Reference
The Nuristan glossary
44 words that come up when people talk about Nuristan: valleys, peoples, languages, gods, crafts and the names in its history.
A to Z
From Alingar to Waygal
A
- Alingar
- The river of western Nuristan. It gathers its headstreams in Du Ab and Mandol and flows south through Nurgaram into Laghman. The Alingar valley road is the western way into the province. Read more about Alingar
- Ashkunalso Ashkunu, Sanu
- One of the five Nuristani languages, and the people who speak it. Spoken in the central Pech valley around Wama and in side valleys of the Alingar. Its speakers in Wama call themselves Sanu. Read more about Ashkun
B
- Bargi Matalalso Barg-e Matal
- The most north-easterly district of Nuristan, at the head of the Bashgal valley. Remote, forested and thinly settled, with its centre at roughly 2,100 metres on the Landai Sin. Read more about Bargi Matal
- Bashgal
- The great valley of eastern Nuristan, running from Bargi Matal down past Kamdesh to the Kunar river. Home country of the Kata and the Kom, and the part of old Kafiristan that outsiders knew best. Read more about Bashgal
C
- Chitral
- The district of northern Pakistan over the passes to the east. Related peoples live on both sides: Kati speakers who crossed after the 1890s, and the Kalash, who still keep a religion related to that of old Kafiristan. Read more about Chitral
D
- Deodaralso Himalayan cedar
- The cedar of the eastern Hindu Kush, and the timber of Nuristani building and carving. Long, straight and slow to rot, it frames the tiered houses and the carved columns inside them. Read more about Deodar
- Disani
- A goddess of the old Kafir religion, recorded by Robertson in the 1890s alongside Imra, Gish, Moni and Bagisht. Read more about Disani
- Du Ab
- One of the smaller districts of Nuristan, in the west among the headstreams of the Alingar. The name means two rivers. Read more about Du Ab
- Durand Line
- The border between Afghanistan and British India agreed in 1893, which placed Kafiristan on the Afghan side and led directly to its conquest two years later. Read more about Durand Line
G
- Gish
- The war god of old Kafiristan, the favourite of the fighting tribes of the Bashgal. Read more about Gish
- Gucchialso morel
- The wild morel mushroom, gathered by hand in Nuristan's forests each spring and dried for sale. One of the province's most valuable harvests. Read more about Gucchi
H
- Hindu Kush
- The mountain range that runs across Afghanistan from the Pamirs to the west of Kabul. Nuristan lies on its southern slopes at the eastern end, where the range meets the monsoon. Read more about Hindu Kush
I
- Imraalso Mara
- The creator god of the old Kafir religion, called Mara in Prasun. His temple at Kushteki in the Parun valley was the largest religious building in Kafiristan, destroyed in the conversion of 1895 to 1896. Read more about Imra
J
- Jirga
- A council of elders that settles disputes and decides matters for a village or a tribe. In Nuristan the jirga sits outdoors, in a wide circle, as it has for centuries. Read more about Jirga
K
- Kafiristan
- The name used by Muslim neighbours for the region until 1896: the land of the kafirs, or unbelievers, whose valleys kept their own polytheistic religion. Renamed Nuristan after the conquest and conversion of 1895 to 1896. Read more about Kafiristan
- Kalashalso Kalasha
- The people of three valleys in Chitral, Pakistan, about 4,000 of whom still follow a religion closely related to that of old Kafiristan. The Nuristanis' nearest relatives, on the far side of the 1893 border. Read more about Kalash
- Kamdesh
- District of eastern Nuristan above the Bashgal valley, home of the Kom. Known for its tiered timber villages and archery, and the place where Robertson lived in 1890 and 1891. Read more about Kamdesh
- Kamkata-virialso Kati, Kamviri, Mumviri
- The largest Nuristani language, spoken in the Bashgal, in Kantiwa, in Ramgal and Kulam in the west, and in a few villages of Chitral. Its speakers name it by tribe: Kata-vari, Kamviri and Mumviri. Read more about Kamkata-viri
- Kantiwaalso Ktivi, Kantiwo
- A valley of the Kata people running west from Parun towards the Panjshir crest. Long administered as part of Parun district, it has been a district of its own since about 2023, with its own district governor. Read more about Kantiwa
- Kata
- The largest of the Nuristani peoples, of the Bashgal valley, Kantiwa and the western valleys of Ramgal and Kulam. Speakers of Kata-vari. Read more about Kata
- Kom
- The people of Kamdesh and the lower Bashgal, speakers of Kamviri. Robertson's hosts in 1890 and 1891. Read more about Kom
- Kunar
- The province and river to the south-east of Nuristan. Asadabad, its capital, is the last town before the Pech and Bashgal valleys and the starting point of the two eastern roads in. Read more about Kunar
- Kushteki
- A village of the Parun valley that once held the temple of Imra, the greatest shrine of old Kafiristan. Read more about Kushteki
L
- Laghman
- The province to the south-west of Nuristan, with its capital at Mehtar Lam. The Alingar valley road from Laghman is the western way into the province. Read more about Laghman
- Landai Sin
- The river of the upper Bashgal, flowing down past Bargi Matal and Kamdesh to join the Kunar. Read more about Landai Sin
M
- Mandol
- A western district of pine forest and deep gorges on the Alingar headwaters. Gadmuk, in Mandol, served as the first capital of the smaller Nuristan province of the 1980s. Read more about Mandol
- Markhor
- The wild goat of the Hindu Kush, with its great spiralling horns. Its horns, and those of the ibex, are the most common motif in Nuristani wood carving. Read more about Markhor
N
- Nurgaramalso Nangaraj
- The most populous district of Nuristan, in the south-west on the lower Alingar, where the river leaves the province for Laghman. The doorstep of the province from the Kabul side. Read more about Nurgaram
- Nuristanalso Nurestan, Nooristan
- The land of light. A province of eastern Afghanistan on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush, with ten districts, a capital at Parun and about 175,000 people. So named in 1896 when Kafiristan was converted to Islam. Read more about Nuristan
P
- Pakolalso pakul, Chitrali cap
- The soft, flat, rolled-brim wool cap of the eastern Hindu Kush. It came to Nuristan from Chitral after the 1890s and became a symbol of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Read more about Pakol
- Parun
- The capital of Nuristan, in a high valley of the eastern Hindu Kush at about 2,500 metres. Six villages line the valley; Pashki holds the provincial offices. Struck by a devastating flash flood on 20 July 2026. Read more about Parun
- Pashki
- The village of the Parun valley that serves as the provincial capital, seat of Nuristan's administration since 1993. Read more about Pashki
- Patti
- The dense handwoven wool cloth of Chitral and the eastern Hindu Kush from which the pakol and winter coats are made. Read more about Patti
- Pech
- The river that drains central Nuristan, flowing from Parun past Wama to join the Kunar at Asadabad. The Pech valley road is the main way into the heart of the province. Read more about Pech
- Prasunalso Vasi-vari, Wasi-weri
- The language of the Parun valley and the most distinct of the five Nuristani languages, spoken by perhaps eight thousand people and listed by UNESCO as endangered. Read more about Prasun
R
- Robertson, George Scott
- The British surgeon and political officer who lived in Kamdesh through 1890 and 1891 and wrote The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush (1896), the fullest record of Kafiristan before its conversion. Read more about Robertson, George Scott
S
- Safed-posh
- The white-robed: the name Muslim neighbours gave to the Kafir peoples of the west and south, the Wai, Ashkun and Vasi, as against the black-robed Siah-posh of the Bashgal. Read more about Safed-posh
- Siah-posh
- The black-robed: the Kata and Kom of the Bashgal valley, so called by their Muslim neighbours for their black goat-hair robes. Read more about Siah-posh
T
- Tregami
- The smallest Nuristani language, spoken in three villages of the Tregam valley off the lower Pech, in Kunar's Watapur district. Closest to Kalasha-ala. Read more about Tregami
V
- Vasialso Wasi
- The people of the Parun valley, speakers of Prasun, which they call Vasi-vari. Read more about Vasi
W
- Wama
- A district of central Nuristan on the first stretch of the Pech river, below Parun, known for its walnut trees and orchards, and the first Nuristani district on the Pech road. Read more about Wama
- Wantalso Wanat
- The village on the lower Waygal river that was the centre of the old Want Waygal district, and the site of the battle of July 2008. In 2025 the district was split in two, Want in the lower valley and Waygal in the upper, and people in the valley now say Want district and Waygal district. Read more about Want
- Waygalalso Waigal
- A green southern district and valley that gives its name to Waygali, the language the books call Kalasha-ala. Known for its wood carvers and hillside villages. Read more about Waygal
- Waygali-alaalso Waygali, Waigali, Kalasha-ala
- The Nuristani language of the Waygal valley, as its own people name it; Waygali for short. Linguists call it Kalasha-ala. Ala means in the language, so the book name is in Kalasha, a word shared with the Kalash of Chitral, though the Chitral Kalash speak an Indo-Aryan language. Read more about Waygali-ala
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