Re: Wives of Kalash Valley
The Kalash are a people who inhabit an area overlapping Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. In particular, they are Indo-European, like the Persians. They settled in what is today Pakistan, in several valleys near Chitral, to the North of Mingaora, close to the present Afghani border. It is believed by some that the people has roots in Nuristan, to the North of Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Some say they are descended from people who intermarried with the armies of Alexander the Great. If you look at photos of the Kalash people, you will find interesting racial features that differ from the dominant peoples of the Indian Subcontinent.
The Kalash or Kalasha religion is a pre-Islamic polytheistic religion of this mountain people. Most of the people in this region became Muslim with the Islamic conquests. But, for some reason, the Kalash resisted this and maintain their ancient Vedic religion. Vedic religions predate Hinduism. As such, there are many similarities, since both the Kalash religion and Hinduism derive from these ancient Vedic religions.
Regarding your question about education (Taleem), I remember a scene from PTV Dram back in late 90’s, where a Kalash girl asked shehri Babu ‘taileem :hmm: ye Taileem kia hota hai’. On a serious note, some NGOs are working for education of the Kalash people and have empowered women to some extent. Kalash people are beautiful and wear beautiful attires and dance.