Nuristanis
The Nuristanis are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian languages.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 125,000–300,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Nuristan, Kunar, Afghanistan Chitral, Pakistan | |
| Languages | |
| Nuristani languages, Pashto, serving as the lingua franca and widely understood as a second language | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kalash, Pashayis |
In the mid-1890s, after the establishment of the Durand Line when Afghanistan reached an agreement on various frontier areas to the British Empire for a period of time, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan conducted a military campaign in Kafiristan and followed up his conquest with forced conversion of the Kafirs to Islam; the region thenceforth being known as Nuristan, the "Land of Light". Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practised a form of ancient Hinduism. Non-Muslim religious practices endure in Nuristan today to some degree as folk customs. In their native rural areas, they are often farmers, herders, and dairymen.
The Nuristan region has been a prominent location for war, which has led to the death of many indigenous Nuristanis. Nuristan has also received abundance of settlers from the surrounding Afghan regions due to the borderline vacant location.