Kafirs

[Yashwant Malaiya]

Raveen Satkurunathan wrote:

>Comprehensive information about Nuristanis (PC word for Kafirs)
>is found in

Certainly a good example of what is PC to some, is not necessarily
PC to others.

Kafiristan was once a fairly large cultural realm that shrank
for several centuries as more and more people were converted.
A large number of  people who speak Pushto in N Pak today, once
spoke a "Kafir" or a related language.

Isolated valleys have been a refuge in many cases. Hindu Shahi
princes fled to Kashmir which was then not conquered. Buddhism,
it seems, lingered  in in Uddian perhaps until 14th cent or so.
The Kafirs eventually were bottled up in valleys of the tributaries
the Kunar river, where for self preservation they adapted an
extremely hostile attitude towards the conquerors.

In 1895-96 Abdur Rahman Khan conquered all of kafiristan that
was out of British territory. Temples were burnt down, idols were
carted away, boys of prominent kafirs were taken as hostage.
Soldiers and clerics were appointed in kafir villages to civilize
them. Apparently they did a good job, for former Kafirs are now among
the most militant in Afghanistan.

And Kafiristan was renamed Nuristan.

The story of the Kafirs is amazing and hard to believe.
Fortunately,  George Robertson visited the region
only a few years before the conquest and wrote the classic
"The Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush".

A band of Kafirs managed to escape and trakked to British
territory, now Pakistan. As far as I know, they have all
converted by now. In addition three valleys, Birir, Brumboret
and Rumbur were under the British, administered by Chitral.
Recent reports suggest that most of these too have converted.
Because there is significant tourism there, some individuals
claim to be kafirs, but in fact they have converted. There
appear to be some uncoverted ones in recent reports, they too will
convert within a decade or two.

I'll be happy to locate references, if needed.

Yashwant