wakhis of ishkoman

Wakhis of Ishkoman Sep 17, '07 11:23 AM
for everyone


The first group of Wakhis who settled in Northern Pakistan in the 1880s had different reasons. A group led by the Mir of Wakhan came to seek refuge in Ishkoman, fleeing the tyranny of the Amir of Afghanistan. Wakhi is spoken in the sparsely populated upper portions of four of the northernmost valleys in Pakistan: Hunza (Gojal), Ishkoman, Yasin and Yarkhun. Yarkhun is located in Chitral district of the NWFP, while others are in the Northern Areas. Gojal, in the Hunza valley, has the largest Wakhi population of any of the four areas. The Wakhis of Ishkoman live primarily in the Karambar valley, in and above the town of Imit. In Yasin, they live mostly in the vicinity of Darkot, and in Yarhkun, they are found in Baroghil and in a few other small villages in the high, upper portion of valley.

In addition to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wakhi speakers also live in the adjacent parts of Tajikistan, along the Pamir River, the Ab-i-Panj, and in the nearby Sarikot area of China. It is impossible to say exactly how many Wakhi speakers live in Pakistan, but their numbers are probably between 7,500 and 10,000, with the most in Gojal, Hunza. The number of Wakhi people in Ishkoman in probably around 2,000 or more. This area is said to be predominantly Wakhi. In addition, there are some Wakhi speakers in other parts of the valley.