Chitrali people

A map of ethnic groups in Pakistan, Chitralis are in dark green.

The Chitrali or Khow people are an ethnic group of northwestern Pakistan. They are mostly found in the Chitral District and speak Chitrali, also known as Khowar.

The main ethnic group, the Khow, speak Khowar (or Chitrali), one of the Dardic languages, which is also spoken in parts of Yasin, Gilgit, Ghizer and Swat.

Chitrali culture is one that pays heavy emphasis on poetry, song and dance. Chitrali people also have a great respect of law and order. This in contrast to the generally lawless traditions of almost all of the neighboring regions. Much of this can be attributed to Chitral being a stable kingdom for most of its history^[1], where the rule of law and the will of the ruler came before tribal concepts such as revenge and isolationism.

With the exception of the Kalash all of the Chitrali people are Muslims, with the majority being Sunni and about thirty percent Ismaili. Generally the people living in Southern Chitral and Chitral Town are very conservative because of the influences from Afghanistan, whereas the people of the North are more liberal.

Because of Chitral's location at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia the Chitrali people display a wide variety of phenotypes, largely depending upon their ancestral ethnic group and family history. The majority tend to have light skin with dark hair and eyes, but blue eyes and light hair are fairly common.

The traditional dress of the Khow people is the shuqa, a loose woolen robe similar to the Tibetan chuba. Amongst the nobility Uzbek Silk chapan robes were formerly popular, but are now rarely worn. The khapol or pakol is a Chitrali invention which is now worn throughout Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan.

Links

• Chitrali Khow article at Hindu Kush Trails

References

1. ^ http://www.royalark.net/Pakistan/chitral.htm