The Nuristanis are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan, who speak Indo-Iranian languages, chiefly Nuristani. Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practiced 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. While maize and barley are grown in small quantities, the Nuristani people survive mainly on subsistence agriculture, wheat, fruit, and goats.
Very few Nuristanis have had access to education. Yet, among those who have traveled to Kabul and been able to gain access to schools, some have gained prominence as well-known figures in the army and the government in Kabul.
Nuristanis arrived in Afghanistan fleeing the eastward spread of Islam. They speak a unique Indo-European-language. They are the peoples of Gilgit and Baltistan, and ethnic Kashmiris were non-Muslim too, at one time. But they have since adopted Islam. While the conversion of Kashmiris and Gilgit-Baltistan begins at the start of the Middle Ages, the people of Nuristan held out for quite some time, like their Kalash cousins.
Today, the wilayat of Nuristan is one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. To its north, it borders Badakshan, while to its south lies Kunar, one end of the fabled ‘Pashtun Crescent’ which extends to Farah bordering Iran. To the east is Chitral. In the late nineteenth century, Nuristan was known as ‘Kafiristan’ (Land of the non-believers), like its people, like the Kalash had continued to follow a similar faith and had fiercely resisted any attempts by Afghans to conquer their territory.
It was these non-Muslim Kafiristanis, who were the central characters in Rudyard Kipling’s famous novella, ‘The Man Who Would Be King’.Then, in 1895, Abdur Rahman Khan, the Emir of Afghanistan defeated the Kafiristanis in battle, conquered their territory, and converted them to Islam. He also named their land as ‘Nuristan’ (‘Land of light’) since he had converted the non-Muslim natives to Islam.
Current issues
The Constitution recognizes Nuristanis as one of the national minorities entitled to Afghan citizenship. However, Nuristan remains isolated and poverty-stricken, and due to the lack of regional institutions, there is widespread lawlessness. As a geographically remote region, it has been difficult to establish a central government presence, and after it was virtually abandoned by NATO in 2009, many areas of Nuristan have come under the control of the Taliban.
In 2017, conflicts between the Taliban and ISIS erupted in the province, following a concerted effort by ISIS to recruit followers there. Neglected from the central government as well as continuing violence and insecurity has produced extremely poor health, maternal health, and education indicators. In March 2017, measles outbreaks reportedly killed 70 children in Nuristan province, and schools were closed due to fear of an imminent Taliban siege in May. Community members reported a serious lack of qualified teachers and education facilities.
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