan invasion of Hindustan.
The Kalash themselves do not have a consensus on their origin, but when talking about this issue with foreigners, they often prefer the version of Macedonian origin.

Legend has it that two warriors and two girls who broke away from the Greek army came to these places. The men were wounded and could not move. It was they who laid the foundation for the Kalash people.

A more accurate explanation of the origin of this people could be provided by a detailed study of the Kalash language, which, unfortunately, is still poorly studied. It is believed that it belongs to the Dardic language group, but on the basis of which this assignment was made is not entirely clear, because more than half of the words from the vocabulary of the Kalash language have no analogues in the languages ​​of the Dardic group and the languages ​​of surrounding peoples.

There are publications that directly say that the Kalash speak ancient Greek, but whether this is true is unknown. The fact is that the only people today who help the Kalash survive in extreme high-mountain conditions are modern Greeks, with whose money a school, a hospital, a kindergarten were built, and several wells were dug.

A study of the Kalash genes did not reveal anything concrete.
Everything is very unclear and unsteady - they say that the Greek influence can be from 20 to 40%. (Why carry out research if the similarities with the ancient Greeks are already visible?)

The religion of most Kalash is paganism; their pantheon has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon.
Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamiris, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.

There is one more touch that does not fit into the culture and way of life common to Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Kalash were always made for themselves and used as furniture.
They eat at the table, sitting on chairs - excesses that were never inherent to the local “natives” and appeared in Afghanistan and Pakistan only with the arrival of the British in the 18th-19th centuries, but never took root.
And from time immemorial, the Kalash have used tables and chairs...

But even now the Kalash are on the verge of extinction. Many are forced to assimilate (through marriage) with Pakistanis and Afghans, converting to Islam - this makes it easier to survive and get a job, education, or position.

The life of modern Kalash can be called Spartan. The Kalash live in communities.

They live in houses that they build from stone, wood and clay.
The roof of the lower house (floor) is also the floor or veranda of another family's house. Of all the amenities in the hut: a table, chairs, benches and pottery. The Kalash know only by hearsay about electricity and television.

A shovel, a hoe and a pick are more understandable and familiar to them. They draw their living resources from agriculture.

The Kalash manage to grow wheat and other grain crops on lands cleared of stone.
But the main role in their livelihood is played by livestock, mainly goats, which provide the descendants of the ancient Aryans with milk and dairy products, wool and meat.

In everyday life, a clear and unshakable division of responsibilities is striking: men are the first in labor and hunting, women only help them in the least labor-intensive operations (weeding, milking, housekeeping).

In the house, men sit at the head of the table and make all important decisions in the family (in the community).

For women in each settlement, towers are built - a separate house where the women of the community give birth to children and spend time on “critical days”.
A Kalashi woman is obliged to give birth to a child only in the tower, and therefore pregnant women settle in the “maternity hospital” in advance.
Nobody knows where this tradition came from, but the Kalash do not observe other segregation and discriminatory tendencies towards women, which infuriates and makes Muslims laugh, who because of this treat the Kalash as people not of this world.

The Kalash are busy with agriculture. Gender equality is accepted in families.
A woman is free to leave her husband, but at the same time, her previous husband must receive a double ransom from the new one.
The only harassment of women is the isolation of women in a separate house during menstruation and childbirth.
It is believed that at this time the woman is unclean, and she must be isolated, it is forbidden to communicate with her, and food is passed to them through a special window in this house.
The husband is also free to leave his unloved wife at any time.

The Kalash do not know days off, but they cheerfully and hospitably celebrate 3 holidays: Yoshi - the sowing festival, Uchao - the harvest festival, and Choimus - the winter holiday of the gods of nature, when the Kalash ask the gods to send them a mild winter and a good spring and summer.

During Choimus, each family slaughters a goat as a sacrifice, the meat of which is treated to everyone who comes to visit or meets on the street.

The Kalash language, or Kalasha, is the language of the Dardic group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
The Kalash language has very well preserved the basic vocabulary of Sanskrit

Their religion is reminiscent of transformed Zoroastrianism and the cults of the ancient Aryans, which the prophet Zorothushtra brought here from the north about 1500 years BC. .

The main, “capital” village of the infidels was a village called “Kamdesh”.
The houses were richly decorated with intricate wood carvings. It was women, not men, who did the field work, although the men first cleared the field of stones and fallen logs.
Men at this time were engaged in sewing clothes, ritual dances in the village square and solving public affairs.

The main object of worship was fire.
In addition to fire, the infidels worshiped wooden idols, which were carved by skilled craftsmen and displayed in sanctuaries.
The Pantheon consisted of many gods and goddesses.
The god Imra was considered the main one. The god of war, Gisha, was also highly revered.
Each village had its own small patron god. The world, according to beliefs, was populated by many good and evil spirits fighting with each other.

The most important rituals included the selection of elders, the preparation of wine, sacrifices to the gods and burial.
Like most rituals, the selection of elders was accompanied by mass sacrifices of goats and abundant food.
The election of the chief elder (jasta) was carried out by the elders from among the elders. These elections were also accompanied by the recitation of sacred hymns dedicated to the gods, sacrifices and refreshments for the assembled elders in the candidate's house.

The Kalash have sacred places for dancing - Jeshtak.
The ones we saw are decorated in the Greek style - columns and paintings.
The main events in the life of the Kalash take place there - funerals and sacred ceremonies.
Their funeral turns into a noisy celebration, accompanied by feasting and dancing, which lasts for several days and is attended by hundreds of people from all villages.

Shamans played a major role in the life of the Kalash.
The most famous of them - Nanga dhar - could pass through rocks and instantly appear in other valleys. He lived for more than 500 years and had a significant influence on the customs and beliefs of this people. “But now the shamans have disappeared,” the elder sadly told us. Let's hope he just didn't want to tell us all the secrets.

In parting, he said: “I don’t know where I came from. I don’t know how old I am either. I just opened my eyes in this valley.”

Whether the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great is also unknown for certain.

What is undeniable is that they are clearly different from the peoples around them. Moreover, in a recent study - a joint effort of the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, the University of Southern California and Stanford University - on the collection and processing of a huge amount of information on the genetic connections of the planet's population, a separate paragraph is devoted to the Kalash, which states that their genes are truly unique and belong to the European group.

After the meeting with the Kalash, it no longer mattered to us whether they were related to Alexander the Great or not. Apparently, because for a moment we ourselves became Kalash - among huge mountains, stormy rivers, with their dances in the night, with a sacred hearth and sacrifices at the rock.

In parting, we asked the elder about the meaning and features of Kalash national clothing, for which Muslims called them “black infidels,” that is, “black infidels.”

He began to explain patiently and in detail, but then thought for a second and said the following:

“You ask what is special about the clothes our women wear? The Kalash are alive as long as women wear these dresses.”

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the Nuristan province, are several tiny plateaus scattered. Locals call this area Chintal. A unique and mysterious people live here Kalash. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this people of Indo-European origin managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash do not profess Islam at all, but polytheism (polytheism), that is, they are pagans. If the Kalash were a numerous people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but today there are no more than 6 thousand Kalash people left - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

Kalash (self-name: kasivo; the name “Kalash” comes from the name of the area) is a people in Pakistan living in the highlands of the Hindu Kush (Nuristan or Kafirstan). The Kalash people were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism. They lead a secluded lifestyle. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages ​​(however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages ​​of neighboring peoples).

Kalash - envoys of Greece?

In Pakistan, there is a widespread belief that the Kalash are the descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (due to which the Macedonian government built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia is a cultural center in Pakistan”). The appearance of some Kalash is characteristic of Northern European peoples; blue-eyedness and blondness are common among them. At the same time, some Kalash have an Asian appearance that is quite characteristic of the region.

The pantheon of gods among the Kalash people has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon. Claims by some journalists that the Kalash worship “ancient Greek gods” are unfounded. At the same time, about 3 thousand Kalash are Muslims. Conversion to Islam is not welcomed by the Kalash, who are trying to preserve their tribal identity. The Kalash are not descendants of Alexander's warriors Macedonian, and the Northern European appearance of some of them is explained by the preservation of the original Indo-European gene pool as a result of refusal to mix with the alien non-Aryan population. Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamiris, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.

Any traveler who goes to Pakistan, at sight Kalash(a local population numbering at most 6 thousand people) cognitive dissonance arises. In the very heart of the Islamic world, pagans managed to survive and preserve their traditions, who also look exactly like our Alenki and Ivans. They consider themselves the heirs of Alexander the Great and are confident that their family will exist as long as local women wear national dresses.