Nuristani

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Nuristani in Kabul

Nuristani , outdated Nuristani, Kafiren , is a collective name for several small ethnic groups in mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan . Their languages ​​form a separate branch of the Indo-Iranian languages alongside Iranian and Indo-Aryan .

Until their forced Islamization in 1896, people of this ethnic group were insulted by the Islamic population as sauze káfir ("green-eyed unbeliever") because they adhered to their own animistic beliefs, partly based on ancient Indian traditions. These resembled those of neighboring Dardic peoples such as those of the Kalashes in Chitral, northwest Pakistan. Some of the latter have been able to evade Islamization to this day.

The only distinct vowel polyphony in Central Asia belongs to the traditional culture . The most famous musical instrument is the bow harp waji . Chants are also accompanied by the two-stringed fiddle sarindi (a regional variant of the sarangi ) as well as the tuned hourglass drum watc and clapping hands.

For more detailed information about the individual Nuristani tribes and their geographical distribution, see also the article Nuristani languages .

Web links

Commons : Nuristani  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Rudolf Maria Brandl : To the singing of the kafirs. In: Max Peter Baumann , Rudolf Maria Brandl, Kurt Reinhard (eds.): New ethnomusicological research. Festschrift Felix Hoerburger for his 60th birthday on December 9, 1976. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1977, ISBN 3-921518-02-4 , pp. 191–207.
  • Karl Jettmar : Fertility rituals and celebrations of merit in the vicinity of the kafirs. South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University. Reprint from: Mitteilungen der Anthropologische Gesellschaft Wien, Volume 95, 1965
  • Karl Jettmar: Kafiren, Nuristani, Darden: To clarify the system of terms. In: Anthropos. Vol. 77, H. 1/2, 1982, ISSN  0257-9774 , pp. 254-263.
  • Karl Jettmar: The religions of Kafiristan. In: Ders .: The religions of the Hindu Kush. ( The religions of mankind , volume 4.1) W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1975, pp. 29-185
    • English translation: The Religions of the Hindukush. Vol. 1: The Religion of the Kafirs - The Pre-Islamic Heritage of Afghan Nuristan. Aris and Phillips, Wiltshire 1986 (supplemented with a glossary of religious nuristani terms)
  • Max Klimburg: Afghanistan: The Culture of the Kafirs. In: Research. Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2001, pp. 20-25, doi : 10.1002 / 1522-2357 (200110) 26: 4 <20 :: AID-FORS20> 3.0.CO; 2-7 .
  • Robin Lane Fox : Alexander the Great. Conqueror of the world. 4th edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-608-94078-2 , p. 452.
  • George Scott Robertson: The Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush. Lawrence & Bullen, London 1896 ( online at Internet Archive ).