Himalayas - Indian Caucasus
My interest in this research started several years ago. From 1985 to 1992 I made three preparatory trips and two research missions to Northern India, Northern Pakistan and Northern Afghanistan. How the Greeks came and settled in Central Asia, is little known to most people.
The research I carry out is ethnomusicological and its object is any Greek traces that have been preserved mainly through music, which, like language, leads to the roots. With the parallel collection of data from the language, myths, religion, customs, traditions and daily life of the communities I research and with the collaboration of various scientists, I hope to finally form an abstract image, which will lead to safer scientific conclusions.
a. Indian Caucasus - Nuristan and Chitral
These two provinces are located northwest of Himachal Pradesh in the southern foothills of the Indian Caucasus and intersect at present-day Pakistan-Afghanistan border. By the end of 1900 Nuristan and part of the province of Chitral were united and known as Kafiristan, the land of the unbelievers, thus delimiting the area where people still believed in an ancient pagan religion. According to tradition, Alexander united the two provinces into a single administration which was maintained until most of Kafiristan, now in Pakistan, was forcibly converted to Islam and renamed Nuristan, the land of the faithful. There is a small part left, the present-day land of the Kalash located in Pakistan, where people still believe in their old religion. The Nuristans and the Kalash, although today separated by religion and borders, have never stopped the relations between them that still maintain many common elements in their culture.
A'1. Nuristan (NE Afghanistan)
It is divided into East, Central and West Nuristan where there are over 100 small and large villages, perched on steep slopes like natural fortresses. Due to the long war and the political instability in Afghanistan, there is no central administration and each village is self-governed by "Demo-count", peoples assembly.
The inhabitants are mainly engaged in animal husbandry, and less in agriculture and the trade of precious and semi-precious stones.
Their racial characteristics prevail here are Mediterranean, while women unlike other Muslims do not cover their heads and men speak with pride about the thousand-year struggle of their race. They say they come from the tired and wounded soldiers of Alexander who stayed there and married local women. In their oral tradition they remember in great detail the campaign of Sikander Mahduni in their area.
The recordings we have here were made in the village of Zanchigal in the Waigal valley of central Nuristan. The song in the Waigal dialect is called "Alol" and may be a corruption of the verb "lalo".
In Nuristan but also in Kalash, especially the historical and religious songs often begin and end with the words "I say, I sing, I cry". Here people usually sing in groups, sometimes men and women together and sometimes separately. The songs are accompanied by Nuristan's lyre - "Waj" - by various percussions and claps and are often historical and heroic. The four-stringed lyre of Nuristan is the only instrument of its kind in Asia, reminiscent of an ancient Greek instrument and usually plays an accompanying role. The flute is also a very popular instrument that plays mainly dance purposes.
a.2.Kalash
The three remote valleys of Kalash, Rubur, Bouburet and Birir are located in the Chitral province of northwestern Pakistan. There are 27 small villages in these valleys. In some they live only in Kalash, in others they are mixed with Muslims, while in some they live Nuristan refugees. The Kalash typically belong to the Chitral Administration but are essentially governed by the assembly of the elders of each village.
Their economy is based primarily on livestock and agriculture. The physiognomies of the people as in Nuristan do not resemble those of the neighboring peoples. The Kalas cultivate vines and make wine, while their wives have premarital relationships and, unlike Muslims, have no limited place in society. The Kalash as well as the Nouristans use chairs and tables, while the use of the chair is unknown in the Eastern tradition. Their language is called Kalassa, it is related to that of Nuristan and it differs in dialects in each valley.
The religion of the Kalash is polytheistic. There are a number of local deities, male and female, as well as messengers of the gods who are worshiped in open-air sanctuaries with animal weights and sacrifices and where women do not have access.
Music in Kalash is connected to their lives. They sing a lot and the women go with the flute to the fields. His songs are divided into slow, medium and fast. The melodies are old and some and they use them to sing either ancient stories or modern themes. At religious festivals they sing and dance in circles and hugs accompanied by drums. The main musical instrument of the Kalash is a wooden flute with 5 holes, with which they play their dancing purposes, as well as the purposes of Nuristan and Chitral which was once their place. There are recordings from all three valleys.
Finally I would like to thank Ingineer Khan Kalash (Kalash valleys) and Niako Nuristani (Nuristan)
The recordings in these places are an adventure and very often they are made under adverse conditions.
Giannis Manolidakis
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