Nuristani

[Ptarmigan]

Afghanistan, a land known for the crossroads of culture and a heterogenous population ranging from Pashtuns, Persians, Turks, and Uzkbeks. One group in the Hindu Kush are the Nuristani. They were the last people in Aghanistan to be Islamicized forcifully in 1895. Beforehand, they were Animists. As a result, they were viewed as infidels before they converted to Islam. Nuristan language is Indo-Iranian and is related to Persian and Kurdish. They are among the first Indo-Iranians to arrive in the Hindu Kush mountains. Nuristanis are known to be pale, blonde, and tall. In fact descendents of Greek invaders from Alexandria the Great. They could also be descendents of Tocharian people in China. Some of these Tocharians did go to Afghanistan.

Richard Strand's Nuristan
The ethnical composition of Afghanistan-In German.
Afghanistan Remembered, Images from the 70’s
Strange Afghani Expedition